2005-06 Awards

The Consortium issued an internal RFP to Consortium members and Joint Degree Program partners in Summer 2005 and three intramural RFPs in Spring 2006 to University of Minnesota faculty, graduate and professional students, and departments, programs, or centers.

I. RFP to Consortium/JDP Members

In Summer 2005, we issued an internal Request for Proposals to Consortium member centers and graduate or professional programs or departments participating in the Joint Degree Program in Law, Health & the Life Sciences seeking funding for research, projects, or colloquia. Applicants were current University of Minnesota faculty members who (1) direct a program or center represented in the Consortium or (2) serve as the head or Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) of a department or graduate or professional program represented in the Joint Degree Program.

These grants are made possible by funds received through the Presidential Interdisciplinary Initiative Process. In October 2003, President Robert Bruininks named the Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences one of 8 Presidential Interdisciplinary Initiatives.

We made 2 awards, totaling $33,612:

1. Program in Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Ethics (Prof. Dan Philippon, Director), Eating Right? The Rhetoric and Ethics of Organic, Local, and Slow Food ($22,000 awarded). While the attention of many experts has focused on the development, production, processing, and distribution of safe and healthy food, the imagination of a growing proportion of the public has been captured by another set of food ideals, embodied by the terms “organic,” “local,” and “slow.” This three-part lecture-and-discussion series will explore the similarities and differences between these two forms of environmental discourse, as well as the values embodied by each. [ View Report ]


2. Center for Science, Technology, and Public Policy (Profs. Ken Keller and Jennifer Kuzma, Director and Associate Director), Survey and Assessment of Agrifood Technology ($11,612 awarded). This project, with additional support from the Pew Initiative on Emerging Nanotechnologies, will review, categorize, and assess the applications of agrifood nanotechnology, with the ultimate goal of evaluating oversight systems for them. [ View Report ]

INTRAMURAL RFPs

In Spring 2006, we issued 3 more Requests for Proposals (RFPs). One was for University of Minnesota faculty, one was for departments/programs/centers, and one was for graduate and professional students.

II. RFP to Graduate and Professional Students

The RFP to graduate and professional students was intended to provide a stipend for research and writing in the Summer 2006 or academic year 2006-07. We were delighted that the RFP stimulated 38 proposals from students in 22 programs around the University. Five awards were made:

1. A Collaborative Exploration of Environmental Change and Alaska Native Fishing Communities —Laurie Richmond, PhD student, Conservation Biology ($7,000 awarded); [ View Proposal ]    [ View Report ]


2. Holding the World Bank Accountable: Physician Responsibility in an Era of Renewed Global Health Commitment —Stephanie Smith, Medical student ($4,295 awarded);[ View Proposal ]   [ View Report ]


3. Public Sector Agricultural Research in Vietnam: A Model for Building Public Intellectual Property Management Capacity in Developing Countries—Laurel Kilgour, Law student ($6,500 awarded); [ View Proposal ]   [ View Report ]


4. Spectres of Waste in India’s “Silicon Valley”: the Underside of Bangalore’s Hi-Tech Economy—Rajyashree Reddy, PhD student, Geography ($7,000 awarded); [ View Report ]


5. Decentralizing Forest Management in Cameroon: A Conceptual Look at the Perception of Procedural Justice in Community Forest Management Process—Beatrice Muton, PhD student, Natural Resource Science and Management ($6,499 awarded). [ View Proposal ]   [ View Report ]

III. RFP to Faculty
We invited proposals to fund interdisciplinary research, projects, or curricular innovation on health, environment, or the life sciences in Summer 2006 or academic year 2006-07. We made 2 awards to date:

1. Susan Craddock and John Song, Tuberculosis within Somali Immigrant Communities in the Twin Cities ($9,918 awarded);


2. Susan Craddock, Tamara Giles-Vernick, and Jennifer Gunn, Reassessing the 1918 Flu Pandemic: Environments, Social Relations, and Public Health ($9,995 awarded). [ View Report ]

IV. RFP to Programs/Departments/Centers
We invited proposals to support department, program, or center colloquia in Summer 2006 or 2006-07. We made 3 awards:

1. Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science and Studies of Science and Technology Program, Studies of Science and Technology Program Colloquia, submitted by Prof. C. Kenneth Waters ($5,000 awarded); [ View Report ]


2. Food Industry Center, Food, Technology and Individual Privacy submitted by Prof. Ben Senauer and Koel Ghosh ($5,000 awarded); [ View Report ]


3. Water Resources Center, The Power of Water Colloquia, submitted by Prof. Deborah Swackhamer ($5,000 awarded).