2006-07 Awards

I. RFP to Consortium/JDP Members

In spring 2006, 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 in summer 2006 or academic year 2006-07. 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 1 of 8 Presidential Interdisciplinary Initiatives.

We made 3 awards, totaling $77,611:

1. Graduate Studies Program in Natural Resources, Science & Management (Kenneth Brooks, Dorothy Anderson, and Sherry Enzler) $28,543 awarded for Assessing the Success of and the Role of Law in Developing Structures to Protect Watershed Ecosystems and Ecosystem Services. This project will assess how a watershed transitions from a program-driven approach that protects a single biophysical attribute of a watershed to a place or ecosystem-driven approach that protects the watershed ecosystem's multiple biophysical attributes as well as its social attributes. [ View Report ]
2. Division of Health Services Research and Policy (Susan Foote, Beth Virnig, Stephen Parente, and Robert Town) $16,212 awarded for Mining Medicare Claims Data: How to Improve Quality and Value in Medicare. This project will host a forum to discuss ways in which the Medicare claims process may be able to generate data that can be used to evaluate the long-term health benefits and costs of medical technology. [ View Proposal ] [ View Report ]
3. Center for Science, Technology, and Public Policy (Kenneth Keller, Elizabeth Wilson, Miriam Fischlein, and Tim Smith) $32,856 awarded for Institutional Considerations for Greenhouse Gas Reductions: Survey and Assessment of Conservation Improvement Programs in Minnesota. This project will analyze the design of institutional structures and stimuli that can bring about changes that will result in actual reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. [ View Proposal ] [ View Report ]

INTRAMURAL RFPs

In November 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 2007 or academic year 2007-08. We were delighted that the RFP stimulated 45 proposals from students in 27 programs around the University. Four awards were made:

1. A ‘Contagious and Poisonous Yellow Peril’?: Japanese and Japanese Americans in Public Health and Agriculture–1890s-1950—Jeannie Shinozuka, PhD student, History ($7,000 awarded); [ View Proposal ]
2. Identifying the Causes of Human-Lion Conflict in Southeastern Tanzania—Hadas Kushnir, PhD student, Conservation Biology ($7,000 awarded); [ View Proposal ] [ View Report ]
3. Burning through Boundaries: Science and Social Learning in Collaborative Wildfire Planning Groups—Rachel Brummel, PhD student, Conservation Biology ($2,000 awarded); [ View Proposal ]
4. Shaping Healthcare in Post-Colonial Latin American: Mexico, Guatemala, and Cuba in Transition—Marianne Beth Samayoa, PhD student, History ($5,217 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 2007 or academic year 2007-08. We made 3 awards:

1. Improving the International Capacity for Ecological Risk Assessment of Genetically Engineered Crops—Prof. David Andow. Awarded $10,000. [ View Proposal ]
2. Bursting the Boundaries of Scientific Discoveries: A Colloquium for Undergraduates—Prof. Kathryn Hanna, Justin Miles, and Sean Polster (undergraduates). Awarded $3,200. [ View Proposal ] [ View Report ]
3. A Workshop for Predicting the Fate of Chemicals in the Environment—Prof. Lynda Ellis. Awarded $5,613. [ View Proposal ] [ View Report ]

IV. RFP to Programs/Departments/Centers

We invited proposals to support department, program, or center colloquia in Summer 2007 or 2007-08. We made 1 award: Studies of Science and Technology Colloquium—Prof. C. Kenneth Waters. Awarded $5,000. [ View Proposal ] [ View Report ]

V. RFP to Consortium/JDP Members

In November 2006, 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 in summer 2007 or academic year 2007-08. 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 1 of 8 Presidential Interdisciplinary Initiatives.

1. Institute of Human Genetics and Center for Bioethics (Profs. Bonnie S. LeRoy and Dianne Bartels), Positive Exposure: Reframing Perceptions of Genetic Disease and Disability ($25,435 awarded). This project is a collaborative effort of the Institute of Human Genetics and the Center for Bioethics with the goal of expanding perceptions of genetic disease and disability and embracing the differences that characterize human diversity. The photographic exhibit "Positive Exposure" will be presented at the University to two audiences: health sciences students and faculty, and the public followed by facilitated discussions about perceptions of people with disabilities.
2. Center for Science, Technology and Public Policy, Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, (Senior Fellow Steve Kelley and Prof. Elizabeth Wilson), Public Engagement for Scientists and Engineers ($18,225 awarded). The key goal of this project is to develop and deliver a mini-course for scientists and engineers to improve the ability of participants to communicate and influence the societal implications of discoveries in the life sciences, leading to innovation in the application of research to public problems. [ View Report ]