A total of 15 projects from Hope received funding from the consortium through its 2022-23 grant period. The awards to Hope projects, which total $84,000, include 11 undergraduate fellowships for students conducting collaborative research with faculty; two seed grants for faculty research; and two grants focused on improving STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education and teacher training.

Hope will provide additional support, including stipends for students as they conduct research during the summer, and matching funds for the faculty and institutional projects.

The students receiving fellowships were:

• Gabriel Balk, for “β-decay intensity function of 54,52 Co,” with Dr. Paul DeYoung, who is the Kenneth G. Herrick Professor of Physics and department chair;
• Dylan Clem, for “Experimental validation of real-time, weighted control algorithm,” with Dr. Courtney Peckens, associate professor of engineering;
• Skylar DeWitt, for “Olfactory Dysfunction Following Oxygen Deprivation in Zebrafish,” with Dr. Erika Calvo-Ochoa, assistant professor of biology and neuroscience;
• Bridget Gagnier, for “Estimating Low Back Loading using Inertial Measurement Units,” with Dr. Brooke Odle, assistant professor of engineering;
• Sarah Grimes, for “Effects of Urbanization on House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) and House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) Songs,” with Dr. Kelly Ronald, assistant professor of biology;
• Lindsay Jankowski, for “How iron oxide nanoparticles impact the auditory physiology and antipredator response of the house sparrow (Passer domesticus),” with Ronald;
• Ethan Jansen, for “Experimental Characterization of Constrained Arches for Active Structure Applications,” with Dr. Matthew Smith, associate professor of engineering;
• Nicholas Kaipainen, for “Quantifying the Utility of a Truncated Eigenmode Expansion in the Collisionless Plasma Tearing Instability,” with Dr. Zachary Williams, assistant professor of physics;
• Halle McGuire, for “Multipurposed Dry Lubricant Surface Coatings from Strain-Controlled Composite Nanomaterial Systems,” with Dr. Meagan Elinski, assistant professor of chemistry;
• Evan Thomas, for “Effects of hypoxia in recovery of the lesioned olfactory system of zebrafish,” with Calvo-Ochoa;
• and William Vance, for “Developing efficient algorithms to compute the exact QED resonant Compton scattering cross section in strong magnetic fields,” with Dr. Peter Gonthier, professor of physics.

The faculty members who received seed grants were:

•  Dr. Jeffrey Christians, assistant professor of engineering, for “Understanding the Radiation Tolerance of Halide Perovskite Materials”;
• and Dr. Kelly Ronald, assistant professor of biology, for “A New Canary in the Coalmine: The House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) as a Model for Studying the Effects of Nanoparticle Matter in Air Pollution.”

The program support was awarded to: Susan Ipri Brown, who is director of ExploreHope Academic Outreach and an assistant professor of engineering instruction at Hope. “Preparing STEM Teachers” will expand the mentoring and training aspect of the ExploreHope summer camps to better prepare future science and mathematics teachers. “Engineering the Future Academies” will support collaborations with area youth serving organizations and school districts to provide STEM instructional supplies, training and camp scholarships.

The Michigan Space Grant Consortium, which is part of the National Space Grant Consortium, seeks to foster awareness of, education in, and research on space-related science and technology in Michigan, and is part of the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program initiated by NASA in 1989. In addition to Hope, the consortium includes Calvin University, Eastern Michigan University, Grand Valley State University, Michigan State University, Michigan Technological University, Oakland University, Saginaw Valley State University, Wayne State University, Western Michigan University, the University of Michigan and the Ann Arbor Public Schools.

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