Overview

Arkansas was one of seven original EPSCoR States targeted in 1979. The first Arkansas EPSCoR committee was established in the same year and identified various obstacles for scientific research within the State. In 1983 the EPSCoR program was instrumental in establishing a statewide science and technology mechanism, the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority, which thereafter has provided State match money for various awards, including EPSCoR.

Outcomes of Prior EPSCoR Support

The "State-at-a-Glance" reports indicate that EPSCoR funding to Arkansas has totaled about $12 million since the program's inception. Arkansas has made considerable progress in obtaining NSF funding over the past decade. In 1990 the NSF research and development (R&D) academic obligation to Arkansas was $1.72 million. This figure grew to $8.2 million by 2000, and 2002 data indicate that total NSF obligations stood at $8.72 million. Total Federal R&D obligations grew from $24 million in 1990 to $68.23 million in 2001. NSF awards to Arkansas, enabled by EPSCoR co-funding, totaled 43 awards during the 5 years of the program and place the State in the center of EPSCoR entities for total awards. In FY 2002 the total number of NSF proposals submitted from Arkansas was 184, with 38 being awarded for a funding rate of 21 percent.

Current EPSCoR Support

Analytical Chemistry (Mass Spectrometry)

Within the past several years, Distinguished Professor Charles Wilkins was hired from the University of California-Riverside, and most of his mass spectrometry equipment was purchased and installed at the University of Arkansas (UA). A laser desorption time-of-flight mass spectrometer and an electroscopy ionization quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer were purchased with EPSCoR support. Because these mass spectrometers were purchased with EPSCoR funds, they are viewed as State facilities; thus, researchers from other institutions have access to the equipment. A committee has been formed to oversee the growing mass spectrometer facilities. Dr. Jackson Lay has been hired to oversee the mass spectrometer facility, and two technicians have been hard-funded to maintain the facilities. An NSF instrument grant was funded for the acquisition of a 9.4 Tesla Fourier transform mass spectrometer. Subsequently, NSF grant funds provided Broker Proteineer SP and Brucker Proteineer DP sample preparation robots that were added to the facility to make the automated processing of 2D Page gel samples for laser desorption time-of-flight mass spectral analysis possible. With all personnel hard-funded and equipment installed, the facility is sustainable into the future. UA recently completed construction of a chemistry/biochemistry research building and will begin a $16 million renovation of the original chemistry building in May 2004.

Biological Sciences

EPSCoR funds established a state-of-the-art facility for the analysis of stable isotopes in organic and inorganic samples. The laboratory is equipped with two isotope ratio mass spectrometers. One is a continuous flow system equipped with a trace gas pre-concentrator/gas chromatograph, an elemental analyzer, and a high temperature conversion elemental analyzer. The second mass spectrometer is a dual inlet system with a tube cracker/multiport extension and a microvolume inlet for N2 and CO2. Additional components are being added continuously. This facility is under the umbrella management of Dr. Lay and is staffed by hard-funded technicians. Since completion of the laboratory in February 2002, more than 8,500 samples have been analyzed for researchers. Of these, 4,576 samples were submitted for analysis by researchers within Arkansas, 3,107 samples were submitted from researchers from other States, and 861 samples were submitted from U.S. Government laboratories. To date, research grants totaling $4.2 million made direct use of the facility. These grants include direct funding to UA and the State of more than $2 million from various Federal agencies. The facility has greatly expanded teaching opportunities at UA. Both biological sciences and geosciences offer courses in stable isotope methods that are centered on the new facility. Also, students from various undergraduate courses have used the laboratory. The facility is housed in a new (2000) cell and molecular biology research building that contains 30 laboratories and all auxiliary facilities.

Education Outreach to K-16 Arena

Considerable educational outreach has been, in part, sponsored by EPSCoR funds. The State EPSCoR office shares facilities with the Center for Mathematics and Science Education/Arkansas NASA Educator Resource Center at UA. As a result, coordinated efforts to provide teacher and student resources have occurred. For example, EPSCoR provides resources for the annual Arkansas Conference on Teaching where 1,500+ K-16 teachers participate in professional development sessions. The Center purchased a portable planetarium that in one semester provided astronomy programs to 15 public schools and 2,500+ students. The Center targets preservice education students and provides regularly scheduled hands-on content sessions during the school year to improve the caliber of their science and math capabilities. In-service science and math teachers are also targeted, and dozens of hands-on workshops have been provided to improve content-based classroom skills. Within just the last year, more than 400 in-service teachers were provided with these types of services. These and other outreach efforts are designed to stimulate K-16 student and teacher content knowledge, improve science and mathematics classroom skills, and increase K-12 student mathematic and science achievement.