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Maine
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NSF and Maine
In FY 2002 the NSF provided 129 awards totaling approximately $22 million to 19 institutions in the state of Maine as well as $51,000 in fellowships.
Institutions receiving awards in FY 2002 included the University of Maine, Colby College, Bates College, Bowdoin College, the University of Southern Maine, the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, the Maine Public Broadcasting Corporation, and the Maine Math and Science Alliance.
PROJECTS CURRENTLY FUNDED BY THE NSF IN THE STATE OF MAINE
INCLUDE:
- Enabling the Creation and Use of GeoGrids for Next Generation Geospatial Information — The objective of this Information Technology Research project at the University of Maine is to advance science in information management, focusing in particular on geospatial information. It addresses the development of concepts, algorithms, and system architectures to enable users on a grid to query, analyze, and contribute to multivariate, quality-aware geospatial information. The approach consists of three complementary research areas: 1) establishing a statistical framework for assessing geospatial data quality; 2) developing uncertainty-based query processing capabilities; and 3) supporting the development of space- and accuracy-aware adaptive systems for geospatial datasets. The results of this project will support the extension of the concept of the computational grid to facilitate ubiquitous access, interaction, and contributions of quality-aware next generation geospatial information.
- Undergraduate Research Experiences in Marine Molecular Physiology — The Research Experiences for Undergraduates site at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory provides ten eight-week fellowships for undergraduate students majoring in biology or its allied fields of study. Students prioritize three mentors/projects from a list of 30 senior scientists exploring timely questions involving marine molecular physiology and functional genomics. Using sharks, skates, flounder, sculpin, and other sea fauna including invertebrates, students work at the laboratory bench to explore questions at the molecular level concerning reproduction, osmoregulation, acid base balance, ion transportation, and environmental toxicology. Students are trained in advanced laboratory techniques. To supplement bench work, undergraduates attend three weekly laboratory-wide science seminars on topics related to marine molecular physiology and participate in an ethics course.
- A Proposal to Augment the Performance of Girls in STEM Studies — In keeping with its mission to educate, the Maine Discovery Museum plans out-of-school programs that will increase competence in science and mathematics and promote technological fluency for middle school students. With the passage of landmark legislation that equips all Maine 7th and 8th grade students with laptop computers, the museum plans programs that will expand the use of laptop computers beyond the school day, encourage parent involvement, and convey fresh ways of learning and teaching math and science. These program ingredients, along with staff development workshops that focus on gender equity issues, will foster improved achievement and greater participation by females in STEM professions.
- Small Business Technology Transfer — An NSF STTR award to Technology Systems, Inc. supports the creation of an advanced network capability to enable ad-hoc networks to operate in a low bandwidth undersea environment. The specific application of the resultant capability will be to support autonomous undersea systems networks, which are fleets of unmanned robotic vehicles that can provide survey, search, and monitoring functions for customer bases including the oil industry, environmental monitoring, undersea communications infrastructure, search and rescue, and military applications. The capability will build upon the emerging standard dynamic source routing protocols to create a network that is entirely self-configuring, bandwidth conserving, and tailored to the unique requirements of cooperative undersea robotic operations.
For more information on Maine and NSF, please
contact the Office of Legislative and Public Affairs
at 703-292-8070.
Useful Links:
Maine's
Home Page
Maine
Governor's Office
Maine
Science and Technology Foundation
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