Michelle Gibbs, Director of the Office of Sustainability, has received a $32,476 award from the Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Trash-Free Waters Program via the Macatawa Area Coordinating Council (MACC). The project is titled West Michigan Beach and River Cleanup Coalition.
Through this project, Hope College will participate in coalition partner meetings, schedule and conduct clean-up events with Hope College faculty and students, assist with the development of marketing materials, assist with the installation of litter reduction receptacles, and conduct litter reduction education.
The Hope Summer Repertory Theatre (HSRT) received a $24,000 grant from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA) to support the 2021 season! Funding will support the seven show season from May through August 2021, with performances of Little Shop of Horrors, Every Brilliant Thing, Little Women the Musical, The Importance of Being Earnest, Freaky Friday, and Frog and Toad.
Each year, HSRT employs approximately 100 professional artists and technicians from around the country and typically engages over 5,000 unique audience members. HSRT audiences represent a diverse cross-section from communities primarily located in Ottawa, Kent, and Allegan counties and offer a great opportunity to share artistic talent with others.
Aaron Best, the Harrison C. and Mary L. Visscher Professor of Genetics and Biology Department Chair, Ben Kopek, Associate Professor of Biology, Brent Krueger, Professor of Chemistry, and Mike Pikaart, Associate Professor of Chemistry, received a $493,605 award from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) for the project titled Implementation of digital droplet PCR technology for SARS-CoV-2 testing in wastewater in Ottawa and Allegan Counties.
This project will support surveillance of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in wastewater via sewer sampling at Hope College and at nearby local municipal wastewater treatment plants in Ottawa and Allegan Counties.
Congratulations on your award, Aaron, Ben, Brent, and Mike!
The Office of Sponsored Research at Hope College is excited to host the virtual visit of
Sheila A. Brennan, PhD Senior Program Officer Office of Digital Humanities (ODH) National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
on Thursday, Nov. 5, 11:30am-12:30pm EST.
Dr. Brennan will provide an overview of funding opportunities for Digital Humanities projects at the NEH followed by a Q & A session.
The NEH’s Office of Digital Humanities offers grant programs that fund project teams experimenting with digital technologies to develop new methodologies for humanities research, teaching and learning, public engagement, and scholarly communications. ODH funds those studying digital culture from a humanistic perspective and humanists seeking to create digital publications. Another major goal of ODH is to increase capacity of the humanities in applying digital methods.
Whether you have a project you’re currently looking to support, are in the beginning stages of planning a project or funding application, or are just looking for information, please consider attending this session.
This event will be open to Hope College and the broader regional Digital Humanities (DH) and Digital Liberal Arts (DLA) community. Please register here by Thursday, Oct. 29th. A zoom link will be mailed out to registered participants on Nov. 2nd.
Charlotte Witvliet, the Lavern ’39 and Betty DePree ’41 VanKley Professor of Psychology and Psychology Department Chair, received a $8,970 grant from the Fetzer Institute for the project titled Accountability: Connecting Spirituality to Civic Life.
This project will utilize the Study of Spirituality in America survey to examine the results associated with accountability with greater spirtual and religious engagement as well as prosocial civic attitudes, civic engagement, and political action.
Heather Cornell, a new addition to the Dance Department as an Assistant Professor of Dance Instruction, completed an oral history with the New York Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, which chronicled her life’s devotion to tap dance.
Interviewed by Anthony Morigerato, himself a tap dancer, producer, director, content creator, writer, and Emmy-nominated chreographer, Heather recounts growing up in Canada with her artistic parents and early training; moving through to more formal training in dance with the guidance of dance masters such as Buster Brown, Eddie Brown, Harriet Browne, Cookie Cook, Steve Condos, and Chuck Green; and her experience in forming Manhatten Tap, formed in the 1980s and served as a training ground for a new generation of dancers like Max Pollack, Tamango, Roxanne Butterfly, Jeannie Hill, Olivia Rosencrantz, and Michael Minery.
The entire oral history recording is available through the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, Jerome Robbins Dance Division: http://catalog.nypl.org/record=b22251839~S1.
Congratulations, Heather, on having your oral history made available through the New York Public Library and sharing so much insight on your personal and professional experiences. We are fortunate to have you here at Hope College!
The Office of Sponsored Research and Programs (OSRP) is pleased to offer the following training opportunities for 2020-2021. Registration for each session will close one week prior to the scheduled session. Sessions will be provided online via Zoom; attendees must register in advance and will be provided the link to participate at least two days prior to the scheduled session.
Sessions with an asterisk (*) are working sessions—participants are encouraged to bring a draft of a current proposal to the session to review, edit, and seek feedback from other participants.
This series of three workshops addresses the major sections present in most funding applications. Each session will introduce the importance and aims of this section of an application, discuss strategies, and provide an opportunity to workshop your ideas and drafts with colleagues. You can attend just one, two, or all three.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we expect schedules and availability to change, and therefore the meeting times of the Oct. 20 and Feb. 16 workshops remain TBD. OSRP is also considering asynchronous options for delivery of these workshops. In the Workshop RSVPs, you will have an opportunity to indicate your scheduling preferences for Workshops 2 and 3.
New this year: Faculty who attend all three Project Development Workshops will be eligible to receive a Grant-Seeking Award of up to $250 to support their application efforts, for instance to hire an outside subject-matter expert to assess the proposal draft. Priority for awards will be given to junior and underrepresented faculty. (Depending on the funding opportunity, it may be possible to substitute Proposal Budgets 101 for Workshop 3).
1. Developing Your Project Statement of Need*–NEW DATE due to All Faculty Meeting on Original Date Your primary project proposal/statement/problem serves as an introduction to your proposal and must give an effective overview of your project. Learn strategies to draw in your reader and workshop your drafts with the group.
2. Developing your Project Plan, Scope of Work, or Methodology Sections* These sections of your proposal demonstrate how you will undertake your project. Learn strategies for planning these and communicating your plan clearly to readers. Develop strategies to include the appropriate personnel in your project. Workshop your drafts with the group.
3. Measuring Your Project’s Impact: Developing Effective Evaluation Plans* Many proposals ask for an evaluation plan and most grants require a final report demonstrating your project’s impact. Learn the importance of evaluation and how to undertake it. Planning your project’s evaluation from the start will save you time and headaches in the end. Workshop your drafts with the group.
Proposal Budgets 101 Learn the basics of federal and institutional principles in developing a sponsored project budget. Learn some of the key factors to consider in developing your budget, including personnel costs, travel, project dissemination, data management, evaluation, and other expenses.
Date/Time:
Available for On-Demand Viewing in/by November 2020
National Science Foundation (NSF) and the 2020 Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) Considering an application to the National Science Foundation in 2021? This session will provide a high-level overview of key changes coming to NSF proposal preparation and submission for 2021.
Date/Time:
Available for On-Demand Viewing if/when new PAPPG Issued
Susan Ipri Brown, Director of ExploreHope and Assistant Professor of Engineering Instruction, received a $5,000 award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Environmental Systems Division for the project titled Experimental Design: Hands on Environmental Immersion for Students.
The purpose of this project is to provide a middle and high school students with a project-based learning and environmental research experience through sessions at the Hope College Nature Preserve or Macatawa watershed.
Jason Gillmore, Professor of Chemistry, and Jeff Johnson, Professor of Chemistry, have received a $12,000 award from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement Cottrell Instrumentation Supplements Award for the project titled Into the Future – Updating a GC and GC/MS Instrumentation Suite at Hope College to Extend Instrument Life and Improve Network Security.
This project will upgrade the Chemistry Department’s gas chromatography (GC) systems to replace aging computer systems, update software, and perform maintenance on this equipment to ensure ongoing operations in the coming years. These GC systems are vital to Hope College—they serve more than half of the researchers in the Chemistry Department and at least 18 faculty members across the Division of Natural and Applied Services. Collectively, these GC systems analyze over 2,000 samples per year.
Courtney Peckens, Associate Professor of Engineering, has received a $999,061 award from the National Science Foundation Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) Program for the project titled Scholarships, Services, and a Framework of Programmatic Belonging Cues to Improve Undergraduate Student Success in Engineering Majors.
Co-Principal Investigators on this project include Gerald Griffin, Associate Provost and Associate Professor of Biology and Psychology; Kathy Kremer, Senior Director of Assessment and Accreditation in the Frost Center for Data and Research; and Matthew Smith, Associate Professor of Engineering.
This project will focus on increasing retention and four-year graduation rates of academically talented, low-income engineering students through a longitudinal and focused integration of belonging cues in each scholar’s academic framework. Participating students will receive support services including faculty and peer mentoring, a tailored math-based summer bridge program, an academic learning community focused on cohort building, a first-year seminar course, supplemental instruction, research and internship opportunities, and a vocation-focused diversity and inclusion seminar series.
Congratulations, Courtney, Gerald, Kathy, and Matt on your latest award!
