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Seven new government grants support science research

October 16, 2008

Connecticut College has been awarded seven grants totaling $584,387 to support science research. The grants, awarded to the college by various government organizations, will allow Connecticut College faculty and students to research everything from cancer to the evolution of planets' atmospheres to the microorganisms in salt marshes.

The largest award, a $192,451 grant from the National Institute of Health's (NIH) National Cancer Institute, will be used by Professor Martha Grossel, chair of the Biology Department, to hire an additional scientist for her research project, which aims to better understand cell division as it relates to cancer. The grant supports individuals who want to resume a research career after taking time off to care for family members.

A second award of $8,289 from NIH, intended to promote diversity in health-related research, will support an undergraduate student researcher in Grossel's lab. With the funding, the student will also have the opportunity to attend the annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology and present research and attend mentoring workshops for students of color.

Arlan Mantz, the Oakes Ames Professor of Physics and chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, received two awards, a $106,125 grant and a $77,600 grant, both from NASA's Science Mission Directorate, to continue two different research projects relating to the origins and evolution of the atmospheres of planets, their satellites and their comets.

The National Science Foundation awarded Anne Bernhard, the George and Carol Milne Assistant Professor of Biology, a $142,449 grant to study the interactions between two ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms in salt marshes. With the support of the grant, Bernhard will also train six undergraduate students to assist in her research. The grant will give the student researchers the opportunity to complete summer research internships, independent studies, honors thesis research and in-class research projects.

Bruce Branchini, the Hans and Ella McCollum '21 Vahlteich Professor of Chemistry, was granted $49,595 from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research to purchase equipment that will assist in his research of bioluminescence, the fundamental process by which living organisms convert chemical energy into light.

Finally, another NIH diversity supplement, in the amount of $7,878, was awarded to Marc Zimmer, the Barbara Zaccheo Kohn '72 Professor of Chemistry and chair of the Chemistry Department, to support summer and academic year research by an undergraduate student from an underrepresented group. The student will work and study with Zimmer, researching green fluorescent protein, a protein that makes some jellyfish and other organisms glow in the dark.

All of the projects were funded 100 percent by the federal government.

For media inquiries contact: Amy Martin (860) 439-2526; a.martin@conncoll.edu