BLACKSBURG, Va., April 12, 2004 – AdvanceVT, a comprehensive program that promotes and enhances the careers of women in science and engineering at Virginia Tech, has awarded its first seed grants and named its first leadership fellows as part of an ongoing effort to increase the number of women electing to pursue or remain in academic careers.
The seed grants help support the research of junior faculty members in Virginia Tech's College of Science and College of Engineering, while the leadership fellowships provide an opportunity for tenured science and engineering faculty members to have an administrative experience and to engage in training that builds administrative skills.
Recipients of the seed grants and their research projects are:
* Lynn Adler of Blacksburg, Va., assistant professor of biology, "The Effect of Auxiliary Herbivores on Tritrophic Interactions: Collaborative Research to Prepare for USDA Funding"(B.S., Brown University; Ph.D., University of California, Davis);
* Julie Dunsmore of Blacksburg, Va., assistant professor of psychology, "Biobehavioral Correlates of Parents' Beliefs about Children's Emotions" (B.A., Emory University; M.A., Ph.D., Duke University);
* Naira V Hovakimyan of Blacksburg, Va., assistant professor aerospace and ocean engineering, "Active Vision Control Systems" (B.S., M.S., Yerevan State University, Ph.D., Institute of Applied Mathematics, Moscow);
* Linsey Marr of Blacksburg, Va., assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, "Measurement of Urban Air Pollutant Emissions" (B.S., Harvard University; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley);
* Kathleen Meehan of Blacksburg, Va., assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, "Active Surface Plasmon Resonance Structures with Application in Biosensing and Optical Computing" (B.S., Manhattan College; M.S., Ph.D., University of Illinois); and
* Corina Sandu of Blacksburg, Va., assistant professor of mechanical engineering, "Computational Tools for Advanced Modeling and Simulation of Off-Road Vehicles" (M.S., Ph.D., University of Iowa).
The leadership fellowships went to
* Andrea Dietrich of Blacksburg, Va., associate professor of civil and environmental engineering. Dietrich will work with engineering faculty members and administrators to develop the skills necessary to start and manage a center for drinking water taste and odor and infrastructure research. She will also participate in a leadership development program and will visit a comparable research center at another university. (B.S., Boston College; M.S., Drexel University; Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill).
* Brenda Winkel of Blacksburg, Va., professor of biology, During her fellowship, Winkel will work with the director of the Fralin Center for Biotechnology to provide leadership and vision for the center. She will also lead an effort to establish a graduate program in plant sciences and organize a research symposium to discuss the future of research in this area and to provide insights into successful graduate programs. (B.S., M.S., University of Southern Illinois; Ph.D., University of Georgia).
"The vision for AdvanceVT is to encourage cultural change at the university and to remove barriers to success so that all faculty members can reach their greatest potential," said Peggy Layne, program coordinator.
The program at Virginia Tech is funded by the National Science Foundation Advance program, which awarded the university a $3.5 million institutional transformation grant in fall 2003 to identify barriers that can keep women faculty members from choosing, remaining in, or advancing in science and engineering. The overall goal of the NSF program is to get more women involved in the scientific and engineering workforce by increasing the representation of women in academic science and engineering careers at all levels, particularly in leadership roles.