Keivan Stassun appointed to National Science Board by President Joe Biden
Keivan Stassun, Stevenson Professor of Physics and Astronomy and director of the Frist Center for Autism and Innovation, was appointed to the National Science Board by President Joe Biden on Jan. 13. The National Science Board created the National Science Foundation, which supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Specifically, Stassun will be on the board that determines NSF policies [in compliance with existing law] . . . , approves new major programs and awards, and [approves] the annual budget [submitted] to the Office of Management and Budget in the White House. The board also [serves as independent advisors to] the president and Congress on policy matters related to science and engineering and education in science and engineering. MORE
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FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH
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National Science Foundation—Vanderbilt hosts Mid-South Innovation Summit to boost growth of regional hub for innovation
The Wond’ry, Vanderbilt’s Innovation Center, will host the first Mid-South Innovation Summit for innovators, students, founders, government officials, investors and community and ecosystem partners across the entire Midsouth region. Attendees will meet the people behind the area’s innovative startups, explore potential partnerships and continue building an entrepreneurial community that is focused on inclusive innovation and shared prosperity. The summit will conclude with the Mid-South NSF I-Corps Hub ceremonial convocation. The NSF Mid-South I-Corps Hub is led by Vanderbilt University. With an intentional emphasis on inclusive innovation, the hub will accelerate the translation of groundbreaking university research outcomes into commercialized ventures that seed emergent, prosperous innovation ecosystems across the region. The summit will be Thursday, Feb. 9, at the Loews Hotel at Vanderbilt. It is free and open to the public, and advance registration is required. MORE
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Department of Energy—Vanderbilt student engineering team’s steel-timber beam machine earns spot in DOE challenge finals
Civil engineering students Maggie Chudik and Jacqueline Quirke and engineering science students Arielle Kopp and Alexandra Filipova are vying this week for the top spot in a U.S. Department of Energy competition that offers winners internships at DOE national laboratories. The all-women team from Vanderbilt created a composite beam machine that makes steel-timber beams. Steel and cross-laminated timber beams provide strong, sustainable, structural support for buildings. The team says its solution helps reduce the demand for recycled steel, creates jobs, and improves air quality for communities and steel mills. The undergraduate team won semi-final honors in December in the Curb Your Carbon Challenge, one of three challenges in JUMP into STEM, a DOE building science competition for U.S. undergraduate and graduate students. This year’s competition called on student teams to find equitable solutions for electrifying, decarbonizing, and increasing resiliency of the built environment. MORE
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NASA—Tonga volcanic eruption creates foundational knowledge, portends short-term climate effects
Vanderbilt Earth scientists studying submarine volcanism used satellite imagery to assess the most energetic volcanic eruption in at least 20 years: The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha‘apai volcano erupted three times over December 2021 and January 2022. New technology, and this eruption with once-in-a-generation explosivity, gave researchers led by former Vanderbilt postdoctoral researcher Ashok Kumar Gupta new insights into volcanic behavior—and the first opportunity to create a complete timeline of the eruption and the large umbrella clouds it produced. Working with available data from the Japanese Meteorological Agency, the scientists determined the volcano’s two extensive umbrella clouds’ heights, water contents, longevities and volumetric flow rates. This work is the foundation that Earth scientists use to understand volcanic eruption characteristics, underlying causes and mechanisms, and their impact on climate. This work was funded by NASA. MORE
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National Science Foundation—New technique unlocks ancient history of climate and wildfires recorded in California cave rocks
A newly developed technique is revealing how prehistoric climate change shaped fire activity in California. The new data suggest that increased climate whiplash—change between extreme wetness and dryness—occurred at the same time as increases in fire activity in the region. Recent extreme weather events in California, including record-breaking rainfall in some areas in the past few weeks, raise the question of how ongoing climate uncertainty will translate to increased fire risks. Researchers hope the new information on climate patterns will inform future environmental planning. With this new advancement, scientists can now measure unique chemicals in stalagmites to reveal fire activity from tens to hundreds of thousands of years ago. [This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation.] MORE
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Vanderbilt helps rural Tennessee county solve cancer outbreak mystery
Growing worries among Grundy County, Tennessee, residents about cancer outbreaks within families, churches and neighborhoods have propelled a community partnership that draws on Vanderbilt University’s strengths to develop environmental and health self-assessment tools. Brooke Ackerly, a Vanderbilt political scientist with a strong interest in environmental justice, is leading Vanderbilt’s cross-disciplinary efforts to help Grundy residents collect relevant data. This group came together as part of a Grand Challenge Initiative on global ecology and health to bring Vanderbilt expertise in support of a community-driven project. The study is developing ways to reach both a broad sampling across the county and an oversampling of data in suspected environmental toxicity hotspots. This provides the community with background knowledge about environmental risk factors, greater confidence in the current status of their environment and an understanding of how past conditions might affect the present. One of the project’s most important goals is providing Grundy County residents the tools to be able to monitor resources such as the water themselves. MORE
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Evans’ research demonstrates need for student loan policies that encourage college enrollment
Should the Biden administration succeed [with their student debt relief program], debt relief would not apply to [new] students, only to prior borrowers. Given that fact, how do current and future high school students feel about borrowing for higher education? How do they decide whether and how much money to borrow and under what repayment plan? These are difficult questions for an 18-year-old to answer, and according to Brent Evans, associate professor of public policy and higher education at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development, the various complexities associated with student loans contribute to many students’ aversion to borrowing for college. Evans argues financial aid policies should encourage students to attend college because a college degree leads to far greater earnings over one’s lifetime, even if students must borrow money to finance their educations. MORE
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Does Hoodwinking Others Pay?
Dishonesty in negotiations is tempting because it sometimes leads to better outcomes for the deceiver, but it also lessens the deceptive negotiator’s satisfaction with the bargaining experience. New Vanderbilt research finds that even when dishonesty goes undetected and positively impacts financial outcomes in a negotiation, negotiators are less happy with their deals and less willing to do future business with the person they deceived. The study . . . co-authored by Jessica A. Kennedy, Associate Professor of Management at Vanderbilt, supports the deceiver’s “guilt account,” whereby being dishonest induces more guilt than happiness, reducing the subjective value gained from a negotiation. This contrasts with the “deceiver’s delight account” supported in research outside the negotiation context, which holds that dishonesty promotes positive affect, like a cheater’s high. MORE
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Wilts, Snedekers and Conners seed initial investment for newest Vandy United men’s and women’s golf initiative
Vanderbilt today unveiled artists’ renderings detailing approximately $11 million in significant upgrades to men’s and women’s golf teams’ facilities at the Vanderbilt Legends Club, reaffirming its longstanding commitment to the home that has helped Commodores grow into SEC and NCAA champions. Former Vanderbilt student-athletes and Hall of Fame inductees Toby Wilt, BE’66, Brandt Snedeker, BA’03, and Lew Conner, BA’60, JD’63, along with their wives, Lucianne Wilt, Mandy Snedeker, BA’02, and Ashley Conner, BA’60, made seed gifts with the goal of inspiring and facilitating gifts from other alumni and supporters to bring the project to life, reimagining the future of Vanderbilt golf. As part of the unprecedented Vandy United campaign, this initiative will be made possible by the support of generous donors and will fund major investments that enhance the home venue for both highly successful programs through new construction and renovation of team spaces and practice facilities. MORE
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