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Nearly 50 University of Wisconsin Oshkosh faculty members received a jump-start on research and teaching projects with 2009-2010 Faculty Development grants.

Funding for the projects, ranging from “Discovering the Timpanists’ Ear” to “Triassic Reptile Evolution,” totaled more than $380,000.

“The philosophy of the Faculty Development Program is to invigorate teaching by supporting the professional development of faculty,” said Linda Freed, director of UWO’s Office of Grants and Faculty Development.

Projects supported by the fund, which was established in 1973, may include work that takes off in a new direction, restarts an inactive study or completes a major initiative, Freed said.

Teaching grants

With their grant, music faculty members Ed Martin and Alison Shaw plan to develop a better method for teaching students how to tune the timpani, which are large drums with designated pitches or notes.

College-level percussionists often are behind in developing their aural and pitch-recognition skills compared with students who sing or play piano, string or wind instruments. Martin and Shaw hope their project will result in publication of a new timpani method book that trains the ear of young percussionists.

Seven other projects received 2009-2010 Faculty Development teaching grants:

  • Janice Edelstein, nursing, “Epidemiology Waiver Examination”
  • James Feldman, history, “Sustainability Education”
  • Yoshiro Hanai, foreign languages and literatures, “Bilingual Japanese Culture Course”
  • Eric Kuennen, mathematics, “Math Education in China”
  • Susan Ridgely, religious studies and anthropology, “Global Christianity and Money”
  • Teri Shors, biology and microbiology, “Blogging or Twitter”
  • Jennifer Wenner, geology, “Field Trip to Hawaii”

Research grants

Assistant psychology professor Phan Hong’s research involves gaining a better understanding of the stigma related to young adults seeking mental health services. Depression among college students has increased dramatically in recent decades, yet they are unlikely to seek services for mental health issues.

With his research grant, associate anatomy professor David Dilkes will travel to three museums in Argentina to examine all known fossils of proterochampsids, a poorly known group of archosaurs from the late Triassic period, 235 to 201 million years ago.

Dilkes is collaborating with a professor from the Universidad Nacional de San Luis, Argentina, to study the evolutionary relationships between the proterochampsids and other archosaurian reptiles.

An additional 39 projects received 2009-2010 Faculty Development research grants:

  • Joyce Andrews, music, “The ‘Charlotte’ Composers”
  • Jeri-Mae Astolfi, music, “Tour of Wisconsin Music”
  • Michael Baltutis, religious studies and anthropology, “Transporting Indra”
  • David Barnhill, environmental studies, “The Force of Spirit”
  • Stephen Brigham, College of Business, “Value Relevance of Accounting”
  • Jessica Calderwood, art, “Self Serving”
  • James Chaudior, music, “Multiphonics Large Recorders”
  • Jennifer Considine, communication, “Communication in Project Groups”
  • Kevin Crawford, chemistry, “Toxic Compounds from T. thiebautii”
  • Crawford, Arlene Haffa, chemistry, and Stephanie Spehar, religious studies and anthropology, “Nutrients in Primate Diets”
  • Stephanie de Montigny, religious studies and anthropology, “Buildings Don’t Talk”
  • Michelle Fleming, curriculum and instruction, “Multidisciplinary Pre-Elementary”
  • Charles Gibson, chemistry, “Nanoengineered Graphite”
  • Angela Gray, geography, “Repatriation Geographies at Mayukwayukwa”
  • Arlene Hafa, chemistry, “3-D Protein Studies”
  • Douglas Haynes, English, “Creating a Culture of Water”
  • Julie Henderson, journalism, “Bias in the News”
  • Larry Herzberg, philosophy, “Self-Knowledge of Emotions”
  • Frank Hoffmeister, music, “The Five Canticles of British Composer Benjamin Britten”
  • Stephan Huffman and Cliff Moll, College of Business, “The Impact of Asymmetry on Returns”
  • Richard Kalinoski, theater, “Relics: A New Play”
  • Nadejda Kaltcheva, physics and astronomy, “Studying the Warp of the Galactic Disk”
  • Nari Kim, educational leadership, “Promoting Critical Thinking in Wikis”
  • Birgit Leisen-Pollack, College of Business, “Loyalty and Attribution Theory”
  • Gabriel Loiacono, history, “Paupers in the Public Eye”
  • Nadia Louar, foreign languages and literatures, “Beckett’s Bilingualism”
  • Miles Maguire, journalism, “Genius Journalism”
  • Loretta Mason-Williams, special education, “A Profile of the Qualifications of Special Education Teachers Among High Poverty Schools”
  • Richard Masters, art, “Reflections of Chinatown”
  • Shelly Michalski, biology and microbiology, “Nematode Morphology”
  • Elsbeth McPhee,  biology and microbiology, “Captivity Effects Behavior”
  • Cliff Moll, “Optimal Capital Structure”
  • Sabrina Mueller-Spitz, biology and microbiology, “Fecal Pollution Indicators”
  • Frances Rauscher, psychology, “Music and Dyslexia”
  • Marsha Rossiter, educational leadership, “Possible Selves of Adult Nontraditional Students”
  • Thomas Rowland, history, “Character of Franklin Pierce”
  • Tang Tang, communication, “Marketing Higher Education Across Borders”
  • Yijun Tang, chemistry, “Interaction of Ionic Liquids with Conductive Polymer-Coated Electrodes”
  • Robert Wise, biology and microbiology, “Anatomy of A. lyrata”

More about Faculty Development grants.