Featured Awards – April 2015

‌Zoe Burkholder (Educational Foundations, CEHS) was awarded $50,000 by the Spencer Foundation in support of the research and writing of her book, An African American Dilemma: The Problem of School Integration and Civil Rights in the North, a social history of northern black debates over school integration.

Jason Dickinson (Robert D. McCormick Center for Child Advocacy and Policy, CHSS) received a $10,900 supplement from the New Jersey Department of Children and Families for “Post BA Certificate in Child Advocacy and Policy 2014-2015” which serves Division of Youth and Family Services workers and Department of Children and Families workers who wish to further their expertise in working with adolescents in the public welfare system.
Dr. Dickinson also received a $68,262 supplement from Rutgers University for the New Jersey Department of Children and Families-funded “New Jersey Child Welfare Training Partnership 2014-2015.” The Center provides training for Area Directors, Assistant Directors, Local Office Managers, and Case Work Supervisors employed by the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services in Essex, Union, Hudson, Bergen, and Passaic Counties. The objective of this training program is to manage and coordinate a competency-based, family-centered, culturally relevant statewide workforce development program for the child welfare/child protection agency in New Jersey.

Anna Feldman (Linguistics, CHSS) was awarded $6,000 by the National Science Foundation for “NAACL Workshop on Computational Linguistics for Literature.” The workshop is planned as a friendly forum for those who apply computational methods to literary text. The award will subsidize travel and accommodation expenses for students actively participating in the workshop. These travel grants will support geographic and other minorities by giving them an opportunity to exchange ideas, get into contact with key persons in the field, and gain invaluable feedback from the senior participants. The award will also subsidize travel and accommodation for two invited speakers from the U.S.

Eric Forgoston (Mathematical Sciences, CSAM) received a $54,713 award from the National Science Foundation for “Collaborative Research: Improved Vehicle Autonomy in Geophysical Flows.” This collaborative project with Drexel University, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Cooper Union will develop a framework that provides understanding of fully three-dimensional fluid flows to improve underwater autonomy.
Dr. Forgoston also received a $10,000 supplement from the National Science Foundation for “Understanding the Dynamics of Stochastic Disease Spread in Metapopulations” in support of two undergraduate students during Summer 2015. The project’s goal is to attain an understanding of infectious disease outbreak, spread, and extinction in metapopulation models, where migratory effects and stochasticity are included.

‌Reiko Kawahara (Modern Languages & Literature, CHSS) received $1,000 from the Japan Foundation for “Promoting Shogi (Japanese Chess) in the U.S.” The grant funded a visit from a professional Shogi player to introduce the game to students and the community.

Michael Weinstein (Dean’s Office, CSAM) received a $83,342 contract from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for Impact of Hurricane Sandy: Threats to Communities and Ecosystems from Storm-Induced Mobilization of Toxic Compounds.” The project will address the problem of storm-induced, remobilization and availability of contaminants to coastal food-webs, specifically those of the Passaic River estuary tributary, and the potential for impacts on human and ecosystem health.