Featured Awards – February 2019

Joseph DiNapoli • Mathematical Sciences
SBIR Phase II: Meaningful Sketching and Meaningful Struggle in STEM Education
National Science Foundation
$36,526
Supported by a subaward from eGrove Education, this project will develop a learning environment where students can freehand sketch on a touchscreen phone, tablet, or computer. Mathematics education is increasingly using sketching to develop conceptual understanding, and sketching is a critical component in STEM for creativity, communication, and development of 3D spatial visualization skills. The physical act of sketching has been shown to increase the ability to mentally visualize spatial relationships. However, sketching is being left out of the eLearning revolution, and currently relies extensively on multiple-choice questions.

Eric Forgoston • Mathematical Sciences
Lora Billings • Dean’s Office, CSAM
RUI: Stochastic Interactions: Understanding Invasion and Extinction in Ecological Systems
National Science Foundation
$166,039
The project involves the use of theoretical, statistical, and computational approaches to improve our understanding of how models of large ecological systems respond to stochastic interactions and perturbations. Of particular interest is the study of primary and secondary extinction cascades in food webs as well as the susceptibility of food webs to invasive species. The results will be useful in improving our understanding of biodiversity and the organization of living communities as well as factors that can stabilize or destabilize ecosystems.

Jacalyn Giacalone Willis • Professional Resources in Science and Mathematics
The New Jersey STEM Innovation Fellowship
Math for America
$200,000
The New Jersey STEM Innovation Fellowship is a new teacher-leadership program that will be open to experienced elementary teachers working in New Jersey public schools. Teachers accepted to the fellowship will receive a $5,000 stipend and join a supportive learning community where they will learn about a research-based, innovative math teaching practice alongside talented teachers from other New Jersey districts and schools. Montclair State University, in collaboration with Math for America, will be the lead institution in partnership with Princeton University and Rowan University.

Elaine Hitchcock • Communication Sciences and Disorders
Biofeedback-Enhanced Treatment for Speech Sound Disorder: Randomized Controlled Trial and Delineation of Sensorimotor Subtypes – Year 1
National Institutes of Health
$271,097
This study will evaluate children with RSE affecting /r/ (n= 110 for Aim 1; n= 118 across Aims 1 and 3) who are native speakers of English between 9;0 and 15;11 years of age. Supported by a multi-site, five-year, $1.39 million R01 award with New York University and Syracuse University, Dr. Hitchcock will be responsible for overseeing staff at MSU and contributing to study design plans.

Jorge Lorenzo Trueba • Earth and Environmental Studies
Collaborative Research: From Surface Dynamics to Strata: Quantifying the Signals of Surface Processes in Space and Time
National Science Foundation
$63,927
In collaboration with the University of Central Florida, University of Connecticut, and University of New Mexico, the goal of the work is to build a unified spatio-temporal scaling framework that allows the researchers to link scale-dependent delta surface dynamics (i.e. channel versus floodplain dynamics) and morphology to the final sedimentary products, and vice versa, under a variety of steady and unsteady forcings. The proposed research represents a potentially transformative approach to linking the surface structure and dynamics of deltaic channel networks to the subsurface structure of deltaic deposits.

Robert Reid • Family and Child Studies
Pauline Garcia-Reid • Family and Child Studies
Project C.O.P.E. – Supplement
US Department of Health & Human Services/SAMHSA
$283,875
Dr. Reid and Dr. Garcia-Reid’s Project C.O.P.E. works to prevent substance abuse and the spread of HIV among African American and Latino youth in Paterson, NJ.

Meiyin Wu • Passaic River Institute
Study on the Concentrations and Sources of the Cyanotoxins BMAA, DAB and AEG in the Raw and Finished Water in New Jersey, US and Taiwan
Ministry of Science and Technology, Republic of China
$4,302
The objective of this international cooperation between National Cheng Kung University and Montclair State University is to understand the presence of BMAA, DAB and AEG, a group of novel neurotoxins produced by cyanobacteria, in the lakes, reservoirs, and finished water in New Jersey and to compare data with those present in Taiwan’s lakes and reservoirs.