This academic year, Adelphi University received four grants totaling nearly $1.7 million for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics)-related projects. Three grants were awarded from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the fourth grant was awarded from the American Chemical Society.

Cindy Maguire, Ph.D., Adelphi associate professor of art and design education, and Tracy Hogan, Ph.D., associate professor of education, coordinated a proposal, Engaging Youth in Planning for the Restoration of Community Heritage Sites Through the Use of Citizen Science and Maker Practices, which was awarded $300,000 from NSF. The project will enable underserved high school students to address contemporary environmental challenges in local and global cultural sites. Students will investigate past and current environmental and human threats to UNESCO World Heritage Sites and apply the skills and knowledge they have learned to their local communities.

The grant is in partnership with Adelphi and Global Kids, a nonprofit educational organization for global learning and youth development. Adelphi will lead the research portion in areas such as engineering, geographic information system (GIS) mapping, 3D printing, arts and culture, and STEM.

Drs. Maguire and Hogan co-designed this unique after-school program with educators at Global Kids and will research the outcomes, specifically examining “How does access to STEM increase for historically underrepresented youth populations in a program designed for cultural relevance and coupled with citizen science and making practices?”

“This project is going to provide students the opportunity to come on campus to present their work and their findings,” said Dr. Maguire. “We’re very excited!”

Matthew Wright, Ph.D., Adelphi associate professor and department chair of physics, will manage the project RUI: Atomic Physics with Rapidly Frequency Chirped Laser Light, which was awarded a total of $139,992 to be distributed over the next three years. The project will research how lasers can control atom collision. With NSF funding, undergraduate physics students will have the opportunity to explore a variety of dynamics in atomic physics, including coherently controlling ultracold collisions.

“This is a really good learning experience,” said Dr. Wright. “It gives students the opportunity that they didn’t otherwise have to put their work into practice. So when they do go to get a job, they have a résumé with this amazing research experience. It launches them into their careers.”

Proposed by Ivan Fabe Dempsey Hyatt, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry, Hypervalent Iodine-Guided Electrophilic Substitution (HIGES) is a subdiscipline of organic chemistry. The American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund awarded $55,000 to HIGES that will be distributed over the next two years. A portion of the grant will fund student research. Students will do all of the research and study the electrons in hypervalent iodine molecules. This could help produce pharmaceuticals and materials more affordably.

“There are so many things a research experience can provide to undergraduates,” said Dr. Hyatt. “Self-reliance, creativity, organization, problem-solving, troubleshooting, learning scientific writing…Research also brings into practice what many students only experience from a textbook.”

Last month, it was announced that Adelphi had received a $1.2 million grant from NSF to support the training of science teachers and to offer internships to sophomore students to explore the profession of teaching by working with mentors at Global Kids in after-school programs. The teacher preparation program will have a STEAM (STEM + art and design) focus and is directed by Dr. Hogan, Emily Kang, Ph.D., and Matthew Curinga, Ed.D., from the Ruth S. Ammon School of Education, and Dr. McGuire, Andrea Ward, Ph.D., and Aaren Freeman, Ph.D., from the College of Arts and Sciences.