Research News

Dr. Suzanne Fredericq in the Department of Biology was awarded a $401,411 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the project titled Systematics of the Peyssonneliaceae (Peyssonneliales), a family of crustose marine red algae. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the diversity of the crust-forming marine red algal family Peyssonneliaceae in a worldwide context with focus on the Gulf of Mexico, along with their correct taxonomic placement at the genus level.

Dr. Suzanne Fredericq in the Department of Biology was awarded a $32,000 from the NSF Tree of Life Program for the project titled Phylogenetic and Genomic Approaches to Reconstructing the Red Algal (Rhodophyta). The aim of the grant is to reconstruct a robust phylogeny of ~500 red algal species using a concatenated dataset of nuclear, plastid, and mitochondrial-encoded gene markers as a basis for a comprehensive taxonomic revision of the red algae and for interpreting key innovations during red algal evolution.

Dr. Mauricio Rodriguez-Lanetty in the Department of Biology was awarded a $385,984 grant from NSF for the project titled Exploring the adaptation and acclimatization potentials of tropical reef corals to Global Climate Change. The goal of this project is to identify the genetic response of coral species to global environmental changes by looking at the molecular mechanisms behind thermal tolerance and by identifying the genetic traits under global change-induced selection. This area of research is crucial to understanding the potential for tropical corals to survive and adapt to the rapid global climate changes that our planet is facing.

Dr. James Albert in the Department of Biology was awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation in 2009 to provide summer support for five undergraduate students. The students built web pages to make available data and images of fish collected in Alto Yurua River of the Peruvian Amazon. The work also resulted in a publication for the students.

Drs. Arun Lakhotia and Andrew Walenstein have received a $789,989 three-year grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) to study "Obfuscation and Deobfuscation of Intent in Computer Programs." This project, to be performed in collaboration with researchers from Louisiana Tech, Ruston, LA and Bowie State, Bowie, MD, will aim at developing theoretical foundations for modeling the development of technologies for deception in the context of cyber warfare. The insights gained from this research would lead to the development of better technologies for defending against cyber attacks. 

Dr. Danella Zhao, an Assistant Professor in the Center for Advanced Computer Studies (CACS), was recently honored with a prestigious award from the National Science Foundation (NSF).  Dr. Zhao received the NSF Faculty Early Career Development Award, which is intended to support junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholar.  Dr. Zhao was awarded $621,000, which will allow her team of researchers to explore a new on-chip communication system.  The Wireless Network on-Chip would replace wires with chip- based wireless radios, increasing the speed of communications and reducing the risk of errors.  Dr. Zhao is the third member of the CACS faculty to receive the NSF award in the past five years.  She is preceded by Dr. Hong-yi Wu, who received the award in 2004 for streamlining wireless technologies, and Dr. Dmitri Perkins who received the award in 2005 for research related to large-scale wireless networking systems.

Dr. Ashok Kumar, an Assistant Professor in the Computer Science Department, received the Board of Regents research grant, as a principal investigator, for conducting research for intelligent, low power software and controller for sensors.

Dr. Andrew Walenstein, an Assistant Professor in the Computer Science Department, received a research grant, as a co-principal investigator, from the Department of Defense for conducting research for robust software.