Creative, Collaborative and Community-Engaged
The C3 Interdisciplinary Research Initiative promotes creative, collaborative, and community-engaged interdisciplinary research in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The C3 initiative is designed to facilitate and develop new collaborations among CLAS scholars that will lead to the submission of competitive grant proposals to external funding agencies.
This year’s funded projects are:
How Do Multi-Scale Hydrodynamics Bring Marine Bacteria into Direct Contact?
PI: Anne W. Thompson, Biology
Co-PIs: Raúl Bayoán Cal, Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science; Martin Obligado, École Centrale de Lille, France
The existing conceptual framework of the open ocean is as a dilute ecosystem where individual bacterial cells rarely encounter each other. However, this view is at odds with a growing body of research that points to direct contact between bacteria as a key component of carbon, energy, and gene flow in the ocean. This project will develop an experimental system to measure the distance between bacterial particles in a fluid environment and test the hypothesis that ocean bacteria exist intermittently at high density because of particle clustering hydrodynamic processes (i.e. turbulence, wind cells, and boundary layers). The project will be a collaboration between Anne Thompson (PSU Biology), Raul Bayoan Cal (PSU Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science) and Martin Obligado (École Centrale de Lille, France), tying together departments across PSU and the international community. Addressing this hypothesis has major implications to understanding the ocean carbon cycle, energy transfer through feeding interactions, and the ecology and evolution of aquatic bacteria. We plan to submit a proposal to NSF’s Biology Oceanography Program.
Discover New Materials via a Calibrated Measurement Error Model
PI: Ge Zhao, Math + Stats
Co-PI: Yong-Jie Hu, Drexel University
Modern material science increasingly relies on numerical simulations alongside experimental studies because, first, discovering new materials with desired properties through experiments is expensive due to the numerous possible compositions; second, modern simulation methods like molecular dynamics and machine learning techniques perform reliably. Molecular dynamics methods construct micro atomistic structures to estimate physical properties, while deep neural networks predict properties from elemental compositions. However, as the demand for advanced materials grows, current simulation processes require improvements for higher accuracy. Molecular dynamics methods often fail due to computational errors, and machine learning lacks interpretability due to its "black box" nature. We propose a robust, flexible, and interpretable measurement error model to address these challenges. Designed for regression analysis where predictors have measurement errors, this model includes a regression component fitting material properties using atomistic structures and an error component characterizing the relationship between true and observed predictors. Unlike traditional models with deterministic error assumptions, our model uses a parametric approach for physical principles and a nonparametric format for error flexibility. Calibration with experimental data ensures robustness and adherence to physical principles. We plan to submit the proposal to the NSF Computational and Data-Enabled Science and Engineering in Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (CDS&E-MSS) program.
Urban Farming Education: Integrating Indigenous Knowledge, Hands-On Learning, and Community Engagement
PI: Stefanie Kautz, Biology
Co-PIs: Emma Johnson, ITECK Coordinator, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; Erica Hernandez, Biology
Food security challenges make it harder for people, especially Indigenous communities in cities, to access fresh, affordable food. Urban farming offers a solution by growing food locally. Our project will teach students sustainable agriculture using traditional Indigenous crops like camas, wapato, and Makah Ozette potatoes. We will collect data on the performance of these crops, which are often overlooked in Western farming, in urban settings and study the impact of beneficial soil microbes on their growth. We will focus on resistance to heat and drought, conditions expected to become more frequent. These plants also provide culturally important foods and support urban pollinator diversity. We will integrate Indigenous Traditional Ecological & Cultural Knowledge (ITECK) with Western farming techniques. Students will gain practical experience through the Biology Department’s Plant Science Club and Urban Farming course and participating in community outreach. This research will promote food sovereignty, empowering students and communities to grow their own food and increase student interest and continuation in science programs. We plan to submit a grant proposal to the USDA's Urban Agriculture and Innovation Production (UAIP) program and consider applying for a grant under the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program.
Young Archivists: Promoting Youth Character Development Through a School-Based Innovative Art Program
PI: Yue Ni, Psychology
Co-PI: Michael Bernard Stevenson Jr., artist
Character education is essential for the healthy development of young people. Previous research on youth character education suggests traditional methods that emphasize problem prevention and direct teaching about character virtues showed little effects. Alternative approaches focusing on what youth can do and what they care about may be more promising. Young Archivists is one example of these approaches. This youth-centered after-school program at Jefferson High School, led by Master Artist Michael Bernard Stevenson Jr., aims to empower students to contribute to the community by engaging them in Jefferson’s archival work through storytelling, tile making, 3D scanning, and other creative art endeavors. The program has strong potential to promote character development, including qualities like civic virtues, intellectual curiosity, and self-regulation. Nevertheless, its actual impact on character development remains unclear. Therefore, we propose to evaluate the impact of the program with a mixed-method approach, including a quasi-experimental design, in-depth interviews, and focus groups. To achieve our aim, we will submit our grant proposal to the John Templeton Foundation. The funds would allow us to evaluate the effectiveness of this strength-based and interdisciplinary approach to cultivating character, providing scientific evidence for character development and a new model for character education in other communities.
Whose Language Counts in College? Embracing Linguistic Diversity and Combating Linguistic Discrimination in Portland’s Higher Education Community
PI: Lynn Santelmann, Applied Linguistics
Co-PIs: John Hellermann, Janet Cowal, and Jennifer MIttelstaedt, Applied Linguistics; Steven Thorne, World Languages and Literatures; Jian Wang, PSU Library; Misty Hamideh, Office of Academic Innovation
Most students and faculty in higher education assume that the language they must use is “Standard American English” (SAE). However, SAE was established based on class and racial discrimination and viewing it as the only acceptable variety for higher education is an ideology that promotes linguistic bias and discrimination. Since 2022, the Linguistic Diversity and Discrimination Awareness Project (LiDA) at PSU has investigated language and dialect diversity on campus, including people’s experiences with language bias. We have found that multilingualism is prevalent, languages other than English are undervalued, linguistic bias occurs, and the ideology of SAE is widespread.
This project extends LiDA’s work to local community colleges. We will hold language summits with stakeholders to better understand the languages and dialects used there and to co-create goals and research tools for LiDA in community college contexts. We will also work with PSU’s library and OAI to begin developing digital resources about language diversity and discrimination in the metro area. This pilot work will inform a National Endowment for Humanities grant proposal to co-research multilingualism and discrimination in community colleges and fully develop the digital resources for dissemination of research findings and educational materials on language diversity and linguistic discrimination.
La Lectura Cura - Using Latinx Literature to Promote Healing and Bilingual Literacy Practices at an Emerging Hispanic Serving Institution
PIs: Melissa Patiño-Vega, Cristina Herrera, and Martín Gonzalez, Chicanx/Latinx Studies; Jessica Ramirez, School of Social Work and Chicanx/Latinx Studies
From an interdisciplinary perspective, this project will investigate how Spanish-English reading circles rooted in culturally sustaining pedagogies and community cultural wealth promote healing, representation, and bilingual literacy practices among Chicanx and Latinx students, staff, and faculty at PSU. This research initiative will adopt the Latinx novel titled I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter written by Erika L. Sánchez, which addresses themes including mental health, immigration, language, and trauma, issues that PSU’s Chicanx and Latinx students commonly face. This community book will be adopted in Spanish Heritage, Chicanx & Latinx Studies, and Social Work classes taught by faculty in these units. We will also engage student-facing centers including, La Casa Latina, Dreamer Resource Center, and SHAC.
During Fall 2024, our project intends to recruit 115 student participants, hold three reading circles, and conclude with a keynote and discussion with Erika L. Sánchez, the novel's author. These bilingual reading circles aim to holistically serve a large minority group that has historically been neglected in academia. Our goal is that other disciplines across campus can borrow from our model of using culturally sustaining pedagogies and community cultural wealth as our university strives to be a Hispanic Serving Institution. Additionally, we intend to apply to the James F. & Marion L. Miller Foundation for external funding to continue our research efforts with Latinx local high school students and community.
Minority in Number, Majority in Action: Black, Indigenous, and Students of Color Solidarity Movements in the Pacific Northwest
PIs: Yasmeen Hanoosh, World Languages and Literatures; Aaron Roussell, Sociology; Gisela Rodriguez Fernandez, University Studies
BIPOC students constitute minority populations in virtually all of the colleges and universities of the Pacific Northwest, yet when it comes to political organizing, forming solidarity movements, and fighting for social justice, BIPOC student solidarity groups are at the forefront of articulating demands and effecting social change at the US campuses where they study and live. While existing research focuses predominantly on BIPOC students’ ongoing institutional marginalization, the agency and leadership exercised by organized BIPOC students tend to be overlooked. Applying qualitative and quantitative methods of inquiry, our multidisciplinary, comparative study fills the gap by investigating the causal forces behind the demographic distribution of student political organizing, the effects it has had on participating and non-participating student populations, on the recruiting and retention of BIPOC students, on programming and staffing changes, and on the development and implementation of DEI initiatives. External funding agency we hope to approach first: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Grant, Evidence of Action: Innovative Research to Advance Racial Equity.
Advancing Racial Equity in High School Education Using Communities of Practice: A Partnership Study
PIs: Karlyn Adams-Wiggins, Psychology; Alissa Hartig, Applied Linguistics
Science education reforms have highlighted the importance of increasing students’ engagement in STEM, but implementing these reforms is not always straightforward. Teachers need support to be able to put new teaching techniques into practice, and even when they do receive such support, these techniques may not have equally positive impacts for all students. In particular, students of color may be alienated by interactions in the science classroom and various aspects of the science curriculum itself, for example, assumptions about what does and does not count as a valid form of scientific knowledge. As a result of this alienation, many of these students may not see themselves as future scientists when they leave high school. This project aims to engage with teachers and students at a local ethnically-diverse suburban high school to identify strategies for better serving students of color by getting to know what students are experiencing in the classroom and creating educator communities of practice, or spaces for teachers to share ideas, struggles, and resources. Based on this work, we plan to submit a full proposal to the Spencer Foundation’s Research-Practice Partnership Grant program, with alternative proposals being developed for NSF grant programs.
Can the Climate Impacts of Large-Scale Solar and Wind Farms Help Reverse Desertification?
PI: Safa Mote, Math + Stats
Co-PIs: Andrew Rice, Physics; Richard Mills, Argonne National Laboratory
Between ~7000 to 3000 BCE, northern Africa experienced significantly higher levels of precipitation. During this time, what is now the Sahara Desert was a vast area of grasslands with large lakes and rivers. This fertile region supported various human cultures. However, since the end of this "Green Sahara" period, the region has gradually become much drier. This shift has dramatically changed the landscape and ecological productivity of the Sahara.
Replacing fossil energy sources with wind and solar farms can help reduce global carbon emissions, which in turn can reduce human-caused climate change. But are there additional advantages to these technologies? Using a climate model, we discovered that installing large-scale wind and solar energy facilities in the Sahara might lead to more rainfall nearby, especially in the Sahel region. This happens because these renewable energy farms change how the land interacts with the atmosphere, making it more likely to rain. This extra rainfall could help more plants grow, which in turn might cause even more rain through increasing surface friction and reducing brightness—positive feedbacks that benefit the environment. More plants will reduce dust in the air, likely triggering another positive feedback that can further help reverse desertification.
Target Funding Agency and Program: US Department of Energy, Reaching a New Energy Sciences Workforce (RENEW) or Funding for Accelerated, Inclusive Research (FAIR).
How a Forest of Trees Cracks the Critical Zone: A Collaborative Foray into Developing Coupled Forest-Bedrock Models for Wind Tunnel Experiments
PI: Jill Marshall (Geology, jillmar@pdx.edu )
Co-PIs: Raúl Bayóan Cal and Thomas Schumacher, Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science
The Critical Zone is often described as ‘where rock meets water and life’. This thin skin of our earth, built of soil and weathered rock, is critical for sustaining ecosystems, storing, filtering and transporting water along with innumerable other functions that we, as humans, rely on. In hilly and mountainous terrain, bedrock is physically and chemically weathered until it becomes sediment. Little is known about how much and how often trees with roots embedded in rock physically weather rock although this is a central assumption in Critical Zone Science. Building on previous work by PI Marshall showing wind-driven forces on rock are quite diverse in mixed species forested settings, we will develop the outline for a proposal centered on a series of wind tunnel experiments. Project goals include developing:
- a testable set of hypotheses geared towards downscaling the appropriate forest and bedrock attributes
- a proposed set of experiments
- a list of scaling relationships
- design parameters for model trees and bedrock-like material
- student intern-generated 3d printing tree designs
- a detailed proposal outline
Potential funding programs include NSF Geomorphology and Land-use Dynamics, the NSF Career Award (for PI Marshall) and NSF Opportunities for Research and Education in the Critical Zone.
Upending Unsafe Spaces: Equity and Diversity Advanced through Targeted Adaptations (UUSE DATA)
PI: Gina Greco (World Languages and Literatures, grecog@pdx.edu)
Co-PIs: Tong Zhang, Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science; Theresa McCormick, Chemistry; Eva Thanheiser, Math + Stats; Lisa Weasel, Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies
The UUSE DATA project aims to improve the workplace experiences and retention of PSU faculty in STEM fields who have been traditionally minoritized and marginalized based on gender, race/ethnicity, and other intersectional identities (e.g., sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic status, national origin, immigrant status). Analyses and synthesis of qualitative and quantitative data our group has collected from PSU STEM faculty reveal significant differences in feelings of empowerment and workplace satisfaction among minoritized STEM faculty compared to majority STEM faculty. Furthermore, measures taken to address minoritized faculty disempowerment on campus are typically individual “fixes” rather than standard practices that provide systemic solutions. We will identify levers of systemic change that have been used successfully on other campuses, adapt them to the specific context at PSU, and incorporate them into a five-year equity plan to improve working conditions for all minoritized faculty at PSU. We will seek funding to support implementation of the plan through an NSF ADVANCE ADAPTATION GRANT.