Research Roundup

Equity in Engineering: Nandika D’Souza, Regents Professor and associate dean in the College of Engineering, is serving as lead principal investigator on an $800,000 National Science Foundation grant awarded to UNT and North Central Texas College to create more opportunities for Latino/a students and communities in engineering. The program will incorporate community building, networking, academic assistance and career coaching to create research-informed institutional change.

Adding Agritourism: With more than $245,000 in funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the College of Merchandising, Hospitality and Tourism will add oferings in research and an academic course focused on the growing agritourism industry. The funding is part of the USDA’s $14 million overall investment to advance learning experiences in the agricultural and human science sectors at Hispanic-Serving Institutions.

Diversity in Science: Faculty in the College of Science earned two diferent grants aimed at increasing the diversity of students pursuing studies in the sciences. Funded by a $75,000 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant, chemistryfaculty members MollyAtkinson, Adriana Corrales and Rebecca Weber are studying ways to build more equitable educational pathways in chemistryfor underserved communities. Physics faculty members Yuan Li and Ohad Shemmer are collaborating with facultyfrom the University ofTexas at Dallas to launch a post-baccalaureate bridge program and organize monthly colloquia and annual symposia to broaden the participation of underrepresented groups in astronomy.

UNT faculty and alumni shared their ideas and inspired the audience to make a difference in the world at the TEDxUNT: This Way Forward event last September. From encouraging and inspiring us to open ourselves to the joys of passionate creativity in deciding what to be when we grow up to educating us on the future of aerial transportation development, UNT students, faculty, staff and alumni were encouraged to be more curious and creative when problemsolving, to think bigger than we have before and to continue pressing forward on our next adventures.

Watch videos at TEDx UNT.org and read more about the emcee and speakers.