NOTABLE NEW GRANT AWARDS

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College Of Health And Public Service

Sarah Evans, Assistant Professor College of Information Department of Information Science

Grant Title: Raise Up Radio

Grant Amount: $420K

Agency: Institute of Museum and Library Services

Co-PI: Lance Simpson, University of Alabama

About the Grant: Raise Up Radio came about after Assistant Professor Sarah Evans in UNT’s College of Information Department of Information Science was speaking with a colleague in library youth services about how families used to listen to stories on the radio.

“The coronavirus brought this mainstream attention to the fact that the rural areas still have a lot of people who don’t have broadband,’” Evans said. “Even if they do, there’s great inconsistency in service and prices. There are definitely important efforts to remediate that. However, it’s going to take several years, and kids are learning and growing right now.”

Local radio stations are a vital lifeblood for rural communities, which led to the idea that they could broadcast STEM content produced by local libraries to families who may not be able to access internet at home.

“It’s not just the library putting together another thing. It’s actually involving families and looking at what STEM issues are relevant to their local communities, because those can all be slightly different,” Evans said. “In some communities, they’re like, ‘We have a community garden,’ so maybe we’ll do some STEM stuff around gardening. In other communities, there are seniors who don’t understand how the internet works, so what are some things we could talk about on the radio to address that?”

The radio broadcasts also would connect to activity kits that community members could check out from the library, creating further learning opportunities.

The work focused on one library to start. Additionally, researchers are creating an online toolkit and network for librarians to use to share their ideas and experiences between those who have started working with their local radio stations and those who are interested in doing so.

For the first year of the grant, Evans was joined by Assistant Professor Lance Simpson at University of Alabama and UNT Graduate Assistant Lacy Molina in working with a library in Texas and a library in Alabama to create a STEM radio program for local children in coordination with a local station. The second year will expand to four more libraries, allowing the initial libraries to act as mentors to the new libraries. As new libraries join in the program, more experienced librarians would act as resources for librarians starting similar programs.

The work is funded by a $420,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program, which supports creating a diverse future workforce and furthering professional development to support the information needs of communities.

Why the Grant Matters:

“Rural America needs more resources,” Evans said. “There are children who are growing up in rural areas, which have all kinds of wonderful experiences and lots of things that they know about in terms of STEM. If you’re a farmer, you know a lot about science. We want to tap into those resources and add to them, so that rural kids can recognize their knowledge and grow. People can’t always get to the library, but at least they’ll get a broadcast. They can be part of this community effort to learn more about the concepts that they need to think about, the information that they need.” – Sarah Evans

College Of Science

Calvin Henard, Assistant Professor Department of Biological Science

Grant Title: Development of Advanced Biocatalyst Tools and Resources to Enable Biogas-Based Biomanufacturing

Grant Amount: $537,995

Agency: National Science Foundation

Human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are higher than ever, leading to warmer average temperatures and altering the planet’s climate. Two of the most abundant greenhouse gases — carbon dioxide and methane — can remain in the atmosphere for hundreds and even thousands of years. temperature while withstanding high amounts of heat. The sensor would also be able to signal when the container may be reaching a breaking point.

As scientists and engineers look for ways to reduce the man-made greenhouse effect, University of North Texas Department of Biological Sciences faculty member Calvin Henard is beginning a three-year project to develop a methanotroph that can mitigate greenhouse gas emissions by eating carbon dioxide and methane.

Henard’s work is backed by a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation and the Agile BioFoundry, a consortium of national laboratories committed to accelerating biomanufacturing. The Agile BioFoundry is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office. Henard’s proposal was one of only six selected nationwide for this inaugural opportunity.

As a researcher in UNT’s BioDiscovery Institute, Henard’s research and teaching are focused on microbiology. Specifically, his lab engineers methanotrophic bacteria to convert methane gas into bioplastics, biofuels and other valuable products. His work led to the discovery that some methanotrophs also consume carbon dioxide. By feeding gases to these bacteria rather than releasing them into the atmosphere, engineers can help reduce the greenhouse effect. It’s also a more sustainable way to produce chemicals, plastics and fuels that would otherwise be sourced from petroleum.

For another aspect of the project, Ana Paula Alonso, professor of plant biochemistry at UNT, will trace how carbon moves throughout the organism. As a result, they will be able to create a roadmap showing movement through the bacteria, which will be used to guide engineering efforts.

The methanotrophs can be engineered to convert methane and carbon dioxide into any number of products, but that simple genetic modification currently takes months to complete. The goal of Henard’s project is to develop more advanced genetic tools that will increase the throughput of their engineering efforts and reduce the genetic modification time to a matter of weeks.

There are numerous practical applications for this work. For example, the technology could be attached to every wastewater treatment plant in the world. Rather than being released into the atmosphere, the waste gas could be converted into molecules used to make bioplastics.

Why the Grant Matters:

“I’m really happy to be part of this unique collaboration between NSF and ABF because the goal is to move from basic science to more industrially relevant applications,” Henard said. “These technologies are really a win-win because they’re an alternative way — and a sustainable way — to make products, but they also mitigate greenhouse gas production.” – Calvin Henard