NSF PR 00-83 - October 31, 2000
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NSF-Funded Scientists to Examine Environment at the
Molecular Level
New institute to study chemistry
of natural environment
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $19
million over five years to scientists seeking to distinguish,
at the molecular level, between natural and human-caused
environmental processes.
Eight grants awarded by NSF's Division of Chemistry
will allow the creation of national models of collaborative
research aimed at understanding the natural environment
and addressing global environmental challenges. The
research, to be conducted at a new Environmental Molecular
Science Institute (EMSI) at Ohio State University
and by seven small interdisciplinary groups at other
institutions, is ultimately expected to contribute
to beneficial environmental technologies and processes.
"Solving the many environmental problems confronting
our 21st-century society will require an understanding
of processes at the molecular level and a translation
of this understanding to the global level," said Robert
Eisenstein, NSF's director of mathematical and physical
sciences. "These scientists and engineers will combine
chemistry with other disciplines to address those
challenges."
Each project will provide a forum for academic scientists
and engineers from multiple disciplines to work with
industrial colleagues and with students. Education
and outreach are critical features of the scientific
programs.
The EMSI at Ohio State will study the role of molecular
reactions in sites contaminated with many common pollutants,
including dyes, solvents and refinery waste. The institute
will bring together researchers from fields such as
chemistry, public health, civil and environmental
engineering, geological sciences and chemical engineering.
Researchers from Boston College, Princeton University,
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution, Argonne National Laboratory
and several private companies will participate.
The other seven awards will support groups of three
to five investigators at Johns Hopkins University,
Pennsylvania State University, Stanford University,
University of California at San Diego, University
of Kentucky, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Each will address
a specific aspect of environmental science, such as
the development of "green" processes for chemical
reactions involving halogens, the binding and release
of contaminants in soil and water, and the study of
airborne particulate matter.
This year's awards follow the initial establishment
of three EMSIs in 1998 at Columbia, Northwestern and
Princeton Universities. Those institutes, also funded
for five years, are studying problems such as the
role of catalytic oxidation in waste clean-up and
emission reduction; the molecular mechanisms determining
the fate and effect of trace metals in the environment;
and how metal-based enzymes, important in global nitrogen
and carbon cycles, affect marine ecosystems.
For more information see: http://www.nsf.gov/mps/chem/emsi98.htm
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