FacultyGrants

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Hobart and William Smith faculty across disciplines have had success in securing external funding to support their research, scholarship, and creative activity. While the below profiles are organized in broad disciplinary categories, many of our faculty are immersed in interdisciplinary collaboration and have one or more affiliations with interdisciplinary programs and scholarly networks.

SCIENCES

Arens
Nan Crystal Arens, Geoscience

  • Collaborative Research: REU Site: Microplastic Sources, Sinks, Transport and Environmental Impact across the Finger Lakes Watershed (National Science Foundation / Award Number: 2349407 / Award Date: 9/16/2024 / Award Amount: $358,976)

Brown
Meghan Brown, Biology

  • Support for Investigating colonization dynamics using Hemimysis anomala (U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration via University of Minnesota / Award Number: D010147601 / Award Date: 10/14/22 / Award Amount: $6,052)
  • Support for the Evaluation and Verification of Aquatic Nuisance Species (ANS) Control Technology and Other Green Shipping Initiative (U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration via University of Minnesota / Award Number:  D010920901 / Award Date: 5/9/2024 / Award Amount: $10,623)

Cleckner
Lisa Cleckner, Finger Lakes Institute

  • Agreement with HWS to Continue Removal of Giant Hogweed in the NY Counties of Monroe, Wayne, Livingston, Ontario, Seneca, Yates, Schuyler, Steuben, Cayuga, Tompkins, Onondaga and Madison (U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service/ Award Number:  NR232C31XXXXC010 / Award Date:  8/18/2023 / Award Amount:  $399,791)
  • Cayuga Lake Watershed Steward (Town of Ithaca / Award Number: NA / Award Date: 9/8/2024 / Award Amount: $190,000)
  • Eradication of High Priority Invasive Species to Protect Important Wetland Communities within the Lake Ontario Watershed (U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service / Award Number:  21-CS-11092000-029  / Award Date: 6/2/2021 / Award Amount: $46,537 )
  • Finger Lakes Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (New York State Department of Environmental Conservation / Award Number: C013469 / Award Date: 8/1/2025 / Award Amount: $3,872,187)
  • Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Hemlock Forest Conservation in Finger Lakes State Parks (U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service / Award Number:  23-DG-11094200-221 / Award Date: 3/18/2024  / Award Amount: $183,019)
  • Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Managing Invasives on Private Lands Critical to Finger Lakes (U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service / Award Number:  24-DG-11094200-103 / Award Date: 11/5/24 / Award Amount: $99,632)
  • Keuka Lake Level Management Study (New York Department of State via Town of Pulteney / Award Number: C1002630  / Award Date: 12/16/2024 / Award Amount: $25,000)
  • Marsh Creek Floodplain Restoration Design (New York Department of State via Town of Geneva / Award Number: C1002613  / Award Date: 3/12/25  / Award Amount: $21,500)
  • Pursue execution of recommended actions in the 9E to do the Marsh Creek Floodplain restoration project (Ontario County / Award Number: 25-0298 / Award Date: 12/19/2025 / Award Amount: $17,200)
  • Reviving the Crooked Canal as a Riparian Runoff Reduction Ecosystem (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency / Award Number: 00E03111 / Award Date: 5/26/2022 / Award Amount: $314,094)
  • Seneca and Cayuga Lake Watersheds Road Drainage Assessment project (New York Department of State via Town of Fayette / Award Number: C1002011 / Award Date:  3/23/2023  / Award Amount: $84,375)
  • Seneca-Keuka Watershed (New York State Department of Environmental Conservation / Award Number: C00639GG  / Award Date: 1/14/2019  / Award Amount: $200,000)
  • Seneca-Keuka Water Quality Protection Manual (New York Department of State via Village of Watkins Glen / Award Number: C1002645  / Award Date: 3/23/2025 / Award Amount: $24,000)
  • Surveying Finger Lakes National Forest Ponds for Invasive Species (U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service / Award Number: 23-CS-11092000-015 / Award Date:  6/20/2023 / Award Amount: $49,960)
  • Watercraft Inspection Stewards in Monroe County (Monroe County Soil & Water Conservation District / Award Number: NA / Award Date: 6/18/2025  / Award Amount: $16,600)

Cosentino
Bradley Cosentino, Biology

  • Biggest bang for your buck: Using NASA Earth Observations to understand and maximize holistic ecosystem benefits from invasive mammal eradications on islands (National Aeronautics and Space Administration via Island Conservation / Award Number: NASAHWS08092024  / Award Date: 8/13/2024  / Award Amount: $217,467)
  • Collaborative Research: Adaptive and nonadaptive mechanisms of phenotypic evolution in response to urbanization (National Science Foundation / Award Number:  2018249 / Award Date: 8/24/2020  / Award Amount: $426,452)

Curtin
Tara Curtin, Geoscience

  • Collaborative Research: REU Site--Northeast Partnership for Atmospheric and Related Sciences (NEPARS) (National Science Foundation / Award Number:  1947703 / Award Date: 6/17/2020 / Award Amount: $531,693)

Finkelstein
David Finkelstein, Geoscience

  • Collaborative Research: REU Site--Northeast Partnership for Atmospheric and Related Sciences (NEPARS) (National Science Foundation / Award Number:  1947703 / Award Date: 6/17/2020 / Award Amount: $531,693)

Hebb
Leslie Hebb, Physics

  • Collaborative Research: Confirming and Characterizing Transiting Exoplanets around Bright Stars with Ultra-precise Ground-based Photometry (National Science Foundation / Award Number: 1909682 / Award Date: 8/28/2019 / Award Amount:  $91,034)
  • Collaborative Research: EPIIC: EmpowerEd -- Building the Future Workforce Together (National Science Foundation / Award Number: 2331555 / Award Date:  9/20/2023 / Award Amount: $399,499)
  • LSST-DA Expansion Partnership Funding Support (LSST Discovery Alliance / Award Number: 2024-HSFEXP-02-HWS/ Award Date:12/17/2024 / Award Amount: $24,000)
  • Shining a Spot-light on the Atmosphere of a Giant Planet around a Cool Star (Space Telescope Science Institute / Award Number: JWST-GO-05863.002-A / Award Date:  1/9/2025/ Award Amount: $20,674)

Kirk
Sarah Kirk, Chemistry

  • New York Six Mellon Academic Leadership Fellows (Mellon Foundation / Award Number:  NA / Award Date: 2/17/2026 / Award Amount: $300,375)
  • ASCEND: Advancing STEM Careers by Empowering Network Development (National Science Foundation via John Carroll University / Award Number: ASCENDsub-008 / Award Date: 8/16/2021 / Award Amount: $29,663)
  • The design and synthesis of tetracaine derivatives as enhanced ion channel blockers (National Institutes of Health / Award Number:  R15GM132845-HWS  / Award Date: 8/13/2021 / Award Amount: $24,914)

Laird
Neil Laird, Geoscience

  • Collaborative Research: REU Site--Northeast Partnership for Atmospheric and Related Sciences (NEPARS) (National Science Foundation / Award Number:  1947703 / Award Date: 6/17/2020 / Award Amount: $531,693)
  • Multi-scale Interactions Influencing Lake-Effect Systems (National Science Foundation / Award Number: 2040594 / Award Date: 1/12/2021 / Award Amount: $514,733)

Metz
Nicholas Metz, Geoscience

  • Central New York LSAMP Alliance (CNYLA) (National Science Foundation / Award Number: 100-082-006 / Award Date: 9/18/24 / Award Amount: $190,988)
  • Collaborative Research: EPIIC: EmpowerEd -- Building the Future Workforce Together (National Science Foundation / Award Number: 2331555 / Award Date:  9/20/2023 / Award Amount: $399,499)
  • Collaborative Research: REU Site--Northeast Partnership for Atmospheric and Related Sciences (NEPARS) (National Science Foundation / Award Number:  1947703  / Award Date:  6/17/2020  / Award Amount: $531,693)
  • Multi-scale Interactions Influencing Lake-Effect Systems (National Science Foundation / Award Number: 2040594 / Award Date: 1/12/2021 / Award Amount: $514,733)

Mowery
Patricia Mowery, Biology

  • Multidisciplinary Investigation of Antitubulin Heterocycles using Synthesis, Biology, and Structural Analysis (National Institutes of Health / Award Number:  1R15CA274493-01/ Award Date: 9/19/23 / Award Amount: $386,781)

Pelkey
Erin Pelkey, Chemistry

  • Multidisciplinary Investigation of Antitubulin Heterocycles using Synthesis, Biology, and Structural Analysis (National Institutes of Health / Award Number:  1R15CA274493-01/ Award Date: 9/19/23 / Award Amount: $386,781)
  • Research Grants for Faculty at Principally Undergraduate Institutions (Organic Syntheses / Award Number: NA  / Award Date: 2/4/2020 / Award Amount: $8,000)

Penn
Steve Penn, Physics

  • Collaborative Research: Center for Coatings Research (National Science Foundation / Award Number: 2309292 / Award Date: 8/2/23  / Award Amount:  $127,861)
  • Collaborative Research: LSC Center for Coatings Research (National Science Foundation / Award Number: 2011688 / Award Date: 8/25/2020 / Award Amount:  $107,464)
  • Collaborative Research: Development and Characterization of AlGaAs Coatings for Gravitational-wave Detectors (National Science Foundation / Award Number:  2409601 / Award Date: 8/15/24 / Award Amount: $160,000)
  • MRI: Track 1 Development of Large Optic Crystalline Coating Characterization Instrument (LOCCCI) for Gravitational Wave Detectors (National Science Foundation / Award Number:  2320711/ Award Date:  8/24/2023  / Award Amount: $1,077,454)
  • RUI: Investigations of Mirror Coatings for A+ and Third Generation Gravitational Wave Detectors (National Science Foundation / Award Number:  1912699 / Award Date: 7/24/2019 / Award Amount: $240,000)
  • RUI: Investigations of Mirror Thermal Noise for Gravitational Wave Detectors (National Science Foundation / Award Number:  2208079 / Award Date: 6/23/22 / Award Amount: $60,000)

Rusinko
Joseph Rusinko, Mathematics & Computer Science

  • Central New York LSAMP Alliance (CNYLA) (National Science Foundation / Award Number: 100-082-006 / Award Date: 9/18/24 / Award Amount: $190,988)

Slade
Kristin Slade, Chemistry

  • Research Coordination Networks in Undergraduate Biology Education (RCN-UBE) (National Science Foundation / Award Number: A22-0018, GRT_0503 / Award Date: 6/20/2023 / Award Amount: $3,174)

Straub
Shannon Straub, Biology

  • Collaborative Research: Can hundreds of unlinked loci really resolve recent, rapid radiations of plant species? (National Science Foundation / Award Number:  1457473 / Award Date: 4/20/2015 / Award Amount: $339,095)
  • Collaborative Research: Macroevolution of a group of plant secondary defense compounds (pyrrolizidine alkaloids) in the dogbane and milkweed flowering plant family (Apocynaceae) (National Science Foundation / Award Number: 1655223  / Award Date:  3/13/2017  / Award Amount: $130,907)

Arts & Humanities

Gu
Jiangtao Harry Gu, Media and Society Program

  • Tanaka Asian Studies Endowment: Gimme Shelter: Art and Activism in Hong Kong Refugee Camps,1980-1991 (Tanaka Memorial Foundation / Award Number: NA / Award Date: 5/18/22 / Award Amount: $5,000)

Williams
Cynthia Williams, Dance and Movement Studies

  • David Dorfman Dance (NYS DanceForce / Award Number: NA / Award Date: 3/2/2026 / Award Amount: $12,500)
  • Doug Varone & Dancers Residency (NYS DanceForce / Award Number: NA / Award Date: 7/14/2025 / Award Amount: $20,000)
  • Fly By Night Dance (NYS DanceForce / Award Number: NA / Award Date: 3/11/2024 / Award Amount: $10,000)
  • Passion Fruit Dance (NYS DanceForce / Award Number: NA / Award Date: 7/25/2023 / Award Amount: $14,000)
  • Kinetic Light (Mid Atlantic Arts / Award Number: 34342 / Award Date: 8/11/2021 / Award Amount: $8,400)
  • Jane Comfort (Mid Atlantic Arts / Award Number: 32351 / Award Date: 2/4/2021 / Award Amount: $7,200)

Social sciences

Annear
Chris Annear, Anthropology

  • Big Brother, Big Man: Impacts of Foreign Investment on Food, Energy & Sense of Connection in Zambia (American Philosophical Society / Award Number: NA / Award Date: 3/28/2026 / Award Amount: $6,500)

Crow
Matt Crow, History

  • Matters of Memory (Mellon Foundation / Award Number:  2312-17816 / Award Date: 12/2/2024/ Award Amount: $500,000)

Galloway
David Galloway, Russian Area Studies

  • Siberian Culture in the Golden Altai (U.S. Department of Education / Award Number: P021A190013 / Award Date: 9/13/2019 / Award Amount: $97,410)
  • Modern Georgia: Politics, Economy, Culture (U.S. Department of Education / Award Number: P021A240013  / Award Date:  8/6/2024  / Award Amount:  $142,965)

Lee
Sooyoung Lee, Economics

  • Tanaka Asian Studies Endowment: Global Trade’s Impact on Growing the Middle Class in the Developing World (Tanaka Memorial Foundation / Award Number: NA / Award Date: 4/23/2021 / Award Amount: $5,000)

Yoshikawa
Lisa Yoshikawa, History

  • Freeman Student-Faculty Fellows Program (ASIANetwork / Award Number: NA / Award Date: 2/17/2023 / Award Amount: $22,400)
  • Tanaka Asian Studies Endowment: Infuse Asia content into HWS courses across campus and broaden opportunities for student encounters with Asia (Tanaka Memorial Foundation / Award Number: NA / Award Date: 6/9/2025 / Award Amount: $4,500)

Library

Vesei
Charles Vesei, Warren Hunting Smith Library

  • Medical Information Services Program (MISP), Rochester Regional Library Council (New York State Education Department / Award Number: NA / Award Date: 1/11/2024 / Award Amount: $450)
  • New York State Coordinated Collection Development Aid (CCDA) (New York State Education Department / Award Number: / Award Date: 12/22/2025 / Award Amount: $6,422)