University of Connecticut
AC-9: Academic Research

The Office of Sponsored Programs and Research (OSP) searched all research projects that are registered through their office (research funded by external grants) using a list of keywords generated by the AASHE definition of sustainability and the UConn specific definition from the Academic Plan. The OSP provided us a list of all the PIs and Co-PIs who are faculty at UConn. The Office of Environmental Policy (OEP) reviewed the project titles to confirm that the projects are related to sustainability. The OSP also provided a list of all researchers listed on externally funded grants, which the OEP reviewed in order to remove any non-UConn faculty. The OEP also added faculty listed by the OSP for externally-funded research during the past year, and for which we had personal knowledge were engaged in sustainability-related funded research, but which had been omitted from OSP's key word search list for sustainability.

Dr. Alexander G. Agrios, Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is researching environmental applications of nanoscale semiconductors, especially in low-cost solar energy conversion. The lab is developing different nanoarchitectures to take advantage of fast electron transport, high surface area, and dye compatibility of the TiO2 nanoparticles. They are also introducing a dye-anchored nanocatalyst in solar cells to absorb more light and increase energy conversion efficiency of low-cost dye-sensitized solar cells. http://cee.engr.uconn.edu/people/faculty-members/agrios-alexander-g http://agrios.engr.uconn.edu/Agrios_Group_II/Home.html Carol Atkinson-Palombo, Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography, worked with Ben Hoen, Staff Research Assistant at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory on a report that determined that wind turbines have zero negative effects on nearby property values and home sales. The research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. The study examined over 100,00 home sales between 1998 and 2012 occurring within five miles of the current or future location of 41 wind turbines. https://emp.lbl.gov/sites/all/files/lbnl-6371e_0.pdf Dr. Robin Chazdon, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, leads a research coordination network funded by the US National Science Foundation, Coupled Natural and Human Systems Program called PARTNERS (People And Reforestation in the Tropics; a Network for Education, Research and Synthesis). PARTNERS brings natural scientists, social scientists, anthropologists, economists, forest ecologists, foresters, geographers, landscape ecologists, political scientists, and sociologists together to address the complexity of socio-ecological processes that shape tropical reforestation. http://today.uconn.edu/blog/2014/06/regenerating-tropical-forests/ Dr. Christine J. Kirchhoff, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is working with colleagues at the University of Michigan (Don Scavia and Allison Steiner), Grace College (Nathan Bosch), the National Wildlife Federation (Michael Murray) and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and the Division of Wildlife (Heather Elmer). The team applies coupled land-water-climate models to assess scenarios of altered management practices and to evaluate the potential of those changes to reduce nutrient loading to Lake Erie. http://cee.engr.uconn.edu/people/faculty-members/kirchhoff-christine-j http://kirchhofflg.weebly.com/ Dr. Baikun Li (Civil and Environmental Engineering) runs a bioenergy production-wastewater treatment group at UConn that works on hydrogen production and microbial fuel cells through anaerobic wastewater treatment. Their research focuses on developing efficient processes to generate clean sustainable energy through wastewater treatment. http://cee.engr.uconn.edu/people/faculty-members/li-baikun http://www.engr.uconn.edu/bioenergy/ Dr. Gary A. Robbins, Professor of Geology in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, specializes in the study of the fate and transport of groundwater contamination and groundwater supply sustainability. His current projects include using GIS based analysis in evaluating spatial and temporal trends in bedrock well hydraulic characteristics and water quality, evaluating the occurrence and sources of high levels of arsenic in bedrock drinking water wells in Connecticut, and evaluating the impact of permeable pavement drainage on groundwater quality. http://www.nrme.uconn.edu/Faculty_and_Staff/Robbins.php

The above data is provided to the best of our knowledge, information, and belief. It is based primarily on a database maintained by the OSP, which was further sorted by OSP for the purpose of STARS by searching its database pursuant to key words recommended by OEP. However, we believe the data as compiled for the Princeton Review snapshot is incomplete. We were able to identify both inadvertent omissions and inclusions, which we have endeavored to correct. These numbers are only of research faculty who have externally funded research, excluding staff and excluding faculty other than PIs and co-PIs (also excluding faculty conducting research that is not externally-funded). We will continue to update this information, consistent with the technical guidance for the questions asked, as we work with OSP, the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness (OIRE), CESE, the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and others to improve the accuracy and completeness of this research data. Additional website URLs where information about sustainability is available include http://today.uconn.edu/sustainable-uconn/ and http://www.engr.uconn.edu/