University of Nebraska at Omaha
AC-10: Support for Sustainability Research

Fund for Undergraduate Scholarly Experiences (FUSE) Grant supports faculty-mentored undergraduate student research and creative activity. While not specifically geared towards sustainability, students have applied for this grant to do sustainability research. The grant is up to $4,500 per student and only available to UNO undergraduates. Graduate Research and Creative Activity (GRACA) Grant supports faculty-mentored graduate student research and creative activity. While not specifically geared towards sustainability, students have applied for this grant to do sustainability research. The grant is up to $5,000 per student and is only available to UNO graduate students. There are three paid positions available for students to work on sustainability research. 2 positions available are employed by The University of Nebraska at Omaha's Office of Sustainability, the other Position is employed by the Nebraska-University System's President Office. Title: 2 Student Worker positions- Student Researcher -STARS AASCHE Research Project, ORCA - Work Study Department: Office of Research & Creative Activity Job Description: Essential Functions Able to consider and uncover a wide variety of sustainability information, both scientific and data-oriented as well as social and cultural. Effective and succinct writing skills to capture information that is uncovered or gathered for submission. Student will interact with a wide variety of UNO constituencies along with important off-campus entities and partners and share workspace in the UNO sustainability office in the CEC. Title: President's Sustainability Intern Department: NU-System Office of the President Job Description: Essential Functions Able to consider and uncover a wide variety of sustainability information, both scientific and data-oriented as well as social and cultural. Effective and succinct writing skills to capture information that is uncovered or gathered for submission. Student will interact with a wide variety of UNO constituencies along with important off-campus entities and partners and share workspace in the UNO sustainability office in the CEC.

Broad Research Support:

The STEM TRAIL Center is dedicated to fostering innovation in both formal and informal STEM education. It supports UNO faculty by offering infrastructure that encourages interdisciplinary teams to focus on research with intellectual merit and broad impacts in STEM disciplines, including sustainability.

Key Research Areas and Sustainability:

Teaching Practices: Studies and tools like the Inventory of Methods and Practices Associated with Competent Teaching (IMPACT) can also be applied to enhance sustainability education, focusing on effective teaching methods that incorporate sustainability principles.

Phenomena-Based Instruction: This area includes pedagogy that uses natural phenomena, which aligns with environmental and sustainability education, such as biomechanics in physics and the development of quantum mental models that include sustainability concepts.

Technology-Enhanced Learning: Research into AI-enhanced student discussions and AR/VR applications for STEM education fosters innovative teaching methods used in sustainability education, making learning about complex ecological processes more engaging and effective.

Funded Projects with Potential Sustainability Impact:

Several projects like "ONE STEM: Preparing Nebraska's Future STEM Workforce" and "NebraskaSCIENCE," which are focused on developing exemplary science teachers and enhancing STEM education include sustainability as a key component of their curriculum development and teacher training programs.

Projects such as the examination of micro-internships in STEM workforce development and enhancing the STEM pipeline are utilized to integrate sustainability concepts into broader educational and community outreach initiatives.

Publications and Research Outputs:

The STEM TRAIL Center’s publications and research outputs, such as studies on the barriers to adopting high-impact teaching practices and the social network analysis of teaching communities, provide insights that can be leveraged to spread sustainability-focused teaching practices across various educational settings.

Research support is provided through several venues at UNO, including strategic planning, the Office of Academic Affairs (OAA), the Office of Research and Creative Activity (ORCA), and the Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE). UNO Big Ideas are bold, collaborative projects that span all the colleges, the Graduate School, the Criss Library, and surrounding Omaha community. The UNO Big Ideas process was created as a planning structure for Goals 2 & 3 of the UNO Strategic Plan. This process creates an intentional and inclusive decision making process to prioritize investment in areas of campus strength and where there are opportunities to enhance scholarly, research, and creative activities at UNO. The Big Ideas process is a continuous planning process that provides full transparency and accountability for the resources invested by UNO administration and the colleges. The Big Ideas process provides for regular opportunities for assessment, refinement, and continuous quality improvement. At the bi-annual Strategic Planning Forum this spring, faculty, staff, and students will be provided an update on the six big ideas, hear an initial implementation plan, and consider ideas for campus collaboration. Annually, UNO will hear progress reports on the Big Ideas, track progress towards concrete metrics, celebrate successes and adapt as circumstances require. In time, funds will phase in, intended to seed these projects and secure philanthropic matching funds in the forthcoming NU Foundation Campaign. New proposals for Big Ideas will also be considered as prior projects are completed. https://www.unomaha.edu/news/uno-big-ideas.php The Office of Academic Affairs (OAA) through the Office of Research and Creative Activity (ORCA) annually sponsors the Award for Distinguished Research or Creative Activity (ADROCA). This award is presented to a tenured, Graduate Faculty member to recognize achievement in research or creative activity. Recipients receive a monetary award in addition to a medallion and plaque and are recognized at the spring faculty convocation event. https://www.unomaha.edu/office-of-research-and-creative-activity/faculty/adroca.php The Center for Collaborative Science (CCS), based in UNO's College of Business Administration, continues to support efforts for collaboration-related research. An interdisciplinary team of faculty provides leadership and management oversight for projects exploring work practices and other facets of collaboration. The CCS develops, validates, and publishes scientific foundations for collaboration-related phenomena and helps organizations to apply these findings to make performance differences that matter. https://www.unomaha.edu/college-of-business-administration/center-for-collaboration-science/index.php The Center for Faculty Excellence continues to sponsor Communities of Practice (CoPs) are cohorts of faculty members from multiple disciplines who investigate teaching innovations, actively research, share feedback, assess student learning and grading techniques, and explore new models of practice. Communities of Practice are an investment in teaching and research excellence, and members may receive up to $100 in Professional Development funds. UNO's CoP focused on sustainability was established in 2018. https://www.unomaha.edu/faculty-support/campus-connections/cop.php

UNO Libraries holds thousands of physical and electronic books, journal articles, and other media that support student, faculty, and staff research into sustainability. Several librarians offer one-on-one research support as well. A research guide for sustainability is maintained by the libraries at: http://libguides.unomaha.edu/sustainability.

Distinguished Research or Creative Activity Award: https://www.unomaha.edu/academic-and-student-affairs/academic-affairs/honors-and-awards/faculty.php#distinguished-research-or-creative-activity-award Award for Distinguished Research Or Creative Activity (ADROCA): https://www.unomaha.edu/office-of-research-and-creative-activity/faculty/adroca.php Center for Collaborative Sciences: http://www.unomaha.edu/college-of-business-administration/center-for-collaboration-science/ Digital Commons @ UNO: http://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/ Center for Faculty Excellence: Communities of Practice https://www.unomaha.edu/faculty-support/campus-connections/cop.php