University of New Hampshire
AC-10: Support for Research

Undergraduate and graduate student research in sustainability is strongly encouraged and supported at UNH through the following programs:

1. Undergraduate Research Conference (URC) and Graduate Research Conference (GRC). Entering its 15th year in 2014, the URC is a celebration of academic excellence at the University of New Hampshire. At the week-long symposium, hundreds of UNH students from all academic disciplines present the results of their scholarly and creative research in one or more of over twenty professional and artistic venues campus-wide. Sustainability is a strong focus and cuts across all colleges and presentations.
A few specific examples of sustainability research include presentations like "Community Dinners Feeding Folks with Sustainability and Nutrition," a 2008 project titled "Developing a Climate Action Plan for UNH," "Water Resources Assessment of Appledore Island, ME," "Sustainability- Small Town Carbon Calculator ," and "UNH S.T.A.R.S Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System." Students are mentored by faculty and present their research to the University community and the broader public and are rewarded with awards and scholarships. Students also gain from the tremendous personal experience in presenting their research in a professional setting.

http://www.unh.edu/urc and http://www.gradschool.unh.edu/grc

2. The Sustainability Institute, the UNH Carsey Institute, the UNH Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Engagement and Outreach, the UNH Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Research, and all colleges and institutes offer a variety of support for UNH students working with faculty engaged in sustainability research:

http://www.sustainableunh.unh.edu/research
http://www.unh.edu/research
http://www.unh.edu/engagement/
http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu

3. The Hamel Center for Undergraduate Research offers several programs with funding for students to pursue research locally and abroad. The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) supports students with their research and creative projects by funding Undergraduate Research Awards (URAs) and Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURFs). In addition to this research support, UROP offers presentation grants to assist with travel expenses and registration fees associated with students presenting project or research findings at a conference or professional meeting off campus. The Center's International Research Opportunities Program (IROP) funds nine weeks of research in a foreign country during the summer of junior year. Students conduct research under the guidance of a foreign mentor and experience the challenges of designing and executing a research project while living in a different culture.

http://www.unh.edu/undergrad-research/

Faculty research in sustainability is strongly supported and encouraged by UNH through the following programs:

1. Sustainability Research Collaboratory (SRC): The Sustainability Research Collaboratory (SRC) is the primary research pillar of the Sustainability Institute and works to build capacity in UNH faculty, staff and students to engage in sustainability science research. The SRC focuses on capacity building and collaborative research proposal development and implementation through roundtables, workshops, guest speakers and more.

http://www.sustainableunh.unh.edu/src

2. The UNH Carsey Institute and its focus on rural communities, families and development: http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu

3. UNH Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Engagement and Outreach (including Research & Engaged Scholars Academy):

http://www.unh.edu/engagement/
http://www.unh.edu/engagement/scholars/
http://www.unh.edu/engagement/research/

The Outreach Scholars Academy, which debuted in the fall of 2004, is a faculty development program, designed to enhance faculty success in outreach scholarship within the disciplines. At UNH, engaged scholarship is a mutually-beneficial collaboration between the university and external partners for the purpose of generating and applying relevant knowledge to directly benefit the public. The Academy supports faculty who are developing and engaging in mutually beneficial collaborations with external partners. The Academy's goal is to identify, mentor, and work with faculty from across the institution who are interested in Outreach Scholarship. The principles of Outreach Scholarship (research in service of society, collaboration with external partners, etc.) blend very well with those of sustainability, and much research fostered by the Academy is related to sustainability.

4. UNH Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Research: http://www.unh.edu/research

All of this research support is done under the context of UNH's strategic plan (“Breaking Silos, Transforming Lives, Reimagining UNH: The University of New Hampshire in 2020"): http://www.unh.edu/strategicplanning/

According to the UNH Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Research, UNH does not penalize interdisciplinary, trans-disciplinary, or multi-disciplinary research during faculty promotion and tenure decisions.

In fact, interdisciplinary research is promoted and featured in the UNH 2020 strategic plan, including through the Sustainability Institute (www.sustainableunh.unh.edu):

The promotion and tenure guidelines and forms on the UNH Office of the Provost's website also shows no bias against such research:

http://www.unh.edu/provost/promotion.html

Guidelines for Cooperative Extension tenure track promotion also show no bias against interdisciplinary research:

http://extension.unh.edu/Intranet/UNHCEPP/EEPP03.pdf

For inquiries regarding the Carsey Institute, please call (603) 862-2821.

For inquiries regarding the Undergraduate Research Conference please contact Lynne Cooper at (603) 862-1997.

For inquiries regarding the Hamel Center for Undergraduate Research, please call (603) 862-4323.

For inquiries regarding the Outreach Scholarship Academy, please call (603) 862-1997.