Venkatesh Uddameri - US grants

0216531
John
Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) seeks NSF support for the acquisition of a gas chromotograph/mass spectrometer (GC/MS). The proposed GC/MS will include peripherals to enhance and supplement the research abilities of the department. Research interests in the following areas would benefit immediately:

Hydrocarbon characterization in the ambient urban atmosphere and the evaluation of voc/n0x ratios in Corpus Christi.

Characterization of sorption and interphase mass-transfer of complex mixtures and their constituents for use in risk and remedial applications.

Research project to evaluate potential fruit and nut organic compound bio-accumulation near contaminated groundwater sites.

Control of ozone precursors using an enhanced oxidation - biofiltration technology .

Innovative biofilter designs for chlorinated compound and dioxin precursor air emission control.

Surrogates for dioxins furans monitoring from combustion emissions.

Dr. Andrew Ernest, PI, Texas A&M University-Kingsville
Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) seeks NSF support for a CREST for Research on Environmental Sustainability of Semi-Arid Coastal Areas (RESSACA). The center will be organized around three core research subprojects thematically integrated: Environmental Systems Modeling (ESM), Environmental Informatics (EI), and Living Laboratories for Academics and Research (LLAR). LLAR will serve as the principal mechanism for transferring environmental sustainability research into other educational domains, both formal and informal, along the K-PhD continuum and to the public. The center will be located in Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering at TAMUK, for over a decade one of the top ten universities nationally in the production of Hispanic engineers at the baccalaureate level, graduating 72 in 2000. The department offers the only Ph.D. program in environmental engineering in South Texas and one of the few serving the 2,000 mile U.S./Mexico border. Dr. Andrew Ernest, Chair, Department of Environmental Engineering, and Director, South Texas Environmental Institute, will serve as PI. Serving predominately Hispanic South Texas and the border region for environmental sustainability research, RESSACA will provide, access for Hispanics to MS and PhD programs in environmental engineering, research/education integration, and research transfer to the public policy decision makers and stakeholders engaged in development of economic, social, and physical infrastructures necessitated by the dramatic growth related to NAFTA. Partners include Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Texas A&M International University (Laredo), University of Texas-El Paso, University of Texas (UT)-Pan American, and UT-Brownsville. RESSACA will be a major research partner with institutions along both sides of the U.S./Mexico border on sustainability research to establish a more integrative and connected research enterprise in semi-arid coastal zones along the entire U.S./Mexico border, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific. Partnerships have been established with three major NSF funded initiatives with research capacities aligned with this objective: Science and Technology Center for Sustainable Semi-Arid Hydrology and Riparian Areas at the University of Arizona (Dr. Soroosh Sorooshian, Director); Center for Environmental Analysis of the California State University, Los Angeles (Dr. Carlos Robles, Director); and San Diego Supercomputer Center, Dr. David Stockwell, Head of The Bioinformatics And Biodiversity Program. Dr. Felipe Rubio Castillo, Deputy Director, Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACyT), National Council of Science and Technology Research of Mexico, has agreed to serve on the centers External Advisory Group to advance binational research partnerships. The research subprojects and strategically aligned research partnerships will enable TAMUK to achieve national competitiveness in sustainability research and become a top producer nationally of Hispanics earning the PhD in environmental engineering. NSF support will allow the development of a critical core infrastructure at TAMUK and in South Texas that will foster fundamental research and development for promoting the concepts of sustainability of ecological and environmental systems in the semi-arid coastal areas of South Texas. These border research issues of sustainability of systems and the related technology development and transfer and knowledge transfer into the intersections of technical, economic, and social systems are of national importance. They provide a critical context in which NSF funding under CREST can serve as a dynamic catalyst to advance both our national research capacity and capacity to address the significant underrepresentation of Hispanics at the PhD level in these nationally important sustainability disciplines.

This project, acquiring a high-performance PC cluster, will enable computationally aggressive techniques to be applied in a variety of disciplines, with a focus on environmental disciplines that relate to the environment and economy of south Texas. This cluster is designed to support the following projects:
Integrated windmill and utility system simulation,
Modeling/simulation of linked and braided electroactive polymers,
Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations of gas hydrates,
Modeling subsurface microbial competition,
Modeling coupled transport of colloids and contaminants, and their biological effects in river systems,
Decision support tools to estimate groundwater availability,
Modeling flow and transport of contaminants,
GIS-based flood and storm surge simulation and damage assessment,
Air quality forecasting,
Instrument and measurement research on estimate precision using ratio indicator, and
Using simulation-based genetic algorithms for dynamic signal control optimization in networks with stochastic route choice and time-variant demand.
These applications and the general computational methods to be employed have been planned. The system design includes a gigabit-ethernet-based interconnect and 128 processors with 2 GBytes of local memory, connected to a 1.2 TByte storage-area network. Management will include an Advisory Board and a Management Board. TAMUK is providing power/environmental support and system administrator personnel.

John Wesley Powell, famed American explorer and first U.S. Geological Survey director, popularized the 100th Meridian as the climatic boundary between the humid east and the semi-arid west - the geographic origin of the western United States. There is good agreement among climate models indicating a warmer and probable drier future for central Texas. As such, the transitional boundary between the humid east and semiarid west is shifting eastward from the 100th Meridian. The major cities of San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, and the Rio Grande Valley are located just east of the 100th Meridian, and rank among the fastest growing regions in the U.S. The state is projected to double in population by the year 2065. The central Texas corridor's position near the climatic boundary makes it particularly sensitive to changes in temperature and precipitation. Couple climate change with rapid population and economic growth, and man-made forces become an important driver of future water scarcity in times of drought. It is because of these twin drivers of climate change and population/economic growth that the central Texas corridor can be viewed as a sentinel community; that is, the changes that are currently underway in the region may predict trends for other parts of the U.S. Thus, research will be conducted on climate, population, urbanization and water resources in this region, as it is a valuable proving ground for new techniques and strategies to address water scarcity.

The research comprises: 1) Identifying the Grand Challenges for understanding Texas water resiliency; 2) comparison of 21st century climate model projections at high spatial resolution and improving our understanding of the mechanisms that drive drought in Texas; 3) development of scenarios of demographic changes and regional development for the 21st century in Texas; and 4) integration of the above into a regional evaluation of future water resiliency for the state. New research activities will bring together researchers from complementary disciplines to initiate collaborations and synthesize research activities. The overarching goal of this research is to build knowledge regarding the factors that will impact future water resiliency in the rapidly changing human and natural systems of Texas, which will have applicability to other regions for which significant population growth and changing water availability are projected.

Constructing and maintaining an effective water supply and management system is paramount to enhancing the resiliency of our communities, promoting economic growth in agriculture-dominant regions, and ensuring food security locally, nationally, and worldwide. There are four major socio-technical challenges facing our water systems: i) water shortage, ii) lack of technical and infrastructural integration, iii) disconnects in supply and conservation needs, and iv) inefficient resource management strategies. Stakeholder-driven fundamental research is necessary to overcome these challenges. This interdisciplinary planning project aims to establish a community of stakeholders with the objectives of (1) identifying the grand challenging problems in water supply chain, (2) sharing experiences of modernizing water infrastructures across counties, and (3) addressing the hurdles preventing effective water resource management, especially in the Southwest region of the United States. This capacity building project brings stakeholders including researchers, consumers, water supply companies, and authorities together to share their experience, strengths, and weakness, and to develop a short- and long-term strategic plan for addressing the challenges pertinent to water resource management. The proposed plan will offer a model for states and counties with similar circumstances and thus build a connected community, where stakeholders share their concerns and experiences.

Specifically, this planning project will hold (1) a focus group-based study to discuss the persisting, urgent problems among water stakeholders, and (2) a workshop where stakeholders will have the opportunity to learn about challenges from a range of perspective, share advances in water technology and infrastructure, and discover potential research opportunities to address the problems exposed. Thus, this planning project will engage a wide range of water-related stakeholders and promote effective water conservation strategies to protect the region's water supply. By improving water use efficiency, the project will support efforts to meet growing water needs and minimize competition between food, energy, and municipal sectors. The resulting water usage model will help communities develop better programs for water conservation and improve water use efficiency. The project will develop a central area of focus in the water community for future research efforts, and lay the groundwork for much more fruitful collaboration between stakeholders.

Located along the US-Mexico border in the southeastern corner of the state of Texas, the Rio Grande Valley (RGV), has long experienced major flooding due to its low-lying lands and proximity to the Gulf of Mexico. The flooding problem is rooted in a number of issues across the built, natural, and social environments, including rapid urbanization and associated increase in impervious cover as well as the prevalence of older developments that do not account for hydrology, and unincorporated communities known as colonias that are without drainage infrastructure. These typically low-lying communities, not ideal for residential development, have been home to thousands of families with deep social attachment to place. Despite multiple mitigation efforts by local authorities, the flooding problem persists. Because of future climate variability, flooding events like these are more likely and will continue to present challenges. A lack of a thorough resilience plan and an integrative decision support system to cope with natural and anthropogenic hazards, coupled with insufficient resources, have made the area more vulnerable, particularly to consecutive disasters. This study holistically approaches the flooding problem through convergence research that brings together community stakeholders and an interdisciplinary research team with the objective to develop a resilience roadmap focused on viable adaptation strategies. The project aims to be as inclusive as possible of the community by providing multiple opportunities for community participation in the project ranging from community forums, focus groups, and surveys.

The goal of this planning grant is to establish a foundation for convergence and inclusive problem-solving across researchers, practitioners, and stakeholders through transdisciplinary research aimed at addressing complex problems from the lens of societal needs. This is to be achieved through various community data collection methods from residents and policymakers to collect data on their needs, challenges, priorities, flooding perceptions, and openness to adaptation strategies. Parallel to community survey, technical data related to flooding including morphology of the subsurface will be collected to facilitate analysis of technical feasibility of potential adaptation strategies tailored to community needs as extracted from stakeholder preference analysis. Results from this planning grant would form the foundation for development of a spatially-explicit decision support systems/community adaptation plan capable of integrating climate, hydrology, land use, and socioeconomic data with quantitative models to help decision-makers evaluate flood risks under various future development scenarios and establish a knowledge base that can be used by other regions experiencing rapid urbanization and climate change threats.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.