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What's Killing Our Bats - The Ecology of White-Nose Syndrome (WNS)

August 26, 2009

In the winter of 2006 a large number of dead and dying bats were discovered within caves and mines in New York. Each of these infected bats had a characteristic white, powdery-substance around the muzzle and the disease affecting them was called White-Nose Syndrome (WNS). Bat species represent 20% of all mammalian species in North America and play a critical role in the processes of our ecosystem; a single bat can eat 600 insects in one night. These insects include agricultural pests and those capable of transmitting human disease. Since the initial discovery of WNS, the disease has spread throughout the northeast, affecting bats in nine states and leading to the death of over 1,000,000 bats; it has been calculated that represents 693 tons more insects this year than last.

To date the cause of WNS appears to be a fungus, Geomyces destructans. This fungus appears to be primarily spread from bat to bat, although there is some indication that people visiting caves can also spread this pathogen. With WNS approaching Kentucky (G. destructans is presently in Virginia and West Virginia), researchers funded by the KY NSF EPSCoR (RII award 0814194) at Northern Kentucky University have been playing an important role in looking at ways to stop the spread of this organism. Dr. Hazel Barton and her research students Elizabeth Shelly and Alexis Henry, who specialize in cave microbiology, have been examining fungi in caves and methods of stopping the spread of this pathogen. Their work is currently examining how to decontaminate equipment used in caves and by bat researchers, including critical safety gear (such as ropes and harnesses) that can easily be damaged by chemical disinfection. As a result, Dr. Barton has been helping the US Fish and Wildlife Service develop decontamination guidelines for both recreational cavers and bat researchers. The team is also working on developing methods to protect the bats themselves, without impacting the normal microbial flora of these cave environments. To do this, Dr. Barton and her students will be traveling to New York to work with the Division of Natural Resources to examine bat decontamination protocols this winter.

There are currently 45 bat species within the US, three of which are on the endangered species list. If WNS continues to spread unchecked, it is likely that we will witness the single largest mammalian extinction events in recent history and the largest wildlife crisis in 100 years. It is hoped that the work currently funded by EPSCoR will play a critical role in stopping the spread of this deadly pathogen and saving bats from extinction.

“Read more about Dr. Barton’s WNS research in an article by Discovery Magazine.” http://news.discovery.com/animals/bats-white-nose-syndrome.html

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Nationally Ranked UofL Micro/Nano Cleanroom Focuses on Recruiting Local Students

June 11, 2009

KY NSF EPSCoR has provided significant support to develop nationally-recognized cleanroom facilities that support micro/nano research and fabrication at the University of Louisville (UofL).  The cleanroom is located in the newly constructed Belknap Research Building on the UofL campus and has been ranked as a top 10 facility in the country in publications such as Small Times Magazine.  Drs. Andi Gobin and Kevin Walsh are leading EPSCoR investments (NSF award 0814194) to expand the capabilities of the cleanroom and educate the next generation of micro/nano research scientists.  The cleanroom provides an outstanding showcase to display the research happening at UofL and across the state, but the involved faculty members know they need to actively pursue and engage Kentucky's best and brightest students and teachers to build the momentum needed to maintain a program of national prestige.

The UofL faculty take advantage of every opportunity to bring students to the cleanroom (several hundred students tour the facility each year) and also reach out to them if necessary (e.g., visits to local high schools) to make them aware of the educational and research opportunities. A visit to the cleanroom and an overview of micro/ nanotechnology has become a centerpiece event for a large number of programs and camps at UofL such as INSPIRE (a summer enrichment program which targets female and ethnic minority students) and Engineering Day for Women (an annual event that highlights various careers in engineering and the sciences). The facility has also partnered with local organizations to reach an even wider audience, working with the Louisville Science Center on their very successful participation in national Nano Day activities and with Ky Dataseam to produce a series of short videos for distribution in over 50 Kentucky school systems. There have also been opportunities for high school students to become directly involved in research in the cleanroom; in several cases working on the same project for multiple years as they progress through school.

“I really enjoyed working in the Microfabrication Facility at UofL because of how much I was able to broaden my knowledge there. The environment was very friendly and open. Several times I found myself tagging along on a tour or training session even though the topic had little to do with my actual project just because it was interesting. The directors and support staff of the facility were always eager to help a lowly summer intern even when they had much larger projects to deal with, which I really appreciated. I also liked the variety of viewpoints. Coming from a physical chemistry background, I was used to a much more theoretical approach, but working at the Microfabrication Facility really connected me with the more practical and application-driven side of technology and materials research. I had a chance to interact with all levels of scientists, from undergraduates to graduate students to postdoctoral researchers and professors. In short, my time at the Microfabrication Facility was a great way for me to expand my knowledge in a field related to my main focus, but often left aside, in an environment of enthusiastic scientists of all stripes.”

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Kentucky Poster Session Showcases Outstanding Research and EPSCoR Linkages

June 5, 2009

Just as they have for the previous eight years, Kentucky students traveled to the state Capitol in Frankfort this February to share their research with state legislators. This year’s “Posters-at-the-Capitol” event showcased about 120 posters and gave legislators a chance to spend some time with talented Kentucky students conducting academic research in the state. Faculty members mentor the research projects of these students, who work in a number of different science and technology disciplines—from nanotechnology, to genetics, to “green” technologies. The event gives students an opportunity to explain their projects and the impact the experience has had on their education and career goals to the legislators, while legislators have a chance to interact with their constituents and see how research is affecting the health and well-being of people in their state and districts.

The event continues to grow each year as the next-generation of researchers share their activities with the legislators who help to secure research funding to support the students’ work and education.

Kentucky’s National Science Foundation EPSCoR Program—Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research—has supported many of the faculty and students presenting at the poster event.

KY NSF EPSCoR Director, Dr. John Connolly, explains that the KY NSF EPSCoR program has helped build research infrastructure in the state since the mid-1980s with financial support from the NSF, state, industry, and the colleges and universities. (KY NSF EPSCoR is currently supported by NSF award 0814194.) “KY NSF EPSCoR’s goal is to provide resources and seed-fund research projects that will grow the number of competitive research grants awarded to Kentucky researchers. With that as our goal, we often look at the number of research grants coming into the state to measure our progress … but the Posters-at-the-Capitol event allows us to also see the faces and hear from the people working on the frontlines of research in Kentucky.” Twenty-eight students mentored by fifteen EPSCoR-supported faculty members participated in this year’s poster event. Nine different Kentucky colleges and universities attended the event—including the unified statewide Community and Technical College System and Kentucky State University, Kentucky’s only Historically Black College and University.

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UK to 'unroll' papyrus scrolls buried by Vesuvius: Computer scientist hopes to unlock secrets of 2,000-year-old scrolls

May 19, 2009

On Aug. 24, 79 A.D., Italy's Mount Vesuvius exploded, burying the Roman towns of Herculaneum and Pompeii under tons of super-heated ash, rock and debris in one of the most famous volcanic eruptions in history.

Thousands died. But somehow, hundreds of papyrus scrolls survived — sort of — in a villa at Herculaneum thought to have been owned at one time by Julius Caesar's father-in-law.

The scrolls contained ancient philosophical and learned writings. But they were so badly damaged — literally turned to carbon by the volcanic heat — that they crumbled when scholars first tried to open them centuries later.

The remaining scrolls, stored away in Italy and France, haven't been read — or even unrolled — since 79 AD.

Now, a computer scientist from the University of Kentucky hopes that modern digital technology will allow him to peer inside two of the fragile scrolls — without physically opening them — and unlock secrets they have held for almost 2,000 years.

Brent Seales, the Gill professor of engineering in UK's computer science department, will use an X-Ray CT scanning system to collect interior images of the scrolls' rolled-up pages. Then, he and his colleagues hope to digitally "unroll" the scrolls on a computer screen so scholars can read them.

"It will be a challenge because today these things look more like charcoal briquets than scrolls," Seales said last week. "But we're using a non-invasive scanning system, based on medical technology, that lets you slice through an object and develop a three-dimensional data set without having to open it, just as you would do a CT scan on a human body."

The two scrolls that Seales and his team will work on are stored at the French National Academy in Paris. The UK group will spend July working there.

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This is an extract of an article appearing in the May 19, 2009 edition of the Lexington Herald Leader. The entire article can be referenced at: http://www.kentucky.com/142/story/800210.html Dr. Seales and the UK Center for Visualization and Virtual Environments received support through NSF EPSCoR RII Award 0447479.

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Two Prestigious Faculty Hires for the UK Center for Advanced Materials (CAM)

March 2, 2009

The University of Kentucky has made two outstanding faculty hires relating to the Center for Advanced Materials (CAM) initiative supported by the KY NSF EPSCoR program. CAM is supported by the National Science Foundation and the Commonwealth of Kentucky via the KY NSF EPSCoR program to develop a nationally-recognized center in materials science research over the next five years. Drs. Ribhu Kaul and Beth Guiton will join the University of Kentucky faculty in the Physics and Chemistry departments respectively.

Dr. Kaul will join the faculty as a Condensed Matter/Materials Theorist in the fall of this year. He is currently completing his research as part of his work at Microsoft Station-Q on the University of California, Santa Barbara campus (http://www.kitp.ucsb.edu/~rkk/). His understanding of contemporary developments in theoretical physics and skills in algorithm development will make him an integral part of the CAM center activities.

Dr. Guiton is currently a Wigner Fellow at ORNL. Her research interests are in the field of solid-state chemistry, with a focus on the structure and properties of metal oxide nanostructures, an area which complements nicely with the goals and direction of the CAM center. She will join the UK Chemistry Department in August, 2010. More information about Dr. Guiton’s research is available on the ONRL website: http://www.ornl.gov/info/reporter/no105/nov08_dw.htm#Guiton.

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Success Stories

What's Killing Our Bats - The Ecology of White-Nose Syndrome (WNS)

 

Nationally Ranked UofL Micro/Nano Cleanroom Focuses on Recruiting Local Students