Nicholls State University was recently awarded more than $290,000 in grants from the Louisiana Board of Regents of higher education to enhance undergraduate academic programs.
Nicholls received funding for nine proposals for the 2006-2007 fiscal year from the Board of Regents Support Fund. More than $21 million was distributed this year to colleges and universities statewide to fund educational and research programs.
“Enhancing Immunology Education for Biology Students” was funded at $79,000 to improve immunology education with the purchase of instrumentation for the immunology teaching laboratory and presentation aids. The principal investigator for the project will be Dr. Rajkumar Nathaniel, assistant professor of biological sciences.
“Enhancing Interactive and Intercultural Education at Nicholls” was funded at $63,000 to boost foreign language programs. The grant will provide student mobility grants to help students study abroad, to create a laboratory classroom equipped with multimedia materials and communications to support intercultural and interactive languages learning, and to fund faculty attendance at conference and development programs. Dr. Robin White, assistant professor of French, will be the principal investigator.
“Upgrading Autoclave for Microbiology Education” was funded at $33,255 to upgrade the microbiology laboratory by purchasing modern digital imaging equipment and an autoclave to help enhance student curricular and research activities, facilitate faculty development and promote faculty retention and recruitment. The principal investigator will be Dr. Raj Boopathy, distinguished service professor of biological sciences.
“Expanding Marine Biology for the New Louisiana Coast” was funded at $31,296 to purchase equipment to allow enhancement of marine biology education by incorporating protein and DNA analysis to measure the environmental effects on animals and water chemistry probes to monitor the water quality of marine environments. The principal investigator will be Dr. Gary LaFleur, associate professor of biological sciences.
“Enhancing Comparative Physiology Education” was funded at $30,123 to improve the quality of the physiology laboratory with the purchase two multichannel digital data acquisition systems, two desktop computers, eight force transducers, eight electric stimulators, an osmometer, a dissolved oxygen meter, a microcentrifuge, an electronic balance, a pH meter and a refrigerator. The principal investigator will be Dr. Enmin Zou, assistant professor of biological sciences.
“Upgrading Microscope Technology for Freshman Science Majors in Biology II (Species Diversity)” was funded at $20,130 to replace existing compound and stereomicroscopes in freshman biology laboratories. Dr. Earl Melancon Jr., professor of biological sciences, will be the principal investigator.
“Maintaining and Enhancing Biological Fieldwork Capabilities of the Department of Biological Sciences at Nicholls” was funded at $16,115 to purchase a boat for accessing inland and water bodies and smaller waterways. Students and faculty will use the boat to collect live biological specimens and transport them to the laboratory. The principal investigator will be Dr. David Schultz, associate professor of biological sciences.
“Putting Electronic Ink in Economics Classrooms” was funded at $13,093 to enhance classrooms with digital ink capabilities using SmartTech’s Sypodiums and Table PCs that allow for more flexible and interactive presentations and class discussions with the capability to save and distribute fully annotated classroom notes. Dr. Morris Coats, Argent Bank Endowed Professor of Economics, will be the principal investigator.
“Interactive Presentation Technologies in Support of the Computer Information Systems Program at Nicholls” was funded at $4,888 to upgrade four classrooms in the computer information systems department through the purchase of LCD monitors and interactive white boards, known as Smartboards, which enable presenters to interact with classroom presentation materials. Dr. Ken Rachal, head of the Department of Information Systems, will be the principal investigator.