Recognition & Honors
Yunsoo Choi (Earth & Atmospheric Sciences) is studying the interaction between clouds and aerosols, the tiny particles that comprise clouds, and how cloud formation and location in the atmosphere maintains the earth’s temperature. Choi was awarded a $550,728 grant from the Department of Energy’s Office of Science to fund his and his graduate students’ work over the next three years. Their research will include data from the DOE-funded Atmospheric Radiation Measurement’s TRacking Aerosol Convection Interaction ExpeRiment (TRACER) that also involved NSM researchers. The research could be used by climate scientists to better understand the role of clouds on the global temperature.
Paige Evans (teachHOUSTON, Mathematics) and Donna Stokes (Dean’s Office, Physics) are both prior principal investigators for NSF Noyce Awards. Their projects, “Retention of STEM Students as High School Teachers (Evans and Stokes, funded 2012–2018)” and “University of Houston: Learning through Informal and Formal Experiences (Evans, Stokes, and Rakesh Verma, 2016–2022)” were featured on the NSF Noyce by the Numbers: 20 Years of Noyce website.
Rich Meisel (Biology & Biochemistry) is part of a five-year, $12.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation that will enable researchers from seven universities across the country to form the IISAGE Biology Integration Institute. The goal of IISAGE is to identify the mechanisms and evolution of sex differences between females and males in aging. IISAGE collaborators will conduct research and observations in a variety of animal species. Meisel will receive nearly $1 million over five years for his research contributions to the project and will focus on several species of flies that have disparities in life expectancy depending on their sex. Read More
Carlos R. Ordonez (Physics) is the recipient of the 2023 Edward A. Bouchet Award presented by the American Physical Society (APS). He is being recognized not only for his research, but also for his work as an advocate for the advancement of physics in Latin America as well as the Hispanic community in the United States. The Bouchet Award promotes the participation of underrepresented minorities in physics by identifying and recognizing a distinguished minority physicist. Ordonez will receive a $5,000 stipend, along with travel assistance to an upcoming APS meeting where he will receive the award and give a presentation. He will also conduct up to three additional talks at academic institutions where the impact of the visit on minority students would be significant.
Nouhad Rizk (Computer Science) presented at the Oct 11 Cougar Initiative to Engage Conversation with CITE director Anne Dayton. Her presentation addressed how she uses experiential learning to develop her students’ skills.
Dan Wells (NSM Dean) presented at the INSA-UH Collaboration Workshop to the delegation from the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon, France. The visit’s objective was to establish research links and broad research collaborations between the UH and INSA. His presentation addressed NSM’s research ties to the meeting topics of energy, sustainability, security, health, data science, and tech transfer.