Faculty Receive Grants Through NSF Program for Women in Science
Contact: Andrea Gibson, (740) 597-2166, gibsona@ohio.edu
Editors: Photos of Allena Opper and Elizabeth Gierlowski-Kordesch are available and can be viewed at:
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ATHENS, Ohio (December 13, 2000) -- A physicist and a geologist at Ohio University have received grants from a National Science Foundation program created to support women in science and engineering. The researchers were among 170 people nationwide to receive the award, selected from a pool of 520 applications.
Allena Opper, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy, and Elizabeth Gierlowski-Kordesch, an associate professor of geological sciences, both in Ohio University's College of Arts and Sciences, are the first university faculty to receive a grant through the NSF Professional Opportunities for Women in Research and Education (POWRE) program.
Opper, who received a grant of $36,345, will use the award to further her studies of quarks, one of the basic building blocks of matter. The project, which will provide new information about how quarks are distributed through neutrons -- a type of subatomic particle -- could improve scientists' understanding of the beginnings of the universe.
"This is another step in the process of learning how the forces of nature work," she said.
Gierlowski-Kordesch, who was awarded $74,513, will use the funding to research limestone sources to an ancient Utah lake basin. The scientist, who specializes in the study of lakes, is exploring how limestone sediments were transported from ancient mountain areas to the lake basin during the Paleocene age, about 60 million years ago. The project may provide clues to the region's geological history and also aid in petroleum exploration.
"This is important for mineral exploration in general, because it can help determine where resources might be," she said.
The POWRE program was created by the NSF in 1997 to increase the participation, prominence, and influence of women in the science and engineering workforce. It supports activities that promote the development of scholarly and institutional leaders in research and education.
