- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

��Vlog��ýLR awards sustainability grants

Ajani Oyindamola — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 13:25:29 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Sustainability Committee has awarded three $2,500 grants for innovative research and teaching proposals at ��Vlog��ýLR geared toward the development and promotion of the principles of sustainability. Dr. Michael DeAngelis, assistant professor in the Department of Earth Sciences, won a grant for his project, “Using Nanoscale Synthetic Olivine to Capture and Store Excess Carbon.” “I am very thankful to the ��Vlog��ýLR Sustainability Committee for selecting my proposal to fund,” DeAngelis said. “While I personally believe that this research is valuable to society and to the goals of sustainability. It is nice to have the committee members, who are outside of my area of research, provide some affirmation of the importance of this work.” He will use his grant money to purchase equipment and chemicals for his laboratory and to hire a student lab assistant, who he hopes will continue the work as an undergraduate research project in the fall. Dr. Wei Zhao, a professor of chemistry, and Dr. Tar-Pin Chen, a professor of physics, received a grant for their project, “Solar Energy-Assisted Water Splitting for Green Fuel Hydrogen Production.” The third grant went to Karthik Boregowda, a master’s student in the Department of Construction Management and Civil and Construction Engineering, for his project, “Strength Characteristic Analysis of Aerated Cellular Concrete with Quarry Dust as Fine Aggregate.” The grant funds can be used for travel, educational materials, equipment purchases, field trips, and guest speakers. The Sustainability Committee promotes healthy environments, economies, and societies, starting with the ��Vlog��ýLR campus.

��Vlog��ýLR Science Scholars present research at national conference

Ajani Oyindamola — Thu, 10 Mar 2016 16:10:31 +0000

Six University of Arkansas at Little Rock students presented research at the in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Feb. 25-28 in Washington, D.C., with one student taking home a first place award in chemistry. C’Asia James, a biology major, earned the top award for her research investigating the potential of using light and phosphorus-nitrogen doped carbon compounds, which can be made from renewable resources such as coffee and wood chips, to remove a dye that represents organic materials from contaminated drinking water. James, a member of the Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program, conducted her research with Dr. Brian Berry, a ��Vlog��ýLR associate professor of chemistry. The materials used in her research were created by Dr. Tito Viswanathan, a ��Vlog��ýLR professor of chemistry. The additional five students who presented research at the conference included Amber Hill, a biology major; Kristina Frogoso, an environmental health sciences major; Taylor McClanahan, a mathematics major; Taylor Washington, a biology major; and Osvaldo Cossio, a chemistry major. The American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Science Foundation hosted the conference. The conference is aimed at college and university undergraduate and graduate students who participate in programs funded by the NSF Division of Human Resource Development, including underrepresented minorities and persons with disabilities. All six students were members of the University Science Scholars and Arkansas Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation programs at ��Vlog��ýLR. They were awarded travel grants based on the quality of their abstracts, research, and personal statements. “The Emerging Researchers National Conference is one of the premier student conferences in science and technology,” said Dr. Jim Winter, co-director of the Science Scholars and Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation. In addition to James, student scholars and their research presentations include:

��Amber Hill examined the contamination of sediment from the Tri-State Mining District in Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arkansas. Her research was conducted with Dr. Laura Ruhl, an assistant professor in the ��Vlog��ýLR Department of Earth Sciences.
��Kristina Frogoso conducted research at the University of Georgia to use environmental and natural history traits to predict the threat of die-off of amphibian species.
��Taylor McClanahan conducted research at the University of Georgia to study the effects of microclimate on tiger mosquito populations, which are vectors for many diseases.
��Taylor Washington examined the treatment of psoriasis with topically applied tumor necrosis factor alpha compounds, a protein involved in inflammation and regulation of cells in the immune system, at Northwestern University Medical School.
��Osvaldo Cossio searched for small molecules that would reduce the production of the focal adhesion kinase protein while conducting research at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre. The protein promotes cancer tumors and metastasis.

In the upper right photo, six University of Arkansas at Little Rock students present research at the Emerging Researchers National Conference in Stem Feb. 25-28 at Washington, D.C. Pictured from left to right are Dr. Jim Winter, Osvaldo Cossio, Kristina Frogoso, C’Asia James, Amber Hill, Taylor McClanahan, and Taylor Washington.

Professor to give climate change talk at ACS meeting

Shanna Fitzgerald — Fri, 06 Nov 2015 20:41:23 +0000

During an upcoming meeting, a University of Arkansas at Little Rock chemistry professor will make a case for the collection of more climate change data. In his featured lecture, Dr. Jeff Gaffney, an expert in the chemistry of climate change, will discuss the potential effects of ethene and the need for baseline measurements across the country to help determine if new energy technologies are having the desired effects. The combustion of ethanol/gasoline blends increase emissions of ethene, aldehydes, methane, and nitrogen oxide compared to gasoline alone, according to Gaffney’s presentation abstract. Gaffney said it’s well known that ethene is an air pollutant that can damage plants and agricultural yields. His talk at the American Chemical Society East Texas Section meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17, at the Truman Arnold Center at Texarkana College. Gaffney, the chair of the ��Vlog��ýLR Chemistry Department, is an internationally respected chemist known for his atmospheric, environmental, biogeochemical, nuclear chemistry, and climate change research.

New center a ‘boon for the university’

Shanna Fitzgerald — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 15:31:33 +0000

Dr. Jerry Darsey is a problem solver. His services are in demand throughout the state, and he routinely uses complex computer processes to discover answers that might otherwise be inaccessible. Still, Darsey was a little hesitant when a colleague from another Arkansas institution suggested he start a center to expand the availability of his molecular modeling expertise. “I started thinking about it, and said, ‘Man, that’s going to be a lot of work,’” the ��Vlog��ýLR chemistry professor recalls. At the same time, Darsey realized the potential — from discovering new medical treatments, to creating better alternative fuels. Given what the Center for Molecular Design and Development could accomplish, Darsey decided the endeavor was worth the effort. “This is going to be a boon for the university,” he said. As he began building his proposal, it didn’t take long for Darsey to realize he was right: Starting a center was a lot of work. But the project has been a labor of love — a venture he thinks ultimately could produce benefits on and off the ��Vlog��ýLR campus. Computer modeling can be more cost effective and safer than physical experimentation, and it provides additional options that might open the door to new solutions, Darsey said. Researchers at the Center for Molecular Design and Development will study a variety of particles, “from the smallest nanomolecules to proteins and everything in between,” Darsey said. This modeling ultimately could lead to the discovery of practical medical drugs to treat a variety of ailments and diseases, or it might advance alternative fuel cell technology in a way that will help the economy and the environment. “Some of the projects we’re working on are fairly substantial,” Darsey said. The center also was designed to provide research to higher education institutions throughout the state.

‘Pioneering steps’

This is the first center of its kind in the College of Arts, Letters and Sciences, said Dr. Shearle Furnish, founding dean of the college, but others might follow. “In this way, Prof. Darsey’s efforts are pioneering steps for the college,” Furnish said. Furnish said he and others in the college will eagerly follow the center’s early developments. “The potentials that may be reached are breathtaking and equally significant for science and for society,” Furnish said. As director of the center, Darsey will spend a considerable amount of time training a staff of postdoctoral, graduate, and undergraduate researchers. “We’re really getting a tremendous amount of brainpower,” Darsey said about the research post-doc staff members can produce. There’s also value to the students and the university in having undergraduate students engaged in the molecular modeling. “Our entire (Chemistry Department) strives very hard to get undergraduate students involved in research,” Darsey said. “We make research a very high priority.”

Building a team

Assembling a talented and experienced board of advisors was one of Darsey’s initial focuses, and he’s proud of the six-member board he recruited to help ensure the center’s success. That group includes a former president of the as well as experts in the fields of physics, electrical engineering, nanomaterials and engineering orbital dynamics simulations. “These are really some top-notch people,” Darsey said. Among the advisory board members is a ��Vlog��ýLR faculty member, Dr. Kenji Yoshigoe, professor and chair of the Computer Science Department, as well as the director of two other centers: the NSA/DHS Designated National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (CAE-CDE), and the ��Vlog��ýLR Computational Research Center (CRC).�� Darsey has been an integral part of the Computational Research Center’s endeavors, collaborating on a 3-D protein structure study — an initiative that helped the university deploy a high-performance storage project in the fall of 2014, Yoshigoe said. “Now that the (Center for Molecular Design and Development) is official, we can closely collaborate with and receive resources and expertise through national organizations such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory and NASA,” Yoshigoe said. Darsey said Yoshigoe plays an important role in his work, particularly in writing successful grants to get the computer power necessary to run sophisticated simulations and modeling. Darsey added that the center “wouldn’t exist” without Albert Everett, ��Vlog��ýLR application support analyst, who keeps the computers updated and running. “There’s a lot of people who are very vital to the success of this center,” Darsey said. Darsey’s focus and persistence as he built the center were commendable, Furnish said. “To achieve the realization of the center, he has needed to create friendships and broker support of great significance,” he said. Those were remarkable achievements, Furnish said.

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When Darsey found out his center proposal was approved this summer, getting a website up and seeking funds from outside the university became critical tasks. Staffing will depend, in large part, on how effectively Darsey raises money. Besides seeking research grants, the center will collect donations through a ��Vlog��ýLR Foundation account that can be found at In its current space, Darsey’s chemistry lab, the center has room for four researchers, so if there’s funding for more, Darsey will need to find a new location. That’s a challenge Darsey wouldn’t mind tackling — no matter how much work it might take.

Chemistry professor’s work catches eye of National Public Radio

Gloria King — Mon, 23 Mar 2015 20:43:18 +0000

A ��Vlog��ýLR chemistry professor’s work on aerosols, which was recently published in a special issue of “The Journal of Physical Chemistry A,” grabbed the attention of a National Public Radio blogger who wondered if eating snow was a wise idea. Dr. Jeffrey S. Gaffney’s research involves new ways to determine organic compounds and their associations with various aerosol particle types. Examples of large aerosols that exist in nature include geyser steam, fog, and clouds, but fine submicron aerosols can also be taken up into snow, sleet, and hail, which are primarily composed of water. Using techniques known as Laser Raman Microscopy and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, Gaffney and his long-time research colleague, Dr. Nancy Marley, made measurements noting the variety of chemicals in aerosols. They took samples from the rooftop of the Science Lab Building at ��Vlog��ýLR and compared them to samples taken in Mexico City. Some of these chemicals included polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are characterized by strong absorption onto carbon soot particles. “These are the same types of aerosols I told NPR get trapped in the ice matrix as snowflakes are created, and then carry them down to the ground from the air,” he said. “What is interesting is that most of these soot particles are not readily removed by rainfall, but the snow formation process allows them to be removed much more efficiently.” His contribution to NPR was for “The Salt,” a blog by Anne Bramley, who wondered if snow was dangerous to eat. The blog inquired about snow’s composition in light of recent record amounts of snowfall across the U.S. “Snow contains various and sundry things depending on where it [comes from],” Gaffney said in the blog, and it might include such elements and compounds as sulphates, nitrates, formaldehyde, or mercury. Gaffney was invited to submit his work for a special issue of the “Journal of Physical Chemistry A,” honoring Nobel Laureate Dr. Mario Molina, recognized in 1995 for defining links between chlorofluorocarbons and ozone depletion in the stratosphere. He is chair and professor in the ��Vlog��ýLR College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences Department of Chemistry.

- University News Archive - ����Vlog��ý Little Rock