PULLMAN, Wash. – Approximately 60 new doctoral students will receive support at Washington State University over the next five years to conduct cutting-edge research in critical research areas in the environment and health as part of two prestigious National Science Foundation grants.

The Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) program, NSF’s flagship interdisciplinary training program, will provide $6 million to WSU to develop two multi-disciplinary doctoral programs.

"These IGERTS are an immense step forward in meeting the strategic goals of the Graduate School and Washington State University,’’ said Howard Grimes, vice president for Research and dean of the Graduate School. “Having three active NSF-funded IGERTs puts us in an elite position in the US.” 

In the area of environmental research, the IGERT program will focus on the nitrogen cycle while also providing unique training in policy studies.

Nitrogen plays an important role in a number of current environmental topics, including climate change, air and water quality and ecosystem health, said Brian Lamb, primary investigator on the grant and Regents Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Although the issue of nitrogen cycle management is not well-known outside scientific circles, it is listed as one of the most critical 21st century ‘grand challenges’ by the National Academy of Engineering. The amount of nitrogen in the environment has risen by an astounding 120 percent in the past 40 years, thanks, largely, to the use of synthetic fertilizers. While fertilizers have increased affluence of societies around the world and fed growing populations, changes to the nitrogen cycle are having dramatic and poorly understood impacts around the world.

The graduate training program, which will be a core effort within the Center for Environmental Research, Education and Outreach (CEREO), will bring together science and engineering students and faculty across the WSU system to improve understanding of the nitrogen cycle and nitrogen management from an interdisciplinary perspective. In addition, students will also receive unique training in policy studies, participating in a semester-long studio course which will immerse them in policy and communication issues.

“Many of our policy decision makers are aware of nitrogen, but may not fully appreciate the complexities of the nitrogen cycle and the impact it has on many environmental processes,’’ said Lamb, “yet many of these same decision makers have to devise policy strategies that are affected by and impact the whole cycle.’’

The IGERT students will also participate in internships in a variety of policy organizations, such as the International Nitrogen Initiative or the World Meteorological Organization.

The second IGERT program is focused on health-assistive, smart environments and will provide doctoral students with integrated training in the disciplines of computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, psychology, sociology and health care. Diane Cook, Huie-Rogers chair and professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, is the primary investigator.

With the intent to graduate scientists trained in multiple, complementary disciplines, that open the door to new avenues of health and science research, IGERT participants will conduct research to address the questions of whether technology can automatically monitor and analyze human health and behavior, simulate human behavior and activities, enhance human physical and cognitive abilities and whether these technologies can be accepted by society.

Students will also have real-world experience through internships and will understand user needs by living in on-campus smart environments. Cook’s IGERT program will also partner with on-campus REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) Site programs to involve students from underrepresented groups.

In addition to Cook, faculty members on the project include Larry Holder, Behrooz Shirazi, Maureen Schmitter-Edgecombe and Sankar Jayaraman.

“For WSU to receive two of these prestigious IGERT grants in one year is unprecedented. It lifts our graduate and research programs in both the college and the university to a new level,’’ said Candis Claiborn, dean of the College of Engineering and Architecture.

“The students who are recruited and trained in these programs will be tackling some of the most challenging issues of our times, and they will study them from a unique, integrated and birds-eye view that the IGERT program provides. The end result will be a significant number of graduates who will bring this big-picture perspective to their careers, whether they go to national laboratories, industry, universities, or elsewhere” she said.

A third IGERT award that will train graduate students in evolutionary modeling also received renewal this year.
Since 1998 the IGERT program has provided 215 awards to over 100 lead universities in 41 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. IGERT has provided funding for nearly 5,000 graduate students.

“Indeed, one WSU goal is to increase the quality of our Ph.D. programs as we grow these programs,” said Grimes. “The awarding of two additional IGERTs in one year is a strong external endorsement that our focus is paying off.”