News Release

Professors tackle research for national defense

University of Vermont faculty win Dept. of Defense grants

Grant and Award Announcement

University of Vermont

University of Vermont Professors Paul Bierman and Christopher Landry are among 31 researchers at 18 academic institutions in 14 states who will receive grants in the amount of nearly $500,000 from the U.S. Department of Defense Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR). A total of $15.7 million over three years was awarded on a highly competitive basis for science and engineering research essential to national defense.

Bierman, a professor of geology, will continue to study how sediment moves across desert landscapes. "This is important because it allows Army land managers to compare natural rates of landscape change with those induced by the maneuvers of tracked and wheeled vehicles, such as tanks," he explained.

Bierman and his team will measure rates of reservoir filling in Panama, the Southeastern United States and the Colorado River system; conduct impact studies at military facilities in Colorado and Alaska; and refine laboratory techniques to improve measurement abilities. Bierman has received U.S. Army support on aspects of this project for six years and has published papers on the subject.

Landry, an associate professor of chemistry, will continue a previously funded DEPSCoR project to detect and decontaminate the chemical warfare agent HD, or mustard gas, using porous inorganic materials. The project entails combining glass or ceramics Landry makes in his laboratory with a metal that breaks down mustard gas in an environmentally benign manner. "The catalyst could be used by soldiers in the field," said Landry, as well as to safely dispose of stockpiled mustard gas.

DEPSCoR is designed to expand research opportunities in states that have traditionally received the least funding in federal support for university research. This year, 19 proposals consisting of 168 projects were solicited by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Army Research Office, the Office of Naval Research and the Advanced Technology Development Directorate of the Missile Defense Agency.

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For a full list of projects selected for 2003 DEPSCoR awards, go to www.defenselink.mil/news/Feb2003/d20030227award.pdf.


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