Seeking Solutions Through Research

Using augmented-reality goggles to evaluate safety risks for senior adults. Safeguarding drinking water from the impacts of wildfires. Increasing climate resilience. Understanding the impact on youth by exposure to violence. Improving the performance of hydrodynamic tilting-pad thrust bearings in hydropower plants.

These – plus several highly technical endeavors too complicated to convey adequately – are among the many research projects underway at Gonzaga, where benefactors and grant funders are putting students and faculty members together for rigorous exploration and testing this summer.

New this year in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, Gonzaga Research Opportunities in Math, Engineering and Computer Science – “GRO-MECS” – provides funding for 10 students to work alongside faculty for six to 10 weeks. Orchestrated by Interim Dean Jennifer Shepherd, the program allows students to gain valuable experience before their senior year when they are immersed in senior design capstones.

College of Arts and Sciences Dean Jacqueline Van Hoomissen hosted a research nexus workshop funded by the National Science Foundation to expand understanding of grant processes and to share resources to support creative academic inquiry. Participants came from colleges and universities across the Pacific Northwest.

Gonzaga's Office of Sponsored Research and Projects, under the direction of Jackie Van Allen, grew from a staff of one to three this year, to secure funds and oversee compliance and regulatory processes. Submitting 35% more grant applications than the prior year, the team helped campus partners bring some exciting dreams to life. These include:

• Tribal Relations’ college preview program for Native American youth (Northeast Community Center and the Gates Foundation)
• Biology and chemistry’s new faculty members (M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust)
• The Institute for Climate, Water and the Environment’s projects to reduce pollution and increase community climate resilience (Environmental Protection Agency)
• Sociology faculty member Angela Bruns’ inquiry into the role tax credits for families play in reducing adolescents’ involvement in and exposure to violence (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention)
• Upgraded STEM equipment for the School of Engineering & Applied Science and the College of Arts & Sciences (National Institute of Standards and Technology)

In more good news, the McKinstry Fellowship Research Program, funded by Dean and Vicki Allen, has expanded the scope of health-related inquiry to include more faculty and students from the University of Washington – Gonzaga University Health Partnership.

It all sounds like success to Interim Provost Mia Bertagnolli (’88), who was working with faculty fellow Jennifer Shepherd on evaluating how to improve coordination of and access to research funding across campus before taking on her current role. She handed over the reins to Marianne Poxleitner (’21 M.B.A.), interim associate provost for research and creative activities, who is driving momentum in that effort. Monthly, Poxleitner draws together the stakeholders – deans and faculty, donor relationship managers and the various offices that touch research – to explore ways to redefine how people think about research at Gonzaga.