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| Project Summary
Projects Publications Data Server News
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Major new environmental science research programs
currently are being developed at the federal level, and other initiatives
and funding opportunities are expected over the next several years.
The investment of National Science Foundation (NSF) Experimental Program
to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) in developing the infrastructure
for a Center for Watershed Environments will position faculty at Murray
State University and throughout the Commonwealth to take full advantage
of these national areas of interest. Support for the Center for Watershed
Environments component of the Kentucky Environmental Research and Education
Consortium (KEREC) will build upon Murray State’s accomplishments as a
Commonwealth Center of Excellence in Reservoir Research, will further enable
the comprehensive study of a unique environmental region in western Kentucky
consisting of the confluence of four major rivers and two large reservoirs,
and will enable Murray State University and the Commonwealth to align itself
with major new NSF environmental sciences initiatives. The development
of the Center for Watershed Environments will include new environmental
research and education partnerships with University of Kentucky faculty.
With the formation of a Center for Watershed Environments, we seek to significantly
expand the scope of Murray State’s current reservoir-related research and
education programs to explicitly include comprehensive studies of reservoirs
at the landscape scale. Landscapes include the watersheds, or catchments,
that supply water, sediment, and various chemical inputs to the receiving
water body. A research Center focused on the complexity of human-created
reservoir environments will be unique among U.S. institutions and is consistent
with the new scientific directives of the NSF and other federal agencies.
Developing the research and educational directions for the Center for Watershed
Environments will involve the following major initiatives and milestones:
1) develop new faculty expertise in the new research areas of the Center;
2) add new research support staff in conjunction with new facilities; 3)
renovate existing research facilities and acquire new instrumentation to
complement new faculty areas and research directions, 4) provide a framework
to strengthen existing collaborations and to seek new collaborations among
faculty and scientists throughout the Commonwealth; 5) provide additional
graduate and post-doctoral training opportunities.
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