PI Dr. Brooke Hester and co-PI Dr. Jennifer Cecile were awarded a $1,500 seed grant from the Office of Student Research at Appalachian State University as well as a $4,848 AWS Infrastructure grant. The Seed Grant program provides grants of up to $1,500 to encourage collaboration between early- and mid-career women scientists at Appalachian State University and researchers at other institutions and research facilities. Examples of activities that can be supported by a Seed Grant include, but are not limited to: registration fees for a faculty member to participate in a summer professional development institute relevant to her research interests; research supplies and travel expenses to allow an Appalachian State University faculty member to begin a research collaboration with a researcher at another institution and gather preliminary data needed to seek external funding; travel and meeting expenses to form a multi-institutional research interest group.
The Research Infrastructure Support Grant program supports research infrstructure improvements that can be shared by multiple scientists at Appalachian State to enhance their research productivity. This program supports early and mid-career women scientists by allowing them to purchase equipment, technology, or services that may not be supported by other grant sources.