{"id":71973,"date":"2024-04-08T13:24:20","date_gmt":"2024-04-08T20:24:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=71973"},"modified":"2024-04-08T13:24:20","modified_gmt":"2024-04-08T20:24:20","slug":"record-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/record-research\/","title":{"rendered":"A record-breaking year of research\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAU conducted a record-breaking amount of research in fiscal year 2023, expending $77.5 million in research that ranged from looking for signs of life on other planets to investing in health equity among rural and underserved communities to testing creative ways to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Those expenditures, largely fueled by a 16% yearly increase in federal awards, come as NAU has reemphasized its commitment to cultivating and elevating the excellence of classroom instruction and providing students with opportunities they need to succeed after leaving NAU. University leaders say it is a testament to the teacher-scholar model laid out in <\/span>Elevating Excellence \u2013 NAU 2025<\/span><\/i>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNAU attracts faculty and staff who believe deeply in NAU\u2019s student-focused mission but also feel confident that they can thrive at the highest levels in their research and scholarly endeavors, and this combination is something that makes NAU unique,\u201d said <\/span>Jason Wilder<\/span><\/b>, the vice president for research. \u201cIn addition, many of NAU\u2019s research strengths are aligned with our priorities in multiple dimensions, including helping to better the communities we serve and finding new ways to engage our students and support their success.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

NAU\u2019s overall FY2023 expenditures represent a $10.8 million increase over last year; Wilder said this is the largest year-over-year increase in terms of total dollars in the university\u2019s history. Funding from the federal government, including the National Science Foundation, NASA and the Department of Defense, among many others, accounted for about two-thirds of the total research dollars expended by NAU\u2014at $50.5 million, those expenditures broke the record set last year.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the same time, NAU has held institutional investments in research steady in the last few years and seen funding from TRIF (the Technology and Research Innovation Fund, sponsored by the Arizona Board of Regents) spread across priority areas beyond research, including boosting Arizona\u2019s workforce development, improving student access to NAU and community-focused grant projects. The sharp increase in federal funding demonstrates that NAU\u2019s researchers are successfully competing for awards against peers from universities throughout the nation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These numbers also come on the heels of<\/span> NAU\u2019s projected achievement of R1 research status in 2025.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are doing research that is changing the world\u2014making it a more informed, cleaner, safer, more inclusive place for everyone,\u201d NAU President <\/span>Jos\u00e9 Luis Cruz Rivera<\/span><\/b> said. \u201cThat work is recognized by the influx of federal dollars we\u2019re seeing coming to NAU, addressing everything from national security to developing vaccines to cleaning up the environment and so much more. That we can do this pioneering research while at the same time prioritizing student success and workforce readiness speaks to the commitment of the entire NAU community.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Meet some of NAU\u2019s researchers:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Discovering space on Earth<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n

\"AllieAlicia Rutledge<\/span><\/b>, assistant research professor in the Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science and Future Faculty Fellow, director of SEAHAG research group (Spectroscopy and Environmental Analogs: Habitability, Alteration and Geochemistry)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We have yet to put a human on Mars, but we know a surprising amount about its surface. Telescopes and rovers are responsible for much of that knowledge, but the Earth holds clues about the Red Planet as well. Rutledge\u2019s research focuses on using Earth analogs to understand past and present environments on other planets. One example: Using remote sensing, environmental chemistry, spectroscopy and other measurements, she studies subglacial alteration to understand the cryosphere of Mars. This research has taken place in Iceland, Greenland and Arctic Sweden.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She is the principal investigator of three grant-funded projects totaling almost $2 million:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n