1. Paleoclimate Research
Center for Quaternary
Paleoclimate Research
Budget Hearing
April 30, 2010

2. A strategic investment to increase external funding by building a community of scholars pursuing research focused on the climates and environments of the Quaternary period

3. Plan for Presentation Background Objectives People Goals for FY 11
Budget

4. Q A
ERNARY

5. Ice extent 18,000 years ago

6. Evolution and spread of humans across the globe
National Geographic

7. The Climate of the Conquest

8. Future
Climates

9. Natural
Archives

10. Henri Grissino-Mayer

13. Coring lake sediments

14. Proxy Indicators C3 C4

15. Vegetation History
Fire History
Climate History

16. 7 CQPR Objectives
Build a community of scholars pursuing Quaternary paleoclimate research
Increase external grant funding for Quaternary paleoclimate research
Broaden the participation of UT faculty and graduate students in paleoclimate research
Increase involvement of undergraduate students in paleoclimate research

17. 7 CQPR Objectives
Raise the profile of paleoclimate work at UT through increased research output and publicity
Share paleoclimate research with K-12 teachers and students
Encourage, through the success of the CQPR, new faculty hires in paleoclimate research

18. People: CQPR Founding Group
Geography
Sally Horn
Henri Grissino-Mayer
Yingkui Li
Anthropology
David Anderson
EPS
Larry McKay
David Finkelstein
Zheng-Hua Li
EEB
Darrin Hulsey
Plus >25 Ph.D., M.S., and Undergrad Students

19. Excellent Research Infrastructure
Zheng-Hua Li

20. Strong Collaborative Linkages
Co-advisors and co-committee members
Co-PIs on grants and pending proposals
Co-authors on publications
Geography-EPS Collaboration on GK-12 Earth Project (PIs Horn, Grissino-Mayer, Champion)

21. Grant Track Records and Experience
NSF Research Grants
NSF doctoral dissertation grants (12 for 12)
National Geographic
USDA Forest Service, US Fish & Wildlife
Foundations (A.W. Mellon)
Related work currently funded by National Institute of Justice, US Army

22. Many Samples in Hand

23. Existing Projects with Room for Growth

24. Exciting IDEAS!
New research we can do together – new people we can pull into our Center
DNA in ancient sediments as a proxy of past biotic distributions and climate
Geochemistry of tree-ring records
Fish scales as paleoclimate proxies
Novel approaches with stable isotopes and biomarkers
Need initial datasets for proposals

25. CQPR FY11 Goals
Hold regular meetings to share research, make plans for best use of center resources, and brainstorm funding opportunities.
Identify and reach out to faculty with expertise that can strengthen research by CQPR members and proposals for external funding (incl. across colleges)
Support the development of initial datasets for 3–4 seed projects by providing GRA time and support for sample analyses and travel.
Support proposal development by CQPR faculty and students. Increase proposal submission 50%.

26. CQPR FY11 Goals Involve 4–6 undergraduate students in CQPR research.
Develop a CQPR web site
Co-sponsor two colloquia (in Geography, EPS, Anthropology, or EEB) featuring paleoclimate researchers.
Involve two K-12 teachers in summer field and laboratory research on Quaternary paleoclimates, and make 4 classroom visits to area schools to share paleoclimate research.

27. Funds for Seed Projects
Graduate Research Assistant: tuition, health insurance, and stipend for 50% GRA who will work with CQPR faculty to develop initial data sets for seed projects, participate in outreach, and coordinate undergraduates participating in CQPR research
$32K
Supplies, analyses, and travel for seed projects
$12K
Partial salary for Research Associate Professor and CQPR member Dr. Z.-H. Li, who will work on seed projects involving isotope geochemistry and biomarkers, including supervising students
$6K

28. Other Funding Requested
Center Director: 1 course/yr teaching release to provide time for developing, promoting, and coordinating research and outreach activities and grant proposals, supervising GRA, administering funds, and seeking additional funding
$7K
Web Site Development and Maintenance
$2K
Visiting Speakers: Funds to co-sponsor paleoclimate speakers
$1K
Outreach: Supplies and travel for K-12 outreach; stipends and travel for teachers to participate in paleoclimate research
$10K
Request from ORA
$60K
Funds from Other Sources
Total Budget
$70K

29. CQPR Investment Outlook
CQPR members have already brought in large (>$150K) to very large (>$1M) grants to support work in paleoclimate
We see enormous opportunity for collaborative funding, much of it making use of tree-ring and sediment-core samples in hand
Federal and private interest in paleoclimate research is high
CQPR members are receiving excellent training in grant writing
FY11 initiatives will show returns on investment* of at least 1:1 by FY13 and ≥3:1 in FY14 and beyond; could easily do much better
* direct and indirect charges of external grants, compared to ORA investment

30. Agencies to Target
NSF regular research grants (several programs fund paleoclimate research)
NSF DDRI grants for our graduate students
NOAA, National Geographic, others
Bigger grants? Possibly an IGERT in the area of Paleoclimate (fits our emphasis on graduate education in paleoclimate)

31. Increased
Publications

32. Increased
Undergrad
Involvement
in Research

35. Center Director (teaching release) $7K
FY11
FY12
FY13
FY14
FY15
Center Director (teaching release)
$7K
Graduate Research Assistant
$32K
$33K
$34K
$35K
Seed Projects: Supplies, analyses, and travel for seed projects
$12K
$10K
Seed Projects: Partial salary Z.-H. Li
$6K
$11K
Web Site
$2K
$1K
Visiting Speakers
Outreach
$5K
Request from ORA
$60K
Funds from Other Sources**
$8K
$9K
Total Budget
$70K
$67K
$68K
$69K