COLUMBUS - Research projects from ecosystems at the bottom of the world to the evolution of distant galaxies will be funded by grants and contracts awarded to Ohio State University researchers in June and July. The university's board of trustees accepted a two-month total of 514 research grants and contracts totaling nearly $45.6 million at their meeting on Wednesday (8/30).

A three-year, $1 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant will allow Patrick Osmer, professor and chair of astronomy, and his team to study the formation and evolution of galaxies and their nuclei using the Multi-Object Double CCD Spectrograph (MODS). MODS, an optical spectrograph, breaks up the light from a star or a distant galaxy into its constituent colors, enabling the researchers to determine the distance and movement of the object, its chemical composition and temperature. MODS is being designed and built by Ohio State for the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) - the largest telescope in the world, now under construction on Arizona's Mt. Graham. The grant will provide funding to complete a two-channel version of the spectrograph with a full-range of capabilities.

W. Berry Lyons, director of Ohio State's Byrd Polar Research Center and Geological Sciences, and his team are leading a multi-university research project to study one of the most fragile environments on earth - the rare, open-water streams and lakes of McMurdo Dry Valley in Antarctica. Funded by a $705,454 grant from the National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs, Lyons' project focuses on the geo-chemistry of these aquatic environments, formed each summer when the temperature briefly rises enough to form meltwater streams that flow into several ice-covered lakes on the valley floor. The scientists are studying whether higher temperatures alone are the cause of a dramatic rise in the lake water levels over the past 20 years.

The NSF is also helping Ohio State researchers design an enhanced network computing testbed with a $175,000 Division of Computer and Information Science and Engineering grant. Dhabaleswar K. Panda, associate professor of computer and information science, and his colleagues will use the testbed to carry out several cutting-edge research projects in the areas of network-based computing, interactive visualization, multimedia and metacomputing. The research is aimed at improving methods for accessing networked information, such as medical and banking data on demand and increasing computer productivity in businesses via multiple networks.

On a more human scale, Ohio State researchers are focusing on preserving and improving family life through a Development of Living Skills (DLS) initiative. Led by Julie A. Dalzell, assistant professor in OSU Extension County Operations, the project aims to help families at risk for child abuse or neglect through behavior modification and alleviating environmental factors. The DLS program, funded by a $173,822 grant from the Butler County Children Services Board, provides seven weekly, in-home overview lessons to families referred by the board, that include lessons in child development, parenting, family system, food and nutrition, home sanitation, home safety, money management, and development of personal resources.

Board hears report on Ohio State University Extension

The mission of Ohio State University Extension is to help people improve their lives through an educational process using scientific knowledge focused on identified issues and needs, Keith Smith, director of OSU Extension, told trustees during the board's Agricultural Committee meeting. OSU Extension accomplishes this mission through four program areas: Agriculture and Natural Resources, 4-H Youth Development, Family & Consumer Sciences, and Community Development.

The impact Extension's programs have on the citizenry of Ohio, in 1999 alone, can be seen in such results as the 251 community gardens established in urban areas through the Urban Gardening Program; the approximately 40,200 children, ages 5 to 8 years old, who learned life skills through participating in 4-H Cloverbud programs; the 90% of the 8,116 homemakers who showed a positive change in their eating behaviors after graduating from a series of nutrition classes taught by the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) educators; and the effects of Community Development's partnership with the Ohio County Commissioners Association, the Ohio Township Association, and the Ohio Municipal League.

Program partnerships that reach across the university and the state include OSU C.A.R.E.S , the OSU Learning Centers, Read & Succeed and Family and Children First, Smith said.

OSU C.A.R.E.S. was formed with the vision of serving as a catalyst to activate teams of Ohio State University professionals to address anticipated, critical issues that will face Ohioans. In the three years since the program's formation, that vision has been achieved. The OSU Learning Centers connect local communities throughout Ohio with the teaching, research and service of Ohio State faculty, staff and students. Read & Succeed is a literacy education program jointly sponsored by OSU Extension, 4-H Youth Development, Family & Consumer Sciences and the College of Education. Family and Children First is a partnership between OSU Extension, Family and Children First, and the Governor's Office.

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