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Opportunities for Faculty Research with ICOA

Air Quality Impacts of Dairy Facilities in Central California (Funded by USDA AFRI)
This project is a collaboration between researchers at Fresno State and the National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment in Ames, Iowa.The first goal of the project is to improve our understanding of the impacts of dairy facilities on regional air quality (ozone and odor). The second goal is to increase the number and diversity of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) students entering agricultural research careers and graduate programs.  A comprehensive set of meteorological and volatile organic compounds (a key ingredient for summer smog) measurements are being carried out to evaluate fluxes of ozone precursors from a commercial dairy over a three year period. Smog chamber measurements are also being performed to determine the atmospheric chemistry of key volatile organic compounds and the impact of the measured pollutants on air quality will be evaluated using photochemical models. Project activities are used to train students in research techniques, encourage middle and high school students to enter appropriate STEM degree programs, and to develop new courses and course materials to encourage students to pursue agriculturally-related STEM careers.


Field measurements done on campus last month by Fresno State faculty and others for this project were featured in the Fresno Bee:
http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/08/05/2031238/fresno-state-balloon-tracks-dairies.html


NOAA ISET Center
Fresno State is one of the seven institutions that have partnered in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Interdisciplinary Scientific Environmental Technology (ISET) Cooperative Science Center. The Center conducts research in atmospheric and environmental science, and provides research opportunities for students, with an emphasis on minorities and those from groups that are under-represented in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
http://www.noaaiset.org/

Training tomorrow's community leaders: an air quality education project (Funded by Fresno Regional Foundation)
Fresno State faculty involved with ICOA also work with high school students on local issues of interest to ICOA.  This Fresno Regional Foundation-funded program recruited three high school students for an eight-week summer internship that involved air pollution research at Fresno State and environmental justice work at the Fresno Madera Medical Society. Students also had the opportunity to meet with state legislators in Sacramento during the internship. The goal of the project is to provide students with both scientific and community advocacy experience to provide them with the tools needed to become community leaders on environmental issues.

In 2010, ICOA launched its Faculty Associate program under which deans of schools and colleges fund release time for faculty in their organizations for the purpose of working on ICOA-related proposals and projects.  Interest is growing as more faculty join the program and leverage the university's resources in this exciting area.