INSPIRE! Community Engaged Research Seed Grant Awarded Projects
The first group of awarded proposals for the INSPIRE! Community Engaged Research Seed Grant program was announced in January 2024. The names of the awarded PIs along with their project titles and abstracts are listed below. This page will be updated with more awarded projects as the INSPIRE! program continues.
Tier Two
Erica Crespi
Professor
School of Biological Sciences
We are very excited to work in partnership the Kalispel Tribe to assess potential habitat for re-introduction of northern leopard frogs, a native species that is experiencing population decline in the Pacific Northwest region, with only one population remaining in Washington. We share the Kalispel Tribe value of returning this species to its native range, and this project extends other research conducted with the Washington Fish and Wildlife Northern Leopard Frog Recovery program exploring ways to optimize captive rearing conditions and monitor success of reintroductions.
Samantha Fladd
Asst. Prof., and Museum of Anthropology Director
Department of Anthropology
The Community Engaged Research Seed Grant (Tier 2) is supporting hosting one or two workshops in the Southwest to guide subsequent research on women’s histories in the Four Corners Region. Women’s experiences and contributions have often been overlooked in traditional archaeological research, and we hope to provide a new narrative of the past that centers their lives. Working with collaborators at WSU and the non-profit Archaeology Southwest, I will use funding from the Seed Grant to organize meetings in the Southwest to gauge interest in the project and hopefully build a steering committee of Indigenous women to guide subsequent research and outreach efforts.
Molly Kelton
Associate Professor, Dept. of Teaching and Learning
“Increasingly severe wildfires are rapidly becoming a part of daily life in communities served by Washington State University. Wildfire is a complex socio-scientific phenomenon tied to issues of climate change and environmental (in)justice. Within this complexity, families and communities must engage in everyday sense-making about wildfire, such as interpreting air-quality data to decide whether to stay indoors. There is an urgent need for educational programs that support (a) big-picture understandings of wildfire as a complex phenomenon and (b) everyday literacies required for wildfire preparedness and prevention. As a land-grant university, WSU is uniquely poised to address this need.
This project will build foundational partnerships with community-based organizations in rural Eastern and Central Washington in order to develop a community-engaged STEAM-education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) research project focused on the issue of wildfire and its effects on communities in the Inland and Pacific Northwest. Project objectives are to build (a) a robust regional partnership network dedicated to further STEAM education efforts related to wildfire, (b) a set of educational research questions that are deeply rooted in the needs, questions, and curiosities of the families and communities served by WSU, and (c) the design of a larger research program with potential for sustained external funding.
The project includes three stages. The first stage consists of exploratory conversations and needs assessment with potential regional partner organizations that can support community-based STEAM learning, such as libraries and after-school clubs. The second stage is a series of six “listening sessions” that engage diverse stakeholders in arts-based inquiry about wildfire, its effects on individuals and communities, and perceived educational needs. The third stage includes collaborative analysis of listening session data, co-refinement of research questions, and identification of next steps and external funding opportunities.”
Ming Luo
Flaherty Assistant Professor
School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering
Our project addresses challenges faced by Native Hawaiians in preserving and reclaiming their land, culture, and resources amidst ongoing exploitation and struggles with land rights. We leverage our robotics experience to create innovative solutions that may support farming, environmental monitoring, unexploded ordnance detection, and nutrient evaluation on indigenous lands. Through this project, we are creating partnerships with Native Hawaiian non-profits and organizations, conducting site visits, and hosting workshops to co-design technology in line with their vision. By actively involving the community in the design and prototyping process, we aim to foster meaningful relationships and contribute to the empowerment and well-being of Native Hawaiians, who have often been marginalized and overlooked.