Matthew Schwartz, Environmental Studies, and Wade Jeffrey, Center for Environmental Diagnostics and Bioremediation, have received an award of $3,500 from the Florida Sea Grant for a project titled "Preliminary Data Analysis to Test Land-Use Influence on Red Tide in Choctawhatchee Bay, Florida." This project will analyze estuarine water samples to quantify the red tide populations from two neighboring Northwest Florida bayous from an outbreak in October-December, 2007.

George Stewart, Biology, was awarded $10,515 from Alcon Research, Ltd. for a project titled "Antimicrobial Activity of Contact Lens Care Products Against Acanthamoeba." This project will provide analysis services for Acanthamoeba testing and product evaluation.

Richard Snyder, Center for Environmental Diagnostics and Bioremediation, was awarded $7,790 from the Northwest Florida Water Management District for a project, "Wet Prairie Habitat Restoration Evaluation and Measurement on Garcon Point Water Management Area." The study will continue work to evaluate and measure effects of attempts to restore the wetlands property to its natural state and provide research information that will enhance efforts for wet prairie habitat restoration, enhancement and maintenance in Northwest Florida.

Tim Royappa, Chemistry, was awarded $2,892 from Avista Technologies, Inc. for a project, "Hyperbranched PAA Chemical Literature Research and Preparation Procedures." The published literature on hyperbranched polyacrylic acid (PAA) and closely-related polymers will be reviewed. Papers containing the most promising synthetic routes to hyperbranched PAA will be identified and compiled. The published syntheses of hyperbranched PAA will be digested into "recipes" for Avista Technologies to try in their applications. These will be written laboratory procedures for Avista to use in their attempts to synthesize hyperbranched or branched PAA appropriate for a practicing chemist.

Will Patterson, Biology, was awarded $38,819 from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to continue a study, "The Effect of Unpublished Artificial Reef Sites Deployed on the Northwest Florida Shelf." The project is a multidisciplinary, process-oriented study to estimate the ecological function of artificial reefs created by FWC in the Escambia East Large Area Artificial Reef Site (LAARS). The study will continue the baseline species-specific diversity and abundance estimates for fishes at individual reef sites.

Philip Darby, Biology, was awarded $9,996 from St. John's River Water Management District to conduct a research project titled "Baseline Monitoring of Apple Snails as Indicators of Restoration Success." This project will provide a baseline monitoring network and protocol for sampling Apple Snails in the Blue Cypress Water Management Area (BCWMA) as part of a "Conservation Recommendation" for the District. The project will establish eight permanent fixed Apple Snail monitoring sites in wet prairie habitats in the BCWMA and provide baseline density estimates of adult Apple Snails for each site for one year.

Sharon Simmons, Dennis Edwards and Norman Wilde, Computer Science, were awarded $25,000 from Software Engineering Research Consortium (based at Ball State University) for the third phase of work for the Motorola Corporation titled "Understanding Software Features by Integrating Dynamic and Static Analysis II." This project will develop a toolset for software feature location and understanding for potential use by Motorola and other SERC affiliates. The toolset will involve integration of existing commercial tools (CodeTEST, Klocwork) with an open source development environment (Eclipse) and the UWF's TraceGraph tool. To improve the usability of the toolset, the project will, in collaboration with Motorola, perform two to three cycles of an iterative development process including usability case studies, identification of areas for improvement and implementation of the results.

West Florida Historic Preservation, Inc. (WFHPI) was awarded a grant for $35,000 from the Museum of Industry Historical Museums Grants-in-Aid Program, provided by the Division of Historical Resources, Florida Department of State, Secretary of State. This grant will assist with the installation ofanew exhibit at the Museum of Industry in Historic Pensacola Village. Visitors to the new exhibit should expect to see touch screens and video, along with traditional exhibition methods. The new exhibit titled "Smacks, Tracks, Piers, and Pines: The Origins of Industry in West Florida" will echo many of the themes of the current exhibit, but will explore further West Florida's economic origins. The exhibit work is expected to take about 10 months to complete. The Museum of Industry will close Dec. 1 and is expected to reopen in October 2007.

The National Institutes of Health hereby awards a grant in the amount of $171,188 to Hui-Min Chung, an assistant professor in Biology. This grant is to use the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster to examine the effect of a protein called gamma-secretase on animal development and aging process. The information here will shed light on how a compromised gamma-secretase activity in adults that is manifested in neurodegeneration like what occurs in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

The Software Engineering Research Center at Ball State University has awarded $49,789 to Dr. Norman Wilde, Dr. Sharon Simmons and Dr. Dennis Edwards of Computer Science for a project titled “Software Feature Analysis for Better Software Change Analysis (SFABSCA). The University of West Florida, under the direction of Drs. Wilde, Simmons and Edwards will provide Northrop Grumman with effective software reconnaissance based tools to better understand features in existing code, thus allowing quicker and more exact analysis of proposed changes. The focus is finding ways to integrate the tools into Northrop Grumman's processes in ways that will provide the greatest possible value for their Software Engineers.

Phillip Darby, Biology, has been funded $42,844 by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Florida apple snail (FFWCC) to continue monitoring populations of native and exotic apple snail populations and to test a variety basic hypothesis regarding wetland fauna inhabiting central Florida lakes. This is the sixth consecutive year (and ninth year overall) that Darby has been funded to provide scientifically based management recommendations for improving water management and habitat management plans for fisheries and wildlife habitats developed by the FFWCC. See website for more information.

Baskerville-Donovan Inc. has awarded $16,771 to Mr. John Phillips, Research Site 21Associate, Archaeology Institute, for a project titled, "Phase I Cultural Survey of the Proposed ECUA Sewage Treatment Facility". The University of West Florida, under the direction of Mr. Phillips will identify and define archaeologically sensitive areas, conduct a Phase I cultural resource assessment survey if the project area, and provide cultural resource management recommendations.

P2P Engineering, LLC has awarded $28,810 to Dr. Bill Mikulas, Professor, Psychology, for a project titled "Planning Grant for Integrated Health Institute". The University of West Florida, under the direction of Dr. Mikulas, will develop plans for an Integrated Health Institute affiliated with the University of West Florida's Department of Psychology. In this initial planning stage, Dr. Mikulas will identify and meet with community and university representatives in planning to establish the Institute's purpose, identify common goals, and prioritize proposed programs related to health, diversity, and education.

Fish America has awarded $13,873 to Dr. Wayne Bennett, Professor in Biology and Karon Radzik, graduate assistant, for a project titled, "Anatomical injury and survival of red snapper vented and unvented juvenile red snapper, Litjanus campechanus, after rapid decompression, and implications for management". The University of West Florida, under the direction of Dr. Wayne Bennett and Karon Radzik, will evaluate and compare fish in the vented and unvented stage. This project is important from the standpoint of fisheries management and conservation because it addresses gaps in our knowledge of reef and hard bottom associated sport fishes relative to current management practices.

Kane Investments, Inc. has awarded $1,617 to Mr. John Phillips, Research Associate, Archaeology Institute, for a project titled "Phase I Cultural Resources Survey of the Proposed Garcon Shores Subdivision". The University of West Florida, under the direction of Mr. Phillips, will conduct a Phase I cultural resource assessment survey of the project area to locate and assess the significance of any cultural properties, and will provide cultural resource management recommendations for all archaeological or historical resources encountered during the field work.

The Petroleum Research Fund has awarded $35,000 to Dr. Michael Huggins, Chair of the Chemistry Department at The University of West Florida, for a project titled "Pyrrole Amides and Their Use as Building Blocks for the Preparation of Anion Receptors." The research will focus on the synthesis of novel pyrrole amides as building blocks for the preparation of molecular receptors and their potential use in sensor development, waste remediation, catalysis and disease treatments.

Amy Mitchell-Cook, Department of History and Della Scott-Ireton, of the Florida Public Archaeology Network accepted a grant for $8,668 "Save Our History" grant from The History Channel for the project, "Unearthing Pensacola's Heritage: Creating a District-Wide Educational Fieldtrip for Middle School Students."

Tammie Bryant Nadeau, Student Success Programs, has received the option for a second year of funding for the Student Support Services Program (TRIO) from the U.S. Department of Education in the amount of $278,155. The TRIO programs provide opportunities for low--income, first generation, and disabled students to complete higher education. The goal of Student Support Services is to increase the college retention and graduation rates of its participants and assist students with making the transition from undergraduate to graduate and professional programs in higher education.

Chris Houser, Environmental Studies, has received a two-year award from the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund in the amount of $35,000 for a project titled "Sediment Transport Processes on the Continental Shelf of Northwest Florida." The proposed research will support a developing bank of oceanographic equipment to measure wave and current forcing on the continental shelf and the resulting pattern of sediment transport and bed response. The proposed study is unique given the lack of previous studies of shelf processes in northwest Florida over a range of forcing conditions including extreme storms.

Elizabeth Benchley, Archaeology Institute, was awarded $24,921 from the Florida Department of State Division of Historical Resources for the second year of a public archaeology project in the historic core of Old Pensacola. This project will examine a cluster of wells and wet storage facilities revealed during the 2005 excavations at the Commanding Officer's Compound located inside the British Fort of Pensacola originally constructed as part of the First Spanish Fort San Miguel (1757-1763).

John Phillips, Archaeology Institute, was awarded $9,986 from Pensacola Christian College to conduct a Phase I archaeological survey of approximately 261 acre tract for proposed recreational improvements. This survey has two objectives: conduct a Phase I cultural resource assessment survey of the project area to locate and assess the significance of any cultural properties and provide cultural resource management recommendations for all archaeological or historical resources encountered during the field work.

Phillips was also awarded $4,184 from Baskerville-Donovan Inc. to conduct an archaeological and historical background research of nine parcels and a wastewater transmission route in Escambia County. This project is designed to identify previously recorded cultural resources, including properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and potential cultural resources not yet identified within the parcels in order to develop a preliminary cultural resource management plan for proposed Wastewater Treatment Facility that will replace the Main Street Sewer Plant.

In addition, Phillips was awarded $13,616 from Emerald Coast Utilities Authority to provide archaeological services for the proposed replacement/rehabilitation of the sewer lines in the area of Alcaniz and Intendencia Streets in downtown Pensacola. This project will provide archaeological monitoring of construction activities, mitigation of significant archaeological deposit and provide curation services for any artifacts discovered during construction.