SHAHEEN ANNOUNCES $650,000 FOR RESEARCH AT UNH

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) today announced the University of New Hampshire (UNH) has won a $650,063 competitive federal grant from NASA through the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).  The award will support work UNH is doing with satellite remote sensing data in order to predict when and where flooding caused by snowmelt will occur.

“Investing in research and technology development at our universities is critical to maintaining our innovative edge in the global marketplace,” Shaheen said.  “I’m pleased UNH has received this award and delighted it will support development important both to our state and our nation.”

“Developing this capability, which doesn’t yet exist, will give us a much better idea of when and where flooding caused by snowmelt will occur,” said Professor Jennifer Jacobs, who’s leading the study at UNH.  “For situations like the recent flooding in the upper Midwest, our approach could help better predict how the situation will unfold so that people in the area have a better idea of what to expect.”

UNH is conducting the study in partnership with the Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Lab (CRREL) in Hanover.  The NASA funding will support two PhD students and several undergraduate student researchers.

EPSCoR is designed to help states underserved by National Science Foundation funding develop a first-class research capacity by allowing them to compete for awards from federal agencies, like NASA, to conduct research that will also advance the agency’s mission.  Shaheen has been a proponent of EPSCoR in the past and recently joined a letter to the chair and ranking member of the Appropriations Subcomittee on Commerce in support of the program.