UT Researchers Receive NSF CAREER Awards for Science, Engineering

Two researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, have received prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER awards to help them establish a firm foundation for a lifetime of leadership in integrating education and research.

Stephanie Kivlin, an associate professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Wei Wang, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering, join the NSF's Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program, which supports the nation's best early-career faculty and recognizes their promise as academic role models in research and education.

"We are so very proud of this year's awardees," said Deborah Crawford, vice chancellor for research, innovation and economic development. "Their work will yield new research insights and expose students at all levels to the joys and rewards of scientific discovery. Their recognition as NSF CAREER awardees brings distinction to our university and to Tennessee."

Kivlin, a faculty member in the College of Arts and Sciences, will receive $1.2 million over the next five years to study how plants react to changes in global conditions. Over the next four years, Kivlin and her students will collect fungi from the roots of 10 foundational tree species across the eastern U.S. Genetic sequencing of the samples will create a better understanding of the environmental factors that influence distributions of mycorrhizal fungi - fungi that have mutually beneficial relationships with the roots of many plants.

"Understanding the drivers of coupled plant and mycorrhizal fungal distributions and how they may be threatened by global change will allow us to make much more accurate predictions of not only plants and fungi, but ecosystem-level carbon dioxide production and the relationship to climate change itself," Kivlin said.

Read more about Kivlin's work.

Wang, a faculty member in the Tickle College of Engineering, will receive $505,407 over the next five years to study how liquids interact with soft textured surfaces. The innovations Wang and his students create will have wide-ranging applications in smart wearable devices, wastewater treatment, self-cleaning textiles and other fields.

"We will also be creating a Magic of Soft Surfaces kit that will engage elementary, middle and high school students in fun science experiments and provide training opportunities for science teachers," Wang said.

Read more about Wang's work.

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