Research

Approximately 28 percent of UA Little Rock academic departments have faculty engaged in sustainability-related or–focused research. In 2009-10, the UA Little Rock Sustainability Committee launched a new small grant program to support the incorporation of sustainability into research activities on campus. Winners of the competitions are listed below with short descriptions of the projects.

2017-2018
Ashokkumar Sharma: Sustainable production of renewable fuels
John Czarnecki: Storm-drain trash barrier
Stephen Grace: Installation of a low-cost, portable cold frame greenhouse at the UA Little Rock Campus Garden

2016-2017
Serhan Dagtas; Switching to alternative fuels on campus and beyond
Noureen Siraji; Green Tunable Materials for Sustainable Energy
Avinash Thombre;  Bringing Everyone on Board: Diffusion of Zero Waste Campus Principles to UA Little Rock Stakeholders

2014-2015
Karthik Gowda: Strength Characteritic Analysis of Aerated Cellular Concrete (A.C.C.) With Quarry Dust As Fine Aggregate
Michael DeAngelis: Using Nanoscale Synthetic Olivine to Capture and Store Excess Carbon
Zhao/Chen: Solar Energy-Assisted Water Splitting for Green Fuel Hydrogen Production

2013
Anindya Grosh, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry
Catalytic conversion of wasted carbon dioxide into fuel or chemical.
Jerry Darsey, Professor, Department of Chemistry
Sustainable biofuels from agricultural waste materials.

2012-13
Teaching
Krista Lewis, Anthropology & Sociology, project: Campus Garden Rainwater Catchment and Irrigation System Installation

Research
Amin Akhnoukh, EIT Construction Management, project: Improving Air Quality using Photo-catalysis Reaction induced by Smog-Eating Concrete

2011-12
Teaching
Kamran Iqbal, Systems Engineering
Trakenya Dobbins, Undergraduate Academic Advising

Research
Amin Akhnoukh, EIT Construction Management
Keith Bush, Computer Science
Kathleen Becker, Disability Resource Center

2009-10 Sustainability Grant Recipients
Wei Zhao, Chemistry Department
Project Title: Bioenergy-relevant microorganisms for classes and research

Harvesting energy from the sun provides us with one of the best strategies to achieve the goal of energy sustainability. Bioenergy-relevant microorganisms such as cyanobacteria can harvest sun energy to provide biofuels including hydrogen gas and hydrogen peroxide. On the other hand, the cyanobacteria also provide pigment products (chlorophyll a etc.) and other byproducts after fuel extraction (such as carbon nanostructures) that are often ignored in the biofuel applications. Finding use of these materials may also offer a creative solution for energy sustainability. This project explores the use of cyanobacteria for photonic applications for the first time. By focusing on studying the pigments and the byproducts, low cost laser limiting materials, the materials that can limit the powerful laser intensity for eye and sensor protection, may be realized.

Amelia Robinson, Earth Sciences Department
Project Title: Linkages between land use and sedimentation into Lake Maumelle

This research involves field measurements of water quality and organic matter in the water column and lake sediment near surface-water inputs to Lake Maumelle, the major source of drinking water for Little Rock. This work will provide insight into how dissolved and solid-phase materials enter and get deposited into Lake Maumelle. These materials are liberated from the landscape by both natural processes and anthropogenic disturbances. This project will allow a first assessment of whether the lake sediment records the history of land-use at two locations with contrasting amounts of recent land clearing. At a minimum, we should be able to evaluate which areas are most susceptible to disturbance and highlight potential areas at risk, when considering the long-term sustainability of water quality and quantity in Lake Maumelle. Specifically, drinking water quality in Lake Maumelle is related to a variety of geochemical inputs, however, some of the organic carbon derived from land plants are of particular concern because of their ability to produce carcinogenic compounds upon treatment for drinking water. By understanding how the landscape and lake have responded in the past, our work may provide clues to how the landscape and lake might respond in the future. Our goal is to hopefully provide new perspective on the sustainability of this valuable drinking water source.

Leslie Coop, Chemistry Department
Project Title: Chemical Waste Management

Chemical research produces chemical waste material, which must be handled in accordance with federal and state guidelines. The current method for collecting chemical waste is not coordinated among the labs at UA Little Rock, and the types of containers used are not always appropriate for the chemicals they contain. This causes the expense of collection of the chemical waste by a chemical treatment/disposal facility to be elevated beyond what it could be with a coordinated chemical waste collection system among all the labs on campus. This project focuses on a more sustainable method of chemical waste management that will reduce the cost of chemical waste disposal and allow for recycling of a large number of glass containers on an ongoing basis. It will improve laboratory safety for students, faculty, and other researchers, and improves research compliance in the areas of OSHA and EPA guidelines.