NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Seven new and four continuing faculty research grants totaling more than $181,000 have been awarded through Stephen F. Austin State University's Research Enhancement Program.

Research enhancement funds encourage and enhance research, offer scholarly and creative opportunities for faculty members, serve as support for innovative research, and provide seed monies to attract external financial support. Faculty research grants provide substantive support and are awarded through an annual competition held during the spring semester for funding during the upcoming fiscal year. The University Research Council reviewed the proposals and made recommendations for funding.

First-year SFA faculty research grant awards for Fiscal Year 2013 are as follows: Sarah Canterberry, biology, and Erin Brown, agriculture, Analysis of Gene Expression in Skeletal Muscle of Pre- and Post-pubertal Cattle; Kevin Stafford, geology, and Alyx Frantzen, chemistry, Texas Hill Country Mineral Springs: Origins and Water Quality; Jane Long, mathematics and statistics, Hypergraph Coloring and Structure; Jeremy Stovall, forestry, Phenotypic Plasticity of Tallow as a Mechanism of Establishment on Disturbance mediated Microsites; Mark Faries, kinesiology and health science, The Experience and Meaning of Weight Loss, Exercise and Healthy Eating: A Qualitative Analysis in Physician-Referred Patients; Sheryll Jerez, environmental science, Estimating the Dispersion of Pollutants from CAFOs in Texas: A Preliminary Study; and Matthew McBroom and Yanli Zhang, forestry, Surface Water Pollution Control with Stormwater Management Rain Gardens.

Second year awards were as follows: Jeffrey Adkins, agriculture, Micropopagation of Gaillardia Aestivalis Var. Winkleri; Jeffery Roth, social and cultural analysis, The Black Sons and Daughters of Nacogdoches County, 1820-1900; Michael Maurer, agriculture, Evaluation of Field Grown Lililum Hybrids for Specialty Cut Flower Production; and Stephen Lias, music, Composing New Symphonic and Band Music about the National Parks of Alaska.