Chemistry professor Daniel Downey, one of JMU's many grant-winning faculty members, received three grants this year from the U.S.Department of Agriculture Forest Service totaling $22,500 for water-quality studies and studying the effects of treating area rivers and tributaries with limestone sand.

Research funding sets all-time record

In 2002-03 grants and other external funding for research, instruction, public service and other scholarly activities awarded to JMU and its faculty topped the $20 million mark for the first time. The total of $20,303,968 is an 11 percent increase above the previous fiscal year and a 569 percent increase since 1995.

From 258 submissions, 211 faculty and staff members were awarded grants. Of this year's total, $9,086,984, or 45 percent, of the funding was for research. The remaining funding was earmarked for public service (13.38 percent), instruction (15.12 percent), equipment (2.94 percent) and continuing education (0.31 percent).

The federal government awarded the largest percentage of funding, 54.23 percent, with the National Science Foundation providing the largest amount of funds, ($1,258,945). Nearly 80 students got hands-on experience last summer through NSF-funded Research for Undergraduate Programs in biology, chemistry, geology, mathematics and physics. Other funding sources included the U.S. Department of Education, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, the National Park Service and the National Institutes of Health.