Dear Department Chairs and Center Directors of Water Institute
Affiliated Faculty:

 

This is an update on the status of the 2007 Water Institute LBR and a
reminder regarding the 2008 LBR.  There is good news and bad news.

 

First the good news: 

 

1)       We received $500K in non-recurring funds this year as a result
of our 2007-08 LBR.  We will use this funding to begin to build the
Water Systems Laboratory...interdisciplinary laboratory capabilities
hosted by existing departments and centers but available for use by all
Water Institute faculty.  We will purchase new equipment for an Emerging
Contaminants Labs hosted by Soil and Water Science, an Aquifer
Characterization facility hosted by Geological Sciences, a Dynamic
Environmental Control Test Facility hosted by Environmental Engineering
Sciences, and a Water Systems Synthesis Facility hosted by the Water
Institute.  Descriptions of these facilities (as envisioned for our
original $2.5M request) are attached.  We will make a modest beginning
toward these goals, and will keep you posted as new lab capabilities
come on-line.

 

2)       We received authorization to go ahead with our 2008-09 LBR

 

 

Now for the not as good news:


We are only authorized to put in a 2008-09 LBR for $1.5M in recurring
funds. Therefore we need to scale back the original proposal to 8
faculty positions instead of 10, and 5 staff positions instead of 12.
We should be able to use salary savings gained while filling these
positions to continue to build the Water Systems Collaboratory (albeit
slowly) and/or to help with start-up costs for the new faculty.  

 

If you are interested in participating I still need from you by July
6th...

 

1)       A brief description of new water-related faculty positions that
a) you believe are important to building interdisciplinary water
research and education at UF, b) you are willing to have as tenure
accruing faculty in your department, and c) that you would like to have
considered for inclusion in this LBR. 

 

(For more information about this request see email below... We'll get
back to you about the laboratory requests later)

 

 

So far I have heard from the following Departments and Centers:

 

1)       Botany

2)       Center for Women's Studies and Gender Research

3)       Environmental Engineering Sciences

4)       4-H

5)       Forest Resources and Conservation

6)       Ft. Lauderdale Research and Education Center

7)       Geological Sciences

8)       Tropical Research and Education Center 

9)       Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

 

 

Thanks for your input... and Happy 4th of July!




Wendy

 

________________________________

From: Graham, Wendy D. 
Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 3:59 PM
To: Torres,Nayda Ivette; Bennett,Jerry M; Havens,Karl;
[log in to unmask]; Waddill,Van H; Waddill,Christine Taylor;
Waylen,Peter Robert; Mueller,Paul A; Hearn,Donald W; Reddy, K. Ramesh;
Norman, Marilyn N.; Haman,Dorota Zofia; Osborne,Edward Wayne;
Tedesco,Joseph; Capinera,John Lowell; Heaney,James; Nell,Terril A;
Browning,Harold Wayne; Haller,William T; Spreen,Thomas H;
Sassaman,Kenneth Edward,JR; [log in to unmask]; Pena,Milagros;
Roberts,Kellie W; [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask];
Sahni,Sartaj Kumar; Hamilton,Jonathan H; Rechcigl,John Edward;
Spillane,Joseph F; [log in to unmask]; DEERE,CARMEN DIANA; Jones,Kevin S;
Triplett,Eric; Humphrey,Stephen R; Cato,James C; Sprenkel,Richard K;
HALKETT,DAVID G; White,Tim; [log in to unmask]; Green,Eleanor M;
Hayes,John P; [log in to unmask]
Cc: Graham, Wendy D.
Subject: 2008 Water Institute LBR

 

Dear Department Chairs and Center Directors of Water Institute
Affiliated Faculty:

 

As you may know the Water Institute LBR abstract was selected to be
developed into a full FY 2008 LBR proposal by the UF Senior VPs last
week.  We have until June first to develop the LBR request.

 

The LBR abstract we submitted for the Water Institute is attached.  The
basic idea is to add 10 faculty members in under-represented areas
important for interdisciplinary water-related research and education, as
well as to build a UF Water Systems Collaboratory (advanced distributed
interdisciplinary laboratories, field facilities, pilot scale test
facilities etc.) that will be co-hosted by Departments/Centers but
available for use by all UF Water Institute faculty. There are also 12
staff positions included in the request:  8 intended to help run the new
interdisciplinary laboratories, and 4 for basic Water Institute
operations (currently funded off UF start-up funds); and 10 graduate
fellowships.  Note that we expect to receive partial non-recurring
funding to begin the development of the UF Water Systems Collaboratory
based on an LBR submitted this year (i.e. fiscal year 2007-08).  The
exact amount of funding we will receive this year is still not certain.

 

We do not need to add a lot of detail for the June 1st submission.
However we do need to begin the process of prioritizing faculty
positions and laboratory facilities that will be most beneficial to
Water Institute Faculty, UF Departments/Centers, the UF Water Institute
and the State of Florida. Toward this end I would appreciate it if you
could provide me:

 

2)       A brief description of new water-related faculty positions that
a) you believe are important to building interdisciplinary water
research and education at UF, b) you are willing to have as tenure
accruing faculty in your department, and c0 that you would like to have
considered for inclusion in this LBR.

3)       A summary of current laboratory and field facilities available
in your department that a) are relevant to the Water Institute mission
and b) could be made available to Water Institute faculty on a
pay-for-use basis.

4)       A brief description of new laboratories and field facilities
that your department is interested in co-hosting with the Water
Institute as part of the fiscal year 2008 UF Water Systems Collaboratory
LBR request.

 

 

We would like to have the faculty positions and laboratory/field
facilities well-defined by the time the fall semester begins.  It would
be very useful if you could send me your input by July 6, 2007.  We will
integrate the information we receive, circulate it to those who respond,
and then call a meeting with Departments interested in participating
during in the second half of July or early August.

 

If you need further information on the mission, thrust areas, or
first-year activities of the Water Institute please see the attached
annual report, or visit our website at http://waterinstitute.ufl.edu
<http://waterinstitute.ufl.edu/>  .  You will find a list of your
faculty who are affiliated with the Water Institute at 
http://www.waterinstitute.ufl.edu/expertise.html (click on category
search, then sort by organization).

 

Please give me a call at 392-5893 x 2113 if you have any questions or
need further information.

 

Thanks


Wendy

Wendy Graham
Carl S. Swisher Chair in Water Resources
Director UF Water Institute
PO Box 116601
University of Florida
Gainesville, Florida 32611-6601

 

Phone 352-392-5893 x 2113
Email  [log in to unmask]
www.waterinstitute.ufl.edu