From Plant Press, Vol. 14, No. 1 from January 2011.
The Smithsonian Institution’s Under Secretary for Science, the Under Secretary for History, Art, and Culture, and the four Consortia Directors have announced the recipients of the 2010 Grand Challenges Awards. Smithsonian Grand Challenges Awards advance cross-disciplinary, integrated scholarly activities across the Institution which relate to one or more of the four Grand Challenges: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe, Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet, Valuing World Cultures, and Understanding the American Experience. These awards seek to advance research, as well as to broaden access, revitalize education, strengthen collections and encourage new ways of thinking that involve emerging technology.
Sixteen Level One and 13 Level Two awards were made. The Level One grants provide seed money to develop groups and projects around promising concepts. The Level Two grants are for larger amounts and are aimed at groups that are poised to mount major projects and prepared to secure external funding for those projects. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provided support for the Grand Challenge Awards.
Within the Department of Botany, two teams received funding. Level One awards included the project “Developing and Establishing the North American Orchid Center,” led by principal investigators Dennis F. Whigham (SERC), Barbara Faust (Smithsonian Gardens), Charles Fillah (NZP), Gary Krupnick (NMNH), and Holly Shimizu (U.S. Botanic Garden). Level Two awards included the project “Next Generation Sequencing: Enabling Transformative Technology for Biodiversity Research and Collections,” led by principal investigators, Seán Brady (NMNH), Michael Braun (NMNH), Robert Fleischer (NZP), Owen McMillan (STRI), and Kenneth Wurdack (NMNH) and also including Jun Wen (NMNH) among the co-investigators.
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