Explore grants
At the data diversity lab, our work is often supported by research grants. In this grants section, we offer a window into the current and past funding landscape within the lab. We are committed to transparency and accountability in our research program.
We express our gratitude to the funding agencies and organizations that believe in our work. If you have any inquiries or would like to collaborate on future grant opportunities, please contact us.
WAESO
Western Alliance to Expand Student Opportunities (WAESO)
$3000
The WAESO grant funded a project that will allow for the visualization and reconstruction of historical landscapes and ranges of recently extinct species. This will enable students to learn about phylogenetic methods and expand on their comparative analysis skills to help identify distribution changes between extinct species and their sister taxa. The results of this research will aim to add to the global collaboration efforts on biodiversity conservation and action.
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Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP)
Catalyst Seed Fund Award
$3,500 (2024)
A seed grant was awarded to our team as a new member of the UA's vertically integrated projects program. This will help fund a team of undergraduate students focusing on "Historical Biogeography and Extinction Risk Assessment of Recently Extinct Animals"
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Catalyst Seed Grant
$3,500
This grant was secured in order to fund a three year project that aims to fill gaps of knowledge within extinction patterns and phylogenetic relationships.
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Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (SW-CASC)
SW-CASC
$438,945
The data collected through this project, made possible with the SW-CASC, will help determine whether changing climate, habitat loss, or bird dispersal is most likely behind the emergence of this tick in our region. We will use our results to predict where the tick will be found in the future as the climate changes and identify places where humans and other animals may be most at risk of contracting the disease. Our data will be used to inform management and conservation activities in the region and better understand the risk of emerging diseases to Arizona wildlife and people.
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OneHealth
Extreme Weather, Power Outages, and One Health
$50.000 (2023)
UA’s OneHealth initiative pilot grant aimed at examining spatial and temporal patterns of power outages in the US. Ultimately, this project focused on testing the role of power outages across in the US in health-related outcomes such as hospitalizations. co-PI: Chris Lim, Cristian Román-Palacios.
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NRT-HDR
NRT-HDR: CAMBIUM - Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation through Biodiversity Informatics Education and Mentoring
$250.00
As the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) makes clear, Earth is at a biodiversity tipping point, with over one-million species threatened with extinction. A major driver of this extinction is climate change with dire consequences for all life. Animal, plant, human, and environmental systems synergistically influence the health of each system. This concept, known as One Health, suggests that the feedback loops among systems impacted by climate change and biodiversity loss will have myriad consequences for human society. Impacts include loss of livelihoods, food insecurity, changing infectious disease dynamics, and mental/emotional health impacts. Preventing biodiversity and ecosystem service loss leading to these outcomes is a grand challenge facing humankind. To adapt to and mitigate the consequences of climate change, we propose the CAMBIUM NRT to train a new scientific workforce with the data science skills to integrate disparate data streams and produce actionable results for decision-makers in industry and government. Existing graduate programs do not provide the combination of training in biodiversity data science and policy with an emphasis on transdisciplinary team-science training. CAMBIUM brings together scholars from diverse fields to develop a new graduate curriculum that provides a research and training environment to develop a new generation of scientists to use big data integration to address pressing challenges of biodiversity loss and societal well-being. Over the course of five years, CAMBIUM will award two-year fellowships to 18 fellows with additional 250 students participating in the program (~150 PhD and 100 MS). Fellows and non-fellows will be able to apply for research and travel stipends for a total of 192 students funded through CAMBIUM. Keywords: Biodiversity; Data Science; Informatics; Ecology; Ecosystem Services; Species Distributions; Food Security; Public Health; Track 1
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National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Southwest Center for Outreach and Resilience in Climate and Health (SCORCH)
$3.8M, sub-award: $290,453 (2024–2026)
Our lab was involved in securing a $3.8 million NIH-P20 grant that was awarded to the University of Arizona and the University of Utah. This grant is intended to establish the Southwest Center for Outreach and Resilience in Climate and Health (SCORCH). Dr. Román-Palacios’ role within this initiative is as part of a sub-award (~$300,000) dedicated to the creation of the Integrated Data Visualization Core (IDVC) to provide support for SCORCH. PIs: Kacey Ernst, Mona Arora, Joseph Hoover.
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NatGeo
National Geographic
$99,423
Our lab was able to be a part of securing this NatGeo grant for expanding opportunities within biological sciences for Columbian students and researchers. This allowed for an increase in capacity for their research with more knowledge and access to various new tools and methods.
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Faculty Seed Grants
Macroevolution of Lifespans Across Animals
$15,000.00
Decades of research have uncovered extensive variation in lifespans across the tree of life, yet the degree of variability in aging across organisms remains largely unquantified (Medawar, 1952). Similarly, there has not been a comprehensive analysis of the drivers of such variation across species (Li et al. 2023). In addition to the intrinsic importance of quantifying the variation and sources of variance in lifespan at different taxonomic levels, research around aging has been a central topic in medicine and related disciplines (e.g. Ruby et al. 2018). For instance, the extent to which aging can be modified in humans is still a matter of strong debate (Yamamoto et al. 2022). Yet a broader perspective on the evolution of aging is largely lacking. Is lifespan conserved across groups of organisms, or is it more labile? Do environmental and ecological features explain a significant fraction of the variance in lifespan across organisms? These and other questions could provide insights into the potential malleability of lifespan at smaller taxonomic scales.
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College of Architecture Planning and Landscape Architecture (UArizona)
Building a Bridge Between Open Access Mapping and Formal Planning Efforts
$25.000 (2022)
Seed grant from the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture (UArizona). Project aimed at funding the development of a pilot software to bridge formal planning efforts and open-source software for community mapping. Project developed with Mackenzie Waller (co-PI), Assistant Professor at the College of College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture at the University of Arizona.
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