AAC Announces Nearly $10,000 In Research Grants

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The American Alpine Club's Research Grants Committee has announced the winners of 2009 grants totaling $9,750. "These grant recipients showcase excellent projects spanning environmental, social, and safety issues affecting the mountains," said committee chair Hugh Bollinger. "They often represent seed money that helps young investigators develop innovative projects that attract additional support from other funding sources."

The 2009 Research Grant awardees are:

Sean Collette, an undergraduate at Brigham Young University who is investigating regeneration of quaking aspens in mountainous landscapes of the Western U.S. to assist their future management.
 
Paul Firth, a physician with Massachusetts General Hospital who is developing tests of the effects of hypoxia on the mental cognition of climbers.
 
Kevin Ford, a first-year Ph.D. candidate at the University of Washington who is measuring high-elevation alpine meadows to determine if these botanical communities will be able to adjust vertically up mountainsides as increases in temperature caused by climate change affect their environment.
 
Caitlyn Florentine, a master's candidate at Montana State University who is investigating relic ice layers within rock glaciers to determine paleoclimate records; these may also have applications to analysis of similar glacial deposits on Mars.

Nathan Furman, graduate student at the University of Utah, who is assessing avalanche conditions and backcountry risk-taking decisions of skiers to help avoid avalanche-related accidents.
 
Jon Kedrowski, a Ph.D. candidate at Texas State University who is investigating crowding and climber-induced hazards in Denali National Park to help park managers avoid climbing-related accidents.
 
Dave Ohlson, photo/video producer, who will use "re-photography" approaches to precisely locate geographic positions at K2 originally photographed by Vittorio Sella in 1909, and to determine glacial changes in the past 100 years.
 
Ann Piersall, a Ph.D. graduate from the University of Montana who will investigate the socio-economic impact of glacial retreat on village water supplies in the Tien Shan Mountains of Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia.
 
Christopher Serenari, master's candidate at North Carolina State University, who will conduct interviews of local mountain guides in the Garhwal Himalaya to assist their communications with western tourists in this relatively new trekking landscape.

AAC Research Grants support scientific investigations in arctic and alpine landscapes worldwide. The annual application deadline is March 1. Click here for more information about the grants program.