OU ‘Big Idea Challenge’ Funds Five Projects to Explore Solutions to Global Grand Challenges

The projects and research teams awarded are:

• “Well-Being Across the Lifespan: Early Childhood Experience and Opportunities in Oklahoma,” led by Sherri Castle, assistant director of research for the Early Childhood Education Institute at OU-Tulsa, with Constance Chapple and Erin Maher, both associate professors of sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences, as well as research team members including representatives from academic and professional fields including physical and mental health, pediatrics and emergency medicine, regional and city planning, geography and the role of environment, data science and political science. This project is a merger of two originally separate proposals focused on child adversity, health inequities and child well-being.

• “Achieving Sustainability and Negative Carbon Emissions in an Agro-Energy Producing Region,” led by Kyle Murray, a hydrogeologist for the Oklahoma Geological Survey and adjunct faculty in the Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy, with team members in the departments of Geography and Environmental Sustainability, Microbiology and Plant Biology, and Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering.

• “Carbon-free H2 Energy Production and Storage (CHEPS),” led by Dimitrios Papavassilious, the C.M. Sliepcevic Professor of Chemical Engineering in the Gallogly College of Engineering, with team members representing journalism and mass communication, philosophy, psychology, economics, and the Oklahoma Geological Survey.

• “X-GEM: Enhancing Future Community Sustainability via Greenhouse Gas Emission Monitoring,” led by Binbin Weng, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering in the Gallogly College of Engineering, with team members representing aerospace and mechanical engineering, social science, political science, city planning, meteorology, geology, city and regional planning, and the Oklahoma Biological Survey.

• “Social Media and the Visual Politics of Policing Communities of Color,” led by Sherri Irvin, a Presidential Research Professor in philosophy and women’s and gender studies, and Karlos Hill, associate professor and department chair of African and African-American Studies – all in the College of Arts and Sciences – with team members in the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication; the School of Computer Science; the Data Institute for Societal Challenges; and digital scholarship and technologists in the University Libraries; as well as collaborators from Carleton University and from the international Debiasing and Lay Informatics Lab.

OU Vice President for Research and Partnerships Tomás Díaz de la Rubia said, “As a flagship public institution that is keenly focused on societal impact through research and creative activity, the University of Oklahoma is uniquely positioned to bring disparate academic disciplines together to foster innovative, comprehensive solutions to global challenges.

“These projects will position the university as a leader in generating new insights and game-changing contributions to solving regional, national and global challenges in energy, sustainability, health and communities,” he added.

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