June 26th, 2009
The Center for Integrated Biological and Environmental Research (CIBER) celebrated its opening day on May 27 at Delaware State University, with leaders from its partner institutions in attendance. Located in the College of Agriculture and Related Sciences at Delaware State University, CIBER is a regional faculty network hub that includes Delaware State University, Wesley College, Delaware Technical & Community College and the University of Delaware. "With the launch of CIBER, DSU will institutionalize support for growing collaborative, interdisciplinary research capacity," said Venu Kalavacharla, assistant professor in the College of Agriculture and Related Sciences at Delaware State University and director of CIBER. "CIBER's goals are to enhance our existing network; strengthen research infrastructure; facilitate research collaborations across partner institutions; improve research competitiveness; and contribute to K-12, undergraduate and graduate student education." The center's major functions include identifying funding opportunities and gathering groups of researchers to secure grants; communicating the availability of research instrumentation and training; coordinating the usage and maintenance of shared research facilities at Delaware State University; and integrating research and outreach activities for partner institutions. Faculty who utilize CIBER resources will contribute to collaborative research and cultivate middle school, high school, undergraduate and graduate students. "CIBER will facilitate new and creative ways of collaborating among institutions through coordinated research and outreach activities," said Bruce Allison, professor of environmental studies at Wesley College and member of CIBER's core implementation team. The establishment of CIBER will include the hiring of two new tenure-track faculty members at Delaware State University--one in the College of Agriculture & Related Sciences in the area of biostatistics, and another in the College of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Technology in the area of bioinformatics. "CIBER will increase collaborations between the College of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Technology and the College of Agriculture and Related Sciences at DSU," said Clytrice Watson, assistant professor of biology at Delaware State University and a member of CIBER's core implementation team. Mingxin Guo, assistant professor in the College of Agriculture and Related Sciences at Delaware State University, added, "CIBER will benefit students and faculty through collaborations, student training and increasing research capacity." CIBER will sustain the research infrastructure created at Delaware State University by Delaware's National Science Foundation EPSCoR grant program, which is dedicated to improving Delaware's environment and economy through research and education. CIBER core implementation team member Barbara Wiggins, director and chairperson of Delaware Tech's medical laboratory technology program, said that EPSCoR has provided a network of opportunities and collaborations for the faculty at DTCC in Environmental Science and that she expects CIBER to further enhance that network. "These collaborations have provide our students with research opportunities that foster the transition to a four-year institution," said Wiggins. Stephen Taylor, director of the EPSCoR-funded Ethics Resource Site at Delaware State University and a CIBER core implementation team member, regularly organizes EPSCoR-sponsored lectures, forums and seminars on ethical issues relevant to research in the natural sciences. "CIBER will allow me to continue offering such activities with a special emphasis on the environment," said Taylor. --Katie Ginder-Vogel
