The Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies has awarded 11 seed grants and 11 small grants to faculty from five Cornell colleges in its spring 2014 grant competitions. With 45 applications, this round was the most competitive in the history of the awards.

To promote research and curriculum development of internationally engaged faculty, the Einaudi Center gave preference to proposals supporting courses that offer a meaningful international experience and develop and expand sustainable international partnerships. Selections were also based on the project’s potential to advance research by junior faculty and bring long-term benefits to international studies at Cornell.

Seed grants support proposals with “seed funding” in preparation for external funding requests. Recipients:

• Christopher Barrett, professor, Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS): “Causal Effects of Natural Resource Degradation on Health and Livelihoods in Poor Communities in Indonesia,” $7,500].
• Laurie Drinkwater, associate professor, Department of Horticulture, CALS: “Optimizing Biological Nitrogen Fixation and Nitrogen Cycling in Maize Push-pull Systems,” $7,500.
• Alex Kuo, assistant professor, Department of Government, College of Arts and Sciences (A&S): “New Data Collection Effort for Understanding Elite and Public Responses to the Eurozone Economic Crisis, With Evidence from Spain,” $2,500.
• Barbara Lust, professor, Department of Human Development, College of Human Ecology (CHE): “A Cross-Linguistic Study of Young Bilingual Children’s Language Development: Korean-English Children’s Bilingualism,” $10,000.
• Andrew Mertha, professor, Department of Government, A&S: “Development of a ‘Cornell in Cambodia’ Study Abroad Infrastructure,” $15,000.
• Mostafa Minawi, assistant professor, Department of History, A&S: “Laying the Foundation for Ottoman and Turkish Studies at an Internationalized Cornell University,” $10,000.
• Barry Perlus, associate professor, Department of Art, College of Architecture, Art and Planning: “The Astronomical Observatories of Jai Singh: An Immersive, Interdisciplinary Project for Visualization and Cultural Awareness,” $9,000.
• Mirella Salvatore, assistant professor, Weill Cornell Medical College (WCMC): “Development of a Research Network with Singapore for the Study of Chikungunya and Other Emerging Viral Infections,” $10,000.
• John Paul Sniadecki, assistant professor, Department of Performing and Media Arts, A&S: “China/Burma Media Exchange Pilot,” $10,000.
• Nicolas van de Walle, professor, Department of Government, A&S: “Spatial Inequality and State Failure in Africa: A Data Base for Comparative Historical Analysis,” $10,000.
• Steven Wolf, associate professor, Department of Natural Resources, CALS: “Pursuing Sustainability Through Community-Engaged Research in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve,” $10,000.

Small grants support co-sponsorship of conferences, workshops, seminars and other events. Recipients:

• Satchit Balsari, assistant professor, WCMC: “Global Health Essentials Course,” $6,000.
• Jennifer Downs, assistant professor, WCMC: “Women in Global Health Initiative Symposium Fall 2014,” $8,000.
• John Elliott, associate professor, Department of Design and Environmental Analysis, CHE: “Havana: Ecological Policies, Green Concrete, Bamboo Structures, and a Quest for a Tree,” $2,500.
• Magnus Fiskesjo, associate professor, Department of Anthropology, A&S: “Burma/Myanmar Research Forum: Critical Scholarship in a Time of Transition,” $10,000.
• Michael Jones-Correa, professor, Department of Government, A&S: “Conference Proposal Theorizing the Local Turn in Immigration Policy,” $5,000.
• Marianne Krasny, professor, Department of Natural Resources, CALS: “Environmental Education in the Age of Climate Change: Global Perspectives,” $5,000.
• Alexander Livingston, assistant professor, Department of Government, A&S: “Pussy Riot at Cornell: Performance, Film Screening, and Panel Discussion,” $4,000.
• Shanjun Li, assistant professor, Department of Applied Economics and Management, CALS: “Data Collection and Research Initiative on the First National Household Energy Consumption Survey in China,” $2,000.
• Karl Pillemer, professor, Department of Human Development, CHE: “Research and Policy to Promote Active Aging: An International Collaboration,” $5,000.
• Camille Robcis, assistant professor, Department of History, A&S: “Provincializing French Intellectual History,” $2,500.
• Ananda Cohen Suarez, assistant professor, Department of the History of Art, A&S: “Local Cosmopolitanisms: Mural Painting and Social Meaning in the Colonial Andes,” $2,500.

The deadline for the next seed and small grant competitions is Sept. 15. More information: http://einaudi.cornell.edu/seed_grants and http://einaudi.cornell.edu/small_grants.