UNM announces next 'Grand Challenges'

The University of New Mexico is aiming to tackle child health, the transition to clean energy, and space research as part of a collaborative and competitive “Grand Challenges” initiative.

The university recently identified the next series of local challenges that it will work to improve under the concept that “unites researchers, educators, students and community members in solving problems of critical importance.”

During the original Grand Challenge, which UNM President Garnett Stokes launched in 2019, the university focused on the areas of substance abuse, successful aging and sustainable water resources.

“Addressing these big issues requires us to work together as one university, reaching across campuses and across disciplines to ask tough questions and develop and implement creative answers,” Stokes said in a statement. “Grand Challenges take on big problems that, once solved, have a significant positive impact on our citizens, our state, and our society.”

The initiative has become a new source of revenue for the university. The school originally invested $2.1 million into the project, which required UNM to pull from the principal of one of its endowment accounts. But since its launch, the university said that it has received $54 million in new research funding. Additionally, 1,500 students and 350 faculty members and staff have worked on the related research projects.

Last year, UNM restructured the project to create 10 “Level 1” challenges. Each team received funding for team development, community engagement and the solidification of their ideas, according to UNM’s website. Those 10 teams then competed against each other to be elevated to “Level 2” challenges. Three “Level 2” teams will receive additional funding to build up their projects.

One of the goals for the program is for the individual challenges to evolve into Category 3 research centers at the university, said Marissa Lucero, a spokeswoman for the university.

Each of the three teams was awarded $200,000 for the first two years of work, though there will be opportunities for each team to make additional funding requests for specific purposes or to extend the research for another year, Lucero said.

Child care

New Mexico has had its share of horrific child abuse cases in recent years and is often listed near the bottom of child welfare rankings.

“The good news is that New Mexico is initiating a lot of projects, rolling out proven programs to try and turn that tide around,” said Rebecca Girardet, a professor of pediatrics in the School of Medicine. “But the state ... really doesn’t have all of the tools to measure the effectiveness of those programs. And so that’s where our multidisciplinary team comes in.”

She said in recent years, the state has invested in support programs, such as early childhood education, positive parenting and preschool enrichment programs. UNM will work to measure how effective those programs are.

Another focus of the work will be to create a more comprehensive way to measure what affects child well-being, she said.

“I think it’s important, though, not to hang our hats too much on those numbers, Girardet said of the state rankings. “I think New Mexico is honest and aware of our child well-being problems. And that’s really a first step to trying to address them.”

The work is expected to draw faculty and students from health sciences, public health, environmental sciences, communication and journalism, geography, neuroscience and child development.

Sustainable space research

Space is a frontier filled with opportunities for research and exploration. It’s also a potential windfall of economic investment, said Maryam Hojati, an associate professor of civil, construction, and environmental engineering.

She said the team will be looking at all sorts of space-related research, such as resource extraction, application of space resources, development of the technologies and material for the space travel and space biology research.

Hojati said one goal of the project will be to keep UNM and New Mexico at the forefront of space technology. New Mexico is already a big player in the space industry. The state is home to the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Space Vehicles Directorate, White Sands Missile Range is often described as the birthplace of the country’s missile and space program and Spaceport America offers commercial rides to space, among other space-related ventures in the state.

“The main idea is from this collaboration, between the academia, industry and also government, is we will be fostering a mutually beneficial partnership and research project that could (contribute) to the reputation and also visibility of University of New Mexico and also New Mexico State as a hub for space-related research and innovation,” Hojati said.

Space research at UNM has recently enjoyed some successes. In May, UNM announced it was receiving $7.5 million over five years to study the lunar crust as NASA prepares to send astronauts to the moon. The school last month announced it had received a $750,000 grant to research exoplanets.

This team will be made up of researchers from UNM’s departments of architecture, biology, chemistry, earth and planetary sciences, engineering and physics and astronomy.

Just transition to green energy

New Mexico is the no. 2 oil-producing state in the nation. But in recent months, President Joe Biden visited an up-and-coming wind tower manufacturing site and just last week there was a groundbreaking ceremony in Corona for Pattern Energy’s massive SunZia transmission and wind project.

“This is a really exciting time for New Mexico, there’s tremendous federal resources right now private sector momentum when it comes to moving to low-carbon economy,” said Gabriel Pacyniak, an associate professor in the School of Law. “But the challenge there is to make sure that New Mexico communities don’t get left behind, and particularly that low-income communities and disadvantaged communities can take advantage of these potential economic benefits.”

Pacyniak said the Inflation Reduction Act will be funneling a large amount of federal dollars into clean energy projects in the coming years.

“There’s a lot more opportunity out there, and there’s going to be a lot of money, especially in the next three years, that’s going to be available,” Pacyniak said. “It’s going to be a little bit of a sprint to find, again, community-based organizations, local governments that can apply for this funding and successfully receive it.”

The team is made up of researchers from political science, population health and UNM’s law school.