Sixteen projects have been selected for funding in the third round of Research Forward, including four projects with CALS co-PIs. These projects, described in further detail below, are:

• “Agrivoltaics: Finding Win-Win-Win Solutions for Food, Energy and the Environment by Combining Agriculture and Solar Power Production” with co-PI Chris Kucharik in the Department of Agronomy
• “New Avenues to Treat Heart Failure Using an Engineered Enzyme and Human Pluripotent Stem Cells” with co-PI Philip Romero in the Department of Biochemistry
• “Preserving Traditional Foodways in Light of Climate Change” with co-PIs Julie Dawson in the Department of Horticulture and Nan Enstad in the Department of Community and Environmental Sociology, co-investigator Rue Genger in the Department of Horticulture
• “LakeView: New Understanding of Lake Water Quality Through Integrated Earth Observing Systems” with co-PIs Katherine McMahon in the Department of Bacteriology and Philip Townsend in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology

The initiative is supported by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) and will provide funding for 1–2 years, depending on the needs and scope of the project.

Research Forward projects are collaborative, high-risk, high-impact and transformative. The goal is to also fund research projects that require significant development prior to the submission of applications for external funding. Research Forward projects also include an integrated and compelling plan for establishing and maintaining an equitable and inclusive research effort.

Agrivoltaics: Finding Win-Win-Win Solutions for Food, Energy and the Environment by Combining Agriculture and Solar Power Production

This project will create an Agrivoltaic Observatory at the Kegonsa Research Campus to measure the response of vegetation to the novel shade and rain sheltering created by solar panels and evaluate the viability of agrivoltaics in Wisconsin.  Ultimately, the research team hopes to demonstrate the effectiveness of these approaches and develop design and operational guidelines to maximize agrivoltaic co-benefits in Wisconsin.

Principal Investigator
Steven Loheide, professor civil and environmental engineering

Co-Principal Investigators
Ankur Desai, professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences
Chris Kucharik, professor of agronomy

New Avenues to Treat Heart Failure Using an Engineered Enzyme and Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

This Research Forward Project will pursue innovative mouse MI studies harnessing an engineered, WARF-patented ACE2 variant predicted to exhibit increased efficacy in HF with reduced side effects. ACE2 will also be tested for its ability to promote remuscularization of the failing heart by delivering ACE2 decorated human pluripotent stem cell-cardiomyocytes for enhancement of cell engraftment and survival. These experiments will open new avenues desperately needed for treatment of HF.

Principal Investigator
Timothy Kamp, professor of medicine/cardiovascular medicine

Co-Principal Investigators
Matthew Brown, assistant professor of surgery
Aaron LeBeau, associate professor of radiology
Philip Romero, assistant professor of biochemistry

Co-Investigators
Timothy Hacker, scientist III at the Cardiovascular Research Center
Peter Heinzelman, scientist II in biochemistry

Preserving Traditional Foodways in Light of Climate Change

This project uses an interdisciplinary, participatory approach that is necessary to build these efforts.  Sociological, biological, legal and Indigenous lenses can develop a fuller understanding of the structural inequities and impediments to change embedded in educational institutions, research network and the legal terrain. This project uses multiple tools to develop practicable transformative approaches and collaborative structures to ensure that research goals and data remain in the sovereign control of Tribal partners while pursuing climate adaptation in small agricultural systems.

Principal Investigator
Steph Tai, professor of law

Co-Principal Investigators
Dan Cornelius, outreach specialist for the Law School
Julie Dawson, associate professor of horticulture
Nan Enstad, professor of community and environmental sociology

Co-Investigator
Rue Genger, scientist in the Department of Horticulture

LakeView: New Understanding of Lake Water Quality Through Integrated Earth Observing Systems

LakeView is an integrated UW lake observatory whose mission is to prepare the scientific community for the next generation of space-based Earth observatories for water quality. NASA missions, scheduled to launch in the next 1-5 years, will generate a new kind of data (hyperspectral imagery) in support of sustainable use of Earth’s natural resources, including lakes.

Principal Investigator
Paul Hanson, research professor for the Center for Limnology

Co-Principal Investigators
Robert Holz, associate scientist in the Space Science and Engineering Center
Katherine McMahon, professor of bacteriology
Philip Townsend, professor of forest and wildlife ecology
Grace Wilkinson, assistant professor of limnology