Chancellor's $1 Million Emergency Fund Allocated to UH Manoa Scholars and Researchers

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Jim Manke, (808) 956-6099
Manoa Chancellor's Office
Posted: Dec 1, 2004

HONOLULU — Nearly all of the $1 million in emergency relief funds earmarked by UH Mānoa Chancellor Peter Englert to assist UH Mānoa scholars and researchers during the flood recovery has now been allocated.

The Short-term Assistance for Research and Training (START) initiative has distributed funds to 36 principal investigators and their faculty collaborators in the College of Natural Sciences, the John A. Burns School of Medicine, the College of Arts and Humanities, Library Services, and the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.

"We felt it was important to help meet critical emergency needs in the first few days and weeks after October‘s floods," Chancellor Englert said. "We set aside money from the Research and Training Revolving Fund (RTRF) that can be used for these purposes. Once our faculty are back on track and their projects are on a more stable footing, we expect that the funds will be replenished through the insurance claims process that is now underway."

Allocations range from a high of $100,000 to researcher Dr. Rebecca Cann at the UH Medical School to a low of $2,338 to David Bruner at Hamilton Library.

Cann and fellow researchers David Haymer and Leonard Freed received funding to rebuild, re-equip and re-supply their laboratory in the Biomedical Sciences Building where the team specializes in the analysis of human molecular diversity in the Pacific and conservation genetics of Native Hawaiian organisms, particularly the endangered Hawaiian honeycreeper. Bruner sent 13 computer hard drives to Super Geeks for cleanup and data recovery.

Other sums distributed this week cover computer replacement and repair, software replacement and backup power supplies for computers and scientific instruments, replacement or preservation of research specimens and chemical reagents, purchase or rental of refrigeration, air conditioning and air purification equipment, expenses for relocating offices and laboratories, and purchase and replacement of basic office equipment and supplies.

The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research continues to receive and review requests for emergency funds and will determine at a later date if additional resources should be made available for these purposes.