Financial Support
Over the past 14 years, I have been the PI, co-PI, Senior Personnel, or Advisor on $44.4 million (current $34.5 million) in funded research for 40 research projects. These 40 projects were funded by various federal and non-federal agencies e.g.,National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Defense (DoD) - Air Force Civil Engineer Center, The United States Geological Survey (USGS), Governor Office of Economic Development South Dakota, Nelson Foundation, Government of India and Indo-US Science and Technology Forum, Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, Inc., KL Energy, and The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) etc.
Current Support:
| Agency | Title | Amount | Duration | Role |
| National Science Foundation (Current) | Building Genome-to-Phenome Infrastructure for Regulating Methane in Deep and Extreme Environments (BuG ReMeDEE) | $6,000,000 | 8/17-7/21 | PI |
| Governor Office of Economic Development, South Dakota (GOED, SD) (Current) | Composite and Nanocomposite Advanced Manufacturing – Biomaterials Center | $1,806,427 | 7/18-6/23 | Co-PI |
| National Science Foundation (Current) | Building on the 2020 Vision: Expanding Research, Education, and Innovation in
South Dakota |
$20,000,000 | 9/19-08/24 | SP* |
| National Science Foundation (Current) | Data Driven Material Discovery (DDMD) Center for Bioengineering Innovation | $6,000,000 | 8/19-7/23 | SP* |
| Nelson Foundation | Bioelectrocatalytic Processes for Biodiesel Production | $5,000 | 7/19-6/20 | PI |
*SP: Senior Personnel, pi: principal investigator
Past Support
| Agency | Title | Amount | Duration | Role |
| Department of Defense – Air Force Civil Engineer Center (DoD – AFCEC) | Basic Expeditionary Airfield Resources (BEAR) Energy Saving Technologies (BEAR-EST) | $753,911 | 9/14-8/18 | PI |
| NASA EPSCoR | Advanced Bioelectrochemical Module (BEM) for Waste-to-Electricity Generation during Long-term Space | $750,000 | 9/16-8/19 | Co-PI |
| National Science Foundation | Sustainable Development-Research Experience for Teachers | $575,391 | 6/17-5/20 | SP* |
| Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, Inc. | Acquisition of LCMS and HPLC | $80,000 | 1/18-12/19 | PI |
| DoD – AFCEC | Basic Expeditionary Airforce Resources (BEAR) Energy Saving Technologies (BEST) | $100,000 | 7/17-12/18 | Co-PI |
| GOED, SD | Rationalization of CRUDE Process for Enhanced Biofuel Production | $35,000 | 7/18-6/19 | PI |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) EPSCoR | Conversion of Space Crew’s Wastes into Biofuel Using Extremophiles | $48,082 | 1/15-10/17 | PI |
| DoD – AFCEC | Solid Waste Conversion to Diesel | $980,390 | 9/14-8/17 | Co-PI |
| RESPEC Research Grant | A Novel Approach to Bioconversion of Natural Gas to Liquid Fuel via Non-Methanotrophic Genera Rhodobacter sphaeroides | $10,000 | 9/16-8/17 | Advisor |
| Government of India and Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (GoI-IUSSTF) | Harnessing the Potential of Extremophiles for Enhancing Lignocellulose Degradation and Electrohydrogenesis towards Microbial Electrolysis Cell Applications | $39,233 | 10/16-9/17 | Advisor |
| GoI-IUSSTF | Development of a Recombinant Thermophilic Geobacillus sp. for Enhanced Biofuel Production | $15,267 | 9/17-3/18 | Advisor |
|
GoI-IUSSTF |
Identification of xylose transporters and co-enzyme specificity for xylitol dehydrogenase in Kluyveromyces marxianus | $5,000 | 10/17-11/17 | Advisor |
| GoI-IUSSTF | Development of NADP+ dependent xylitol dehydrogenase (XDH) in Kluyveromyces marxianus | $39,233 | 11/16-10/17 | Advisor |
| GoI-IUSSTF | Developing in-house catalytically efficient cellulolytic cocktails derived from Geobacillus sp. and thermophilic fungi for cost effective conversion of lignocellulosics into sugars | $15,267 | 09/16-3/17 | Advisor |
| ASM-IUSSTF Indo-US | Anaerobic Microbial Processes for Energy and Environment | $5,000 | 12/14 -01/15 | PI |
| NSF | Acquisition of a Combined AFM and Fluorescence Microscopy System | $282,942 | 09/13-8/15 | Co-PI |
| NSF IUCRC | Biopolymers and Biocomposites from Extremophile Microbes | $98,000 | 1/12-12/14 | Co-PI |
| NSF IUCRC | Enhanced Lignocellulose Conversion Using DUSEL Thermostable Enzymes | $99,808 | 6/11-6/14 | PI |
| DoD AFRL | Hydrogen Production by Lignocellulose Degrading Thermophiles | $200,000 | 12/10-12/11 | Co-PI |
| South Dakota Board of Regents (SDBOR) | Development of an overexpressing thermostable cellulase strain using a bacterium isolated from the Homestake Gold Mine, Lead, South Dakota | $82,463 | 8/09-8/11 | PI |
| NSF | Acquisition of a High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope for Research and Education | $631,982 | 8/09-7/11 | Co-PI |
| U.S. Geological Survey | Fate and Transport of Biogenic Uraninite in the Environment | $16,825 | 3/11-2/12 | PI |
| Nelson Foundation | Generating preliminary microbial data on the former Homestake Gold Mine to support two NSF proposals | $5,000 | 7/10-6/12 | PI |
| Department of Energy (DOE) | Subsurface uranium fate and transport: integrated experiments and modeling of coupled biogeochemical mechanisms of nanocrystalline uraninite oxidation by Fe(III)-(hrdr)oxides | $339,015 | 9/7-3/11 | Co-PI |
| U.S. Geological Survey | Protein-based mechanisms of uranium detoxification in subsurface bacteria | $16,771 | 3/10-2/11 | PI |
| NSF | Acquisition of a kinetic phosphorescence analyzer for uranium-focused research and education | $48,750 | 10/8-9/9 | PI |
| NSF | Biogeochemical cycling of heavy metals in Lake Coeur d’Alene sediments: The role of indigenous microbial communities | $330,000 | 8/4-7/9 | Co-PI |
| Nelson Foundation | Molecular and biochemical studies on arsenic detoxification by hyper-resistant Micrococcus sp. | $5,000 | 7/8-6/9 | Co-PI |
| KL Energy Corporation | Characterization of DUSEL extremophiles | $35,250 | 3/9-10/9 | PI |
| U.S. Geological Survey | Permeable reactive bio-barriers for uranium removal: Role of iron minerals on uranium fate and transport | $14,855 | 3/7-2/8 | PI |
| South Dakota NASA EPSCoR | Microbial Diversity in the Deep Subsurface Environment of Homestake Mine, Lead | $20,000 | 8/7-7/8 | Co-PI |
| South Dakota EPSCoR | Setting up bioprocessing research labs | $25,000 | 8/6-8/7 | PI |
| Nelson Foundation | Biodegradation of cellulosic materials under thermophilic conditions | $5,000 | 8/6-8/7 | PI |
| SD Governor’s 2010 Grant Program | Generation of energy from renewable biofuels using microorganisms from deep subsurface of Homestake, Mine, Lead, South Dakota | $55,196 | 8/6-8/7 | PI |
*SP: Senior Personnel, pi: principal investigator