Research Interest Groups
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Research Interest Groups
The Office for Research and Innovation sponsors and manages research interest groups (RIGs) to provide a forum for UT San Antonio researchers from across disciplines and the extended research community to work collaboratively on emerging transdisciplinary fields in academia.
RIG members represent colleges and departments from all corners of UT San Antonio and include community-based organizations and industry partners in the San Antonio region to conduct innovative research on specific topics, and to seek funding opportunities to support new ideas and investigations.
Research Interest Groups (RIGs) help connect faculty researchers to collaborate in interdisciplinary teams. RIGs meet once a month and are self-governing with management support from UT San Antonio Research.
If you would like to join one of the current RIGs listed below, please complete
this brief survey
If you would like to propose the establishment of a new RIG or would like further information on existing RIGs, please contact Dr. Siobhan Fleming, Assistant Vice President for Strategic Research Initiatives,
Siobhan.Fleming@utsa.edu
in UT San Antonio Research.
For specific information about any RIG, please feel free to reach out to the faculty leads listed below.
Climate
Faculty Lead: Kristen Brown (Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Construction Management)
The Climate RIG pursues climate-related in the fields of science, engineering, and cultural impact with a focus on the Underrepresented Minority (URM) communities. Initial areas of interest concern the intersection of physical and human in the social realm, law & policy-related issues, the effect of climate change on community & education as well as monitoring and modeling.
Contact:
Kristen.Brown2@utsa.edu
Community Solutions
Faculty Leads: Erica Sosa (Public Health) & Rhonda BeLue (Public Health)
The Community Solutions RIG joins UT San Antonio faculty with the City of San Antonio Research and Development League, the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and USAA as well as industry partners in the San Antonio region with the purpose of conducting innovative research on specific topics beginning with health/community and traffic/infrastructure, and to seek funding opportunities to support new ideas and investigations.
Contacts:
Erica.Sosa@utsa.edu
Rhonda.BeLue@utsa.edu
Data Science
Faculty Lead: Anthony Rios
The Data Science RIG aims to provide a forum for UT San Antonio researchers from across disciplines and the extended research community to work collaboratively on emerging transdisciplinary fields in data science.
Contact:
Anthony.Rios@utsa.edu
Disabilities
Faculty Leads: Leslie Neely (Educational Psychology) | Erica Sosa (Public Health) | John Quarles (Computer Science)
The Disabilities RIG focuses on emerging technologies and transdisciplinary approaches to supporting persons with disabilities. The RIG aims to collaborate with regional support services/non-profit organizations in San Antonio and pursue funding opportunities.
Contacts:
Leslie.Neely@utsa.edu
Erica.Sosa@utsa.edu
John.Quarles@utsa.edu
Human Performance
Faculty Lead: Chris Rathbone (Biomedical & Chemical Engineering)
This is a team of multi-disciplinary researchers from biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering, and kinesiology. Using state-of-the-art approaches, their goal is to discover new knowledge through research to improve health and maximize performance, wellness, and nutrition. Some research areas include aging, biomechanics, injury prevention, sports performance, and nutritional blood biomarkers.
The group collaborates with local physicians and researchers from UT Health, the Texas Military Institute, and other national and international institutes. With numerous published works and funded research proposals, the group is dedicated to understanding the basic mechanisms that influence musculoskeletal performance to improve quality of life and physical performance while minimizing the risk of injury.
Contact:
Chris.Rathbone@utsa.edu
Quantum Information Science and Engineering (QISE)
Faculty Leads: David Silva (College of Sciences) & Jeff Prevost (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
This RIG brings experts in physics (experimental and theoretical), mathematics, computer science, electrical engineering, and public policy. With a growing list of published papers, their most recent was featured in Nature, and they have many more in preparation. With three patents filed to date and multiple grants currently under review, the group has mobilized through a UT San Antonio Quantum Slack Channel, now available to the larger research community.
Contacts:
DavidR.Silva@utsa.edu
Jeff.Prevost@utsa.edu
Social and Environmental Challenges in Latin America
Faculty Lead: Jason Yaeger (Anthropology)
This group examines complex dynamics that connect culture, society and institutions with changing climate and environmental conditions. This nexus brings together researchers from a wide range of fields including social sciences, environmental sciences and engineering, and humanities, as well as education, policy and development studies.
Contact:
Jason.Yaeger@utsa.edu
Space Travel, Exploration, and Planetary Science (STEPS)
Faculty Lead: Alan Whittington (Earth and Planetary Sciences) & Xinting Yu (Physics & Astronomy)
The purpose of this Research Interest Group will be to catalyze transdisciplinary research at UT San Antonio focused on understanding and exploring our solar system and beyond. We are seeking members from a broad range of backgrounds with interests in the technical, and societal challenges of human exploration and settlement beyond Earth, and understanding the origin and evolution of (exo-)planetary systems.
Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the scientific and engineering challenges of uncrewed remote sensing and sample return missions, crewed missions including physiological and psychological effects of space travel on humans, and sustainable systems for human habitation of Earth including air, water, food, power, and infrastructure needs.
Contact:
Alan.Whittington@utsa.edu
Xinting.Yu@utsa.edu
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