Three GES faculty members received two Research Development Award Program (REACH) awards, administered by the Office of Strategic Initiatives and Research Development in the Division of Research and Engagement at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
The first award, in REACH’s AI category, supports the project “Sustainable AI Infrastructure Initiative: Data Center and Environment Nexus.” The proposal for $11,000 was submitted by Bhuwan Thapa, Will Lee and Plaxedes Chitiyo from GES, along with Stephen Holland of the Department of Economics and Yingcheng Sun of the Department of Computer Science.
Dr. Thapa was also part of a team that received a REACH Target proposal Development Award to study maternity care accessibility using mobility data, birth records, and community voice in North Carolina. The proposal for $6,000 was submitted by Martin Andersen of the Department of Economics, Jennifer Toller Erausquin and Andrea Lewis from the Department of Public Health Education.
The REACH initiative is designed to catalyze interdisciplinary collaboration and position teams for competitive external funding. This program is intentionally structured to create space for faculty to think, collaborate, and build strong, fundable research initiatives aligned with emerging regional and national priorities.
