{"224171":{"#nid":"224171","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Projects Seek Crowd Funding Solution","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers face tremendous obstacles when securing funding for projects. Competition on the national level can be tremendous with continued cuts in funding for basic science research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor Jennifer Leavey, Georgia Tech\u2019s new crowd funding site \u2014 Georgia Tech Starter \u2014 could be just the thing to kick-start her student-oriented research project.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHer Georgia Tech Urban Honey Bee Project seeks funds for electronic monitoring equipment for its beehives. Used by students for a variety of biological, chemical, and environmental research, the beehives provide a look into how the urban habitat affects beehives.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGeorgia Tech is situated both academically and physically at the intersection of technology and nature,\u201d said Leavey, a senior academic professional with the\u0026nbsp; College of Sciences. \u201cThe city of Atlanta is a large urban environment within the heart of the agriculturally rich southern states. With the Urban Beehive Project, students are investigating how urban habitats affect one of the most important pollinators of food crops.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESeeking $6,750 to purchase webcams and sensors for real-time temperature, humidity, and hive-weight sensors, Leavey said Georgia Tech Starter makes a perfect venue for funding.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe can reach an unconventional funding source for this unconventional project,\u201d she said. \u201cAll different kinds of people \u2014 alumni, beekeepers, students\u2019 families, and those interested in urban agriculture and sustainability \u2014 will be drawn to the project.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Starter is a university-based, peer-reviewed, crowd funding platform for science and engineering research projects. Researchers can access the site (\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/starter.gatech.edu\u0022 title=\u0022https:\/\/starter.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/starter.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) and begin the application process. A series of questions will ensure compliance with requirements.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers will receive a review of their projects as well as feedback on how to better craft the project\u2019s message for posting on Georgia Tech Starter.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGeorgia Tech Starter is different from other sites in that we use the review process to ensure projects can be successfully executed before they ever hit the site,\u201d said Heyward Adams, co-founder and researcher. \u201cTechnicians at the Georgia Tech Starter Center provide feedback and help project creators craft their messages to garner support and appeal to the community.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDavid Garton, a lecturer with the School of Biology, has also joined Tech Starter with a companion project to his long-term research into the Palmyra Atoll.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGarton\u2019s research centers on the ecology and biogeography of New Zealand and Australia. His work on the Palmyra Atoll includes shoreline changes and sediment redistribution, as well as the atmospheric lead record preserved in lagoon sediments.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGarton seeks $5,940 in funding to support one- to two-week visits to capture data \u201csnap shots\u201d of atoll lagoon structure to compare with the research conducted in Palmyra.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTech Starter funding will allow us to conduct these short visits at other atolls to verify whether the processes we\u2019ve modeled at a single location are typical for tropical atolls, or are unique to the Palmyra Atoll,\u201d Garton said. \u201cIt is difficult to find atolls with infrastructure sufficient to support a long-term study, and this Tech Starter project will allow us to compare these other atolls with our more detailed model we have developed based on our six-year project at Palmyra.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a unique collaboration with paleontologist Stephen Gatesy at Brown University, Assistant Professor Dan Goldman is interested in researching future techniques of movement from the distant past.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBy studying tracks of dinosaurs in sand and mud, we hope to understand how to better develop robots that need to walk on different materials, including sand and mud,\u201d Goldman said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cRobosaur Walks\u201d \u2014 the name given to the project \u2014 seeks roughly $30,000 in funding.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis would help support the efforts of a graduate student and some travel to collaborate with Brown University,\u201d he said. \u201cThis project is good for Georgia Tech because it combines technology and physics devoted to understanding a problem set in the natural world that exists now as well as one that existed several million years ago.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBoth Garton and Leavey agree that anyone considering Georgia Tech Starter should clearly establish goals that are easy to explain and justify.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTech Starter projects should be simple and straightforward,\u201d Garton said. \u201cThey should be as guaranteed as possible to provide meaningful results within a short time frame and fit a strategic need for research in the public interest, to which a donor can easily relate.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELeavey added that this funding method also requires more communication.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAlong with clear and defined goals, having a strategy for reaching investors through social networks is also important,\u201d she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOverall, Garton and Leavey said that the site, in addition to being one of the first-ever university-based crowd funding sites, is a great resource for Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s really nice to showcase Georgia Tech research in one place,\u201d Leavey said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s great how the platform supports the Institute by bringing funds in properly.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGarton agrees.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGeorgia Tech\u2019s strong international reputation as a research university provides Georgia Tech Starter projects a strong platform for attracting support from donors,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor Jennifer Leavey, Georgia Tech\u2019s new crowd funding site \u2014 Georgia Tech Starter \u2014 could be just the thing to kick-start her student-oriented research project.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"For Jennifer Leavey, Georgia Tech\u2019s new crowd funding site \u2014 Georgia Tech Starter \u2014 could be just the thing to kick-start her student-oriented research project."}],"uid":"27445","created_gmt":"2013-07-22 14:57:03","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:34","author":"Amelia Pavlik","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-07-22T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-07-22T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"224121":{"id":"224121","type":"image","title":"Georgia Tech Urban Honey Bee Project","body":null,"created":"1449243551","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:39:11","changed":"1475894896","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:16","alt":"Georgia Tech Urban Honey Bee Project","file":{"fid":"197377","name":"bees.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bees_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bees_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":402260,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bees_0.jpg?itok=BFOoxPic"}},"224131":{"id":"224131","type":"image","title":"David Garton","body":null,"created":"1449243551","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:39:11","changed":"1475894896","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:16","alt":"David Garton","file":{"fid":"197378","name":"atoll.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/atoll_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/atoll_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1605416,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/atoll_0.jpg?itok=DEfbeXVX"}}},"media_ids":["224121","224131"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/starter.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Starter"}],"groups":[{"id":"1259","name":"Whistle"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"47881","name":"Dan Goldman"},{"id":"70131","name":"David Garton"},{"id":"66201","name":"Georgia Tech Starter"},{"id":"70141","name":"Georgia Tech Urban Honey Bee Project"},{"id":"27071","name":"Jennifer Leavey"},{"id":"70121","name":"Robosaur Walks"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:robert.nesmith@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ERobert Nesmith\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}