Grant Awards
Stetson Receives $2 Million National Science Foundation S-STEM Award
Professor Matt Shannon leads a faculty team providing six years of support to 24 STEM scholars across two cohorts, beginning in the Fall 2026 semester. Specifically, the award supports academically talented students with financial need (up to $15,000 per year, with an expected average award of $12,500 per student). Ultimately, the program is designed to retain, graduate, and prepare those students for STEM careers through evidence-based practices such as summer research, a discovery-focused, cohort-based curriculum, a summer bridge program, a themed colloquium each semester, and enhanced advising.
Stetson Students Featured in Local Documentary, Collaborate with Visually Impaired Youth
Undergraduate students from Stetson University recently took part in a one-of-a-kind learning experience and will be featured in an upcoming documentary, “Postcards from Canaveral.” Led by Stetson Professor Nathan Wolek, PhD, the students partnered with blind and partially sighted youth to create audio tours for the National Park Service at Canaveral National Seashore and Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. “Postcards from Canaveral” tells the story of the Young Sound Seekers program, a five-year collaboration between Stetson University, the Conklin Davis Center for the Visually Impaired in Daytona Beach and the Atlantic Center for the Arts. The National Park Service’s Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division awarded a $300,000 grant to support the program and promote accessibility and conservation nationwide.
First NIH R15 AREA grant for Stetson's Dye Lab
Professor Kristine Dye, PhD, assistant professor of Health Sciences and Biology, received her first National Institutes of Health R15 AREA grant (Academic Research Enhancement Award), worth over $500,000. The Dye Lab at Stetson University researches various topics of virology and immunology, including how polyomaviruses transform healthy cells into cancerous cells, viral evolution, pandemic tracking and human immune responses to pathogens.
Two Students Win Poster Awards at Biomedical Conference
After several years of diligent research under the supervision of Kristine Dye, PhD, assistant professor of Health Sciences and Biology, eight Stetson students — majoring in diverse majors such as Health Sciences, Biology, Molecular and Cellular Biology and Chemistry — traveled to Pittsburgh, Pa., to present their research at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Students (ABRCMS) in November 2024.
Summer In the Research Lab
In a laboratory in Sage Hall Science Center, four students spent most of their summer studying cell fusion with Assistant Professor of Biology Jean Smith, PhD.
At the end of last year, Smith received a $502,998 National Science Foundation grant to support her research lab, which studies the genetics and cell biology of fungal cell-cell fusion. The grant also funds undergraduates in the biology department to conduct research over the summer.
Stetson Receives State Grant to Reconstruct History Hulley Tower
Stetson University has received a $500,000 historic preservation grant from the State of Florida to reconstruct Hulley Tower, which is recognized on the National Register of Historic Places for its statewide significance.
Through a grassroots alumni effort, Stetson is raising about $5 million to historically reconstruct Hulley Tower to its original 116-foot height with a new 52-bell carillon on the DeLand campus.
Stetson Law Receives $438K From State to Help Veterans
Stetson University College of Law received $438,000 in state funding this year to provide free legal services to veterans appealing disability benefit decisions from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Through the Veterans Law Institute and its Veterans Advocacy Clinic, staff and Law students have helped veterans receive about $23 million in additional future benefits and $13 million in retroactive benefits since 2014.
Seven New Hollis Impact Grants
Stetson’s Nina B. Hollis Institute for Educational Reform supports educational innovation for the advancement of all learners, from birth through grade 12 and nontraditional students by offering grants up to $10,000 per year for up to three years.
NSF Awards $1M To Stetson's Water Institute To Reduce Flooding
Stetson University’s Institute for Water and Environmental Resilience (IWER) has received a $1 million Stage 2 Civic Innovation Challenge (CIVIC) award from the National Science Foundation to begin a research-based pilot project to reduce flooding and improve water quality in the City of Cape Canaveral.
Jason Evans, PhD, IWER’s executive director and associate professor of Environmental Science, is the project's principal investigator. He is leading a large collaborative team that includes the City of Cape Canaveral, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, East Central Florida Regional Planning Council, Florida Sea Grant, and multiple other community partners.
National Science Foundation Awards $500K Grant To Stetson Biology Professor
Stetson University Assistant Biology Professor Jean Smith, PhD, has been awarded a $502,998 grant from the National Science Foundation. This is a new NSF funding source, and with only 62 grants awarded, Smith is the only recipient funded in Florida.
Smith is a molecular biologist whose research focuses on the genetics and cell biology of fungal cell-cell fusion. A Florida native, she earned her BS in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Johns Hopkins University and her PhD in Molecular Biology from Princeton University, then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Stetson Joins In $25M Federal Grant For 'Lake To Lagoon' Conservation Program
Alachua Conservation Trust (ACT), in collaboration with Volusia County and Stetson University, has been awarded $25 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to support the “Lake to Lagoon” conservation program in Volusia, Lake, and Flagler counties.
The new award is part of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) and one of 81 funded projects totaling $1.1 billion nationwide. These USDA awards support adopting research-based land management practices and advancing land protection to promote coastal and inland resilience in East Central Florida.
Students, Patients Reap Benefits of Counseling Grant
The Hatters Behavioral Health Coalition (HBHC) Program provides specialized training for counseling graduate students. Participants also receive a $10,000 stipend each for their one-year internships. In its first of four years, the program resulted from a $1 million-plus grant from the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration/Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program for Professionals.
Stetson's Water Institute Awarded Grant to Reduce Flooding
Stetson University’s Institute for Water and Environmental Resilience (IWER) received a Stage 1 Civic Innovation Challenge (CIVIC) planning grant today from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a project designed to help the City of Cape Canaveral reduce flooding and improve water quality in the face of rising seas. Jason Evans, PhD, IWER’s executive director and associate professor of Environmental Science, is the project's principal investigator.
DOJ Grant Expands Stetson's Reach To Promote Student Safety
Stetson expands efforts to ensure the safety of their students when it comes to Domestic/ Dating Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking (DVSAS) Prevention from a nearly $300,000 grant from the Department of Justice.
Stetson Professor Receives $300K NSF Grant To Teach Gene Editing
Inside the Sage Hall Science Center, students will soon work in a lab with microscopes and needles to alter a strand of DNA in butterfly eggs.
This semester, students will use CRISPR gene-editing technology to change the color of butterfly wings from orange and brown scales to black scales—with one simple cut.
Stetson Assistant Biology Professor Lynn Kee, PhD, received a $299,996 grant from the National Science Foundation to teach students about this technique. Associate Philosophy Professor Melinda Hall, PhD, will teach them about the bioethics surrounding its use.
Hatter Food Pantry Receives $3K Grant to Help Students In Need
The Hatters Helping Hatters Food Pantry has received a $3,000 grant and will soon receive a donated small refrigerator, allowing it to expand its food offerings for Stetson students in need.
The Hatter Food Pantry is located in Student Counseling Services and serves Stetson students facing food insecurity. Students can visit the pantry confidentially and fill one bag per visit with canned goods, pasta, cereal, snacks and other food, as well as personal hygiene products.
The pantry recently received its first grant — $3,000 from Swipe Out Hunger, a national nonprofit devoted to ending hunger among college students. Stetson’s pantry was one of 30 pantries at colleges nationwide, including Florida State University, Rutgers and Northwestern, to receive a grant.
'Challenge' Grant Targets Pre-Health Advising
In 2020, the Ginsburg Family Foundation announced the establishment of the Jeffrey and Diane Ginsburg Hillel House on campus, which has led to the foundation more recently providing a $75,000 “challenge grant” toward strengthening the university’s Pre-Health Advising Program, with the goal of raising an additional $75,000 to match that gift. More than $10,000 has already been raised toward the match.
New Grant Accelerates Plan to Enhance Access to Regional Cycling Trails
In June, Stetson University’s social-climate innovation work hit the accelerator, pun intended.
Second Nature, a Boston-based independent nonprofit organization, awarded Stetson a $10,000 grant from its Acceleration Fund to support collaboration between university and community groups focused on memorializing African American experiences through enhanced access to regional cycling trail networks.
Counselor Education Faculty Receive Two Grants Totaling $2.8 Million
The Counselor Education Department will be providing students at Stetson University and other universities with specialized mental-health counseling training, thanks to two research grants totaling $2,764,570. The grants are the largest combined sum a Stetson department has received.
Stetson Receives $359,000 from Mellon Foundation for College-In-Prison Program
Stetson University's Community Education Project is the first Stetson recipient of a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. With $ 359,000 from the two-year grant, the Community Education Project will expand its humanities course offerings at the Tomoka Correctional Institute.
The Community Education Project has been providing incarcerated students with credit-bearing courses, along with additional learning, research and teaching opportunities, for the last three years. With a grant from the Mellon Foundation, those learning opportunities will expand to food studies and planting and harvesting produce in and out of the classroom. This comes in the form of five new courses: two food studies classes on sustainable food production that explore race, class and gender in the food system, two humanities courses that are aimed toward food studies, and a special topics class on race, food and nation in the Americas. For the Community Education Project, the grant will allow them to create the garden, an outdoor classroom, and employ a garden manager and postdoctoral fellow in the humanities.
The grant monies will also fund a second edition of the Community Education Project's literary journal, More Than Our Blues, from a professor who taught two courses at the Tomoka Correctional Institute before Stetson's Community Education Project became accredited. The journal is supported by data analysis and assessment by another Stetson professor in political science.
Stetson Receives $1M Award from NSF for STEM Advancement
To address concerns among Stetson administrators and faculty about racial disparities in STEM fields, the National Science Foundation awarded the University $999,823 for a project to remedy those disparities. The funding spanned five years, from March 15, 2021, to February 28, 2026.
The grant promoted STEM enrollment for underrepresented people in the following ways: by providing additional scholarship awards to low-income students with demonstrated academic promise in STEM, and engaging those students as a cohort within a novel STEM-enriched, interdisciplinary curriculum that emphasizes peer interaction, project-based learning, community partnerships, numerical problem-solving skills, technological literacy, and professional writing and presentation skills.
$404,000 Grant Funds Stetson's Water Institute and South Atlantic Region Project
Many coastal cities are sinking and becoming more susceptible to climate change. As the world and oceans become warmer, rising sea levels will continue to cause flooding and storm surge in low-lying areas. A new grant gives researchers across the Southeast the opportunity to develop green infrastructure solutions to mitigate the effects of flooding on coastal communities.
Stetson Announces $3.2 Million In Welcome Back Grants, Credit
Stetson University announced it is providing approximately $3.2 million in special $1,500, one-time Stetson Welcome Back Grants to qualified, full-time, returning undergraduate students. This donor-funded grant will help students concerned about the current economy and the pandemic's impact on continuing their studies. The amount will appear as a credit on returning student bills in the coming weeks.
Fairwinds Foundation awards $23,651 Grant to Stetson University
The Fairwinds Foundation presented Stetson University with a $23,651 grant to provide 30 students with career training and mentoring to help them secure an internship or job.
The grant matches a $23,651 grant from the Jessie Ball duPont Fund for Stetson's EDGE 2020 program, which "focuses on accelerating social capital and success for 30 students with limited incomes," said Tim Stiles, executive director of Career Success at Stetson.
The EDGE program is open to first-year through senior students. It will begin May 6-8 with a three-day "Orlando Bound" excursion that will include meeting with various employers, attending networking events, and receiving online and in-person financial literacy training and development.
Stetson's Water Institute Receives $185,000 Florida Sea Grant
The Institute for Water and Environmental Resilience (IWER) at Stetson University will be making an environmental difference in Volusia County thanks to a $185,000, two-year Florida Sea Grant.
Florida Sea Grant is a university-based program that supports research, education and extension to conserve coastal resources and enhance economic opportunities for Floridians.
Grant funds will support a postdoctoral resilience modeling specialist who will use geospatial modeling and mapping techniques to examine the landscape through a partnership with Stetson University’s Brown Visiting Teacher-Scholar Fellows Program.
Grant Dollars for Aquatic Restoration
The Joy McCann Foundation awarded Stetson Law’s Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy a $150,000 grant to ensure effective, long-term protection of aquatic restoration efforts in Florida and across the United States.
$10K Greenfeather Grant to benefit Neighborhood Center
The Neighborhood Center of West Volusia was selected as this year’s recipient of the $10,000 Greenfeather Grant. The nonprofit plans to build an outdoor laundry facility at a new homeless assistance center in DeLand, called The Bridge.
Stetson Receives $266,000 NSF Grant for New Microscope
Stetson University has received a $266,000 Major Resource Instrumentation Grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to purchase an inverted fluorescent microscope system capable of imaging over a wide range of living biological samples from subcellular structures to small organisms.
The NSF, created by the United States Congress in 1950 to "promote the progress of science," deemed the Stetson grant's intellectual merit and broader impacts a reflection of its statutory mission and worthy of funding. The Major Research Instrumentation Grant program accepted 805 funding proposals requesting more than $557 million and awarded only 130 to 145.
The microscope system will be used at Stetson to engage undergraduate students across biology, health sciences, and physics in superior training through faculty-mentored research projects, and promote the implementation of inquiry-based lab experiences for students in upper-level biology and physics courses.
Stetson Receives $210,000 Grant for Prison Education Project
The Stetson Community Education Project received a $210,000 grant and will expand classes for incarcerated men at Tomoka Correctional Institution, as well as begin offering college credit for courses this fall.
The Laughing Gull Foundation approved a $70,000 annual grant for three years for the Community Education Project (CEP), which has offered classes in the Daytona Beach prison since 2015, said Pamela Cappas-Toro, PhD, assistant professor of World Languages and Cultures (Spanish) at Stetson.
Beginning this fall, the project will offer one course each semester for non-degree-bearing college credit. Twenty students are expected to enroll this fall and that number will grow to 30 men next fall.
Stetson Computer Science Competition Receives $2,000 Grant
Stetson University’s Greater Central Florida Tech Faire + Hackathon received a $2,000 grant from the Orlando Technology Community Support Pilot Program, an initiative by the City of Orlando to give a jumpstart to efforts that boost entrepreneurs.
Stetson Receives $400,000 Volusia County ECHO Grant to Aid in Construction of Sandra Stetson Aquatic Center
Stetson University has officially begun construction of the Sandra Stetson Aquatic Center, named after John B. Stetson's great-granddaughter, who donated $6 million to fund the project. The Aquatic Center will be home to Stetson's intercollegiate rowing teams and host activities for the Institute for Water and Environmental Resilience.
Volusia County granted $400,000 to support construction, as the initial phase is expected to cost about $6.2 million. The ECHO grant, for environmental, cultural, historical, and outdoor recreation projects, will help Stetson complete the center by October 2018.
Stetson Economics Professor Awarded Virtual Reality Grant
Alan Green, PhD, assistant professor and chair of Stetson's Economics Department, is one of just 50 instructors at elementary, secondary and post-secondary schools around the world to be awarded as part of the inaugural Virtual Reality Grant Program founded by Nearpod. The education technology company develops digital learning tools, virtual reality and interactive content for use in classrooms.
Green, who is also director of Africana Studies at Stetson, will have access to Nearpod VR headsets and more than 25 VR-based lesson plans. The grant also includes professional development, one-on-one support services and a Nearpod license for the university.
Kudos to Stetson Faculty and Staff Members for Successful Grant Awards
Provost Beth Paul is pleased to congratulate the many faculty and staff members who have worked with the Office of Grants, Sponsored Research and Strategic Initiatives during the past year. Research activity on campus has grown, as the university works to support teacher-scholar excellence.
For FY15 to date, the Grants Office has submitted 32 grant proposals and contracts totaling $2,565,997. Sixteen have been awarded totaling $1,408,840, five were declined and 11 are still pending, totaling $1,052,550. The Grants Office helped more than 22 faculty and staff members submit grant proposals.
Volusia Center for Excellence in Education
Stetson's Department of Education partnered with the Volusia County Schools, Bethune-Cookman University and the New Teacher Center (a national non-profit) to submit a winning $1.1 million proposal to create and launch the Volusia Center for Excellence in Education (VCEE). We are honored that the Florida Department of Education funded our proposal as one of only four for this highly competitive opportunity. Stetson is the grant's lead institution and fiscal agent.
The VCEE will strengthen teachers' skills and knowledge of core subject matter. All teacher candidates participating in this program will complete in-depth coursework, labs, field experiences, and clinical education training.
Faculty and staff members who contributed to this project include:
- Dr. Chris Colwell, Principal Investigator (PI)
- Dr. Rajni Shankar-Brown, Co-Principal Investigator
- Dr. Bette Heins
- Dr. Doug MacIsaac
- Dr. Kathy Piechura-Couture
- Dr. Carine Strebel
- Dr. Mercedes Tichenor
- Shelley Gross-Gray
Historic Preservation
The Grants Office worked with the Associate Vice President for Facilities Management Al Allen to submit a historic preservation proposal to the Florida Department of State to reroof three Stetson buildings: Conrad, Flagler and Sampson Halls. The Roof Replacement proposal ranked in the top 10 out of 66 proposals. The Florida Secretary of State will forward the top-ranked proposals to the Florida legislature for funding. Stetson will receive $275,000 after the Governor approves the legislation.
The Coleman Foundation
The Coleman Foundation awarded Stetson's Prince Entrepreneurship Program in the School of Business Administration a $20,000 grant to create a Coleman Foundation Fellows Network in partnership with the university, which has provided matching funds of $6,500. The Network is a community of cross-campus champions of entrepreneurial education. The Foundation is funding three faculty members from disciplines outside the Price Entrepreneurship Program and the School of Business Administration, and Stetson is funding a fourth fellow. The faculty Fellows are:
- Dr. Eric Kurlander, History
- Dr. Dan Plante, Math & Computer Science
- Patrece Robinson, Music
- Dr. Nathan Wolek, Digital Arts
The Coleman Fellows aim to advance entrepreneurship and self-employment education and expand entrepreneurship education across campus. Working in close collaboration with Dr. Gary Oliphant, Associate Professor of Management, coordinator of the Prince Entrepreneurship Program and Stetson Coleman Fellows Project Director, the four Coleman Fellows are developing a new entrepreneurship course within their discipline or are modifying an existing course to add entrepreneurial components — both leading to permanent courses/course changes.
Fellows will maintain an ongoing connection to the Prince Entrepreneurship Program and continue as part of the Coleman Foundation Entrepreneurship Community of Practice. To be competitive, Stetson must commit to funding additional Fellows.
College of Law
In December 2014, the Grants Office presented on grants and sponsored research to Dean Pietruszkiewicz and College of Law faculty to encourage collaboration on existing and new grant applications. As a result of this outreach, we are now actively pursuing two grants to benefit the College of Law and are researching funding on behalf of College of Law faculty members. One of the grant proposals is a historic preservation grant to stabilize, conserve and restore four Spanish Colonial Revival architectural water fountains - part of the original architecture of the 1926 Rolyat Hotel, now the Gulfport home of the College of Law.
Stetson receives grant from Stockman Family Foundation
Stetson University received a $5,350 grant from the Stockman Family Foundation to professionally photograph works of art from the Oscar Vera Bluemner Collection. Approximately 10 percent of the collection has already been photographed, and the grant will add 100 more high-resolution digital photographs of Bluemner's most important works. The digital images will make the collection more accessible to the general public and scholars studying the artist's work. Vera Bluemner Kouba bequeathed the collection to the university in 1997; it has been housed in the Homer and Dolly Hand Art Center since 2009 and contains more than 1,000 of Bluemner's works.
Hoover Presents at Stetson Showcase
The Grants Office student assistant, Daniel Hoover, participated in Stetson Showcase on April 16, 2013, speaking on social stigma and Knowledge of epilepsy among undergraduate students. Supported by facts and statistics, he pointed out that research shows students and the general population are under-and-ill-informed on the disease - some countries believing it can be "caught" from the affected person, and many people don't know what to do if they witness a person having an epileptic seizure. Daniel won the Maris Prize for excellence for his research.
Smith visits Stetson Campus
Elizabeth A. "Lizzy" Smith visited Stetson University's DeLand campus on February 11, 2013. She engaged with foundation student scholarship recipients Kimberly Charles (business administration), Lauren Tarulli (integrative health science) and Michelle Vergara (behavioral economics). Each discussed their educational background and why they chose Stetson University, noting that one-on-one faculty mentoring was an important factor. During a campus tour, Charles pointed out her classrooms and the Roland George Investments Program trading room in the Lynn Business Center, and Tarulli discussed her research projects in the Sage Science Center. Smith expressed appreciation for the opportunity to meet with the students and repeatedly commented on the beautiful campus.
Batchelor visits Stetson Campus
In November 2012, Dick Batchelor, Principal of the Dick Batchelor Management Group and a former member of the Florida House of Representatives, visited Stetson University with Clay Worden, Scott Wilson and Stetson University alumna Kerry Hannaford of McGladrey, LLP in Orlando, Florida. The visit included tours with K.C. Ma, PhD, and finance students of the Roland George Investments Program trading room in the Lynn Business Center, with Stetson University Trustee Betty Johnson and duPont-Ball Library Dean Susan Ryan inside the Politicos Room of the duPont-Ball Library. During a luncheon, faculty from the Department of Political Science, Stetson University C.F.O. F. Robert Huth and students in the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Business Administration discussed a range of issues with the visitors.
Bank of America Charitable Foundation awards Stetson $7,500 grant
Bank of America Charitable Foundation has long supported Stetson University. In November 2012, the Foundation awarded the university a $7,500 grant to support internships for first-generation college students. To celebrate the award, Bank of America Vice Presidents Sheila Torres and Gail Kurth met with Stetson University President Wendy B. Libby and delivered the check. The Office of Grants, Sponsored Research and Strategic Initiatives collaborated with Bank of America's Senior Vice President Christine Ruiz in Tampa and President Samuel A. Willett in Daytona Beach, as well as with Stetson University's Office of Career Success, to prepare the successful grant.
Eggeman shares experience and tips with Stetson community
Our guest, Gail Eggeman '73, who runs the St. Petersburg Saturday Morning Market and has also served as director of the Florida Association of Community Farmers' Markets, shared her experiences and tips with Stetson University students, faculty, and staff on Tuesday, April 10, 2012. Eggeman started a Slow Food chapter in St. Petersburg and has attended the international event (Terra Madre) led by Slow Food founder Carlos Petrini. She is also a former municipal CPA and grant writer, and she understands how small charitable groups are financed.