U.S.-Mexico Binational Center Collaborators Receive Grant to Support Network

May 20, 2010

In October 2008, U.S.-Mexico Binational Center collaborators met to discuss a new call for proposals presented by Mexico’s Secretariat of Public Education and the National Council on Science and Technology (CONACyT) entitled, “Redes Temáticas de Colaboración” (Thematic Networks of Collaboration).  The call targeted multidisciplinary university research teams that could serve to increase collaborations and consolidate partnerships within the Mexican system.  It also encouraged international research collaborations, which the Binational Center had already fomented via its collaborative research projects.  Dr. Oscar Talavera, from Universidad Autonoma de Guerrerro, headed the submission and served as the organizer for those involved in the network. 

During April 2009, the group was notified that the proposal submitted was funded for $95,000. The themes presented in the proposal encompass emerging contaminants and ecotoxicology.  It specifically looks to integrate the disciplines of geochemistry, environmental science, education, basic science, water technology, environmental health, geophysics, geohydrology, and epidemiology.  The bulk of the funding will assist academic development that includes workshops, infrastructure, and scholarships.  At the same time, it will provide support for some focused investigations such as chemical and mineralogical characteristics of contaminate, fate and transport of emerging contaminants, and arsenic exposure of human bladder cells.  The following are the collaborators funded under this initiative:

  1. Universidad Autonoma de Guerrero
  2. Universidad Autonoma de Coahuila
  3. Universidad de Guanajuato
  4. Instituto Tecnologico de Sonora
  5. University of Arizona
  6. Centro de Investigacion Cientifica y de Educacion Superior de Ensenada
  7. Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica

The binational collaborative group’s success in obtaining these funds will, in turn, open the door for future grants from CONACyT.  Please join the Binational Center and UA SRP in congratulating the team for their achievement.