College of Social Sciences Research Support Awards

Each year, the College of Social Sciences (CSS) announces the availability of funds to support faculty efforts to develop and submit a nationally competitive research grant proposal. These funds are from overhead monies (RTRF) generated by extramural grants and contracts in the college’s portfolio. Awards will be made to support research activities leading directly to the development of a nationally competitive research proposal that has a strong potential for being funded.


Spring 2022 Award Recipients

Research Support Award Program

Katharina Heyer, Political Science & Daniela Bond-Smith, UHERO
Award Amount: $23,359
Building a participatory data infrastructure for community-driven, real-time monitoring of the Disabled community’s needs and priorities in Hawai‘i

Chiako Hung & Morgen Johansen, Public Administration
Award Amount: $13,386
The Impact of Nonprofit Commercialization on Inequities in Health Care Access

Karl Kim & Lily Bui, Urban & Regional Planning
Award Amount: $26,298
Something in the Water: The Red Hill Disaster

Michael Roberts & Ekaterina Sherstyuk, Economics
Award Amount: $26,377
Climate, Commodity Prices, and Storage: Can Public Policy Mitigate Price Volatility?

Helen Yu, Public Administration
Amount: $21,473
Community Policing and Community Trust: Overcoming Barriers


Fall 2021 Award Recipients

Research Support Award Program

David Beilman, Geography and Environment
Award Amount: $9,689
Pacific Island Climate Change: Wetlands in Fijias Long-term Rainfall Archives

Jennifer Darrah-Okike, Sociology
Award Amount: $10,000
Pathways to and out of Unsheltered Homelessness in Honolulu and in Comparative Perspective

Christian Peterson, Anthropology
Award Amount: $8,545
K2, Mapungubwe, and the Origins of Great Zimbabwe: Complex Society Emergence and Development in Iron Age Southern Africa


2020 Award Recipients

Research on Implications of COVID-19 for Hawaii

Emily Daubert, Psychology
Award Amount: $9,998
Parent-child Relationships and Child Academic Outcomes: Implications of COVID-19 for Hawaiian Families

Dan Milz, Urban and Regional Planning
Award Amount: $9,974
Public Participation and the Plague: How the State of Hawaii Can Carry Out Participatory Democracy Under Quarantine and Social Distancing

Lawrence Nitz, Political Science
Award Amount: $9,955
Resetting the Table - Keeping and Bringing Back Hawaii's Restaurants

Wei Zhang, Sociology
Award Amount: $10,000
Exploring the Relationship between COVID-19 Spread and Social Vulnerability at the Neighborhood Level: Implications for Policy and Practice


2018 - 2019 Award Recipients

Research Support Award Program

John (Jack) Barile, Psychology
Award Amount: $22,910
Identifying the Role of Participation and Reciprocal Social Support in

Enhancing Quality of Life Among People with Severe and Persistent Mental Illness

Lisa Kelley, Geography
Award Amount: $22,442
Flooding and Land-Livelihood Transformations in Southwest Sulawesi, Indonesia

Justin Kim, Psychology
Award Amount: $22,929
Model-Based Approach on Assessing Individual Differences in Affective Processing in Style

Krysia Mossakowski, Sociology
Award Amount: $10,501
The Upstream Effect of Children's Education on Their Parents' Cognitive Health

Support for Undergraduate Research Assistants

Nori Tarui, Economics
Award Amount: $1,954
An Economic Analysis of Solar PV Diffusion: Investigating the Role of Community Characteristics and Economic Incentives Using Granular Data


2017 - 2018 Award Recipients

Research Support Award Program

Leah Bremer, UHERO/SSRI
Award amount: $14,376
Restoring Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services through Cost-Effective and Resilient Agroforestry Systems

Reece Jones, Geography
Award amount: $21,975
The Geography of the Constitution Free Zone: The Border Patrol and the Fourth Amendment in the 100-mile Border Zone

Aya Kimura, Sociology
Award amount: $15,397
Citizen Science in Agri-food System: Cooperatives as a Platform

Lester Lusher, Economics
Award amount: $11,501
Loss Aversion Point Structure

Mary Mostafanezhad, PI & Yi Qiang, Geography
Award amount: $21,750
Infrastructure and Rural Connectivity: The Socio-Ecological Impact of China’s Belt-Road Initiative in Northern Thailand 

Support for Undergraduate Research Assistants

Mary Mostafanezhad & Yi Qiang, Geography
Award amount: $4,000
Tourismphobia: Understanding the Socioeconomic Drivers of Anti-Tourism Sentiments

Kristin Pauker, Psychology
Award amount: $3,760
Origins of Intergroup Perceptions and Attitudes across Diverse Contexts

Nori Tarui, Economics
Award amount: $2,255
An Economic Analysis of Electricity Demand in Commercial and Industrial Sectors and Solar PV Diffusion: Investigating the Role of Weather and Economic Incentives Using Granular Load Data