To UM System President Mun Choi
Written by Rodney J. Uphoff
March 8, 2023

For the past four years, I have provided you a report summarizing the activities and outputs of the UMSAEP for the prior year. As in past years, I reached out to all 2022 UMSAEP awardees as well as past awardees and requested updates on 2022 activities with a UMSAEP collaborator. I reached out to 136 UMSAEP participants and received a response from 107. Some of the people did not respond because they left the UM System or UWC, retired, or passed away. Indeed, I know that at least 20 of the 136 have retired or left either the UM System or UWC. So this report reflects the significant outputs of those still working at UWC or for the UM System. I do know that some of the non-responders are still involved in active collaboration so I am sure I have captured most but not all of the 2022 outputs. Further, a significant number of the respondent’s specifically mentioned that it had been many years since they received an UMSAEP grant. So it is not surprising that they had no outputs to report. 

As noted last year, one positive development of the pandemic has been the expanded use of Zoom to promote international research and teaching collaborations. We have seen more UM System faculty members exploring virtual seminars series with their UWC colleagues to the benefit of both UM System and UWC students as we enhance the internationalization of our curriculum. MU’s Candace Kuby and UWC’s Viv Bozalek’s webinar series represents the most dramatic example. They completed a in 2020/2021 that had as many as 1,300 viewers. They did a in 2021/22.

Publications 

UM System and UWC faculty reported two books and four book chapters published in 2022 and another book was in progress. 28 manuscripts or articles were published during 2022. 15 additional articles have been submitted for publication and were under review or revision. In addition, UMSAEP participants reported 21 manuscripts were in progress.  

Conference papers/ presentations

UMSAEP participants reported 14 international or national conference presentations. 

Grants

UM System and UWC faculty reported submitting several grant applications that were not funded. Three more grant applications have been submitted and are under review. The following grants were awarded in 2022 based on their UMSAEP funded work: 

  • Erica Koegler (UMSL): 
    • U.S. Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, International Programs, Program to End Modern Slavery: SSJTIP22CA0027 Title: Measures for Countering Trafficking in Persons in Southern Africa (MCTIP) 
    • USAID/Southern Africa and USAID/LAB/CDR: 7200AA18CA00009  Title: Research on the Nature and Scope of Trafficking In Persons (TIP) in South Africa 
    • UMSL’s share of the first grant above is $187,913, but if re-upped it will be $424,220. UMSL’s share of the second grant was $154,565. 
  • David Mendoza-Cozatl (MU):
    • Amount awarded: $200,000 
    • PEW Foundation. 
    • Award period: 11/22 - 10/24 
  • Marshall Keyster (UWC): 
    • Centre of Excellence in Food Security grant for 2022 - ZAR 611 720. This work package is related to the UMSAEP collaboration with co-PIs Mendoza-Cozatl and Heese (both from MU).
    • Industry-linked grant from GrainSA for 2022 - ZAR 330 000. This work package is also related to the UMSAEP collaboration with co-PIs Mendoza-Cozatl and Heese (both from MU).   
  • Erika Kapp (UWC): 
    • National Research Foundation
    • ZAR R820,000 

Student opportunities/capacity building

The UM System has played a major role in helping to build capacity at UWC since the inception of this partnership. This continued in 2022. 

  • UWC's Greta Geerts from the Dental faculty and her doctoral candidate Saleem Abdulrab worked on a UMSAEP funded project with UMKC Engineering professor Ganesh Thiagarajan. The project led to Ms. Abdulrab earning her Ph.D. in December 2022. 
  • MU's Bob Sharp co-supervised one of Ndiko Ludidi’s Ph.D. students, Ali Elnaeim Elbasheir Ali. Ali traveled to MU in the fall of 2021 to work on his thesis project in Sharp’s lab. Sharp and his colleague Scott Peck also served on Ali’s dissertation committee. Ali was awarded his Ph.D. in 2022.
  • Two UWC students, Sheridon Llyod and Samantha Cairncross, traveled to Columbia in the fall of 2021 to work with UWC's Mongi Benjeddou on an UMSAEP funded project with MU’s Greg Biedermann. Both of them are submitting their Ph.D. thesis this year. 
  • UMKC's John Kevern reports that former UWC student Rosicky Kalombe started his Ph.D. at UMKC in 2019. He graduated in summer 2022 and is a project engineer for Black and Veatch. 
  • Etienne Nkongolo is a current UMKC Ph.D. student. Prof. Kevern helped direct his master's thesis at UWC. 

Fulbright awards

MU’s Wilson Majee was awarded a Fulbright to go to South Africa and continue to work with several UWC collaborators in 2022. Because of visa delays, he just arrived in Cape Town in early March. UWC’s Chris Arendse also received a Fulbright and spent much of 2022 in Columbia working in the lab of MU's Suchi Guha and teaching.  

Conclusion

This report highlights the major outputs of the UMSAEP in 2022. Find that describe the broad range of UMSAEP-funded projects across a variety of academic disciplines.