Renovation of the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory-University of Minnesota, for research in energy and environmental sustainability

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。该项目是对明尼苏达大学圣安东尼福尔斯实验室（SAFL）内研究基础设施的改造，该实验室是一个设施，用于与能源和地球表面环境有关的各种研究。 这是明尼苏达大学对实验室进行的更大规模改造的一部分。 在SAFL进行的研究包括以下主题：水文和地貌地球表面过程，环境中的化学和生物运输，构造驱动的侵蚀和沉积系统，两相流，生物流体力学和可持续能源技术。 SAFL拥有一系列的设施，包括清洁实验室，室内和室外通道，路线河水，可以处理的复杂性和材料？地球沉积物生物群除其他外，该项目还包括一个地球表面环境的模拟实验室、一个风洞和一个模拟侵蚀过程中地貌演变的大型实验设施。 对该设施的改造将使SAFL能够通过扩大其在可持续能源，特别是风能和水能以及生物燃料方面的研究能力，以及在景观动态方面的研究能力，来解决与21世纪世纪社会需求相关的研究问题，并将其作为恢复和可持续管理的基础。 更具体地说，翻修将促进或加强的研究和研究培训的主要内容是：环境科学和工程的跨学科研究;湍流和大气边界层研究，特别是在风力发电优化方面;可持续水力和水力发电方法的优化;生物燃料研究，重点是在可变环境条件下优化藻类生物反应器;以及环境恢复和管理研究，包括溪流、河流和三角洲。 在空间上分布的团体将能够通过协作工具、可视化和使用翻新后的实验室进行虚拟实验来参与这项研究和研究培训。除了为教师研究提供基础设施外，翻新后的实验室还将供来自美国各地和国外的访问研究人员使用。这次翻新将加强SAFL通过其溪流恢复证书课程提供的培训。 SAFL参与了许多正规和非正规教育活动，这些活动可能会从获得改善的设施中受益。它与一个非正式的科学教育机构-明尼苏达科学博物馆合作，设计环境科学展览。每年夏天，SAFL都会举办本科实习生参加河流和海岸恢复项目。 SAFL与丰迪拉克部落和社区学院合作，参加针对美洲土著青年的科学营。 与明尼苏达州科学博物馆和一些科学技术中心项目参与者合作，SAFL工作人员参加了旨在向公众和政策制定者通报能源和可持续性研究结果的未来地球倡议。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This project is a renovation of research infrastructure within the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory (SAFL), a facility of the University of Minnesota that is used for a variety of research related to energy and the Earth-surface environment. It is a component of a larger renovation of the Laboratory undertaken by the University of Minnesota. Research conducted at SAFL includes topics such as: hydrological and geomorphological Earth-surface processes, chemical and biological transport in the environment, tectonically driven erosional and depositional systems, two-phase flows, biological fluid mechanics and sustainable energy technologies. SAFL houses a range of facilities, including clean labs, indoor and outdoor channels that route river water and can handle the complexity and materials ? earth, sediment, biota ? of the Earth-surface environment, a wind tunnel, and a large-scale experimental facility to model the evolution of landscapes through erosion, amongst others. Renovations to the facility will allow SAFL to address research related to societal needs in the 21st century by expanding its research capacity in sustainable energy, notably wind and water energy and biofuels, and in landscape dynamics as a basis for restoration and sustainable management. More specifically, the main elements of research and research training that would be enabled or enhanced by the renovation are: interdisciplinary research in environmental science and engineering; research in turbulence and atmospheric boundary layers, particularly with regard to wind-power optimization; the optimization of methods for sustainable hydrokinetic and hydro-power; biofuels research focusing on optimization of algal bioreactors under variable environmental conditions; and research in environmental restoration and management, including streams, rivers and deltas. Groups that are spatially distributed will be able to participate in this research and research training through collaboration tools, visualization, and virtual experiments using the renovated Laboratory?s cyberinfrastructure.In addition to providing infrastructure for faculty research, the renovated laboratory will be used by visiting researchers from across and outside the US. The renovation will enhance the training that SAFL offers through its certificate program in Stream Restoration. SAFL engages in a number of formal and informal education activities that are likely to benefit from access to the improved facilities. It partners with an informal science education institution, the Science Museum of Minnesota, to design exhibits on environmental science. Each summer, SAFL hosts undergraduate interns for a program in River and Coastal Restoration. In partnership with the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, SAFL participates in science camps aimed at Native American youth. Working with the Science Museum of Minnesota and a number of Science and Technology Center program participants, SAFL staff take part in the Future Earth Initiative aimed at informing the public and policymakers about the results of research in energy and sustainability.