The ORSP congratulates recent faculty, staff and administrator awardees.
 
Lane Bove and Kristen Linden, Avon Foundation, $10,000
Student Affairs and Student Psychological Services
LMU Peer Educator Program
Loyola Marymount University Student Affairs in conjunction with the Santa Monica Rape Treatment Center and Peace over Violence, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to building healthy relationships, families and communities free from sexual, domestic and interpersonal violence, will train 12-15 students to be peer-educators on healthy relationships and sexual and physical violence prevention. This project includes ongoing training, assessment, promotional materials and intentional programming.

Magaly Lavadenz, Doing What Works, $75,765
Center for Equity for English Learners, School of Education
"Doing What Works” for Transition Kindergarten Dual Language Learners: A Focus on Effective Classroom Practices for Vocabulary and Dialogic Reading
The purpose of this project is to provide research-based professional development (Doing What Works) and coaching to preschool teachers in the Santa Clara Head-Start Program and/or the LAUSD Transitional-Kindergarten program. The goal is to increase the use of effective second language teaching practices for dual language learners in preschool classrooms.

Jeremy Pal, Environmental Protection Agency, $20,000
Civil Engineering, Frank R. Seaver College of Science and Engineering
Ballona Climate Ready Estuary Study
As part of this project, I will perform the following tasks: 1) analysis of historical data in Ballona Creek; 2) simulation of current climate conditions; 3) Simulation of proposed sustainable alternatives with current climatic conditions; analysis of climate change projections; 4) analysis of climate change projections; and 5) simulation of proposed solutions with projected climatic changes.

Rebecca Sager, Haynes Foundation, $12,000 
Sociology, Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts
The South Los Angeles Faith Community Database Initiative
I will be working with the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture and the Magnolia Place/Children’s Bureau to better understand the role of congregations in a 500-square-block radius just north of the USC campus, with the eventual goal of mapping all LA congregations and their services. This 500 square block area is a particularly important because it is part of the Magnolia Place Community Initiative which plans to incorporate congregations as key actors in their work. By mapping the congregations and understanding their networks of action we will be filling an essential gap in our sociological understanding of the ways in which congregations are embedded in communities.