NM EPSCoR's primary vehicle for disseminating research to learners of all ages and backgrounds

The importance of informal, non-classroom exposure to learning opportunities in STEM cannot be overstated. Experiences provided by parents, friends, and informal educators inspire and expose students to the wonder and possibility of science in everyday life. NM EPSCoR is proud to sponsor the New Mexico Informal Science Education Network (NM ISE Net) in order to provide opportunities and resources for informal educators (including the Summer Teacher Institute) to work together to impact science teaching, science learning, and science awareness throughout the state.

In Year 2, the Network focused on building their capacity to effectively communicate science to the public. This included participation in the "Reflecting the Practice" coaching workshop facilitiated by the Lawrence Hall of Science; the workshop provided training and tools to imporve the practice of informal science educators, and facilitated the formation of a Community of Practice of informal science instututions and practitioners in New Mexico. NM ISE Net is systematically linking members of their communities not only to other informal education institutions, but also to academic research efforts, faculty presentations, and the New Mexico Public Education Department.

Connecting informal science education with formal standards-based classroom education

Science teachers and their students wrestle with energy concepts at nearly every grade level. What is energy? Where does New Mexico’s energy come from? Is energy from the sun different from the energy that powers our everyday lives, from our cars to our bodies? The Framework for K–12 Science Education provides a foundation for K–12 teaching and learning about energy as a crosscutting concept across the disciplines. Educators from five NM ISE Net institutions used the Framework to develop and present the first Energize New Mexico Teacher Institute, held in Albuquerque on June 9–13, 2014.

In order to facilitate future implementation, teachers attended the Institute as part of a school team that included principals. 26 elementary school teachers from three school districts increased their conceptual understanding of energy and learned strategies for exploring energy with their students. Highlights from the week include the construction of roller coasters and waterwheels, exploration of New Mexico’s energy resources, and children’s literature connections.

The Institute encouraged teachers to “think outside the box” when it comes to teaching and learning about energy. Institute participants are supported by NM ISE Net educators throughout the school year, and all participants attended the New Mexico Science Teachers Association conference in Fall 2014.

Bringing hands-on STEM research and education to rural and native colleges in New Mexico

The STEM Advancement Program (STEMAP) engages students from New Mexico regional universities, community colleges and tribal colleges in the research funded by NM EPSCoR. STEMAP gives undergraduates from these non-research universities the opportunity to work in the labs of NM EPSCoR researchers, an opportunity these students may not otherwise have access to. The nine week commitment involves one week of training and eight weeks of research, followed by a final conference at which the students present their research. In return, the students receive a stipend, housing and food allowances, and three hours of independent study credits from NMT. Students also receive support during the academic year with additional opportunities to build skills in STEM research and communication.

On June 2, 2014, 11 undergraduates from seven New Mexico primarily undergraduate institutions reported to NMT to begin their STEMAP participation. The program ended July 30, 2014, with student presentations to 50+ researchers, faculty, friends, family, and NM EPSCoR staff at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge. Three STEMAP students, Tim Torres, Aysha McClory and Saul Ruiz, accepted invitations to present their research at the 2014 SACNAS Conference, and several participants are now pursuing STEM degrees directly because of their experience with STEMAP. More testimonials about STEMAP 2014 can be seen on the NM EPSCoR YouTube page.

Helping post-doctoral scholars in STEM enhance their professional skills in communication, mentoring, proposal writing, and more

Just after the start of the new year, NM EPSCoR welcomed 20 post-docs to the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge for an intensive three-day program designed to enhance the professional skills of post-doctoral scholars in STEM disciplines. NM EPSCoR brought experts from around the country to lead workshop sessions on meeting facilitation, communicating science, writing proposals, career planning, entrepreneurship, mentoring, and more. A member of the Board of the National Postdoctoral Association attended the entire workshop and provided a wealth of resources to the participants. NM EPSCoR researcher Johanna Blake participated in this year’s workshop; she kindly wrote the following about her experience:

I personally found several workshop sessions to be extremely useful. These included a session on facilitating productive meetings… [and] the opportunity to practice their communication to the media through mock interviews for television, radio and print. I practiced a mock television news interview with David Marash, an accomplished journalist. Another particularly useful session… was facilitated by Dr. Gary Smith from UNM, where we learned how to better run a class session through activities rather than the classic lecture style. I think I speak for my postdoctoral colleagues when I say this was time well spent in the beautiful desert of New Mexico.

Helping undergraduate faculty learn new techniques to retain diverse students in STEM

NM EPSCoR established the Faculty Leadership and Professional Development Institute (FLPDI) to improve STEM instruction for diverse undergraduate students. The FLPDI provides training for STEM faculty from New Mexico community and Tribal colleges, while creating campus-based faculty learning communities and STEM recruitment and retention plans.

For two days in September 2014, the FLPDI continued to work with new curriculum from Micromessaging to Reach and Teach Every Student™ from the National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE). Undergraduate faculty from 12 institutions learned to use research-tested pedagogy that improves enrollment, retention, and completion of girls and underrepresented populations in STEM courses. An online follow-up session furthered the discussion of how culture shapes our biases and beliefs about people, often without our realization. Practices are now institutionalized at these colleges to support diverse students, including women and underrepresented populations.

The first accelerator whose sole purpose is the success of creative & cultural entrepreneurs

Creative Startups is the first accelerator designed by and for creative entrepreneurs. Over 40 successful business owners in creative fields were tapped and engaged as mentors, and new curriculum modules were completed and tested in Summer 2014. The 10 modules included leadership of new ventures, financing for startups, marketing and branding, and legal issues. In its first year, Creative Startups received 60 applications from entrepreneurs in various creative fields—80% were submitted by women- and/or minority-owned startups. Twelve finalists were chosen (9 women/minority-owned) for the 2014 Creative Startups Accelerator cohort.

After participating in the 10 online modules, the cohort began a week-long “Deep Dive” in which 30+ mentors and community leaders joined the cohort to provide advice, deliver technical assistance, and network with the entrepreneurs, while community events brought nearly 200 people to network and engage in the startup ecosystem. Across the board, the 2014 Accelerator had a positive impact on participating startups.

Creative Startups continues to grow the ecosystem of resources for creative entrepreneurs, including partnering to bring two international programs to Albuquerque: Creative Mornings and 99U/Behance.

Encouraging middle school students to look at the world, ask questions, develop answers through scientific inquiry, and design solutions

Growing Up Thinking Computationally (GUTC) provided support in the classroom and after-school clubs for middle school students, and offered professional development for teachers during the 2014–2015 school year. In total, 327 students participated—45% were female, and 64% were from underrepresented groups.

Through activities, GUTC engaged participants in the use of computational models for scientific inquiry and research, and introduced two curricular units: Sustainability & Biofuels, and Geothermal Energy. In each 12-week unit, students investigate a problem, gather data, create a computer model, and run experiments using the model as a virtual test bed.

Increasing the capacity to provide quality research experiences for students

Infrastructure Seed Grant (ISG) awards are meant to increase undergraduate student access —particularly for women and members of underrepresented groups—to research experiences at non-PhD granting institutions. Two ISG awards were implemented in Year 2.

At New Mexico Highlands University (NMHU), the ISG award was used to acquire instrumentation for analysis of the temperature and heat-energy transfer of materials. This method that can be used to measure a number of properties of materials and whether materials can store energy in a certain phase (gas-liquid-solid). Two faculty members, two graduate students, and two undergraduate students are involved in this research, and the team submitted three proposals to NSF and one to the Department of Energy that will employ instrumentation acquired through this award. The instrumentation is also included in laboratory classes of Physical and Analytical Chemistry courses at NMHU.

The Santa Fe Community College (SFCC) received funding for sensors used by students focused on monitoring the commercial-scale photobioreactors at the SFCC Biofuels laboratory. Students study how pH, operating temperatures, chlorophyll content and other parameters affect the maximum algae production and biomass densities. The new sensors allow students and faculty to replicate growth conditions optimized in a lab setting to determine if they can be scaled up to industrial production levels. Capturing data in real time under continuous operation allows researchers to determine the performance of the photobioreactors and optimizes long-term microalgal biomass productivity.