Category: EPSCoR Events

Earlier this month, I attended an EPSCoR-funded Innovation Working Group (IWG), spearheaded by our very own Dr. Mike Heagy. IWGs provide a venue for researchers, educators, and nationally recognized experts to address grand challenges that require an interdisciplinary approach to transform science. You can learn more about them in the education section of our website.

A report from Chelsea, our Diversity Coordinator: I started off the summer with the largest group of STEM Advancement Program students to date - 14 students! They all spent a week together at New Mexico Tech then went their separate ways to their research sites in Albuquerque, Socorro, or Las Cruces. At the end of last month, their summer research concluded with presentations. Check out their presentation titles below:

Educators from seven different New Mexico Informal Science Education Network (NM ISE Net) institutions supported the 2015 Energize New Mexico Teacher Professional Development Institute in Farmington at the beginning of June. Twenty-two elementary and middle school teachers representing three school districts gathered at the Farmington Museum for a five-day workshop to learn about energy and connections to literacy and assessment. The course was based on WestEd’s Making Sense of Science Energy course with some additional material about New Mexico’s energy resources.

This blog is a long time coming, but as most of you know, the 2015 All Hands Meeting took place on April 17, 2015. We had a packed house at the New Mexico Tech Fidel Center, and the day was spent collaborating and networking. The morning sessions helped the group examine implicit biases, and the afternoon sessions combined two components together to discuss progress in the project thus far as well as ideas for the future. The luncheon keynote was presented by NSF EPSCoR Program Officer Audrey Levine.

NM EPSCoR Director Bill Michener has been away on sabbatical for several months in Australia, and we've been tracking the exploits of Bill and his wife Barbara on their blog barbara-bill.com. Bill returns to the office next week, and this opinionated camel doesn't seem too happy about it. Welcome back, Bill!

Last fall, the STEM Advancement Program (STEMAP) Coordinators (including myself) began recruiting for this summer’s group of undergraduate summer researchers. We traveled 2,463 miles and 40 hours to visit 14 campuses to share information about our 2015 STEMAP program; see the map below. All that effort paid off!

The 2014 New Mexico Journal of Science, published by the New Mexico Academy of Science, is now available for public viewing. This year's Journal is subtitled "Water, Energy, and the Environment," and includes abstracts from participants in the 2014 NMAS Research Symposium.

NM EPSCoR and the New Mexico Academy of Science welcomed over 130 faculty, students, researchers, educators and community members at the Hyatt Downtown Albuquerque on November 1st.

Creative-Startups, the nation's first accelerator for creative and cultural entrepreneurs, recently debuted their 2014 Cohort during Creative Startups Week, October 20-25. Each creative team faced colleagues, the media, and the public on Demo Night, held at ¡Explora! Science Center on Thursday, October 23rd; Teams showed videos and slideshows on their projects and what they hope to achieve with funding from investors.

Energy is everywhere! Science teachers and their students wrestle with energy concepts at nearly every grade level. The Framework for K-12 Science Education (NRC, 2012) provide a foundation for K-12 teaching and learning about energy as a crosscutting concept across the disciplines. The New Mexico Informal Science Education Network (NM ISE Net) educators used the Framework for the first Energize New Mexico Teacher Institute, held in Albuquerque on June 9-13, 2014.