Category: Research

Have you ever wondered about what percentage of your life you spend in school? For those of us finishing up the last few weeks of the spring semester-- as a student, teacher or parent-- it probably feels like a huge number. But according to Dr. John Falk, the Sea Grant professor of Free-Choice Learning at Oregon State University, for the average American the answer is less than 5% of your waking hours are spent in school.

José M. Cerrato, a new assistant professor in the UNM Department of Civil Engineering, has a smile that lights up a room when he talks about his work. “I feel blessed to have this job because it is not merely technically teaching a subject,” he says. “It is impacting people’s lives.”

I am the Diversity Outreach Specialist for NM EPSCoR. One of my tasks as Diversity Outreach Specialist is to recruit for our summer student research program, STEM Advancement Program (STEMAP), and faculty-student team modeling opportunity, Undergraduate Visualization Modeling Network (UVMN). Read my latest news after the jump.

National Geographic is featuring the first topic in a three-part series on consumable resources, The Great Energy Challenge, to engage the public about energy awareness and resources. The Great Energy Challenge convenes and engages influential citizens and key energy stakeholders in solutions-based thinking and dialogue about our shared energy future. Learn more after the jump!

How can a canyon be a Frankenstein Monster? A new theory claims that it is one large canyon formed by pieces of smaller, older canyons. A team of researchers, including three New Mexico EPSCoR participants, developed this new theory regarding the formation of the modern Grand Canyon. Their research states it was carved starting about 5-6 million years ago by the Colorado River through older "paleocanyons." Dr. Karl Karlstrom, Dr. Laura Crossey, and...

Ever wondered about the importance of plants that grow in river beds? A NM EPSCoR video can help! This video features research from our previous grant, "Climate Change Impacts on New Mexico Mountain Sources of Water." You can learn more about this grant on our archived website, archive.nmepscor.org.

New Mexico EPSCoR is proud to offer two programs in 2014 to encourage undergraduate students, especially those from underrepresented groups, to pursue education and careers in STEM fields. Both programs are now open for applications.

Geothermal Energy component co-lead Mark Person and his colleagues recently had their research review on groundwater reserves published in Nature. "Offshore fresh groundwater reserves as a global phenomenon," by Person (NMT), Vincent Post (Flinders University), Jacobus Groen (VU University Amsterdam), Henk Kooi (VU University Amsterdam), Shemin Ge (University of Colorado), and W. Mike Edmunds (University of Oxford), was published in Volume 504 of the magazine earlier this month and discusses the large amounts of groundwater found below continental shelves.

New Mexico EPSCoR is announcing two brand new rounds of funding for Infrastructure Seed Awards and Diversity Innovation Work Groups (IWGs). As part of our 5-year Energize New Mexico grant, NM EPSCoR seeks to improve our understanding of how New Mexico can realize its energy development potential in a sustainable manner. Along with the six science components and cyberinfrastructure, NM EPSCoR is also committed to broadening participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), diversifying STEM fields, and communicating research to the public.

Over 110 students, faculty, educators and administrators gathered over the weekend to celebrate science and research during the New Mexico Academy of Science (NMAS) and New Mexico EPSCoR Joint Annual Meeting & Symposium. The two organizations joined together to present findings on EPSCoR's current grant, Energize New Mexico, and the previous grant, Climate Change Impacts on New Mexico Mountain Sources of Water, as well as other topics including wildlife ecology.