Category: Research

Assistant Secretary for the Office of Electricity (OE), Bruce J. Walker, announced the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) “Electricity Industry Technology and Practices Innovation Challenge.” This contest is designed to tap into American ingenuity for ideas on how to modify or replace existing processes and procedures, the use of technology, and traditional energy industry practices to improve grid operations, with the goal of making the nation’s Bulk Power System stronger and more resilient.

Eshani Hettiarachchi, New Mexico Tech graduate student and Uranium component team member for the Energize New Mexico grant, recently published her research on uranium-contaminated dust and its health implications in the American Chemical Society (ACS) journal, Environmental Science & Technology Letters.

Four research scientists, all of whom have been part of New Mexico EPSCoR projects in the past, penned an open letter to the next governor of New Mexico. Laura Crossey, Dan Cadol, Sam Fernald, and Cliff Dahm wrote about the importance of higher education research for the NM Political Report. The letter was published before the 2018 Midterm Elections on November 2nd.

Continuing a tradition of collaboration and research excellence, our 6th Annual Research Symposium was a success! Sponsored by the New Mexico Academy of Science (NMAS), NM EPSCoR, the American Chemical Society, UNM Center for Water and the Environment, and the New Mexico Alliance for Minority Participation (NM AMP), the Symposium took place at the Sheraton Airport in Albuquerque on Saturday, October 28th. With over 110 attendees, 40 posters, and 25 presentations, the day was filled with networking and topics spanning several STEM fields.

The five-year, $20 million grant will highlight statewide research collaboration among higher education institutions, national laboratories, and industry.

The Externship Program is a research exchange program that allows New Mexico graduate students (with an existing assistantship) to spend a semester or summer doing research at a partnering New Mexico university or research facility. This report is from New Mexico Tech student Hanqing Pan about her externship at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, CO.

Bioalgal Team co-lead David Hanson (UNM) and Team member Jerilyn Timlin (SNL) recently received a grant from the Department of Energy (DOE) for a new initiative to advance fundamental bioenergy science. Their project, "Hyperspectral Light Sheet Raman Imaging of Leaf Metabolism," is lead by P.I. and UNM Physics professor Keith Lidke, and will build on research, infrastructure, and relationships established through the NM EPSCoR Energize New Mexico grant.

NM EPSCoR researchers Dr. Janie Chermak and Dr. Jennifer Thacher of UNM’s Department of Economics, assisted by PhD student Kara Walter, polled nearly 2,000 New Mexico residents on their opinions about energy sources, environmental policy, and the state’s energy future. The survey included questions about preferences regarding energy sources, such as renewable sources and extraction methods, as well as environmental and economic concerns.

When I first started with NM EPSCoR in 2013, one of my major tasks was to recruit students for our undergraduate research program, the STEM Advancement Program (STEMAP). Three and a half years later, I had traveled over 5,000 miles to visit 22 of 25 primarily undergraduate institutions (open to see the map). Those miles traveled and campuses visited resulted in 200 students applying for STEMAP from 2014 to 2017.

We are proud to announce this year's recipients of the NM EPSCoR Mentoring Award: Catherine Brewer, Assistant Professor at New Mexico State University; Marty Kirk, Distinguished Professor at the University of New Mexico; and Juchao Yan, Professor at Eastern New Mexico University. Mentors are able to create a professional and social relationship with students that encourage them to take the next step in their careers through listening, advising, supporting, providing feedback, increasing students’ networks, and solving problems, to name a few roles and characteristics. Click to learn more about these outstanding mentors.