Category: Workforce Development

In 2012, I was working as Education Coordinator for the Valles Caldera Trust, a small experimental federal agency charged with managing the 89,000-acre Valles Caldera National Preserve (VCNP) in the Jemez Mountains. New in my position, I had taken it upon myself to overhaul VCNP education efforts and establish a tiered education program offering place-based STEM field trips to local k-12 students.

What do you get when you combine 19 education institutions, nearly 50 posters, and 150 attendees? The 2019 New Mexico Research Symposium hosted in collaboration with the New Mexico Academy of Science (NMAS)!

Presenters: Arthur Barnes, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Jay Johnson, Sandia National Laboratories (SNL)

Modeling and simulation tools are essential for researchers as they seek ways to integrate variable renewable sources of energy, like wind, into the electricity grid. Recently, NM SMART Grid Center graduate student, P. Christopher Scott, spent time as an extern at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to learn about power system simulation. The INL Power Systems team, including Dr. Mayank Panwar, mentored Scott as he built computer models in Simulink, ran them on an Opal-RT real-time digital simulator, and modeled and simulated a power system in the IEEE 14-bus system.

We are pleased to announce the 2019 NM EPSCoR Mentor Award winners—Dr. David Mitchell and Dr. Satyajayant (Jay) Misra. Both were nominated by mentees and demonstrated characteristics of excellent mentors, including strong professional and interpersonal relationships; working to advance their mentees’ academic, research, and professional goals; and creating inclusive environments for diverse students.

In 2014, NM EPSCoR supported the hire of Assistant Professors Dr. José Cerrato and Dr. Ricardo González-Pinzón at the UNM Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering with funds from the $20 million Energize New Mexico National Science Foundation (NSF) EPSCoR grant.

New Mexico EPSCoR is committed to the principles of diversity and inclusion. We strive to establish an environment that exemplifies and promotes diversity of all types (individual, institutional, geographic, and disciplinary).  

Dr. Seuss succinctly captures the anticipation and pride all mentors/parents feel when they imagine the future for those they’ve cultivated. The sentiment is no different for Janie Chermak, Professor of Economics at UNM, who has been actively involved with EPSCoR for the past eleven years.   “It’s so nice to watch them move from being a student to being a self-sufficient researcher,” Professor Chermak says from a chair in her cheerily lit office.  

The Sci-Q (science quotient) of New Mexico went up during the week of June 22 to 29 when nearly 4,000 people participated in the NM EPSCoR–sponsored New Mexico Science Fiesta in events across the Albuquerque metro area. The celebration of science was coordinated by Explora and supported by dozens of organizations, ranging from STEM employers to community centers, colleges to dance studios, and national labs to city departments.

New Mexico State University (NMSU) was named among the top 25 four-year public institutions in the nation for enrolling and graduating women in computer science, according to a recent analysis by “The Chronicle of Higher Education.” Released in February, the report uses U.S. Department of Education data from 2016 and 2017. NMSU ranked 22nd on a list that included more than 200 institutions, a significant achievement for NMSU.