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!

On March 6, 2015, I had the privilege of listening to Uranium component team member José Cerrato (UNM) deliver a graduate seminar on his research, "Reactivity of Metals from Abandoned Uranium Mine Wastes in the Southwestern United States". With a background in biogeochemistry, José knows the value of geology, nanoscience, and interdisciplinary study; even though he is in the department of Civil Engineering at UNM, his research brings several disciplines together.

Dr. Karl Karlstrom (Geothermal component) was recently named the University of New Mexico's 60th Annual Research Lecturer. As part of the Provot's Shared Knowledge Conference, Karl will present a lecture, “It’s about Time: Forty Years of Geologic Work in the Grand Canyon- Rocky Mountain Region,” on Thursday, April 23 in the UNM SUB Ballrooms at 6:15 PM. The Shared Knowledge Conference is a two-day event, beginning at 9:30 AM Thursday and ending at 4:00 PM Friday, April 24.

Virginia Thompson, PhD candidate in Biology at UNM and project participant in the NM EPSCoR RII3 project (Climate Change Impacts on New Mexico's Mountain Sources of Water), delivered the Department of Biology's March brown bag seminar on her research on submerged aquatic macrophytes (SAMs). Virginia's research over the last several years, including the research she did under the EPSCoR banner, has focused on the plants that live in the waters of the Valles Caldera National Park.