Event Category: Workforce Development

Four women either previously or currently involved in New Mexico EPSCoR projects were among 13 other women honored earlier this month as New Mexico Women of STEM. Diana Northrup taught the EPSCoR-funded Communicating Science class at UNM in Spring 2014; Lorie Liebrock was an exceptional participant in our previous grants; Phyllis Baca has worked with EPSCoR for several years and is involved in the current Energize New Mexico grant; and Jeri Timlin is a current team member of the Bioalgal Component.

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.

In early May, NM EPSCoR sponsored a Software Carpentry Workshop at UNM. Software Carpentry is a volunteer organization whose goal is to make scientists more productive, and their work more reliable, by teaching them basic computing skills. This example-driven two-day workshop taught core computing skills to help participants be more productive and effective, alternating short tutorials with hands-on practical exercises. Participants were encouraged to help one another and to apply what learned to their own research problems during the workshop.

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.

Greetings and Happy New Year! First off I’d like to introduce myself. I am Chelsea Chee, the NM EPSCoR Diversity Outreach Specialist. I have spent many years working on and with tribal communities (mainly on the Navajo Nation and with young people) around climate change, global warming, and sustainability. So, I was attracted to NM EPSCoR’s work on renewable energy and goal of enhancing diversity. I am excited to be in this position and look forward to what else this opportunity will bring.

Phyllis Baca, New Mexico EPSCoR partner and component lead on both Workforce Development and Diversity, was recently honored with the Seventh Annual IMPACT! Award by the New Mexico Network for Women in Science and Engineering (NMNWSE) and the New Mexico Commissions on the Status of Women. The IMPACT!

Our friends and partners over at Nevada EPSCoR have finished and posted a video about the Western Consortium Track 2 accomplishments and impacts with regards to connectivity between research institutions in New Mexico, Idaho, and Nevada. The video features our very own Associate Director Mary Jo Daniel, as well as Alice Loy of the Global Center for Cultural Entrepreneurship. Check out the video below!