News and Highlights
This is a list of past iUTAH EPSCoR news from 2012 to 2018.
October 20, 2016
iUTAH Panel at Salt Lake Co. Watershed Symposium to Share Lessons Learned
iUTAH is collaborating with the Salt Lake County Watershed Program at the 2016 Salt Lake County Watershed Symposium on a panel discussion titled “Beyond the Ivory Tower: University-Stakeholder Partnerships for Utah’s Water Future.” The panel, composed of representatives from academia and their non-academic partners, will highlight successful university-stakeholder partnerships covering a range of research, education, and outreach efforts on vital water issues in our state. Using the iUTAH project as an example, panelists will share lessons learned from their successes and failures at bridging the divide between academia and "the real world;" discuss the challenges and rewards of combining practical on-the-ground knowledge, professional expertise, and diverse stakeholder perspectives with basic and applied institutional research; and explore opportunities for new partnerships to advance societally relevant "Science for Utah's Water Future." The panel is scheduled for Wednesday, November 16 at 9:45 a.m.
The 2016 Salt Lake County Watershed Symposium takes place on November 15-16 and has a theme of "10 Years and Counting...Continuing the Conversation.” Other iUTAH participants will be speaking over the two-day event which brings together personnel from state, federal, tribal, and municipal governments; the private sector; the public; academia; environmental groups; and local watershed organizations. A complete listing of event schedule and directory can be found here.
Free and open to all, the Watershed Symposium encourages a comprehensive review of the current state of the Salt Lake County watershed, while creating a forum for sharing information among a broad array of stakeholders. Sessions bring individuals from a wide range of backgrounds together, including science, engineering, business, public policy, education, and community groups.
October 18, 2016
iUTAH Researchers Involved In New NSF Grants
Three projects totaling nearly $3.3 million were among those selected to receive National Science Foundation (NSF) awards in September 2016. iUTAH researchers are involved as principal or collaborating investigators to advance three projects funded at three Utah universities.
Utah State University received $2.7 million to fund the NSF Research Traineeships over the next five years. A university press release stated that the program, named “Graduate Climate Adaptation Research that Enhances Education and Responsiveness of Science at the Management-Policy Interface” — or Grad-CAREER for short —anticipates training 80 master’s and doctoral students.
“This is a remarkable opportunity for graduate students to be involved in a dynamic, cross-disciplinary research environment,” says Nancy Huntly, professor in USU’s Department of Biology, director of the USU Ecology Center, and principal investigator and project director for Grad-CAREER. When asked about how her experience with iUTAH contributed to this award, Huntly said “The new Climate Adaptation Science specialization builds on the foundation of interdisciplinary collaboration that iUTAH has fostered.”
Additionally, two projects at Utah Valley University and the University of Utah have been selected to receive first-ever NSF INCLUDES funding. These projects hope to develop new approaches to diversifying the science and engineering workforce of the United States. NSF INCLUDES (Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science) granted two-year awards to 37 proposals nationwide with a goal of increasing the number of individuals from underserved groups in the science and engineering workforce to sustain U.S. leadership in those disciplines. Both projects are working to improve access to STEM education and career pathways, making them more widely available to underserved populations in Utah.
Huntly leads the project team, which includes iUTAH researchers Courtney Flint, Department of Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology and the USU Ecology Center; David Rosenberg, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Utah Water Research Laboratory; Simon Wang, Department of Plants, Soils and Climate and the Utah Climate Center and Sarah Null, Department of Watershed Sciences.
Utah Valley University received $300,000 to fund a project titled “Design & Development Launch Pilots: UTAH PREP.” through the NSF INCLUDES initiative. By partnering with Weber State University (WSU) and American Indian Services (AIS), PREParation for STEM Careers, UTAH PREP for short, aims to address the need for early preparation in mathematics to strengthen the secondary-to-postsecondary-to-career STEM pipeline. iUTAH researcher Daniel Horns, a professor in Earth Science and associate dean of the college of College of Science & Health, is the principal investigator of the project, along with co-investigators Andrew Stone, an assistant vice president of Recruitment and Outreach, and Violeta Vasilevska, an associate professor in Mathematics, all from UVU.
The University of Utah received nearly $300,000 in funding to launch a two-year pilot project through the NSF INCLUDES program. The project titled “Alliance to Strengthen the STEM Tapestry (ASSisT): Motivating Critical Identity Shifts to Weave the STEM Disenfranchised into Science and the Sustainability Workforce.” focuses on three STEM-disenfranchised groups: 1) adults who have been recently released from incarceration; 2) youth who have been released from juvenile custody; and 3) refugee youth, and builds on existing science education programs. iUTAH researcher Diane Pataki, a professor in UU’s biology department, and associate dean of student affairs in the College of Science, is a co-investigator on the project led by UU Professor of Biology Nalini Nadkarni. Others co-investigators from UU include Jordan Gerton, adjunct assistant professor, Bioengineering and associate professor, Physics and Astronomy, Sydney Cheek-O'Donnell, assistant professor and head of the Department of Theatre, and Russell Isabella, associate professor in Family and Consumer Studies and adjunct associate professor and Department of Psychology.
iUTAH is an NSF-funded project aimed at building statewide capacity to conduct research on vital environmental issues facing our state, specifically water sustainability. The project integrates research, training, and education to support Utah’s next generation STEM workforce and contribute to the education of and engagement with an informed, water-wise citizenry.
Press: Utah State Today | EurekAlert | NSF PR 16-129 | @theU
investigators for projects awarded NSF INCLUDES funding
October 12, 2016
Deadlines Approaching for Undergraduate Presentations
Students, fall is the perfect time to start thinking about presenting your science research to a broader audience. Many of you conducted interesting water-related research over the summer, and even prepared a presentation at the close of iUTAH’s iFellows Undergraduate Research Program. It is time to dust off your work and show your peers what you have been doing. Right now, iUTAH has links to these four conferences listed on our website.
- Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research (UCUR)
Submission deadline: October 31, 2016 - Utah Research on Capitol Hill (UU)
Abstracts due: October 31, 2016 - Utah Research on Capitol Hill (USU)
Abstracts due: November 15, 2016 - National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR)
Submission deadline: December 2, 2016
Please check the Opportunities section of our website often for new additions, and presenting your research.
October 12, 2016
Climate Change Book Released by iUTAH Collaborator
Dan Bedford, professor of Geography and Honors Program Director at Weber State University, recently released a textbook on climate change. The book, titled “Climate Change, Examining the Facts” is co-authored by John Cook, Climate Communication Fellow for the Global Change Institute at The University of Queensland, Australia. It draws on current research in cognitive psychology to address issues of climate change. By applying structured responses to myths about climate change, factual responses should prevail. The textbook is written for an upper division high school and introductory level college audience.
Ogden's new, independent, locally-owned bookstore, Booked on 25th, will host an author event with Dan on November 3, 2016 from 7-9 p.m. The books are available at the bookstore, through Amazon.com, and the publishers website.
October 11, 2016
iUTAH Welcomes the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science to Utah
Close to 245 faculty members, staff, and graduate students from across the state participated in science communications workshops held on October 3-5, 2016. The Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science led large interactive sessions in both Logan and Salt Lake City that were free and open to the public. These sessions, facilitated by Anne Machalinski from the Alda Center, directed audiences thorough examples and discussions on why effective science communication matters.
Each day, smaller groups of 8 – 32 people continued to participate in more focused training sessions. These workshops included learning to how to read and connect with your audience, and how to speak more clearly and conversationally about your work and why it matters. Exercises led to deeper conversation on the importance of connecting with the public and being able to explain what you do.
iUTAH researcher Bo Yang, an associate professor of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at USU said he “benefitted from all the sessions, especially the afternoon session on Distilling Your Message.” He added “I feel much more confident using my own examples after going through this training.”
“Talking about your research doesn’t have to just be boring facts, you can make it interesting,” said Beth Ogata, PhD student in Biology at USU and iUTAH graduate research assistant. “It’s an opportunity to talk about why you do what you love, and why it matters to the person you are speaking with. It’s more of a conversation.”
Also participating in Monday’s training was Dan Bedford, professor of Geography and Honors Program Director at Weber State University. He said he has “had two excellent, intensive science communication trainings through iUTAH, and I've benefited tremendously from both of them-- learned a lot, and will be putting the lessons into practice every day in the WSU classroom and beyond.”
“This event is a perfect example of what that process of capacity building looks like,” said Andreas Leidolf, Assistant Director and Project Administrator iUTAH EPSCoR. “Partnerships like this one, between the Offices of the Vice President for Research at Utah State University and the University of Utah, as well as iUTAH, are emblematic of a new culture of interdisciplinary and multi-institutional research and teaching that has taken hold in Utah over the past five years.”
For more detailed descriptions of the Alda Center’s visit, please read the articles below.
Press: Utah State Today | UU News | The Herald Journal | KUSU Radio
September 27, 2016
Comments Sought on Draft Utah Water Strategy
A draft of the state water strategy has been released to the public. When finalized, it will propose a 50-year water strategy to the governor’s office. This document, written by the State Water Strategy Advisory team’s chair, is now open for review and comment. Visit the Salt Lake Tribute article for an overview of the process to date.
iUTAH collaborator Joanna Endter-Wada, Professor of Natural Resource Policy and Social Science, participated on the team tasked with providing analysis and feedback. Other members of the team included water managers, climatologists, university researchers, elected officials, environmental activists, and others. Public comments are needed for the work facilitated by Envision Utah.
Please share this information through conversations, email, and social media. We encourage you to respond and make your voice heard. Comments can be submitted to Envision Utah’s website until Monday, October 24, 2016.
feedback on the draft Utah water strategy
