News and Highlights
This is a list of past iUTAH EPSCoR news from 2012 to 2018.
May 25, 2016
EPSCoR EOD Advisory Council
Ellen Eiriksson, iUTAH Education Outreach and Diversity Coordinator (EOD) Coordinator, was re-elected by the national Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) EOD community to a third year of service on the EPSCoR EOD Advisory Council. The Council is a consultative body that serves as an important voice for the EPSCoR-wide EOD community and liaison to the Project Directors’ (PD) and Project Administrators’ (PA) Councils.
May 24, 2016
NSF Releases FY 2015 Success Rates
The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently released data and other information regarding key outcomes of Utah’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), including iUTAH for fiscal year (FY) 2015. Utah’s NFS proposal success rates have remained consistent at or above the national average of 23% for the past three years. Additionally, co-funding by EPSCoR remains high with four awards, totaling over $1.9 MM listed on current reports.
May 10, 2016
Ecologist James Ehleringer Elected To National Academy Of Sciences
iUTAH researcher James Ehleringer, distinguished professor of biology at the University of Utah (UU), is among 84 U.S. scientist-scholars and 21 foreign associates from 14 countries elected at the Academy’s Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. In a UU News statement, Ehleringer says he learned of his election when five of his colleagues, including UU geochemist and National Academy of Sciences member Thure Cerling, called Ehleringer at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 3 from Washington, D.C. to share the news. Ehleringer says he is “overwhelmed, elated and excited” by the recognition. Of his colleagues within the National Academy, he says, “It’s an honor to be considered among their ranks.”
In addition to this honor, Ehleringer was also awarded the Rosenblatt Prize for Excellence, the UU’s most prestigious faculty award. An excerpt from the award announcement recognizes Ehleringer as “one of the most influential scientists in the world in plant ecology and stable isotope ecology…. He was the first to initiate a cross-campus conversation about how to embrace and incorporate Red Butte Creek into the university’s academic agenda, and he spearheaded a National Science Foundation grant to provide scholarships to first-generation students to study in STEM fields. Through it all, he has impacted the lives of numerous students, mentoring them through their time at the U and beyond.”
“I am delighted that Jim’s accomplishments have been recognized by these prestigious awards,” said Michelle Baker iUTAH EPSCoR Project Director. “iUTAH came about because of Jim’s vision and leadership in 2009 when Utah became eligible for EPSCoR. He is an invaluable member of our team.”
Ehleringer has been recognized with the state of Utah Governor’s Medal for Science and Technology, received the Student’s Choice Award for Teaching, the U’s Distinguished Research Award, the Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship, was named an American Geophysical Union Fellow, an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow.
Press: UU News
May 9, 2016
iUTAH Researcher appointed WSU Honors Program Director
Dan Bedford, professor of Geography (WSU), has been selected as the next Honors Program Director at Weber State University. Bedford, who has experience as a teacher and researcher at WSU, has taught in the Honors Program since 2008. He has also served in leadership roles within iUTAH, both receiving and mentoring other researchers connected with the iUTAH Research Catalyst Grant.
“I am looking to build on the excellent work of the previous director, Judy Elsley, by growing a community of scholars who are able to think outside the box,” said Bedford. “Solving today's and tomorrow's problems increasingly requires trans-disciplinary thinking, and I'm looking to foster those interests and skills.” As director, Bedford is committed to an engaged learning environment and impactful research that will benefit the curricular and scholarly interest of faculty and students alike.
Bedford sees the new position as “an opportunity to develop collaborative partnerships across campus, working with faculty from lots of different disciplines to build exciting, engaging, relevant learning experiences for students.” He added that “iUTAH helped prepare me for the job by pushing me out of my comfort zone and into collaborations with other faculty, both within and beyond WSU, exploring new undergraduate research, and giving me and the rest of the WSU iUTAH team a framework in which to hone our student mentoring skills.”
May 3, 2016
USU Soil Scientist Discusses New Device To Assess Snowmelt
iUTAH researcher Scott Jones, a soil scientist from the department of plants, soils and climate at Utah State University was interviewed by KUSU reporter Katie Peikes about a new device to aid in predicting the state’s water supply. Jones explains the probe’s function saying it “fires a heat pulse for eight seconds and then you measure the temperature near the needle for another two minutes,” adding that “we have a model that describes this heating in the soil and you fit the model to those temperature rise measurements. The parameters that are fitted are basically describing the thermal conductivity and the thermal diffusivity of the soil.”
"We’re interested in soil moisture in the mountains because one of the aspects of the soil and the vegetation on the surface is that it forms the bottom boundary for all of the weather and climate interactions, and so understanding that boundary becomes quite important for getting better estimates of climate change and weather," Jones said.
Press: KUSU Radio
May 2, 2016
Former iUTAH Directors Receive NSF Center Award
The National Science Foundation has funded a Center of Research Excellence in Science and Technology, establishing the Center for Aquatic Chemistry and the Environment (CREST-CAChE) at Florida International University. The Center, led by Todd Crowl, former iUTAH PI and now Director of the Institute for Water and Environment at FIU, will address the sources, transport, transformation and ecosystem responses to contaminants, pollutants and other natural stressors, under changing land-use and environmental conditions. Former iUTAH project director Rita Teutonico, will serve as CREST-CAChE’s associate director and lead CAChE's education programs. Rita says that they plan to train 60 graduate students over five years and also start a parallel undergraduate research experience program similar to iFellows.
