News and Highlights
This is a list of past iUTAH EPSCoR news from 2012 to 2018.
May 2, 2016
Award-Winning Author Coming To SLC
The iUTAH commissioned book Water Runs Through This Book, by Nancy Bo Flood and illustrated by Jan Sonnenmair, has received much recognition and praise from the literary community this year. It has been shortlisted for a Green Earth Book Award, is a finalist in the young adult category for Colorado Author's League 2016 Awards, and winner of the 2015 Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award (SONWA) for young adult literature.
Nancy Bo Flood says, “Water creates watersheds - communities that connect us all.” As both a writer and and educator, she has led discussions using Water Runs Through This Book at libraries, classrooms, museums, and teacher workshops in Utah. On a recent trip to the southeastern corner of Utah, one teacher said Ms. Flood’s “energy and passion…. engaged our students in [activities ranging] from an animated read-aloud with a large group of rapt four-year old preschoolers to a writing workshop for all of our sixth graders.” Copies of the book were handed out at each event.
Bo Flood will be in Salt Lake City the week of May 7 – 13, and will be attending various community events including a teacher workshop held at The Leonardo on May 7.
April 29, 2016
Undergrad Research at Westminster College
iUTAH researcher Frank Black shared news on undergraduate research at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah. This year two students, Chris Mansfield and Josh Schmidt, received awards and gave presentations while under the mentorship of Dr. Black.
- Chris Mansfield, received the FoGSL Doyle Stevens Award, presented at Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry national conference, and at the annual Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research (UCUR) on the Environmental Influences of Methylmercury Photo-Degradation Rates at the Great Salt Lake. Chris plans to take a year to work in the private sector before applying to grad school.
- Josh Schmidt also presented at UCUR on the Comparison and Trends in Mercury Concentrations in Brine Flies and Spiders at the Great Salt Lake.
In addition to presentations, both Chris and Josh were interviewed live on the Great Salt Lake podcast, which is currently being broadcast once a week on KRCL. Frank Black is an assistant professor of chemistry at Westminster College, and recipient of an iUTAH Research Catalyst Grant in 2014, to identify options for the adaptive management of wetlands to minimize the net production and export of monomethylmercury.
Press: KRCL Radio
Syd Sattler, Jules Jimreivat, Josh Schmidt and Chris Mansfield. Credit: KRCL Radio
April 28, 2016
iUTAH’s Gradients Along Mountain to Urban Transitions (GAMUT) can be found among the Global Network of Mountain Observatories (GNOMO). GNOMO’s mission is to bring together “teams of researchers, covering the range of pertinent disciplines, work together in a finite number of sites representative of the diversity of mountain regions around the world to develop their understanding of the current structure and function as well as the longer-term evolution, of mountain social-ecological systems using protocols that support comparative analysis, at a detail sufficient to support forecasts of likely outcome, given sufficiently defined boundary conditions, and in ways that engage a wide range of actors and contribute significantly to public and private decision-making.”
April 27, 2016
iUTAH researchers at Utah State University are taking a fresh look at stormwater management as part of a federally-funded study to improve water reuse in the western United States. The team of engineers, scientists and sociologists are among a growing group of water quality experts who say it’s time for new ideas in stormwater management. Their research proposal was chosen among five nationwide to receive part of an Environmental Protection Agency grant totaling $3.3 million. USU will receive $774,283.
Ryan Dupont, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Utah State University and iUTAH researcher, and other scientists hope to change this scenario. As water quality experts, he and a team of researchers are exploring a new approach to stormwater management. This approach would replace the current concrete systems with a more natural system that minimizes contamination, and allows the water to be stored and reused. Decentralizing the infrastructure is a key component to the new approach. Preliminary data on the effectiveness of this new approach are being collected now.
The project is a collaborative effort involving two other iUTAH researchers. Doug Jackson-Smith, a professor of sociology, will gather the opinions of stakeholders and the public on this new approach to stormwater management. And Sarah Null, an assistant professor of watershed sciences, will study the possible ecological benefits of the proposed system. The project was recently awarded an Environmental Protection Agency grant for continued research.
Press: Utah State Today
April 19, 2016
Educator Workshop at The Leonardo museum in Salt Lake City
iUTAH and The Leonardo museum in Salt Lake City are partnering to offer an educator workshop on Saturday, May 7th , 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. Author Nancy Bo Flood will present information about the beauty, mystery, and power of water with the goal of increasing a love affair between participants and water. Basic concepts about water cycles, conservation, watershed, etc., will be discussed. The heart of this workshop will be a variety of hands-on-activities for educators to bring to their classrooms (STEM + Write).
Activities and information are based on Water Runs Through This Book, and include experiencing “walking for water,” assessing daily water use; developing a home water conservation plan; creating a four-part (poetry, narration, interviews, art) statement about “seven ways of thinking about water,” and finally, assessing individual water footprints. Handouts include additional activities plus an annotated bibliography. Activities are designed for students 4th through high school. Registered teachers may bring one adult guest and up to two children (ages 5-12) for free.
at The Leonardo comes from iUTAH EPSCoR.
April 18, 2016
Week-long Celebration of USU's Research Excellence
Utah State University Research Week 2016 featured iUTAH researchers and graduate students Kshitij Parajuli, Elizabeth Ogata, and Enjie Li. Talks and poster presentations by USU undergraduates and former iUTAH iFellows include Viviane Baji, Matthew Barnett, Jesse Fleri, and Josh Gathro. The Office of Research and Graduate Studies hosts a series of events annually in April, showcasing exceptional research and researchers at USU.
The final event on the Research Week calendar, Ignite USU, is an atypical lecture series where nine graduate and undergraduate students, “enlighten us, but make it quick.” Students share the stories behind their research and what drives their success in five minute talks with presentation slides advancing every 15 seconds. Enjie Li, doctoral student in the Department of Environment & Society, opened the Ignite USU series with her talk “Happy Baby, Frustrated Collaborator.”
Press: Utah State Today | USU Statesman | The Herald Journal
