News and Highlights

The National Science Foundation posted the Explore Utah Science series "Follow the Flow" on their Science 360 radio website on October 9, 2014. Make sure you check it out.

ABC 4 News aired a piece on iUTAH partner Utah Water Watch on October 8, 2014 as part of their tour of universities and colleges in Utah.

Check it out...

The National Science Foundation (NSF) takes public communication seriously, frequently requiring grant-funded projects to find ways to bridge the gap between researchers and the public who helps fund their activities. Like many NSF-EPSCoR projects, CI-WATER has included video as one platform for making the science more accessible. To better understand the role video is playing in science communication, CI-WATER’s Jenn Gibbs and Utah EPSCoR’s Lauren Petty surveyed EPSCoRs throughout the nation.

Seventeen representatives from the nation’s 21 EPSCoR programs responded to questions about the types of videos their projects have produced and how they’ve been received. Based on these responses, the most impactful video is five minutes or shorter and explains a key concept related to the science as opposed to simply describing the project itself.

“That’s not to say there isn’t a need for other types of videos,” Jenn says. “Most of the respondents say they’re measuring impact by the number of views. That’s a useful marker to track, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. There may not be a large audience for an hour-long conference talk, but for the people who need that information, it’s great to have.

“The main point of the survey is to start a conversation about what works in using video to raise awareness of these NSF-funded projects.”

Read the new September 2014 iUTAH Newsletter. Just released.

On Wednesday, August 27th, iUTAH EPSCoR team members attended Utah State University's Day on the Quad. This event was a valuable opportunity to connect with USU students, and share iUTAH messages. Throughout the course of the day, iUTAH team members reached over 100 students, sharing water sustainability issues and research, and iUTAH programs for undergraduate students. Many students expressed interest in applying for the 2015 iFellows Undergraduate Research Experience. iUTAH hopes to engage students on campuses statewide during similar events this year to advertise the iFellow program. More information about the iFellows Undergraduate Research Experience.

Read the new August 2014 iUTAH Newsletter. Just released.