Category: Research

STEMAP in 2016 is looking great! We have 13 students joining our forces this summer working on seven research areas. They will spend eight weeks over the summer getting a week of training, doing seven weeks of research, and a day presenting their research experience.

We are continuing our February Spotlight on the STEM Advancement Program, this time through one of our students’ perspective. To date, 25 New Mexico students have been part of STEMAP – 11 students in 2014 and 14 students in 2015. Brianne Willis is a student at Eastern New Mexico University and one of the 25 STEMAP students. Brianne spent her STEMAP Summer doing research on “Assessing Uranium Contamination on the Navajo and Laguna Reservations.”

The Externship Program is a research exchange program that allows New Mexico graduate students (with an existing assistantship) to spend a semester or summer doing research at a partnering New Mexico university or research facility. This report is from New Mexico Tech student Adam Martinez about his externship in California at Trevi Systems.

It's time for another NM EPSCoR Spotlight! This month we will shine our spotlight on Dr. Michael Heagy, coordinator for the STEM Advancement Program. Dr. Heagy is a Chemistry professor at the New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology and is also on the Solar Energy research team for NM EPSCoR.

Last month, we announced (via email) that members and organizations of our Bioalgal Component team have been nominated for the "Who Makes A Difference" Algae Industry Magazine (AIM) 2015 International Readers Poll. According to the Magazine, the Poll's mission is to enable their readers to "recognize and reward innovation and excellence; convey who and what make a difference in the algae industry; celebrate innovative people, companies, laboratories, and technologies; and give AIM readers a go-to source for algae industry resources." The winners were announced on January 15th, and we're happy to say that our people and places took home awards in the categories for which they were nominated!

Dr. Richard T. Sayre is a senior research scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the New Mexico Consortium, and he is a member of our Bioalgal Team. Dr. Sayre’s current research interests include; characterization and engineering of primary processes in photosynthesis and carbon metabolism, algal and plant biotechnology, and nutritional biofortification of crop plants. In preparation for this year's legislative session, Dr. Sayre wrote an article called, "Science on the Hill: Driving toward an algae-powered future" for the Santa Fe New Mexican. In the article, Dr.

Fall 2015, what a season it's been! NM EPSCoR made its mark at several national events thanks to STEM Advancement Program students and two collaboration efforts. You may have seen our students, our partners, or me at:

Thank you to everyone who attended the New Mexico Academy of Science Research Symposium on November 14th. It was a symposium for the record books: 58 posters, 30 presentations, and over 150 attendees. Dr. Vipin Gupta of Sandia National Laboratories kicked off our day with his keynote about the Power on Demand Research Challenge, and encouraged us to think differently about power consumption at all scales. After the luncheon and keynote came the first group of concurrent sessions, followed by the poster session and our final group of concurrent sessions.

Earlier this month, I attended an EPSCoR-funded Innovation Working Group (IWG), spearheaded by our very own Dr. Mike Heagy. IWGs provide a venue for researchers, educators, and nationally recognized experts to address grand challenges that require an interdisciplinary approach to transform science. You can learn more about them in the education section of our website.

At NM EPSCoR we were thrilled to hear the news that Dr. Laura Crossey was honored by the New Mexico Network for Women in Science & Engineering with the annual IMPACT! Award. Laura is the co-lead for our Geothermal component, but that's only the tip of the iceberg. She knows how to inspire non-traditional and underrepresented students to pursue STEM education and careers. From all of us here at NM EPSCoR, congrats to you, Laura! No one deserves recognition for their hard work more than you.