Research Highlights

Longtime Nebraska NSF EPSCoR State Committee member Dr. Kenneth Bayles has been named as the next Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

A professor in the UNMC Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Dr. Bayles has been serving as the associate vice chancellor for basic science research at UNMC and as the associate vice chancellor for research and creative activity at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Photos by Louisiana Space Grant & NASA EPSCoR Programs alum Connor Matherne and his a collaborate recently went viral. The remarkable images of the moon have never-before-seen color and detail.

Over the course of a single evening, astrophotography collaborator Andrew McCarthy shot more than 200,000 detailed photos of the moon from Arizona while Matherne shot another 50,000 images from Louisiana to capture color data. Over nine months, they stitched together thousands of photos of the lunar landscape to create the high-resolution moon shot. They named the images "The Hunt for Artemis," in tribute to NASA's Artemis I mission, an uncrewed flight test that, according to the space agency: "will provide a foundation for human deep exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to return humans to the moon and extend beyond."

KY INBRE’s weekly newsletter series introduces the 2022 KY INBRE funding recipients. This week, meet Dr. Lili Ma, Northern Kentucky University, recipient of a KY INBRE CUREs award: “The Undergraduate Research in Organic Chemistry Course (UROCC) at NKU utilizes Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CURE) model. While the UROCC experience has organic chemistry at its core, students are also exposed to the research in biochemical and medicinal chemistry fields. The funding from KY INBRE provides support to pilot and implement this course at NKU.”

SC INBRE Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Director Dr. John Kaup, Furman University, has been selected to become a Riley Fellow. Selected participants are leaders who will have the opportunity to gain new tools and perspectives to leverage diversity to improve organizational outcomes and drive social and economic progress in South Carolina through their participation in the Riley Institute’s Diversity Leaders Initiative (DLI). These leaders were selected through a rigorous application and interview process after being nominated by DLI alumni.

Rhode Island INBRE’s Molecular Informatics Core collaborated with faculty around the state and completed virtual reality (VR) apps resulting from their Enhanced Virtual Education, Research, and Training (EVEREST) awards.

Two apps for training in methods to produce nanoparticles and liposomes for drug delivery were demonstrated at the 2022 Rhode Island National Guard STEM Exploration Open House for high school students, in addition to other technology.

Oklahoma NSF EPSCoR S3OK researchers Drs. Chris Zou and Rodney Will, professors of Natural Resource Ecology and Management at Oklahoma State University (OSU) collaborated with Dr. Lixia Lambert and Mr. Joshua Everett also from OSU to study land and water system dynamics (i.e., runoff and sediment yield) that were related to the conversion of a marginal grassland watershed to a switchgrass biomass production system. The research team used two experimental watersheds that were previously established at OSU’s Range Research Station. One watershed served as the untreated Control Watershed and the second as the Impact Watershed that was converted into “Alamo” switchgrass production system.

How will New Mexico’s energy transition policies impact YOU? Learn now through a story map PhD candidate Jason Banegas made for Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department of New Mexico/New Mexico EPSCoR.

KY INBRE’s weekly newsletter series introduces the 2022 KY INBRE funding recipients. This week, meet Dr. Diane Lickenbrock, Western Kentucky University, recipient of a KY INBRE IDeA award: “The funding from KY INBRE has helped us purchase equipment and supplies needed for the project. It has also funded graduate students, as well as summer student research assistants who help with the project. The data from this project has supported NIH grant applications for funding to continue examining contributors of infant emotion regulation development.”

Ustad will remain the lead Principal Investigator (PI) on the current five-year NSF EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) Track-1 award that involves six South Dakota public universities, two private universities, three tribal colleges, and state agencies. The project’s objective is to develop South Dakota’s research infrastructure, support STEM education and technology-based economic development.

KY INBRE’s weekly newsletter series introduces the 2022 KY INBRE funding recipients. This week, meet Dr. Christopher Lennon, Murray State University, recipient of a KY INBRE Postdoctoral Fellow award: “Through this award, we are investigating the emerging regulatory role of inteins, as well as exploiting these elements in novel ways to develop useful applications in protein engineering.”