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1 FALL/WINTER 2009 Message from the Director As Interim Idaho EPSCoR Project Director, I am pleased to share some recent accomplishments of Idaho’s National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) project. This project is vitally important to the State of Idaho in that it builds research infrastructure in critical areas related to water resources and climate change. Water in Idaho comes primarily from melting of mountain snowpacks, so it is essential to understand how this valuable resource might respond to potential climate change. The current RII project explores this issue and others by studying both highly managed and relatively unmanaged watersheds. EPSCoR in Idaho has had a distinguished history of helping Idaho’s research universities better position themselves to win competitive research funding. NSF EPSCoR builds intellectual capacity by creating new tenure-track faculty positions at Idaho’s institutions that fill critical gaps in expertise. Despite the difficult economic situation that most states are facing, EPSCoR is currently providing salary and startup funding for 10 new professors during the five-year grant in diverse fields, including climatology, water resource engineering, and economics. These investments in research personnel will pay large dividends in the future as our state begins to address this important topic, paying particular attention to local and regional impacts. Five of these professors have already been hired, and this and future issues of the newsletter will introduce you to these new members of our research and academic communities. Idaho EPSCoR also is helping to train a diverse group of students who represent the next generation of our nation’s scientists and engineers. There are exciting new Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) opportunities being created around the State. These opportunities excite secondary students and teachers about science and engineering, and prepare them for future education and careers in STEM fields that are critical to the long-term economic growth of our state and nation. I hope you enjoy this Idaho EPSCoR newsletter. Please send your feedback to [email protected]. Sincerely, Von P. Walden, Interim Project Director Idaho Water Monitoring Partnership Honored as Nation’s Top Innovative Program continued on page 2 University of Idaho water resources engineer and EPSCoR team leader Rick Allen’s high tech methods use satellite imagery to track water usage down to the level of individual fields. This is helping the Idaho Department of Water Resources improve water resource management. In September, this state agency - university partnership won the prestigious national Innovations in American Government Award from Harvard University’s Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation in the John F. Kennedy School of Government. The award recognizes the Idaho Water Resources Department’s efforts as the first agency in the U.S. to develop and use satellite imagery to monitor and enhance public understanding of water usage. The institute selected six winners from more than 700 nominations.

Fall-Winter 2009 Newsletter

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Idaho EPSCoR Objective: The primary objective of EPSCoR is to stimulate research in niche areas that can become fully competitive in the disciplinary and multidisciplinary research programs of the National Science Foundation and other relevant agencies.

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Page 1: Fall-Winter 2009 Newsletter

• 1 •

FALL/WINTER 2009

Message from the DirectorAs Interim Idaho EPSCoR Project Director, I am pleased to share some recent accomplishments of Idaho’s National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) project. This project is vitally important to the State of Idaho in that it builds research infrastructure in critical areas related to water resources

and climate change. Water in Idaho comes primarily from melting of mountain snowpacks, so it is essential to understand how this valuable resource might respond to potential climate change. The current RII project explores this issue and others by studying both highly managed and relatively unmanaged watersheds.

EPSCoR in Idaho has had a distinguished history of helping Idaho’s research universities better position themselves to win competitive research funding. NSF EPSCoR builds intellectual capacity by creating new tenure-track faculty positions at Idaho’s institutions that fill critical gaps in expertise. Despite the difficult economic situation that most states are facing, EPSCoR is currently providing salary and startup funding for

10 new professors during the five-year grant in diverse fields, including climatology, water resource engineering, and economics. These investments in research personnel will pay large dividends in the future as our state begins to address this important topic, paying particular attention to local and regional impacts. Five of these professors have already been hired, and this and future issues of the newsletter will introduce you to these new members of our research and academic communities.

Idaho EPSCoR also is helping to train a diverse group of students who represent the next generation of our nation’s scientists and engineers. There are exciting new Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) opportunities being created around the State. These opportunities excite secondary students and teachers about science and engineering, and prepare them for future education and careers in STEM fields that are critical to the long-term economic growth of our state and nation. I hope you enjoy this Idaho EPSCoR newsletter. Please send your feedback to [email protected].

Sincerely,Von P. Walden, Interim Project Director

Idaho Water Monitoring Partnership Honored as Nation’s Top Innovative Program

continued on page 2

University of Idaho water resources engineer and EPSCoR team leader Rick Allen’s high tech methods use satellite imagery to track water usage down to the level of individual fields. This is helping the Idaho Department of Water Resources improve water resource management. In September, this state agency - university partnership won the prestigious national Innovations in American Government Award from Harvard University’s Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation in the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

The award recognizes the Idaho Water Resources Department’s efforts as the first agency in the U.S. to develop and use satellite imagery to monitor and enhance public understanding of water usage. The institute selected six winners from more than 700 nominations.

Page 2: Fall-Winter 2009 Newsletter

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Idaho’s program uses satellite imagery to monitor water use through evapotranspiration or ET, which is water evaporated from soil and transpired by plants. The method can effectively address growing regional disputes over water supplies. More than 90 percent of Idaho’s water is used for agricultural irrigation.

“Our method treats everyone the same and that has been a big factor in its acceptance,” Allen said. Other states exploring Allen’s method include Oregon, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Nevada, California and New Mexico. Officials in Morocco, South Africa and Spain have also used the method.

Allen’s work combined the use of NASA’s Landsat satellite images, which can map areas as large as 10,000 square miles or 6.4 million acres, but at fine spatial resolution, with the ground-based research at Kimberly, Idaho. By expanding it to focus on energy balance, his method can monitor water use in individual fields as small as 40 acres.

METRIC, or Mapping EvapoTranspiration at high Resolution with Internalized Calibration, plays a substantial role in the EPSCoR RII project (Water Resources in a Changing Climate) in that it has the capacity to map out ET in very fine spatial detail. The EPSCoR project has invested in both instrumentation and personnel to scale “point observations” to larger areas in Idaho, both agricultural and wild lands. Measurements from three large aperture scintillometers (purchased with EPSCoR funding) will improve the accuracy of METRIC, particularly in desert and forested regions, where these instruments will be deployed. Scintillometers measure temperature, humidity, air pressure, and the transfer of heat between the Earth’s surface and the air above. The improved METRIC model will be compared with output from land-process models, and will ultimately improve hydrologic modeling in Idaho. An additional component of the EPSCoR project will be to transform future temperature and precipitation scenarios from climate models into snowmelt and stream flow hydrographs. These estimates of future water supplies then will be applied to water rights and other modeling structures to determine potential impacts on economics and policy.

Other EPSCoR scientists collaborate with Allen, using Landsat data in innovative ways. Matt Germino, associate professor of Plant Physiological Ecology at Idaho State University, evaluates changes in sagebrush resulting from fire and grazing. The Landsat technology allows him to examine long-term responses of vegetation to land uses and disturbances and to understand how those responses interact with climate. He asks, for example, when land is grazed repeatedly and when it is burned, how does it respond to precipitation? One answer: an increase in grazing can greatly sensitize the land to disturbances, making fire and invasive species impacts more frequent and intense. Understanding these sorts of interactions can help us better mitigate the effects of climate change.

As a civil engineer at Boise State University, assistant professor Venkat Sridhar can take field-level evapotranspiration

Idaho Water Monitoring Partnership, continued from page 1 Watch a video summary of this year’s winners of the Innovations in American Government Award: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzAMAoz6vWY&feature=channel_page

Read the Washington Post article about the satellite measurement project: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/13/AR2009091302368.html

information collected from scintillometers and use it to calibrate and validate hydrological models. Allen’s ET maps allow Sridhar to better understand watershed responses to climate changes. He can better predict stream flow, for instance, with more precise information about the multiple complex interactions of various water balance processes.

Climate change experts predict Idaho’s water supply will undergo a dramatic shift in coming decades away from cold winters that favor accumulation of mountain snows that store water until late spring. More water may fall as rain and flow downstream before peak summer demand. This could increase conflicts for available water supplies.

Allen’s METRIC system also shows promise in addressing other issues ranging from helping track stream flow restoration projects for fish to settling water disputes before they reach court. “Water scarcity is fast becoming one of our nation’s most important resource issues,” said Stephen Goldsmith, the Kennedy School’s Innovations in American Government program director.

More information about the Idaho Department of Water Resources and the award is available at: http://www.idwr.idaho.gov/GeographicInfo/METRIC/et.htm.

Evapotranspiration from Landsat 5 on July 22,2006 from irrigated fields in the Thousands Springs area, Idaho. Round circles are center pivot irrigated fields 0.5 miles (800 m) in diameter (closeup to the right). (derived by the Univ. Idaho METRIC process).

Page 3: Fall-Winter 2009 Newsletter

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2009 Idaho EPSCoR Annual Meeting

Conference participants from Boise State University; pictured from left to right: David Hoekema, graduate student; Xin Jin, postdoc; Venkat Sridhar, assistant professor, Civil Engineering; Cheryl Schrader, dean, College of Engineering

Each year Idaho EPSCoR conducts an annual meeting of current NSF EPSCoR participants and stakeholders to review the status of Idaho’s EPSCoR-enabled research capacity and to foster statewide research collaborations. The primary purpose of the meeting, held this year in Moscow on August 31st and September 1st, was to conduct an external, technical review of Idaho’s NSF EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement project (EPS-0814387) currently funded from September, 2009 through August, 2013.

Sessions included presentations by research groups in hydroclimatology, ecological change, economics/policy, outreach, and cyberinfrastructure, followed by poster sessions in which graduate students got a chance to discuss their involvement in the various research projects under the Water Resources in a Changing Climate theme. The Idaho EPSCoR Committee also held its annual committee meeting on Monday evening, August 31, 2009.

THE PEOPLE OF IDAHO EPSCoRWelcome to Idaho!

KELLY COBOURN, Research Professor, Boise State University

As a spatial econometrician, Dr. Kelly Cobourn uses statistical analysis to study the economic impact of changing land use patterns. With a freshly minted Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis, Cobourn is the newest economist at Boise State University, hired as part of Idaho

EPSCoR’s Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) plan to increase the state’s research capacity in areas related to Water Resources in a Changing Climate. Her primary research focus is integrating biological and economic models with attention to spatial, temporal, and natural processes. For the research collaborations of the EPSCoR RII program, this means understanding how water flows change over space and time and how these changes affect agriculture and other economic activities.

Cobourn’s goals this year include formalizing her research agenda and making strong connections with other faculty involved in the EPSCoR program around the State. She already sees great potential to work with researchers in different fields, including geoscientist Jen Pierce at Boise State University; Cobourn and Pierce share an interest in fire management research. Interdisciplinarity is nothing new for Cobourn whose graduate work emphasized interdisciplinary methods. Her dissertation built a bioeconomic model of pest management to evaluate the benefits to cooperative pest management institutions. Cobourn views her role as one of fostering new interdisciplinary relationships and seeking competitive grants to support ongoing research collaborations that will benefit Idaho while contributing to a better understanding of economic impacts of a changing climate.

Meet the Team Leaders

RICK ALLEN, Research Professor of Water Resources

As team leader of the Hydro-climatology research group, Rick Allen coordinates hydrologic modeling by junior faculty and works to improve the accuracy of the METRIC system (see the cover story in this newsletter for more information about METRIC).“I am elated to see the

very talented young faculty all three universities have,” he says, “they are all exceptional and we want to retain them.”

SIAN MOONEY, Professor of Economics, Boise State University

Sian Mooney heads up the Economics & Policies Team for EPSCoR. Mentoring often involves “troubleshooting and removing impediments,” helping junior faculty find the resources and funding they need for successful research. Dr. Mooney has worked in climate change research

since the 1980s, studying the effects of climate change on agriculture as well as the design of greenhouse gas policies (known as “cap & trade policies”).

COLDEN BAXTER, Assistant Professor of Ecology, Idaho State University

EPSCoR’s Ecological Change research group, led by Colden Baxter, carries out research to predict shifts in ecosystem structure and function that may occur in response to future climate change scenarios. Dr. Baxter serves as EPSCoR liaison for Idaho State University while also

helping junior faculty in the Ecology group at all three Idaho universities become successful researchers and collaborators. His own research focus is on ecological linkages between water and land, specifically reciprocal connections such as those between streams, floodplains, and riparian forests.

Page 4: Fall-Winter 2009 Newsletter

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OUTREACH AND EDUCATION

e-Day at Boise State UniversityForty-one 7th to 10th graders attended a one-day camp organized by the College of Engineering at Boise State University. The students had the opportunity to participate in hands-on activities aimed at helping them explore and gain interest in engineering and technical careers.

The camp successfully brought together a diverse group of professors, university students, and professionals from the community as well as successfully attracting a group of diverse participants, including 21 young women. More than 50% of participants were from populations underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines (including Hispanic and Native American students.)

In one activity, Antonia Robles (Hewlett Packard), Claribel Orellana (USDA Forest Service) and Boise State University students from the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers helped the 7th to 10th graders build their own spaghetti towers.

Continuing the theme of “construction with food items,” Dr. Venkat Sridhar and several of his graduate students helped the participants build their own “edible aquifers”. Students also learned about the art and engineering of building using robotics kits provided by PCS Edventures to build a robotic dragster, a functioning vehicle.

Representatives of Micron Technology Foundation, a foundation of the Idaho high tech company, helped the students think about inventions and engineering. The boys and girls experienced and learned about control systems and how gyroscopes work by taking rides on a Segway, a self-balancing personal transportation device with two wheels.

Many of the students who participated in the EPSCoR sponsored e-Day camp in April 2009 were from smaller communities surrounding the city of Boise and have fewer opportunities than many of their urban counterparts to see the possibilities open to them through the fields of science and technology. E-Day staff encourage and recruit students’ involvement in other science and engineering activities.

The next e-Day will be held in April, 2010. For more information contact Leandra Aburusa: (208) 426-4466.

Idaho “STEM Pipline” Web Portal(STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics)

There are excellent ongoing programs in Idaho designed to prepare and encourage students, particularly those from underrepresented groups, to pursue STEM fields in college. In an effort to better integrate various efforts and establish web-based access to multiple programs, Idaho EPSCoR is creating a user friendly “STEM Pipeline” umbrella web portal that will provide information on various Idaho programs to students, parents, and Idaho communities. The program’s goals are to:

• Increase statewide participation in Idaho STEM by providing coordinated information and educational “pipeline” opportunities.

• Increase access to STEM learning opportunities within Idaho for all students, including women and those from underrepresented groups such as Native American, Hispanic, and African American populations.

• Provide a statewide clearinghouse of STEM pipeline programs available to K-12 Idaho students and their families.

• Provide a statewide clearinghouse of STEM pipeline programs available to post-secondary and graduate students within Idaho.

The Idaho STEM Pipeline web portal is scheduled to be available to the general public in January of 2010. Idaho EPSCoR will be conducting a mass email/hard-copy marketing campaign that will introduce the new Idaho STEM Pipeline web portal to various constituents in the state of Idaho including Idaho school districts, teachers and other school district personnel, Idaho colleges and universities, underrepresented populations, and the community at large.

We currently have over 50 Idaho organizations/programs who have submitted their information to be included on the web portal; however, we are still seeking more programs to take part in this endeavor. If you have a program, event, or opportunity, or if you know of a specific program that you would like to include, please visit the following website for submission guidelines: http://www.idahostem.org.

Page 5: Fall-Winter 2009 Newsletter

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Increasing Participation of Students Underrepresented in STEMMany people have been involved in outreach activities during the Fall 2009 semester – including attending events designed to recruit underrepresented students into the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Idaho EPSCoR was able to support the outreach/recruitment initiatives of professional student organizations such as AISES (American Indian Science and Engineering Society) and NSBE (National Society of Black Engineers) at the University of Idaho. Idaho EPSCoR was also represented at a variety of national/regional conferences and events in an effort to broaden participation of underrepresented groups in STEM.

Idaho was represented at the national SACNAS (Society for Advancing Hispanics/Chicanos and Native Americans in Science) conference held in Dallas, Texas in October 18-21, 2009. SACNAS is dedicated to fostering the success of Hispanic/Chicano and Native American scientists—from college students to professionals—in attaining advanced degrees, careers, and positions of leadership. Dr. Marcos Galindo, UI Native faculty in Aquaculture Research Institute, attended on behalf of Idaho EPSCoR and participated in the college fair where he was able to interact with many potential students interested in Idaho STEM opportunities.

Also, Dr. Aaron Thomas, director of Idaho Space Grant Consortium and associate professor in Chemical Engineering and Sarah Penney, Idaho EPSCoR diversity, outreach, and communications coordinator, recently attended the national AISES Conference held in Portland, OR on October 29-31, 2009. The event is designed to recruit Native American students into the STEM fields at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Idaho EPSCoR, in coordination with the All Nations Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP), also provided support for two Native American graduate students, Matt Jensen and James Holt, to participate in the AISES conference and talk one-on-one with students interested in STEM degrees.

Dr. Colden Baxter, assistant professor at the Stream Ecology Center Department of Biological Sciences at ISU, also supported a group of Native American students from the Shoshone-Bannock tribe to attend the AISES Conference, as part of ISU’s STEM Internship Program. A collaborative poster entitled, “Using science to explore our paths: Western Science with Native views,” was presented by undergraduates Tiffany Cooke, Carol Perkins, Jessica Martinez, Zach Wadsworth, and Wayne Crue from ISU, along with Sho-Ban High School students Tyler Auck, Olivia Yokoyama, and Payton Sequints. The internship program is supported by funds from the Idaho NSF EPSCoR grant at ISU being led by Dr. Colden Baxter, and the trip to the meeting was also supported by Sho-Ban High School. In addition, ISU graduate student Sammy Matsaw Jr., who has been helping to lead the Native student internship program, presented a poster on his research with co-authors

Drs. Janet Loxterman and Ernest Keeley entitled, “Barriers to movement and genetic population structure of westslope cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi) in the Salmon River Basin within the traditional-use area of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, Idaho.”

Idaho EPSCoR staff also participated in the Idaho Indian Education Summit which was held in Lewiston, Idaho in October, 2009. The summit’s purpose is to bring people together to address educational issues in Idaho and is sponsored by the Indian Education Committee (IEC) of the Idaho Department of Education. The IEC is composed of state educators, tribal representatives and Department of Education staff. The committee reviews and evaluates the impact of any educational policies that my affect the success of Native American students in Idaho.

Wayne Crue explains the group’s poster to a conference participant

Left to right: Idaho State University undergraduate Wayne Crue; Dr. David Close of the University of British Columbia; Sammy Matsaw, ISU graduate student; and ISU undergraduate Tiffany Cooke

Electronic Newsletter Subscription AvailableIf you would prefer to only receive this newsletter electronically, please send your request by email to [email protected].

Page 6: Fall-Winter 2009 Newsletter

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RESULTS FROM PRIOR NSF EPSCoR SUPPORT

Assessing the Impacts of Changing Climate on SnowpackPrior NSF EPSCoR participants from across the state are collaboratively embarking on a three-year hydrologic study that will contribute to a greater understanding of the altered distribution of winter snowpack, one of the greatest climatic impacts on the semi-arid mountains of the western U.S.

The project, entitled “Collaborative Research: A WATERS Testbed to Investigate the Impacts of Changing Snow Conditions on Hydrologic Processes in the Western United States,” is a collaborative effort directed by Peter Goodwin, professor and director of the University of Idaho Center for Ecohydraulics Research; Danny Marks, research hydrologist for the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS); Jim McNamara, professor of watershed hydrology at Boise State University; and Timothy Link, associate professor of forest resources in the University of Idaho’s College of Natural Resources. The team recently received $500,000 from the National Science Foundation to support their efforts.

According to a 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the western U.S. will experience decreased snowpack, shifts in timing and volume of runoff, and increased evapotranspiration, all factors leading to the reduction of precious water resources in the summer season when they are needed the most. Recent research in southern Idaho strongly indicates that these changes have occurred in the past 50 years.

Professor Tim Link at the Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed

“The NSF is interested in building permanent environmental laboratories around the country to observe natural processes, and our project is a test bed. We’ll be looking at network ideas, how to build one of these natural labs, what measurements to take and what science questions we can ask with them,” said McNamara.”One of the things we hope it will do is improve hydrologic predictive models, which will give us a better understanding of where water is and how it gets there in the semi-arid Intermountain West,”

“This project is a model for building on statewide strengths represented by universities, government agencies and world-class outdoor laboratories,” Link added.

The study will take place on the Reynolds Creek and the Dry Creek experimental watersheds that currently comprise the Middle Snake Hydrologic Observatory. The MSHO is part of a nationwide network of experimental sites that make up the Water and Environmental Research Systems Network. The network strives to improve the nation’s capability to better predict and manage water.

Another of the team’s objectives is to demonstrate how hydrologic observatories can be used to facilitate community science efforts to address critical water resource problems that are common to many semi-arid and arid regions across the globe.

The idea for the study grew from the team’s long-term interest in the topic and vision to build effective university-government partnership. The project is supported by the ARS research facilities and is a direct result of the Idaho NSF EPSCoR program in 2004 to establish long-term water observatories to develop better understanding of the waters in Idaho and the nation.

“The NSF is interested in building permanent environmental laboratories around the country

to observe natural processes, and our project is a test bed. We’ll be looking at network

ideas, how to build one of these natural labs, what measurements to take and what science

questions we can ask with them.” Jim McNamara.

“Our overall goal is to advance the scientific understanding of relationships between snow and soil moisture processes in complex terrain, a key step toward understanding the hydrologic impacts of climate change in the western U.S.,” said Link.

Link is collaborating with a team of other hydrologists and Waters of the West scientists who propose that future impacts of climate-induced changes in snowpack distribution on soil moisture dynamics can be predicted by evaluating current differences across elevation gradients. Specifically, they will examine the relationships among snow distribution, landscape properties and soil moisture.

What is NSF EPSCoR?EPSCoR is a program designed by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to promote scientific progress nationwide. It is for states, including Idaho, that have historically received lesser amounts of competitive Research and Development (R&D) funding. Twenty-seven jurisdictions currently participate.

NSF EPSCoR establishes partnerships with higher education, government, and industry and provides support for key research areas at Idaho’s public universities. The goal is to stimulate lasting improvements in research infrastructure, R&D capacity and hence, our national R&D competitiveness.

For more information about this program and other Idaho EPSCoR projects visit www.webs.uidaho.edu/epscor or E-mail [email protected]

Page 7: Fall-Winter 2009 Newsletter

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NSF Funds $6 Million for the First Collaborative Grant to Nevada, New Mexico and Idaho

The NSF’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) recently announced a three-year grant worth $6 million to be shared by the states of Nevada, New Mexico and Idaho. The grant, called Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) Track 2, will help our states address regional issues related to climate change and water resource management.

Data connections will be upgraded within each state as well as between them. The program will ensure that data storage systems, system models, computer programs and other tools developed by researchers will be able to work together seamlessly. Finally, scientists will be trained in the latest in computational technologies while K-12 students and teachers help develop educational outreach material.

“This award will enhance the ability for the tri-state consortium to better address 21st century grand scientific and societal challenges related to climate change,” said Nevada NSF EPSCoR Project Director Gayle Dana, lead principle investigator of the project. “Through increased competitiveness for research funding and sustained partnerships among our states, we can make a big difference.”

Idaho will use its share of the grant to improve connections to several of its research centers, including: the University of Idaho’s Research and Extension Center in Kimberly; the University of Idaho’s Fish Culture Experiment Station in Hagerman; and the Idaho Water Center, a center in Boise housing collaborative projects involving the University of Idaho, Idaho State University and Boise State University, among others.

“This is a great opportunity for both the state of Idaho and our partners, Nevada and New Mexico,” said Von Walden, professor of geography at the University of Idaho and interim director of Idaho EPSCoR. “This grant will help researchers better connect with one another between the three states and also provide funding for better data management in the critical areas of water resources and climate change.”

The grant also will co-fund a full-time data manager and two postdoctoral associates to help facilitate data ingestion and

the interoperability of information storage systems, computer programs and data models.

Graduate students, postdoctoral associates and faculty throughout Idaho will be trained in the use of computer modeling systems and scientific information systems that utilize some of the fastest supercomputers in the country. And because of the improved internet connections, the scientists will be able to utilize these tools without ever leaving the state.

One such scientist is Nancy Glenn, associate professor of geosciences research at Idaho State University, who conducts water resource research.

“As part of the tri-state initiative, ISU will lead development efforts in the national Hydrologic Information System, which is a new Web services method to better share and analyze hydrologic data,” said Glenn.

ISU also will receive funding to improve bandwidth connectivity in several buildings in Pocatello and Boise, allowing for improved sharing of data and resources for the broader hydrologic community.

Boise State University will receive funding to improve connectivity to the engineering building on campus, enabling researchers to more efficiently access national supercomputing centers, such as the one at INL. Boise State also will hire a postdoctoral scientist to develop automated methods to transfer real-time hydrological field information to online databases.

“Both improvements will significantly elevate the capabilities of water researchers,” said Jim McNamara, professor of watershed hydrology at Boise State.

Finally, across the entire state, the project will create small teams including a graduate student, faculty member and teacher from an Idaho high schools or middle schools to work on the development of cyber-learning materials. This will take advantage of all of these internet improvements, existing internet connections, and even some of the data being collected to get K-12 students excited about science and research.

Page 8: Fall-Winter 2009 Newsletter

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Idaho EPSCoRPO Box 443018

Moscow, ID 83844-3018

www.uidaho.edu/epscor

(208) 885-5842(208) 885-5111 fax

Von Walden,Interim Project Director and Science [email protected], 208-885-5058

Richard Allen,University of Idaho, [email protected], 208-423-6601

Sian Mooney,Boise State University, [email protected], 208-426-1471

Colden Baxter,Idaho State University, [email protected], 208-251-5980

In this Issue:• Idaho Water Monitoring Partnership Honored as

Nation’s Top Innovative Program (pg 1)

• Idaho “STEM Pipeline” Web Portal (pg 4)

• Increasing Participation of Underrepresented Students (pg 5)

• NSF Funds $6M Collaborative Grant – RII Track 2 (pg 7)

EventsNSF EPSCoR Project Directors Meeting and Education, Outreach, and Diversity WorkshopWednesday-Thursday, January 20-21, 2010 Albuquerque, New Mexico

2nd Annual Tri-State Western Consortium Meeting of Idaho, Nevada and New Mexico: Collaborative and Interdisciplinary Climate Change ScienceTuesday-Thursday, April 6-8, 2010 Incline Village, Nevada

Idaho NSF EPSCoR Annual MeetingTuesday-Wednesday, August 31-September 1, 2010 Boise, Idaho

Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research in Idaho

*KBK865$M*