Idaho State Among First Institutions to Receive NSF EPSCoR Graduate Fellowship Program Grant

Recently, Idaho State University was named one of the first recipients of a grant through the National Science Foundation’s Estab­lished Program to Stim­u­late Com­pet­i­tive Research (EPSCoR) Graduate Fellowship Program. The $954,000 grant will support the work of six graduate students at Idaho State and the Idaho Student Excellence in Education and Research (I-SEER) project led by Kitty Griswold, ISU NSF-EPSCoR co-PI and director, and fellow ISU faculty members Bruce Savage, civil engineering, David Pearson, geosciences, Kathryn Turner, biological sciences, and Kendra Murray, geosciences. These students will be working towards graduate degrees in biological sciences, geosciences, civil and environmental engineering, computer science, or anthropology, and their research will use methods “such as artificial intelligence/machine learning, geospatial analysis, field-based data collection, laboratory investigations,” and explore “societal topics in Idaho communities.”

“Each year, NSF’s Graduate Research Fellowship provides fellowships to graduate students and recognizes others with honorable mentions,” said Griswold. “The new EPSCoR Graduate Research Fellowship allows those highly qualified and talented honorable mention recipients to attend programs in EPSCoR states, including Idaho.”

It turns out that there are already two of the honorable mentions at Idaho State: Zachary Ellia and Anna Schill, who are the first recipients of the NSF’s EPSCoR Graduate Fellowship Program at Idaho State. Ellia will be working with geosciences professors Dave Pearson and Kendra Murray and studying the effects of radiation on the mineral zircon from samples collected from the Teton Range in Wyoming, as well as in eastern Idaho.

“These minerals are amazing keepers of time, and if we can determine age using radiation damage in zircon grains, we might be able to determine when mountain ranges were formed,” said Ellia. “I am really excited to be a part of this research because it is a compelling project with wide-reaching implications for the geoscience community. Damaged zircons are often avoided, but my hope is that our research will find that patterns of radiation damage can also provide useful information and should not be overlooked.”

Meanwhile, Schill will work with Josh Grinath, associate professor in the biological sciences department, to investigate how ants, as a cooperative group of organisms, find food in the environment. 

“It is an honor to be among the first here at ISU to be funded through this program, and getting this fellowship is an amazing asset to my career,” Schill said. “I'm very interested in how different interactions, such as the ant nest eaten by bears or competitive interactions with other ant species, impact what the ants eat. This research can tell us more about our local food webs in which the ants participate."

As more students are recruited for the I-SEER project, Griswold and co. will be looking to align their research with another NSF-funded research project: Idaho Community-engaged Resilience for Energy-Water Systems (I-CREWS). This $24 million statewide effort includes researchers from ISU as well as the University of Idaho, Boise State University, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, along with collaboration from utility companies, state and federal government agencies, and cities and counties in Idaho, aims to “address the consequences of meteorological, population, and technological change on energy-water systems.”

“Linking the two opportunities by providing support for two of the six fellows to participate in I-CREWS is a great example of synergy,” said Griswold. “Whether it is focusing on the rapid transition in energy sources through new technology, working at the cutting edge of understanding applications of artificial intelligence, or learning to become more culturally competent when engaging in ethical research with Idaho Tribal nations through the training ISU researchers are leading, these students will be offered a rich and in-depth educational experience grounding them in the pressing issues that Idaho is facing today and in the future.” 

For more information on the I-SEER project and how to apply, visit isu.edu/graduate/funding-and-support/epscor-graduate-fellowship-program/.