The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Road Tour came to Vermont on September 16, 2019 for a day-long series of panels and discussions in the University of Vermont (UVM) Davis Center. Vermont State EPSCoR Director Arne Bomblies, PhD, PE participated in a panel to discuss the variety of ways in which Vermont EPSCoR helps local small businesses, including SBIR Phase(0) and Pilot Project awards. Approximately 150 entrepreneurs and researchers attended the event.

Continue

Patrick Clemins, PhD, Manager of Cyberinfrastructure and Partnerships with Vermont EPSCoR, was an invited panelist at the State Science & Technology Institute Annual Conference (SSTI) on September 11, 2019. Dr. Clemins was a presenter on the panel session titled "Successful Support for First-Time SBIR Applicants". Dr. Clemins outlined the different funding mechanisms that Vermont EPSCoR offers to small business owners and innovators. The panel was sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Other members of the panel included Brittany Sickler (Senior Innovation Policy Advisor, SBIR/STTR, SBA), Daniel Moses (Director, Oklahoma Catalyst Programs, University of Oklahoma), and Steve Konsek (SBIR/STTR Program Director, NSF).

Continue

Veronica Sosa-Gonzalez, PhD, Coordinator for the VT EPSCoR CWDD, and Tabitha Finch, PhD, Vermont Genetics Network (VGN) Director of Professional Development and Education Core, visited the Vermont State House on May 16, 2019 to discuss the missions of Vermont EPSCoR and VGN with state representatives.

Continue

Professor of Geography Lesley-Ann Dupigny-Giroux was recently elected as a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), the nation’s premier scientific and professional organization disseminating information about the atmospheric, oceanic, and hydrologic sciences.  

Continue

BREE project member Declan McCabe, PhD received the Accomplished Graduate Alumnus of the Year Award from the University of Vermont (UVM) on May 17, 2019. He highlighted his BREE research during the Honors Day Award ceremony at UVM which led up to his acceptance of the award.

Dr. McCabe currently serves as a Professor of Biology and the Biology Department Chair at St. Michael's College. He completed his PhD in Ecology at UVM in 2000 and serves as a BREE researcher and a member of Vermont EPSCoR's CWDD team.

Continue

Alan Betts, PhD presented a hands-on workshop about weather, climate, and climate change to seven students and three staff members from the Shader Croft School, a non-profit organization that provides specialized instruction to Vermont students. 

Continue

Vermont EPSCoR Post-Doc Liz Doran, PhD encouraged high school-aged girls to see their potential futures as scientists at the Women Can Do! Action Expo hosted by Vermont Works for Women on October 17, 2019. CWDD Education and Outreach Liaison Janel Roberge and CWDD Project Manager LeeAnn Trusela also participated in the event.

Students attending the expo at Vermont Technical College in Randolph, VT made what was for many their first attempt at using a dichotomous key to identify macroinverbetrate specimens provided by the CWDD. Approximately 400 students.

Continue

Ecology Day at Camel's Hump Middle School was held on October 3, 2019. VT EPSCoR GRAs Wilton Burns and Caitlin Crossett helped students identify macroinvertebrates and provided the middle school students with an opportunity to interact with real scientists.

The Middle School Students also traveled to St. Michael's College campus, where they learned how to identify benthic macroinvertebrates. After identifying the organisms, students sketched them in field notebooks and leveled their sketches.

Continue

Vermont EPSCoR Graduate Research Assistants (GRAs) and Post-doctoral Associates (Post-Doc) gave first graders at J.J. Flynn Elementary School insight into the life of a scientist in October. GRA Caitlin Crossett, Post-Doc Ravindra Dwivedi, PhD, and Post-Doc Dustin Kincaid, PhD joined CWDD Coordinator Veronica Sosa-Gonzalez, PhD and CWDD Education and Outreach Liaison Janel Roberge on October 8th, 16th, and 21st to meet with three different first grade classes.

After sharing their research, the Vermont EPSCoR scientists asked the first graders to become scientists themselves. They did so by making observations about water and macroinvertebrate samples. The students then played a game in which they attempted to align their interests with the work that the scientists perform.

Continue

The 2019 Vermont EPSCoR Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium showcased the work of undergraduate researchers in the Basin Resilience to Extreme Events (BREE) program. The event took place on Thursday August 1st, 2019 at Main Street Landing in Burlington Vermont and was hosted by the Center for Workforce Development and Diversity. The symposium offers student researchers an opportunity to practice their science communication skills in a professional environment, and provides a critical capstone to the summer undergraduate internships.

Continue