News

Montana NSF EPSCoR (Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) announces new Workforce Development Seed Awards, enhancing the water quality research and education program of the Consortium for Research on Environmental Water Systems (CREWS) RII Track-1 project (OIA- 1757351).

CREWS project researchers Stephanie Ewing, Rob Payn, Ann Marie Reinhold, and Stephan Warnat were awarded $944,000 from the National Science Foundation to study the efficiency of nitrogen fertilizers and their impact on soil health and water quality in the Judith River Watershed. The goal of the project is to create a more complete picture of exactly how nitrogen moves through soil and groundwater systems using sensors embedded in the ground at various research sites.

Montana NSF EPSCoR helped support STEM Summit 2019, a statewide gathering that welcomed 165 representatives from education, industry, government and non-profits to discuss how to advance science, technology, engineering and mathematics learning in Montana. A report outlining findings from the event is now available for free download, and the data will be used to guide new Montana NSF EPSCoR efforts in STEM learning and workforce development.

Meet Ann Marie Reinhold, an assistant research professor at Montana State University in Bozeman (Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences) and a member of the EPSCoR Track 1 research team. She is a hydroecologist and interdisciplinary scientist who works with the Judith River Watershed team.

Water Quality Basics, a free online course highlighting key issues and topics on water quality, is now available as part of Montana NSF EPSCoR's "CREWS-U" professional development program. The noncredit course explores water quality issues, including primers on the hydrologic cycle and determinants of water quality. It will address key issues for water quality, such as contaminant degradation and movement in the environment, iron and manganese, hard water, fire in the watershed, animal feeding operations, nutrients, wastewater treatment and emerging contaminants.

Montana State University News Release: Montana State University Academic Technology and Outreachand the Montana Water Center will offer a free online course highlighting key issues and topics on water quality. “Water Quality Basics,” which is currently live, has been funded through Montana NSF EPSCoR.

Engineer Erika Espinosa-Ortiz received a seed grant from Montana NSF EPSCoR in February and quickly jumped into sharing her work with students and teachers via a new outreach project called CREWS Junior Researcher (CREWS is the acronym for the current Track 1 project: The Consortium for Research on Environmental Water Systems).

Meet Megan Moore, a PhD student at the University of Montana (Department of Society and Conservation) and a member of the EPSCoR Track 1 research team. She is a research assistant with the Upper Clark Fork River team and is also a human geographer studying the Anaconda Co. Smelter Superfund site.

All activities on the CREWS project are following guidelines and directives from the National Science Foundation and the Montana University System.

Field Notes on our Virtual Meeting at NSF These notes describe our team’s experience switching on short notice from an in-person meeting to a virtual meeting at NSF. We are sharing these informal notes in the event that it helps others prepare for similar changes. Please send any questions to info@mtnsfepscor.org.