Newswise — (FARGO, ND) - The National Science Foundation (NSF) selected Kelly A. Rusch Ph.D., PE, BCEE (Executive Director – ND EPSCoR and Professor – Department of Construction, Civil, and Environmental Engineering at North Dakota State University) to serve on the external committee of experts on the Future of NSF Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).
The Committee will operate as a subcommittee to NSF's Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering (CEOSE). Rusch will be one of 19 national experts, selected out of 70 nominations, to steer a year-long visioning exercise that will involve stakeholders from across the United States and gather data to better understand the historic and current impacts of NSF EPSCoR programming. Additionally, the Committee will identify new opportunities for increased success and impact and submit a report of findings to NSF CEOSE for review.
“I am honored to be joining a distinguished set of national experts in this year-long visioning exercise focused on understanding the full impact of NSF EPSCoR current investments and identifying new opportunities that will contribute to greater success and impact within our nation’s STEM research and education ecosystem,” said Rusch.
As a member of the Committee, Rusch will work to advance jurisdiction-wide results to achieve the NSF EPSCoR program’s goals. In addition to her role as the Executive Director of ND EPSCoR and PD/PI of ND’s EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) Track-1 Award, Rusch is also the Secretary of the EPSCoR/Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Foundation Board of Directors and a past Chair of the NSF RII Track-1 Project Director Council Executive Committee. Her background and experience make her well versed in the challenges facing EPSCoR jurisdictions and in the opportunities generated by federal investments in EPSCoR, EPSCoR-like, and Institutional Development Award (IDeA) programs.
About the Future of NSF EPSCoR Visioning Activity
The Committee on the Future of NSF EPSCoR is comprised of a wide array of experts from the EPSCoR community of investigators, jurisdictional offices, and institutional research leadership, and additional experts in building academic research capacity, progressing STEM inclusivity, and improving workforce development in STEM fields.
The Future of NSF EPSCoR visioning activity website is available here: https://beta.nsf.gov/envisioning-future-nsf-epscor and will be updated often to provide information about stakeholder participation in the Future of NSF EPSCoR events to be held later in the year. The Committee on the Future of NSF EPSCoR is a subcommittee of NSF's Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering.
About ND EPSCoR
North Dakota first became EPSCoR-eligible in 1985 and is one of 28 EPSCoR jurisdictions. EPSCoR is a federal program designed to broaden the science and engineering ecosystem across all jurisdictions in the US, primarily through the NSF research infrastructure improvement (RII) awards.
The ND EPSCoR State Office is funded by the North Dakota University System to strengthen the state’s STEM infrastructure and enhance its participation in the nation’s competitive research and development enterprise. ND EPSCoR benefits ND by helping students, supporting quality faculty, growing research infrastructure capacity, and assisting with innovative research that positively impacts the state’s economy and its citizens. For more information, visit https://www.ndepscor.ndus.edu/.
ND-ACES: New Discoveries in the Advanced Interface of Computation, Engineering, and Science (ND-ACES), is ND EPSCoR’s most recent NSF RII Track-1 cooperative agreement. For more information, visit https://www.ndepscor.ndus.edu/ndepscorprograms/track_1_nd_aces_prime_institution_ndsu_2020_2025/.
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