EPSCoR conference drew 500+ attendees, including NSF Director
More than 500 guests from across the nation attended the National EPSCoR Conference hosted by Nebraska EPSCoR. The event, Oct. 13-16 at Hilton Omaha, was sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation. Additional sponsors included the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Office of Research and Innovation, Creighton University, Nebraska Department of Economic Development, and Invest Nebraska.
For the first time, NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan spoke at this 28th edition of the bi-ennial conference. His talk was titled, “Innovation Anywhere, Opportunities Everywhere: Accelerating the Frontiers of Science and Technology Through Talent, Ideas and Innovation.” Other plenary sessions featured Nebraska photographers Michael Forsberg and Cole Sartore, as well as Jesse Bell from University of Nebraska Medical Center and Shannon Bartelt-Hunt with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) College of Engineering, and Ed Louis from the Henry Doorly Zoo. Breakout sessions included topics on Science Communication – with Heather Akin from UNL Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources – as well as Using Time-Lapse Images as a Tool for Research, as a panel led by Troy Gilmore with UNL’s School of Natural Resources.
The 2024 EPSCoR conference also showcased more than 115 posters, presented by students whose research was funded by NSF EPSCoR. Conference chair Matt Andrews, director of Nebraska EPSCoR and professor with UNL’s School of Natural Resources, praised the advisory group that helped conduct this national conference, with registration completely full a month before the event. Andrews added: “We were honored to have University of Nebraska President Jeffrey Gold, plus the chancellors of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Rodney Bennett and Joanne Li, to welcome scientists, administrators, students, and NSF leadership at our conference.”
EPSCoR stands for Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, an NSF organization that began in the 1990s to advance geographic diversity in funding for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) research. Currently, 25 states and three U.S. territories comprise the 28 EPSCoR jurisdictions.
U.S. National Science Foundation Director Sethuraman Panchanathan speaks at the 2024 national EPSCoR conference, hosted in Nebraska.
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