EPSCoR/IDeA Coalition and EPSCoR/IDeA Foundation Annual Meeting

EPSCoR/IDeA Coalition and EPSCoR/IDeA Foundation hosted their Annual Meeting during first week of February. This was a great day of presentations and panel discussions on important topics relating to EPSCoR and IDeA programs.The day also included presentation the IDeA-focused W. Fred Taylor Award to Dr. Sharon Rounds (Rhode Island) at lunchtime.  Dr. Larry Cornett, Arkansas INBRE Program Director and last year’s Fred Taylor Award recipient presided over the presentation along with Dr. Rounds’ colleague and nominator, Dr. Mary Carskadon.  The EPSCoR-focused Joseph G. Danek Award to Dr. Jean’ne Shreeve, (Idaho) was presented during a cocktail reception which included a special video message from Joe Danek, who could not be there in person.
The day after the Annual Meeting, the National Association of IDeA Principal Investigators (NAIPI), EIF and Van Scoyoc Associates hosted an all-day workshop: “Take Your IDeA Science to the Hill.” The student training opportunity taught invited IDeA-state students about the federal budget and appropriations process that ultimately determines funding for the NIH and IDeA program each year.  The students then travelled to the Hill with VSA escorts and their PIs to meet with Members of Congress and talk about their IDeA research experiences.  Students included:  Naomie Bisimwa from the University of Southern Maine, Merry (Mary) Teague from the University of Wyoming, Heather Parker from Bossier Parish Community College in Louisiana, Abby Chauvin and Kylie Blodgett from Norwich College in Vermont and Josette Chun from Middlebury College in Vermont, and Tanner Richmond from the University of Charleston, West Virginia.  Comments at a reception following the Hill visits from VSA staff and the PIs asserted the students were brilliant and did a wonderful job representing IDeA.