Five valley high school teachers have been awarded MJ Murdock Charitable Trust Partners in Science Program grants to conduct research with Boise State faculty.
The program allows high school science teachers to do cutting-edge research with a mentor over the course of two summers. After the first summer, partners develop a brief pictorial poster showing their research to date for presentation at both the regional meeting in August and the national meeting in January.
After the second year working with their mentors, partners return to the conferences with an oral presentation on their progress. The purpose of this grant is to bring the knowledge from the research lab back into the high school science classroom, promoting hands-on science education.
This year, seven out of the 15 awards were given to Idaho high school science teachers, five from the Treasure Valley. In addition, two teachers who were awarded this grant last year will complete their second year of research this summer at Boise State.
New Awards
Kevin Ausman, assistant professor of chemistry, and Sharon Cates, Capital High School — Environmental chemistry of aqueous Buckminsterfullerene colloids
Jennifer Forbey, associate professor of biological sciences, and Gina Lockwood, Borah High School — Understanding the role of structural and chemical diversity in the sagebrush steppe
Gregory Kaltenecker and Jay Carlisle, Intermountain Bird Observatory, and Steve DeMers, Rocky Mountain High School — Comparison of the breeding bird community at a low-elevation riparian site and a high-elevation montane site
Jennifer Pierce, associate professor of geosciences, and DJ Eberlin, Borah High School — Post-wildfire erosion in the wildland urban interface
Juliette Tinker, associate professor of biological sciences, and Sarah Westcott, Ambrose School (in Meridian) — Novel enterotoxin from salmonella enterica Typhimurium
Continuing Awards
James Belthoff, professor of biological sciences, and Jeremy Thompson, Borah High School — Research on barn owl fatalities along the freeway near Twin Falls
Cheryl Jorcyk, professor of biological sciences, and John Doherty of Capital High School — Prostate cancer