ND EPSCoR held its 2025 Annual State Conference in Fargo on Tuesday, October 21, with a pre-conference networking session on Monday, October 20. If you couldn’t join us, here is a recap of what you missed.
Quick links
Pre-conference networking session
Conference activities began with a No-Stress Networking event on Monday evening. During a round of networking bingo, attendees had to talk to each other to find people who met the criteria of the bingo squares, like being from a primarily undergraduate institution or traveling to the conference on I-94. Next, participants volunteered to give three-minute presentations on their research and what kind of collaborations they’d like to get involved in. Twenty researchers and students got up on the open mic to make their pitches.
Opening session
The main conference day began with opening remarks from ND EPSCoR Director Jim Doolittle, NDSU interim VPR Heidi Grunwald, and NDSU President David Cook. NDUS Commissioner Brent Sanford offered a greeting via video. NHSC President Twyla Baker started the conference in a good way with a prayer song. Then Jim read a letter from Sen. Kevin Cramer, which reiterated his ongoing support for the EPSCoR program and the STEM community in North Dakota.
E-CORE/E-RISE panel
Due to the ongoing federal government shutdown, we were not able to hear from our next planned speaker, SPARK-ND program officer Jose Colom-Ustariz. Instead, a panel discussed their experiences with submitting E-CORE and E-RISE proposals.
Key takeway
Alena Kubátová (UND E-RISE), Zhulu Lin (NDSU E-RISE), Sheridan McNeil (NDSU E-CORE), and Hilde van Gijssel (VCSU E-RISE) advised that anyone thinking of submitting an E-RISE or an E-CORE should plan ahead and start working on their proposal as early as they can.
STEM Asset Map project update
Next, we heard from Loren Intolubbe-Chmil and Kathy Froelich with an update on the North Dakota Higher Education STEM Asset Map Project. The project aims to develop a robust, dynamic platform that amplifies assets and promotes STEM capacity enhancement across North Dakota institutions and regions. The project is in the second of three phases and is expected to conclude next spring. View the presentation slides or our STEM Asset Map page for more information on the project.
Key takeaway
After the initial dashboard development, which is expected to be completed in November, Loren and Kathy will present the dashboard to core stakeholders. They will then finalize and disseminate a survey to collect data from institutional stakeholders and schedule additional information sessions about the dashboard.
The STEM Asset Map presentation was followed by the day's first poster session.
Team Science presentation
After a poster presentation session, Onnolee Nordstrom and Jennifer Schillinger discussed The Collaboration Playbook: The Science (and Art) of Working Together. Onnolee’s research on Hutterite communities in Canada and the northern plains states shows the power of collaboration and working in teams, as well as the positive impact of having team members with different skillsets.
Key takeaways
According to author Patrick Lencioni, team dysfunction arises due to an absence of trust among team members, fear of conflict, lack of commitment to team goals, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to team results.
The three virtues of an ideal team member are humility, passion for the team’s mission, and emotional intelligence.
Tribal Colleges and Universities panel
The noon hour featured a panel discussion among TCU administrators and faculty members entitled Strengthening Collaborations: Key Principles, Practices, and Policies for Engaging with Tribal Partners. The panel, moderated by ND EPSCoR Director of Tribal Partnerships Sheridan McNeil, included:
Twyla Baker, NHSC President
Austin Allard, TMC, NSF SPARK-ND PI
Amber Finley, NHSC, NSF SPARK-ND PI
Mandy Guinn, UTTC, NSF SPARK-ND PI
Mafany Ndiva Mongoh, SBC, NSF SPARK-ND PI
Brent Voels, TMC and CCCC, CCCC NSF SPARK-ND PI
Key takeways
NSF policy requires that researchers planning to work on Tribal lands or with a Tribal entity must now seek formal approval from the Tribal government, a process that is much more in-depth and time-consuming than the previous method of collaborating directly with TCUs.
As sovereign nations, Tribes have the inherent right to control their own data. Amber Finley stressed the importance of research partners respecting this, carefully reviewing data sharing agreements, and understanding that data collected for one project cannot be reused for others without explicit permission. She noted past issues where partners misused data. Mafany Mongoh, chair of the IRB at Sitting Bull College, added that their IRB policies regarding data sovereignty are not intended to obstruct research but to ensure that it is conducted ethically and respects tribal protocols for data ownership and usage.
Presentations
The afternoon continued with three sets of concurrent presentations and another poster session. View presentation abstracts here.
Awards
Finally, the conference concluded with awards for student poster presentations.
Undergraduate students
First place: Parker Ehrman, NDSU
Second place: Tereza Vrbanek, MiSU
Third place: Kristie Jo Larson and Thomas Sikorski, UND (co-presenters)
Graduate students
First place: Kiana Mahmoudian, NDSU
Second place: Christy Finck, NDSU
Third place: Kenneth Mosley, UND
Thank you!
Many thanks to all who attended our conference and to those who made it possible. Next year we’ll be in Minot, so keep an eye out for a “save the date” email when we have our venue secured. We hope to see you again in 2026!
