Advance FORWARD has awarded mentoring grants to 25 recipients in five different NDSU colleges. The recipients will receive up to $1,500 for travel-related professional mentoring experiences.

The recipients are Courtney Waid, assistant professor of criminal justice and political science; Yeong Rhee, associate professor of health, nutrition and exercise sciences; Kendra Greenlee, assistant professor of biological sciences; and Yechun Wang, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and applied mechanics.

Waid will meet with mentors at the University of Winnipeg to discuss plans to collaborate on National Institute of Justice and National Institute of Corrections grants and other smaller scale corrections-related projects. Waid and her mentors are working on a project that examines fear of crime and punitive attitudes. The goal of this collaboration is to provide opportunities for international comparisons.

Rhee will meet with her mentor at a professional conference regarding genetic and epigenetic research on human behaviors and complex diseases. Her goal is to expand her research about chronic disease prevention, achieve more of her own professional career goals, obtain major external grant funding and receive a promotion to full professor at NDSU.

Greenlee will meet with her doctoral adviser and mentor to collect data. Because her adviser employs several undergraduates to conduct research each semester, Greenlee will use this time to learn about successfully managing undergraduates in the lab.

Wang will meet with Paul Fischer from the Argonne National Lab. She visited the lab for a week in August 2009 and studied a spectral finite element-based numerical algorithm for aerosol dynamics. Wang says the mentoring grant is essential for career development since it helps to strengthen NDSU's relationship with Argonne National Lab and to continue learning from Fischer. The visit also may lead to joint proposals with Argonne National Lab.

Travel grants are one of several efforts included in the Advance FORWARD project to support advancement of women faculty. Provost Craig Schell has provided funding for non-Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematical (STEM) travel grants, as Advance FORWARD funding is allocated to STEM disciplines. Organizers anticipate they will distribute approximately 30 travel grants each year of the five-year project.

Recipients from the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences include Tracy C. Barrett, Kristi Groberg, Miriam O’Kane Mara, Carrie Anne Platt, Kelly Sassi, Courtney Waid and Amy Rupiper Taggart.

Recipients from the College of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Natural Resources include Kasey Maddock Carlin, Xinhua Jia, Birgit Pruess, Jane Schuh and Qi (Chee) Zhang.

Recipients from the College of Engineering and Architecture are Stevie Famulari, Kaarin Piegaze Lindquist, Annie Tangpong, Cindy Urness, Yechun Wang and Sumathy Krishnan.

The recipient from the College of Human Development and Education is Yeong Rhee.

Recipients from the College of Science and Mathematics are Peggy Biga, Hyunsook Do, Kendra Greenlee, Qui Jin, Juan Li and Katie Reindl.