Office of Research and Creative Activity Contacts
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Office of the Vice President
Colleen Fitzgerald
Vice President for Research and Creative Activity
(701) 231-6542
colleen.fitzgerald@ndsu.edu
Fred Hudson
Communications Manager
(701) 231-5174
fred.hudson@ndsu.edu
Amy Kain
Executive Assistant to the Vice President
(701) 231-6542
amy.kain@ndsu.edu
Tom Berg
Communications Specialist
(701) 231-7735
tom.berg.1@ndsu.edu
RCA Faculty Partnerships
Undergraduate Research Director
Ying Huang
NDSU Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Welch Faculty Fellow Professor
ying.huang@ndsu.edu
Uncrewed Autonomous Systems (UAS) Fellow
Xin (Rex) Sun
NDSU associate professor of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
xin.sun@ndsu.edu
North Dakota Water Resources Research Institute
The NDWRRI is one of 54 institutes known collectedly as the National Institutes for Water Resources (NIWR). Founded in 1965 by authority of Congress, the NDWRRI is administrated through the United States Geological Survey.
Director
Xinhua Jia
NDSU professor of of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
(701) 231-6453
xinhua.jia@ndsu.edu
North Dakota Water Resources Research Institute Fellows
Trung Le
NDSU assistant professor of civil & environmental engineering
Shuning Lu
NDSU assistant professor of communication
Dane Mataic
NDSU assistant professor of sociology and anthropology
Travis Seaborn
NDSU assistant professor of applied ecology
Core Research Facilities
The Core Research Facilities team provides oversight for the facilities managed by RCA including the Research 1, Research 1 Addition, and Research 2 buildings.The RCA Core Research Facilities represent two distinct sets of facilities and capabilities, the EMC and the Materials, Fabrication Analysis and Fabrication Core, the latter formerly known as Research Operations. The EMC houses and provides services for the university's electron microscopy, micro computed X-ray tomography, and imaging equipment used for teaching, research, and industry activities.
The Materials Characterization, Analysis and Fabrication Core (MCAF) services consist of more than 130 materials synthesis and characterization, microfabrication, device packaging, and testing equipment sets used by NDSU faculty, staff, students, and external academic and industry users (instrumentation description below). The MCAF Core is staffed by three highly skilled technicians and engineers (James Bahr, Fred Haring and Greg Strommen), with instrumentation located in buildings Research 1 Addition (R1A) and Research 2 (R2) in the NDSU Research & Technology Park.
Scott Payne
Executive Director of Core Research Facilities
(701) 231-8234
scott.payne@ndsu.edu
Fred Haring
Fabrication Technician
Class10k Cleanroom Operations, MCAL, Cleanroom Device Packaging/Assembly, Testing
(701) 231-5336
frederik.haring@ndsu.edu
Angela Evans
Building Operations Coordinator
(701) 231-4188
angela.evans@ndus.edu
Greg Strommen
Engineering Technician
Cleanroom Microfabrication, Materials Characterization
(701) 231-5339
greg.strommen@ndsu.edu
Jim Bahr
Senior Engineer
Materials Research Operations, MCAL, MCAL Materials Synthesis, Scale-up, and Characterization
(701) 231-5927
james.bahr@ndsu.edu
Scott Payne
Director
(701) 231-8234
scott.payne@ndsu.edu
Operation and maintenance of the microCT and scanning and transmission electron microscopes, including specialized analytical techniques such as energy-dispersive spectroscopy for elemental analysis and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS).
Jayma Moore
Laboratory Manager
(701) 231-8234
jayma.moore@ndsu.edu
Instrument operation, preparation of biological and materials samples for light and electron microscopy (including fixation, dehydration, critical point drying, embedding, staining, and sputter coating), and ultramicrotomy (ultrathin sectioning at 60-80 nm) for transmission electron microscopy, as well as office management, scheduling, and billing.
Innovation and Economic Development
Designs, leads, and manages economic development; leverages opportunities for industry partnerships; and develops and delivers programming that nurtures and grows the region’s entrepreneurial startup ecosystem.
Contact this office at ndsu.businessdev@ndsu.edu.
Cindy Graffeo
Innovation and Economic Development Director
(701) 231-6441
cynthia.graffeo@ndsu.edu
Strategically leverages and aligns campus and regional resources, opportunities, and assets in order to foster and support economic development, startups, entrepreneurship, and innovative efforts campus- and state-wide.
NDSU Research Foundation
Established on May 30, 1989, the NDSU Research Foundation facilitates the commercialization of intellectual property developed by NDSU faculty, students, and staff. The Foundation supports NDSU in teaching, research, and public service missions by enabling NDSU faculty to become involved in research, product, and business endeavors and by making interactions with business and industry to expand NDSU's ability to commercialize research discoveries with domestic and international for-profit business organizations.
Learn more about the NDSU Research Foundation
Zane Gernhart
Executive Director
(701) 231-6743
zane.gernhart@ndsu.edu
Manages the full life cycle of technology transfer activities generated by NDSU inventors, including managing, encouraging, and supporting the development, disclosure, and protection of NDSU’s intellectual property, technology transfer, and patent applications. Manages the NDSURF intellectual property portfolio and liaises with local, state, regional and national technology organizations.
McKenna Tysdal
Business Development and Licensing Administrator
(701) 231-6681
mckenna.tysdal.1@ndsu.edu
Receipt and recording of invention disclosures, federal compliance for reporting and tracking of inventions developed with federal funds.
Josie Hayden
Business Development and Licensing Manager
(701) 231-8173
josie.hayden@ndsu.edu
Manages the full life cycle of technology transfer activities generated by NDSU inventors, including managing, encouraging, and supporting the development, disclosure, and protection of NDSU’s intellectual property, technology transfer, and patent applications.
North Dakota EPSCoR
ND EPSCoR provides leadership and coordination to broaden and diversify ND's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce pathway from elementary through graduate school; supports and grows statewide STEM research efforts and competitiveness at participating institutions of higher education; and conveys the impact of STEM research, outreach, and workforce efforts to ND stakeholders.
Learn more about ND EPSCoR
General email: ndepscor@ndus.edu
Director
James Doolittle
Head of Operations
Project Manager/Administrator
(701) 231-8264
james.doolittle@ndsu.edu
Jennifer Connell
Project Coordinator
(701) 231-1048
jennifer.connell@ndsu.edu
Sheridan McNeil
Director of Tribal Partnerships (direct report of VPR Fitzgerald)
(701) 231-8606
sheridan.mcneil@ndsu.edu
Kathleen Wahlberg, MBA
Programs Coordinator
(701) 231-8618
kathleen.wahlberg@ndsu.edu
Nicole Mattson
Communications Specialist
(701) 231-4296
nicole.m.mattson@ndsu.edu
Research and Faculty Development
The mission of the Research and Faculty Development unit is to enhance NDSU's ability to compete for external funding by providing resources, training, and assistance related to developing successful research programs. Activities of the research development office include announcing funding opportunities, managing the SPIN database subscription and offering training and support for users of the system, developing and coordinating grant writing workshops and professional development opportunities for faculty, managing internal funding programs such as travel awards and research support services, support for broader impacts, and developing proposal writing resources and tools.
Contact this office at ndsu.researchdev@ndsu.edu
Heidi Grunwald
Associate Vice President for Research Development
heidi.grunwald.1@ndsu.edu
Research Development Coordinator
Research Integrity, Security, and Compliance (RISC)
Research Integrity, Security, and Compliance (RISC) supports the Institutional Review Board (IRB), Institutional Animal Care and Use (IACUC), Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC), and Conflict of Interest Committee (COIC) operations. RISC provides oversight in the areas of export controls, research security, dual-use research of concern, uncrewed aerial vehicle compliance; provides veterinary care and consultation; and subject matter expertise on promoting research integrity, security, and compliance with federal regulations.
Kristy Shirley
Research Integrity, Security and Compliance Manager
(701) 231-8995
kristy.shirley@ndsu.edu
Maintenance and assessment of RISC activities, Research Security, Conflicts of Interest or Commitment, Uncrewed Aerial Systems compliance, Responsible Conduct of Research questions.
Tania Molden
IACUC and IBC Administrator
(701) 231-8114
tania.molden@ndsu.edu
IACUC and IBC protocol development and processing, animal facility oversight, oversight of animal welfare training.
Sharon May
Export Control Administrator
(701) 231-6455
sharon.may@ndsu.edu
Export control compliance, including screening of individuals and technologies for export control compliance concerns, development of technology control plans, and oversight of export control training.
Attending Veterinarian
Interim Attending Veterinarian Coverage
Heidi Pecoraro, DVM, PHD, Diplomate, ACVP
heidi.pecoraro@ndsu.edu
IACUC protocol development, animal procedure and surgical consultation
Heather Mitchell, DVM
heather.mitchell@ndsu.edu
Animal health monitoring, training oversight & development.
Andrea Ludwig
IRB Administrator
(701) 231-8908
andrea.ludwig@ndsu.edu
IRB protocol development and processing, and oversight of human subjects protections training.
Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA)
The Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA) office is the central administrative support office under the Vice President for Research and Creative Activity unit. The office encourages and supports university faculty and staff in their pursuit of external funding to conduct research or other scholarly activity, with an emphasis on administrative functions that advance a culture of compliance with applicable regulations. SPA provides budget review and institutional signature for all external proposal submissions, manages electronic application submission processes, and negotiates awards received from external sources for sponsored program activities on behalf of the university. The office also assists in non-financial post award administration matters.
Contact this office at ndsu.research@ndsu.edu.
Val Kettner
Associate Vice President
(701) 231-9608
val.kettner@ndsu.edu
Authorized signature for proposals/awards (AOR); provides overall leadership for SPA; policy development; non-industry award negotiation; sponsor liaison.
Cindy Eleson
Budget & Program Officer
(701) 231-5259
cindy.smelsereleson@ndsu.edu
Budget review; assistance with proposal forms; electronic proposal submission; guidance on federal submission portals.
Rebecca Sandell
Award & Budget Officer
(701) 231-8898
rebecca.sandell@ndsu.edu
Budget review; assistance with proposal forms; electronic proposal submission; assistance with budget revisions and PI changes; assistance with no-cost extensions and advanced spending requests.
Christy Gallagher-Lein
Research Informatics Analyst
(701) 231-8573
christy.gallagher-lein@ndsu.edu
Statistical proposal/award reports; Power BI interactive report creation/maintenance; NSF HERD Survey data collection and reporting.
Amy Scott
Assistant Director
(701) 231-8976
amy.scott@ndsu.edu
Novelution system sponsored research module implementation lead; Authorized signature for proposals/awards (AOR); non-industry award negotiation; assistance with pre-award and non-financial post-award issues; sponsor liaison.
Shelly Sandstrom
Award and Proposal Officer
(701) 231-7258
shelly.sandstrom@ndsu.edu
Authorized signature for proposals/awards (AOR); non-industry award negotiation; assistance with pre-award and non-financial post-award issues; sponsor liaison.
Mackenzie Fettig
Award Intake Officer
(701) 231-4326
mackenzie.fettig@ndsu.edu
Facilitate award processing; assistance with no-cost extensions and advanced spending requests; resource for proposal/award processes; webpage maintenance.
Joycelyn Lucke
Assistant Director for Business Development
(701) 231-5624
joycelyn.lucke@ndsu.edu
Authorized signature for industry sponsored awards, non-financial agreements, and subawards; industry-sponsored award negotiation; industry sponsor liaison.
Strategic Research Initiatives
The Strategic Research Initiatives team provides proposal development services support to faculty developing large collaborative and multi-stakeholder proposals; manages the research recognition program; implements strategic programs and the deployment of resources to help build NDSU’s research portfolio; advances R&D efforts through programming such as research leadership, team science, and convergence; and assists with federal relations that advance NDSU’s research mission.
Sheri Anderson
Associate Vice President for Strategic Research Initiatives
(701) 231-6573
sheri.anderson@ndsu.edu
Kirstin Saulsbury
RCA Business and Program Manager
(701) 231-7041
kirstin.saulsbury@ndsu.edu
Cassie Johnson
Proposal Development Manager
(701) 231-9490
cassandra.j.johnson@ndsu.edu