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New Findings Show Ancient Intermountain West was Once Covered in Sea Sponges
While they didn’t live in a pineapple under the Phosphoria Sea, it turns out a good chunk of the prehistoric Intermountain West was once blanketed in sea sponges.
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Way to go, Chelsea Wilkerson!
Chelsea, an Administrative Assistant I in the biological sciences department, was named a Be a Bengal nominee in October for exemplifying Shared Responsibility. This is Chelsea's second nomination in 2025. Back in March, Chelsea was also nominated for Integrity.
ISU began the Be a Bengal program in 2019 as we began building a campus culture based on trust, compassion, stability, and hope. In 2023, ISU's Strategic Plan outlined six core campus values. To align with these values and further highlight their importance, in January 2025, the Be a Bengal program began recognizing team members for any or all of our campus values.
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Fantastic job, Saugat Dotel!
Saugat, a graduate student in civil engineering, recently earned a third-place poster award at the American Concrete Institute convention in Baltimore. He presented his and his fellow students’ research on how using flax fibers and fiberglass rebar impacts the strength of concrete. Their results indicate that a combination of fibers and bars has strong potential as an alternative to traditional concrete mixes.
The research group has been working under the supervision of Taha Ahmed and Hany Yassin, associate professors of civil engineering at Australian University - Kuwait; Mustafa Mashal, professor of civil engineering at ISU; and Mahesh Acharya, joint appointee and affiliate faculty in civil engineering at ISU.
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Environmental Health, Safety, and Sustainability Hosting Chemical Gloves Safety Seminar
Wednesday, November 19, from 9 to 9:45 a.m., the environmental health, safety, and sustainability department will host a presentation by Ansell Guardian to help attendees understand which chemical-resistant gloves to use based on their specific lab activities. During the session, participants will learn the hierarchy of glove protection, how to select the best and most comfortable glove for their application, and have a chance to touch and feel different glove types to see what works best for them.
Refreshments will be provided, and those interested in attending are asked to RSVP.
If you have questions about the seminar, email Mohammed Alqurashi, senior hazardous waste specialist, at mohammedalqurashi@isu.edu.
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INL Seeking Undergraduate, Graduate Students for Internships
Idaho National Laboratory is seeking both undergraduate and graduate students pursuing STEM degrees to join their Science and Technology Internship Talent Pipeline.
Students will collaborate with world-class scientists, engineers, and technical professionals on projects that span advanced reactors, cybersecurity, materials science, and more.
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Entries Sought for Molecular Research Core Facility's 2nd Annual Microscopy Competition
ISU's Molecular Research Core Facility is looking for entries for its student microscopy competition.
ISU students can enter up to three images from their research projects or as hobby microscopists.
The winning image will be selected based on its creativity/originality of the image, image description, and/or impact on research, as well as its artistic and visual characteristics.
The winner will receive a certificate of achievement, and the MRCF will feature the image. Entries are due December 1 at midnight.
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Rupert Elementary Seeking Booth Hosts for 9th Annual Science Night
Rupert Elementary would like to invite you to be a part of our 9th annual Science Night on Thursday, February 5, from 6 to 8 p.m. The Rupert Elementary Science Night is a free, high-paced, and interactive event designed for families to get their hands on science, technology, engineering, and math. The event drew nearly 1,000 visitors in a 2-hour time slot last year.
Booths can be set up for participants to "make-and-take", or to interact with before moving on to the next booth. To reserve your spot, contact Stacy Shaw, science night coordinator, at 360-536-7507.
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Internal Idaho NSF EPSCoR Seed Funding Opportunity
This Seed Funding program is part of Idaho’s multi-year (2023-2028) statewide National Science Foundation Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research Track-1 Research Infrastructure Improvement award, “Idaho Community-engaged Resilience for Energy-Water (E-W) Systems (I-CREWS).”
I-CREWS Seed projects must address topics at the intersections of Energy-Water systems. Here, the term Energy-Water (E-W) systems refers to the intersection between the systems, consisting of the physical infrastructure, data/information/knowledge, the people, laws and policy, as well as the fuel and water that flows or is in reserve. This may include, for example, interdependent power and water systems tied to the physical infrastructure for generation, transmission, distribution, and use of power and water, along with governance and management practices, knowledge flows, and effects on end users.
Proposals are due January 8.
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Nominations Open for Distinguished Faculty
Celebrate the exceptional work of Idaho State University faculty by submitting nominations for the 2026 Distinguished Faculty Awards. This is your opportunity to recognize colleagues who inspire students, contribute to the advancement of their fields, and make a meaningful impact on our community.
Award recipients will be honored at a special reception in April and recognized during the 2026 Commencement ceremony. Nominations for Distinguished Teacher, Service, and Researcher are due by 5 p.m. on Friday, January 16.
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The College of Science and Engineering Dean's Excellence Fund is intended to support students in their journey through ISU. The Dean's Office is particularly interested in providing financial assistance to students who might not be able to enroll in or complete the semester because of short-term financial hardships. Students seeking such support should be in good academic standing.
If you know of a student who is in need of short-term support, please have them complete this form.
| | | | 2025 National Outdoor Book Award Winners Announced | |
A married couple are cast adrift in the Pacific. A twelve-year old boy faces off with bear spray against a lion on a Kenyan game preserve. A woman researching wolves struggles to make her mark in the Montana backcountry.
These are some of the story threads running through this year’s crop of winners of the 2025 National Outdoor Book Awards.
| | Posit Software Engineer Michael Chow to Present Public Talk on AI and Data Science | Idaho State University College of Arts and Letters will host Michael Chow, Principal Software Engineer at Posit (formerly RStudio), for a public talk titled “Working with Data in the Age of AI” on Monday, November 17, from 3 to 4 p.m. in the Rendezvous ABC Suites. The event is free and open to faculty, staff, students, and members of the community. | | Idaho State University Expands Reach of Idaho Museum of Natural History Through New Partnership with University of Idaho | A landmark partnership between the Idaho Museum of Natural History at Idaho State University and the University of Idaho is strengthening statewide collaboration between Idaho’s public universities and bringing natural history exhibits and educational programming to northern Idaho through the creation of a North Idaho Affiliate of the museum. | | Accessibility Resource for ISU Faculty | |
You might’ve spotted something new hanging out at the top of your spring courses and thought, “What’s this?” or “Why is it in every single one of my courses?”
Meet Accessibility Support for ISU Courses—a built-in resource from your friends at the ITRC, tucked neatly into every Canvas course and ready to help you make your materials more accessible and inclusive for all students. With major ADA Title II regulation updates taking effect April 24, 2026, now’s the perfect time to brush up on accessibility practices. Staying proactive not only supports your students—it also helps keep the university on the right side of compliance.
| | Jerrica Kenison Appointed Deputy Title IX Coordinator for Pregnant and Parenting Students | |
The Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX is pleased to announce the appointment of Jerrica Kenison as the Deputy Title IX Coordinator for Pregnant and Parenting Students.
In this supplemental role, Kenison will support the university’s ongoing efforts to ensure compliance with Title IX protections for pregnant and parenting students and individuals experiencing related conditions by providing direct student support. She will collaborate closely with the Title IX Coordinator, Disability Services, Student Affairs, and Academic Affairs to strengthen access, equity, and inclusion across all campuses.
| | Discover Your Strengths with CliftonStrengths | |
Human Resources is excited to offer the Introduction to CliftonStrengths workshop via Zoom on Thursday, November 20, from 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
You'll Learn To:
- Discover your Top 5 CliftonStrengths®
- Understand and apply your talents
- Explore how to grow your strengths
- Learn the basics of building strengths-based teams
Spaces are limited and granted on a first come first-served basis.
| | | November 24 | Fall recess (no classes - Thanksgiving Break) | | December 8 | Late 8-week and full semester course grading opens | | December 15 | Final Examinations | | December 19 | Fall classes end | | December 20 | Commencement (August and December 2025 graduates) | | December 22 | Late 8-week and full semester course grading closes at 5:00pm | | | Upcoming Events in the College of Science and Engineering | | |
Department/Program
Chemistry
Event
Faculty Candidate Seminar: Masspectrometry imaging in the age of computing and AI
Tim Trinklein
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Details
Fri Nov 14
1 pm
PSC 144
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Department/Program
Chemistry
Event
Faculty Candidate Seminar: What’s Going on Up There? A Molecular Level Understanding of Atmospheric Processes
Gregory Vandergrift
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Details
Mon Nov 17
1 pm
PSC 144
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Department/Program
Physics
Event
Colloquium: Advancements in Neutron Activation Analysis for In-Field Detection of Chemical Warfare Agents and Explosives
Brian Bucher
Idaho National Laboratory
Details
Mon Nov 17
4 pm
https://isu.zoom.us/j/86497175831
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Department/Program
Biological Sciences
Event
Eric Billman
BYU-I
Details
Thu Nov 20
4 pm
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Department/Program
Biological Sciences
Event
Sean Hopewell
Deepwater Conservation Initiative
Details
Thu Dec 4
4 - 5 pm
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Department/Program
Biological Sciences
Event
Jessie Wheeler
ISU Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Details
Thu Dec 11
4 - 5 pm
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Help Us Share Your Accomplishments!
Our College’s outstanding faculty, staff, and students achieve many notable research and professional accomplishments. In addition, our departments regularly have newsworthy advancements. We want to make sure those stories are shared publicly. Here are a few ways you can provide a news tip to help get the word out:
Use this Story Submission Form to send your news tip to the Office of Marketing and Communications.
Send an email to Logan McDougall (loganmcdougall@isu.edu) with a brief description of the news to be shared.
You are always welcome to create a draft story, submit it via the Story Submission Form, or send it to Logan. The Office of Marketing and Communications and Logan will coordinate to get the story finalized and distributed to the media outlets/platforms that best tell the story.
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