The purpose of this workshop was to understand the Teton context and stakeholder concerns in order to design a integrated pilot project that is relevant, legitimate, and salient while bounded enough to accomplish during the next 1-2 years.

Rawlins and Sinclair have recently been facing water shortages as the result of aging and neglected infrastructure, but also drought. Experts suggest that many towns across the West could face similar problems in the future.

A five-year, $20 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to the University of Wyoming will allow researchers to work with Wyoming’s communities to deal with expected significant and lasting changes in water availability.

The Annual EPSCoR Essay Contest was held at the end of the spring semester. This year's writing prompt was "Carving Out A Sense of Place" and saw over 20 submissions on the topic. For the first time, the undergraduate and graduate students wrote on the same prompt. The winner in each category received a $500 honorarium and the essays will be highlighted in EPSCoR's fall newsletter. But readers, rest assured you do not have to wait to enjoy their work - Scroll down for each essay.

After three flights and hours of tight connections as well as seats, Linda Leilinfeld arrived in Laramie. One of her first comments was on the night sky, flying in offered her a familiar memory –landing in Cuba in the 1980s. Originally from New York, this worldly woman had arrived in Wyoming for a Let’s Talk About Water event, an evening of dialogue and film designed to facilitate a conversation around the social justice issues relating to who has access to the west’s water and why. Linda is the creator and director of Let's Talk about Water and has traveled across the country helping sponsor events such as this one.

The University of Wyoming will partner on two different research projects under an EPSCoR Track 2 grant awarded by the National Science Foundation. The first project under this grant will study the effects of carbon mitigation scenarios on the upper Missouri River Basin. UW will collaborate with researchers from the University of Montana and the University of South Dakota to explore the implementation of a new energy system called BECCS, which stands for Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage.

Medicine Bow Peak has become a familiar landmark for those of us who live in Laramie. In the summer, avid hikers take on the trail to catch a glimpse of the amazing views from the peak. Yet we rarely think about the Earth that lies beneath us, and the clues it contains to help us better understand our world.

After a semester of working as the communications intern for Wyoming EPSCoR, it has been brought to my attention the underrepresentation of minority groups in STEM fields. As a female, and more importantly as a writer, it is important to me that we bring together people with diverse backgrounds. Although science is objective, it is also inherently human. We all perceive and observe the world differently and when we invite different viewpoints to the conversation we are more likely to innovate and develop the STEM fields.

The semester is over, grades submitted, conferences attended and talks given. WyCEHG students are scattered across the globe, yet data must be collected. My role on the project relates to communicating the science, organizing and delivering outreach, rarely does it include adventures in the snow. Today, however, was a day to play.

“Hey Now, do you want to play a game?” The robot’s eyes flash red to indicate it understands the question raised by the blonde haired smiling girl standing before it. “Yes, what game would you like to play?” came Now’s response, to the delight of the group of children encircling the machine. Engaging with Now was just one of the many activities students engaged in during the chilly December Computer Science and Engineering day at the University of Wyoming. This event was held in partnership with the nation-wide hour of code, celebrating computer science and its application and came on the heels of Governor Matt Mead’s proclamation that December 5-11 would be Computer Science Education week.