Southeast Regional Node Meeting – March 28, 2025
The Southeast Regional Node Spring Virtual Symposium was a success with 10 attendees from three institutions (Mercer University, The University of Alabama, and Louisiana State University).
Regional Nodes
To increase faculty and student engagement in the GEP, the NIH’s Innovative Programs to Enhance Research Training (IPERT) grant provides support for regional clusters of participating GEP institutions (Regional Nodes). Regional Nodes are encouraged to develop events that allow undergraduates to present their work to other scientists, and/or faculty to learn, collaborate, mentor, and develop curricula.
Quick Links
- Regional Node Event Planning (Proposal Form & Resources)
- Regional Node Overview Trello Board
- Map of Regional Nodes
- Building Community Resources
- Informal Gatherings (under development)
Contacts
- Regional Nodes Director: Jenni Kennell
- Regional Nodes Co-Director: Kellie Agrimson
- GEP Program Assistant: Sarah Potts
- Regional Node Leaders & Co-Leaders
FAQs
In April 2019, the GEP was awarded funding by the NIH’s Innovative Programs to Enhance Research Training (IPERT) to sustain and develop centralized support and regional training. A main focus of the IPERT grant is to increase faculty and student engagement in the GEP by leveraging the available regional clusters of participating GEP institutions (Regional Nodes).
Each of the 13 Regional Nodes can offer Regional Node Meetings (symposia) and/or Regional Node (New Member) Training. The Regional Node Meetings serve the dual functions of allowing undergraduates to present their work to other scientists, and faculty to learn, collaborate, mentor, and develop curricula. The Regional Node Training workshops expand the timing and location options for GEP training, thereby increasing and diversifying participation while testing a new regional training format. A particular goal of these Regional Node activities is the recruitment and support of new members from Community Colleges and Minority-Serving Institutions.
Each of the 13 Regional Nodes can offer Regional Node Meetings (symposia) and/or Regional Node (New Member) Training. The Regional Node Meetings serve the dual functions of allowing undergraduates to present their work to other scientists, and faculty to learn, collaborate, mentor, and develop curricula. The Regional Node Training workshops expand the timing and location options for GEP training, thereby increasing and diversifying participation while testing a new regional training format. A particular goal of these Regional Node activities is the recruitment and support of new members from Community Colleges and Minority-Serving Institutions.
| Regional Node | Node Leader | Leader’s Institution | Node Co-Leader | Co-Leader’s Institution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CalNeAr (CA, NV, AZ) | TBD | |||
| Carolinas | Marisol Santisteban | University of North Carolina at Pembroke (NC) | Michele Eller | Southern Wesleyan University (SC) |
| DMV (DC, MD, VA) | Matt Wawersik | William & Mary (VA) | Christine Fleet | Emory & Henry College (VA) |
| Midwest North | Jenny Mierisch | Loyola University Chicago (IL) | Sarah Justice | Marian University (IN) |
| MN/IA/Dakotas | Kellie Agrimson | St. Catherine University (MN) | Andy Arsham Tam Mans | Bemidji State University (MN) North Hennepin Community College (MN) |
| New England | Rachel Sterne-Marr | Siena College (NY) | Jenna Roecklein-Canfield | Simmons University (MA) |
| New York & New Jersey (NY/NJ) | Guy Barbato | Stockton University (NJ) | Raffaella Diotti | CUNY Bronx Community College (NY) |
| Pacific Northwest (PNW) | Norma Velazquez-Ulloa | Lewis & Clark College (OR) | Jack Vincent | University of Washington-Tacoma (WA) |
| Pennsylvania (PA) | TBD | |||
| Puerto Rico (PR) | Angel O. Custodio | University of Puerto Rico-Aguadilla (PR) | Sheylda Díaz-Méndez | University of Puerto Rico-Ponce (PR) |
| Rocky Mountain | Shan Hays | Western Colorado University (CO) | Zeynep Ozsoy | Colorado Mesa University (CO) |
| Southeast | Cheri Bardales | Louisiana State University of Alexandria | TBD | |
| Texas & Oklahoma (TX/OK) | Lindsey Long | Oklahoma Christian University (OK) | Chitra Chandrasekaran | Texas Wesleyan University (TX) |
Find your institution on the Nodes Map and then use the key to determine your Regional Node and/or click on the icon of your institution and the Regional Node will be listed.
Regional Node Events include Regional Node Meetings (RNMs) and Regional Node Training (RNT). Regional Node Events leverage available regional clusters of participating GEP institutions (i.e., Regional Nodes).
Regional Node Meetings (RNMs) leverage available regional clusters of participating GEP institutions (i.e., Regional Nodes) to increase faculty and student engagement by allowing undergraduates to present their work to other scientists, and faculty to learn, collaborate, mentor, and develop curricula.
- A Regional Node Meeting is defined as any GEP activity that involves at least two institutions in the Regional Node that includes at least one of the following:
- Student presentations (poster or oral)
- Professional development activity
- Speaker gives a seminar on a research- or pedagogy-related topic
- Training in curriculum or science projects of current GEP faculty
- When Recruiting: ‘taster’ demos for prospective members (currently unavailable)
- Unlike Regional Node New Member Trainings, RNMs are typically single day events with a smaller budget. What happens at RNMs can vary, but they focus on community building and engagement within their region. In a nutshell, it’s up to the Regional Node to decide what they most need to address (e.g., faculty only meeting to work on professional development, opportunities for students, or a recruitment event to grow the Node membership).
Regional Node Training (RNT) and New Member Training (NMT) are the same thing. NMT is typically used with “national” level events.
RNT/NMT is designed to onboard new members by helping faculty integrate GEP curriculum materials into existing courses and engage their students in scientific research through CUREs. Training new members typically takes 15-20 hours and can occur in-person (2.5 days) or virtually (1.5 hour/10 days).
RNT/NMT is designed to onboard new members by helping faculty integrate GEP curriculum materials into existing courses and engage their students in scientific research through CUREs. Training new members typically takes 15-20 hours and can occur in-person (2.5 days) or virtually (1.5 hour/10 days).
See the “Regional Node Event Planning” web page (generic password) for more details.
Minnesota/Iowa/Dakotas Regional Node Meeting – November 22, 2024
We had 7 GEP faculty, 5 prospective faculty, 1 graduate student, 12 other faculty and administrators, and 56 undergraduate students attend the MN/IA/Dakotas Node Event with representation from Anoka Ramsey Community College, Saint Catherine University, North Hennepin Community College, Crown College, Wartburg College, Bemidji State University, Minneapolis Community & Technical College, University of Minnesota, Carleton College, Normandale Community College, Bethel University, and Mayo Clinic.
Southeast Regional Node Meeting – November 22, 2024
The Southeast Node Virtual Symposium on Friday, November 22, 2024, was a success, drawing over 40 attendees from three universities in the node. The event showcased original student research and fostered collaboration among students and faculty, reinforcing the node’s commitment to advancing genomics education and research.
Midwest Regional Node Meeting – September 28-29, 2024
The Midwest Regional Node held an in-person meeting at Marian University in Indianapolis, IN on September 28-29, 2024. This meeting included 7 GEP Midwest Node faculty, 7 undergraduate students, a prospective GEP faculty member, and two keynote speakers: Dr. Saoirse Foley (Marian University) and Dr. Rob Denton (Marian University).
Rocky Mountain Regional Node Meeting – September 27-29, 2024
The Rocky Mountain node held an in-person regional node meeting and annotation workshop at Colorado Mesa University (CMU) in Grand Junction, Colorado September 27-29, 2024. It was organized by Zeynep Özsoy and Shan Hays. The meeting was attended by six regional node members and five students from CMU and Western Colorado University.
Midwest Regional Node Meeting – April 25, 2024
The Midwest Regional Node held a virtual Research Symposium for students involved in Bioinformatics research through the GEP on Thursday, April 25, 2024. Twelve faculty and nine undergraduate students were in attendance.
Pacific Northwest Regional Node Meeting – April 20, 2024
The Pacific Northwest (PNW) Regional Node had a virtual meeting on April 20th, 2024. The event included participants from four different institutions geographically spanning from southern Oregon to Southern British Columbia, in Canada!
Carolinas Regional Node Meeting – April 13, 2024
The Carolinas Regional Node Meeting held a student-centered symposium on April 13, 2024 at the Clemson University Outdoor Lab with a total of 70 students, faculty, and panelists in attendance.
Rocky Mountain Regional Node Meeting – April 17, 2024
On April 17, 2024, the Rocky Mountain Node held a virtual Regional Node Meeting that was attended by seven Node members and three speakers–two undergraduates and one graduate student.
Puerto Rico Regional Node Meeting – February 6 & 8, 2024
The Puerto Rico Regional Node held an online Pathways Project training on February 6th and 8th from 2:30-4:00 pm CST.
Midwest Regional Node Meeting – February 1, 2024
The Midwest Regional Node held an online, professional development meeting for faculty on February 1st from 7-8:30 pm CST.
New England Regional Node Meeting – January 4-5, 2024
Eight faculty members, one staff member/TA, and seven students of the New England Regional Node gathered together at Siena College in Loudonville, NY on January 4-5, 2024 for an exciting two-day conference.
- Page Last Updated: July 2, 2024