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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.

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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.
Regional NodeNode LeaderLeader’s InstitutionNode Co-LeaderCo-Leader’s Institution
CalNeAr (CA, NV, AZ)TBD
CarolinasMarisol SantistebanUniversity of North Carolina at Pembroke (NC)Michele EllerSouthern Wesleyan University (SC)
DMV (DC, MD, VA)Matt WawersikWilliam & Mary (VA)Christine FleetEmory & Henry College (VA)
Midwest NorthJenny MierischLoyola University Chicago (IL)Sarah JusticeMarian University (IN)
MN/IA/DakotasKellie AgrimsonSt. Catherine University (MN)Andy Arsham
Tam Mans		Bemidji State University (MN)
North Hennepin Community College (MN)
New EnglandRachel Sterne-MarrSiena College (NY)Jenna Roecklein-CanfieldSimmons University (MA)
New York & New Jersey (NY/NJ)Guy BarbatoStockton University (NJ)Raffaella DiottiCUNY Bronx Community College (NY)
Pacific Northwest (PNW)Norma Velazquez-UlloaLewis & Clark College (OR)Jack VincentUniversity of Washington-Tacoma (WA)
Pennsylvania (PA)TBD
Puerto Rico (PR)Angel O. CustodioUniversity of Puerto Rico-Aguadilla (PR)Sheylda Díaz-MéndezUniversity of Puerto Rico-Ponce (PR)
Rocky MountainShan HaysWestern Colorado University (CO)Zeynep OzsoyColorado Mesa University (CO)
SoutheastCheri BardalesLouisiana State University of AlexandriaTBD
Texas & Oklahoma (TX/OK)Lindsey LongOklahoma Christian University (OK)Chitra ChandrasekaranTexas 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).

See the “Regional Node Event Planning” web page (generic password) for more details.

  • Page Last Updated: July 2, 2024