SUU Chemistry Professor Awarded National Science Foundation Grant
Published: October 18, 2024 | Author: Jacob Carr | Read Time: 2 minutes
CEDAR CITY, UT
Dr. Guizella Rocabado, an assistant professor of chemistry at Southern Utah University (SUU), was recently awarded an Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) Grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). This grant is the first of its kind for SUU.
NSF grants are large federal grants awarded to science and engineering researchers in all 50 states. The application process is incredibly competitive, making it uncommon for a university of SUU's size to receive one.
"Receiving a National Science Foundation grant is an amazing achievement," said Bill Heyborne, Dean of the Walter Maxwell Gibson College of Natural Sciences. "Grants from NSF and other large federal funding agencies are very competitive. Receipt of a grant like this is certainly cause for celebration."
Dr. Rocabado will use this grant to fund a joint research project on student motivation with faculty and graduate students at Georgia State University (GSU). The research is anticipated to take three years.
"Our research will be about investigating student motivation in organic chemistry," said Dr. Rocabado. "Particularly barriers to motivation in this notoriously difficult class and the design of simple classroom interventions that can be helpful to overcome those barriers."
The NSF grant will not only enable Dr. Rocabado and her colleagues at GSU to conduct research that can be generalized across institutions, but also involve undergraduate students at SUU in this process.
"Students in my groups will be able to learn both statistical methods of data analysis and qualitative data collection and analysis," said Dr. Rocabado. "They will be well-rounded if they want to continue science education research in their future, or any kind of research that involves human subjects."
While this major grant is the first of its kind for SUU, it is not the first NSF grant Dr. Rocabado has received in recent years. In 2023, Dr. Rocabado was awarded a smaller NSF grant to coordinate a virtual conference with a focus on equitable practices in chemistry education. This conference will take place in January 2025.
Dr. Rocabado's most recent grant and upcoming research represent an important moment not only in her career, but also in the evolution of the scope of research conducted at SUU. It constitutes collaboration from all levels of the University and an optimistic future for both faculty and student researchers.
"I am very proud of this accomplishment," said Dr. Rocabado. "But I should say I couldn't have done it without the tremendous support of the SPARC office, my collaborator from GSU, the Internal Review Board, and my department chair."
For more information on SUU's chemistry program and the research conducted by its faculty, please visit the Department of Chemistry and Physics' website.
Tags: Student College of Natural Sciences SPARC FacStaff Physics Academic Chemistry
Contact Information:
Brooke Heath
435-586-5400
brookeheath1@suu.edu