Bhutan is a small, landlocked country nestled between Nepal, India and China and a world away from South Dakota State University. A decade ago, the country began an effort to increase its revered tiger population and by 2022, it successfully had doubled. But what does the tiger's resurgence mean for Bhutan's other wildlife? Karma Choki is a graduate research assistant in South Dakota State University's Department of Natural Resource Management and a native of Bhutan. She conducted the country's first ever population estimate on a forgotten big cat: the elusive common leopard. 🔗: https://lnkd.in/g7mufT9C

Grasslands once stretched undisturbed from Texas to Canada. But today, over half of North America's grasslands have been lost. South Dakota is home to some of the largest remaining intact grasslands in North America and South Dakota State University researchers are fighting to protect this precious ecosystem from maybe its most challenging adversary: the Green Glacier. Ecologists coined the term "Green Glacier" to describe the spread of unwanted trees onto prairies, pastures and grasslands. Specifically, eastern redcedars — a conifer native to the eastern United States — have buried grasslands under their thick evergreen canopies. A problem that began in Texas over 70 years ago has slowly spread north and is currently on South Dakota's doorstep. 🔗: https://lnkd.in/gZBDZmww

Meet the Team: Esther Gathungu — Graduate Research Administrative Assistant 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸? Before I started at South Dakota State University, I worked as an administrator in a number of different fields. The Presbyterian University of East Africa gave me a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management. I graduated with Second Class Honors, Upper Division. From time to time, I worked as an office administrator at Aqualytic Laboratories Limited and as a medical administrator at Limuru Cottage Hospital. I got better at handling schedules, budgets, records, and communications, as well as giving great customer service, at these jobs. Working in both corporate and healthcare settings in Kenya, where I learned how to do bookkeeping, handle databases, and lead teams, helped me become an expert in administrative coordination and compliance. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝗗𝗦𝗨?  It's my responsibility to help with graduate research administration at SDSU's Division of Research and Economic Development. I specialize in helping submission of projects that are funded by the NIH. As part of my job, I help researchers submit grant proposals, make sure they follow agency rules and guidelines and act as a link between academics and funding agencies. I also keep track of grant opportunities that might be of interest to our researchers. With my organizational and analytical skills and my dedication to supporting groundbreaking studies, this job gives me a direct way to add to the success of research projects. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻?  As a Graduate Research Administrative Assistant, I want to learn more about how NIH grants work, help research projects succeed by managing resources and administration well, and get better at being a leader in research administration. I want to use what I've learnt in school to improve administrative processes so that research projects are compliant, efficient, and of high quality. At the same time, I want to lay a solid basis for the field's future growth.

Meet Ashton Merrill, a biology student at #SDState, putting her classroom knowledge to work as a bioprocessing intern at Dakota BioWorx. Here, she's helping scale up bioproducts for mass production and gaining hands-on experience in the lab. 🔬

South Dakota State University assistant professor Saikat Basu has partnered with QHS Lab Inc., a leading provider of digital health care solutions, for the development of a potentially revolutionary drug delivery system. Basu will build on his groundbreaking research in fluid dynamics for the development of a digital evaluation tool for targeted airway therapeutics that can efficiently deliver medicine to precise, targeted tissue regions along the respiratory pathway. Recently, Basu was invited by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to submit a proposal for NSF's Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer programs. Invitations by NSF to submit proposals are rare and only extended after a comprehensive review of a project's commercial impact, societal benefit and technical innovation. “This invitation from the NSF is a validation of the groundbreaking nature of the AIR-GUIDDE project,” Basu said. “It reflects not only the advanced scientific principles behind the platform, but also its potential to redefine drug delivery in ways that can significantly improve patient outcomes and lower health care costs.”

Meet the Team: Carson Sehr — Grant Development Specialist 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝗗𝗦𝗨? My new role is as Grant Development Specialist in the Division of Research and Economic Development. I will work with faculty to find funding for the great work they are doing and can do at SDSU, leverage our existing resources to increase our institution’s competitiveness for these awards, and help foster an atmosphere that is supportive of research, scholarship, and creative activity across campus and across the state. 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝗗𝗦𝗨? Prior to coming to SDSU, I was a Program Analyst at the National Endowment for the Humanities, tasked with running the Endowment’s individual fellowship programs and helping applicants through the application and award process. Before that, I was at the University of South Dakota as their inaugural Digital Accessibility Specialist. In that role, I worked closely with faculty to ensure all their course materials and other online content were accessible for students who use assistive technology to access their education. I earned my bachelor’s degree in English from USD. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻? All faculty on campus can feel confident that the work they do — whether it’s in the classroom, the lab, the studio, the field, the recital hall, or the study room — contributes to the academic excellence on display at SDSU. I will be available to support them in finding funding, developing competitive proposals, and submitting them in order to further SDSU on our Pathway to Premier. Please contact me to start the conversation!

Otters were recently spotted in the Big Sioux River near Sioux Falls. But over the past few years, #SDState researchers in the Department of Natural Resource Management, led by Amanda Cheeseman, have been studying South Dakota's resurgent otter population. The research team has been utilizing trail cameras and artificial intelligence to better understand the North American river otter's distribution, abundance, habitat preferences and possible connection corridors in eastern South Dakota. For more on the SDSU team's work: https://lnkd.in/gEDq-KUz

Did you know? South Dakota State University is considered one of the top packaging innovation research universities in the world. In the Department of Dairy and Food Science, #SDState researchers are developing innovative packaging materials from various agricultural byproducts including spent coffee grounds, avocado peels, banana peels and switchgrass. These films — plastic-like materials that biodegrade in the environment — may one day replace petroleum-based plastic as the dominant packaging material. SDSU was named a top university alongside North Carolina State, Clemson, a South Korean university and a Spanish university by the Packaging School: https://lnkd.in/eQPq9ZWZ

2024 has been a banner year for #SDState research! * Research expenditures reached a record high level of $84 million — a 13.5% increase from last year's record of $74 million * Research proposals totaled over $270 million — up from the previous year's $155 million * Ph.D. enrollment increased to 268 students — a 13.1% increase from the previous year More to come in 2025. Stay tuned!

The #SDState Division of Research and Economic Development has launched a 'Call for Equipment Concept Proposals for Research.' This opportunity invites concepts for equipment with a budget of $75,000 or greater. Selected proposals may be invited to present at a meeting of the University Research Council. This is a great opportunity to receive feedback and to find new equipment users prior to a published call from a sponsor. The Division of Research will hold an informational webinar at 10 a.m. on Monday, January 27, 2025. The webinar can be accessed at this link: https://lnkd.in/gVcgU_4c. Faculty and staff with interest in applying for funding to support research equipment are asked to submit a concept proposal to the Division for review and feedback from Jose Gonzalez, director of core research support facilities. The deadline for submission is Friday, January 31, 2025.