MPCC Selected for Statewide $10 Million NSF Research Initiative

Mid-Plains Community College is joining a statewide effort to expand scientific research and STEM education as part of a newly awarded $10 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation.

The initiative, titled Nebraska Strengthening Partnerships for Innovation, Research and Education, will expand hands-on STEM opportunities, strengthen Nebraska’s research ecosystem and inspire students across rural communities to pursue science careers.

MPCC’s portion of the grant funding, estimated at $350,000, will directly equip science faculty and fund paid undergraduate research positions.

Through the grant, MPCC Biology Instructors HaLea Messersmith and Rob Bogardus will lead student-driven research projects over a five-year period:

• Genetics and Development Research: Messersmith is establishing a dedicated fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) laboratory in North Platte. Partnering with the University of Nebraska at Kearney, students will perform genetic research, organism dissections and sample preparations using new, state-of-the-art stereo dissecting microscopes and controlled incubators.
• Ecological Field Studies: Bogardus will oversee research initiatives in McCook, where nest boxes will be placed in the East Campus field. The project will provide hands-on, field-based research experience as students observe and track bird activity, populations, behavior, nesting patterns and migration.

“We are incredibly excited to participate in this grant because it gives our students an opportunity that is still relatively uncommon at community colleges,” said MPCC Dean Clint Reading.  “The real value of this project goes beyond the research itself. It gives students an environment to realize their potential as contributors to the scientific community, right alongside our faculty and university partners. The partnerships formed through this grant will help MPCC build research capacity to benefit our students and communities long after the end of the project.” 

MPCC is one of only two community colleges in Nebraska selected to participate in the project. Other higher education partner institutions across the state include the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the University of Nebraska at Kearney, Creighton University and Southeast Community College.

Cutline: MPCC Biology Instructor Rob Bogardus works with his students during a lab last semester in McCook.