On Friday April 8th, the Institute hosted National Science Foundation (NSF) director France Córdova and U.S. Senator Jack Reed as part of a tour of NSF-funded faculty and student research at Brown.

At IBES, Córdova and Reed met with deputy directors Leah VanWey and Dov Sax, as well as researcher Meredith Hastings. Hastings described her work investigating the origin and extent of nitrogen pollution around the world, which has been funded in part by a CAREER award, NSF's premier honor for early-career faculty.

Hastings landed her CAREER grant in 2014, and Brown has had a bumper crop of six new CAREER awardees so far in 2016. Córdova said support for early-career researcher is an important part of what NSF does.

"NSF prides itself on being the first funder for many young people," she said.

In addition to learning about NSF-funded research, Córdova heard about IBES's approach to interdisciplinary study and engaged scholarship, which combines learning and research opportunities. Brown undergraduates Kari Malkki and Lovinia Reynolds discussed a project they have been working on that investigates strategies for reforesting a key ecological region in Brazil.

To learn more about the tour as well as other NSF-funded research at the University, please visit News from Brown.