U of I data scientist earns Idaho EPSCoR research excellence award

MOSCOW, Idaho — University of Idaho Professor Xiaogang “Marshall” Ma has received the 2026 Jean’ne M. Shreeve National Science Foundation (NSF) Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Research Excellence Award, one of Idaho EPSCoR’s highest honors recognizing outstanding research achievement and scientific leadership.

The award recognizes researchers whose work has made exceptional contributions to advancing science and elevating Idaho’s national research profile. It is named for U of I Distinguished Professor Jean’ne Shreeve, who led Idaho EPSCoR for more than 20 years.

Ma, a faculty member in the College of Engineering’s Department of Computer Science, is an internationally recognized leader in applying data science and artificial intelligence to Earth and environmental research. His work helps scientists connect and analyze complex datasets related to tick-borne diseases, climate change, mineral evolution and natural resource management.

“I call myself the hyphen between geo and informatics,” Ma said. “Geo is about Earth science and anything that happens on the surface of the Earth or deep within it. Informatics is about the digital world — computer science, databases, data management and data analytics. I work in the overlap between those two disciplines.”

Ma joined U of I in 2016 through Idaho EPSCoR’s Managing Idaho’s Landscapes for Ecosystem Services project, known as MILES. The project enabled him to establish a research program and begin building collaborations with scientists throughout Idaho and neighboring states.

Ma has since received more than $10 million in grants as a principal investigator and contributed to numerous interdisciplinary research projects. He led TickBase, a $6.4 million NSF EPSCoR project that brought together researchers from four states to use data science to study the effects of climate, ecosystems and land use on ticks and tick-borne diseases.

He also leads OpenMindat, an NSF-funded project that expanded scientists’ ability to access and analyze data records from Mindat, the world’s largest mineral database. He is now building upon that work through OneMineralogy, a three-year project that will expand open mineral data services and provide training for researchers, educators and students.

“Marshall has turned EPSCoR’s early investment in one promising researcher into lasting research capacity for Idaho,” College of Engineering Dean Suzanna Long said. “His ability to unite data science with Earth and environmental research has produced valuable tools, nationally competitive projects and collaborations that continue well beyond their original funding. Just as importantly, he has used those opportunities to develop students and early-career researchers who will carry this work forward.”

Ma has mentored undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and early-career faculty. Eight of his former mentees have become tenure-track faculty members, while others have pursued research and industry careers.

“I still have fresh memories of my time as a student and postdoc, and I remember the challenges and uncertainty about the future,” Ma said. “I don’t want students and advisees only to learn something. I want to challenge them to create something new.”

Ma is currently spending five months at Carnegie Science’s Earth and Planets Laboratory in Washington, D.C., as an NSF EPSCoR research fellow. He is researching new ways to use artificial intelligence and mineral data to study how minerals have evolved throughout Earth’s history.

Receiving an award named for Shreeve is particularly meaningful to Ma, who described the longtime U of I chemist as a model for his own career.

“She is a legend,” Ma said. “This award is a great honor, but it also encourages me to think about the future. I will look to her as an example as I continue my career at U of I.”

For more information about the Jean’ne M. Shreeve NSF EPSCoR Research Excellence Award, visit idahoepscor.org.

Media contact

Xiaogang “Marshall” Ma   
College of Engineering professor  
208-885-1547
max@uidaho.edu