Big Award for Big Ideas

UI professors earn national honor for research in forest management, animal movement

Managing healthy Western forests and understanding how kangaroo rats jump don’t appear to have much in common.

But the University of Idaho researchers who study these two topics do: both have earned the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious honor for early career scholars.

Tara Hudiburg, an assistant professor of forest science in the UI College of Natural Resources, and Craig McGowan, an assistant professor of biological sciences in the UI College of Science and the WWAMI medical education program, earned Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) awards, and through them a combined $1.7 million in research funding.

According to the National Science Foundation, CAREER awards support faculty “who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations.” Faculty propose projects and apply for the award.

Learn more about these exemplary researchers and their projects’ contributions to science and education: