STEM Support Services
STEM Support Services is here for the campus community. We further the university mission by supporting faculty, staff and students in their outreach, research, communications and evaluations.
STEM Coordinator, Marcy Seavey, works with partners on and off campus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics projects. For example, STEM Support Services hosts the FIRST Robotics Competition Iowa Regional, coordinates the Summer Undergraduate Research Program Symposium and STEM day camps, and leads UNI’s participation in the Iowa Space Grant Consortium.
Iowa EPSCoR - Chemurgy 2.0
Inspired by the work of Iowa scientist, George Washington Carver, Chemurgy 2.0 - is a collaboration to build capacity across Iowa to meet human needs from things that grow. UNI faculty and staff are involved in all aspects of Chemurgy 2.0. STEM Coordinator, Marcy Seavey, is leading the Education and Workforce Development (EWD) Seed Program. EWD Seed will award $200,000 in funds to pilot projects that integrate what Chemurgy 2.0 is learning about how to drive interest in biomanufacturing careers with content from the Chemurgy Science teams to build Iowa's future biomanufacturing workforce.
Iowa Space Grant Consortium
UNI is a Core Institution of the Iowa Space Grant Consortium (ISGC). Iowa Space Grant is NASA's representation across Iowa. ISGC provides UNI undergraduate research, scholarships, and internship opportunities and opportunities for UNI faculty to redesign courses and build NASA collaborations. STEM Coordinator, Marcy Seavey, represents UNI on the ISGC Executive Committee as UNI's campus coordinator proxy and coordinates ISGC activities on campus. Seavey is available to meet with faculty and students applying to ISGC to help connect projects to one of NASA's Mission Directorates. Having coordinated The GLOBE Program for Iowa and served as a NASA National Trainer, Seavey especially has expertise in NASA's interests in STEM education and Earth remote sensing missions.
Iowa Regional
The Iowa Regional FIRST Robotics Competition brings 45 or more high school robotics teams to the Dome and McLeod annually. UNI is involved in many aspects of the Iowa Regional. The applied engineering & technical management department has a special relationship with this event, providing an on-site machine shop and volunteers so that teams can keep their robots repaired during the event. Faculty from computer science and other departments serve as event judges and the STEM Coordinator is the campus host.
UNI Youth/Camp Events
STEM Support Services have coordinated STEM themed summer camps since 2014. In 2020, our office began working with UNI IT to develop and pilot a new registration system which can be used by all UNI Youth programs. We piloted this program, Blackthorn, with our camps in 2022 and began supporting other UNI offices in 2023. The best thing about our new registration system is that it allows all events with open registrations to be posted to the camps.uni.edu website, making it easier for families to find events.
