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Intentionality to build successful academic mentoring relationships with students is what sets professors apart at ����Թ� State, and each year two professors at the graduate and undergraduate level receive a student-nominated award for their ability to do so. The intent of the award is to recognize those professors exceeding in mentoring students in how to perform research in any field.  

As once stated by educational Pioneer and famous American Philosopher John Dewey, all that we learn is derived from experience. ����Թ� State continues to foster innovation and promote the development of hands-on learning through various collaborative efforts focused on building experience and training. Among the opportunities offered through the university, the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Program provides undergraduate students with the chance to engage in an intensive research project during the summer break.

Researchers from ����Թ� and the University of New Mexico determined how nitrogen-fixing plants and soil microbes contribute to the overall nitrogen availability in the Chihuahuan desert in New Mexico.

����Թ� has recently received a flurry of grants totaling more than $3 million in funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), which will support research and innovation in a wide range of fields within the College of Arts and Sciences. 

Michael Back is a graduating senior Honors College student, majoring in biology with a concentration in organismal biology and a minor in Spanish. Originally from Sharon Center, Ohio, Michael has been interested in ecological restoration since he was in high school. Now in the final semester of his Senior Honors Thesis, Michael used his thesis to delve deeper into his ecological interests. His thesis analyzes a new restoration technique for abandoned surface mines in Cuyahoga Valley, examining “soil bulk density and soil chemistry.”

For students going into the medical research field, having a chance to learn, succeed, fail and be inspired under the supervision of an accomplished researcher during their education is a priceless experience. This experiential learning would not be possible without outside funding, and now, students in Manabu Kurokawa’s lab can elevate their efforts thanks to a grant awarded to the group.