ALEKS, which stands for Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces, is a web-based, artificially intelligent assessment and learning system. The idea for implementing the ALEKS system at ISU is to expedite the time it takes to get a degree because often times, math is a barrier that keeps students from achieving their goals as quickly as they might like. Bob Fisher, a professor of mathematics, said the ALEKS system targets student’s knowledge, looks to move students forward through the lessons and helps fix student literacy problems in math.

“Our goal is for students to step on to campus and not need any prerequisite math courses before they are able to jump right into their program,” said Fisher.

Fisher said ISU will be helping local high schools use the ALEKS system to prepare its students for college math courses. The Department of Mathematics and Statistics recently hosted a training for 30 high school teachers to teach them about a pilot program for students who are at risk for not going on to college and potentially having to take several remedial math courses.

“Introducing ALEKS into high schools is establishing the direct link from high school to post-secondary schooling,” said Mindy Singer, the head of math instruction in the Idaho Falls School District. “It provides a long-term goal with many short-term goals along the way.”

Fisher said math lecturer Randa Kress brought up the idea of using the ALEKS system after seeing a need to shorten the time frame for ISU students taking remedial courses.

“Randa has been brilliant and deserves a lot of credit,” Fisher said. “I am excited to integrate this program into our schools and help students move through our program.”

Fisher said the motivation for this program also comes from a pilot program at Utah Valley University over 100,000 high school students were able to participate in the ALEKS program for $17 per student. The program has grown in Utah and now every student in the state has access to the math placement program. The Idaho pilot that is being run through ISU’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics will cost $17 per student at participating schools.

Use your membership immediately and begin learning about Mars, the Moon, and asteroids, while driving a moon rover in the interactive “Astronomical Idaho, Be the Astronaut” exhibit. Learn about “The Incredible Horse.” See Idaho’s Hagerman horse fossils and go back 50 million years when horses roamed more tropical terrain. Enjoy the photography of Roger Boe and poetry of Will Peterson in the “The Flows,” a visual and artistic viewpoint of Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve.

The museum’s summer membership drive has set a goal to add 100 new members to its ever growing family. All annual memberships include free, unlimited admission, invitations to special events and educational offerings, subscription to IMNH’s monthly e-newsletter, 10 percent discount on all purchases at the IMNH store and one one-day guest pass. Additionally, members benefit from quality family time spent exploring its engaging and educational exhibits and collections.

To view all membership options and purchase your membership, visit the museum located on the campus of Idaho State University, Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., or online atimnh.isu.edu/joinandsupport.

The IMNH has served Idaho since 1934 and as Idaho’s official natural history museum. It offers unique, educational, and fun opportunities to visitors, classrooms, tourists and community members of all ages. Your membership support makes a difference to the over 13,000 diverse group of visitors, ranging from K-12 students to ISU students, to adults, seniors and veterans, who will visit the museum this year.

Interested people can subscribe to its monthly e-newsletter for program updates and follow it on Facebook for daily historical postings. Please contact Terri Bergmeier at 208-282-6168 with any membership questions or business partnership opportunities.

He’ll live in Khorog, a city nestled in the Pamir Mountains at the northwestern end of the Himalayan chain, that are among the highest mountains in the world. Khorog is located along the Afghanistan border about 200 miles west of China.

“It is a fantastic opportunity for me to take what I’ve learned in the ISU geosciences department where, for more than 30 years, we’ve trained students to be responsible guardians of the earth,” Rodgers said. “We’ve trained mining geologists, oil geologists and environmental scientists to maintain sustainable development of world’s natural resources. Really, it’s a compliment to ISU geosciences that the people in our program can go overseas and contribute some of that same knowledge and understanding to international universities and other organizations.”

Rodgers, who also received a Fulbright to Oman in 1994-95, said that the University of Central Asia in Khorog is a brand new campus, which only accepts about five percent of applicants from countries throughout central Asia. All instruction is in English.

“There should be some great opportunities to not only study the well exposed geology in the surrounding mountains, but also to learn about the culture of Tajikistan and the people who live in those mountains,” Rodgers said.

The students will be pursuing an earth and environmental science major. Rodgers will teach introductory geoscience courses but will have a light teaching load, because the university doesn’t have full enrollment and is still developing many of its courses and curriculum.

“Much of my job will be to help implement a new environmental science department,” Rodgers said. “So I will help to hire new faculty, gather laboratory minerals and develop new field trips to show students their local geology. Maybe most importantly, I will help create a learning culture that attracts students to the university and graduates high-quality students in earth and environmental science.”

Rodgers will also complete research at the university’s Mountain Science Research Institute. Its research goals are nearly identical to what ISU did the last five years when it participated in the National Science Foundation’s Managing Idaho’s Landscapes for Ecosystem Services (MILES) grant. Rodgers helped direct those efforts at ISU.

“They are looking to improve life in a mountainous environment, improve the use and sustainability of resources like water, to keep the environment clean and to find resources in a place where climate is changing and population is increasing,” Rodgers said. “Think of it as the balanced use of ecosystem services, the same goals as our MILES grant.”

Rodgers is one of over 800 U.S. citizens who will teach, conduct research, and/or provide expertise abroad for the 2018-2019 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement as well as record of service and demonstrated leadership in their respective fields.

Fulbrighters address critical global issues in all disciplines, while building relationships, knowledge, and leadership in support of the long-term interests of the United States. Fulbright alumni have achieved distinction in many fields, including 57 who have been awarded the Nobel Prize, 82 who have received Pulitzer Prizes, and 37 who have served as a head of state or government.

For further information about the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State, please visit ECA-Press.

A spiral of fossil shark teeth, Helicoprion, was exposed during mining operations at the Monsanto mine in Soda Springs. Measuring over 8 feet in diameter, the fossil adds a new story to museum’s growing collection of Idaho’s natural history.

Monsanto Mine Operations Coordinator, Cody Allen said, “As proud members of the Southeast Idaho community, we are excited to help preserve this rare and valuable piece of local history. Alongside experts at the Idaho Natural History Museum and Idaho State University, we will do our part to ensure these fossils are protected and preserved. We hope this discovery will lead to important learning opportunities for the community and even inspire the next generation of scientists from Idaho.”

The Idaho Museum of Natural History is home to the largest collection of Helicoprion sharks in the world. Museum Director, Leif Tapanila says “Our studies on Helicoprion show it was the largest predator on earth at the time, nearly 270 million years ago. Idaho is the best place on the planet to find these amazing fossils. We’re very grateful to our partners in the region for sharing their discoveries so we can make them available to the public for many years to come.”

The public will get a chance to see this shark fossil in the fall when the museum’s Buzzsaw Sharks of Idaho exhibit opens in October. This exhibit has traveled for the past five years sharing Idaho’s history with over half a million people across the United States.

The Idaho Museum of Natural History has been serving Idaho since 1934. To learn more about the museum please visit imnh.isu.edu

In a letter to faculty and staff Monday, Satterlee said he was ready to work with faculty, staff, students, community members and business leaders to build a bright future for Idaho State.

"Together, we can topple our biggest challenges and take on our most ambitious dreams. Together, we can grow our academic profile, enhance the student experience, bolster research, and so much more," he wrote. "Together, we can build the future of Idaho State."

Satterlee was named the University’s new president by the Idaho State Board of Education on April 5.

State Board of Education Member Richard Westerberg said the Board was looking forward to working with Satterlee to bring Idaho State University to the next level. He described Satterlee as a man who was born, raised and educated in Idaho, and a man with great vision.

“He’s an innovator, and he’s a great communicator,” Westerberg said. “He listens to understand, and to learn, which leads to his ability to be open and transparent.”

Satterlee served as Chief Operating Officer at Boise State University since 2015, and a vice president since 2010. He has served in a variety of positions at Boise State since 2001. Prior to that, Satterlee was a deputy attorney general in the Idaho Attorney General’s Office for six years. While there, he was lead counsel to the State Board of Education, State Board of Pharmacy, State Board of Nursing, and the State Liquor Dispensary. Because of his unique relationships and historical knowledge, Satterlee also served as special counsel to the president at Boise State on issues related to the State Board of Education, legislative and policy issues, athletic department issues, and institutional compliance.

He received his bachelor’s degree in political science from Boise State University (magna cum laude) and was named a Top Ten Scholar of the University. He received his law degree from the University of Idaho (magna cum laude).

In his first 90 days, Satterlee plans to visit with faculty, staff, students and community members to learn more about the strengths, needs and goals of the University.

“I pledge to all of Idaho State University that I will devote myself to the success of this institution,” he said. “I want to be your partner. I want this University to be Pocatello’s partner.”

Satterlee said he was going to continue the University’s focus on expanding and growing health care programs, and to help ISU see its great potential. He said he will work to improve student recruitment and retention, and work hand-in-hand with the community. He also said he plans to work with faculty to bring their research and innovations to the forefront.

“We’re going to do great things,” he said. “This University has known great times, but its greatest times are yet to come.”

Williams recently published two studies exploring leisure and serial homicide.

Analyzing the planning required of and enjoyment derived from serial killings, Williams asserts in the study, contributes to understanding the psychological process of serial homicide.

“An Empirical Exploration of Leisure-Related Themes and Potential Constraints across Descriptions of Serial Homicide Cases,”published last November in the journal “Leisure Sciences,”frames serial homicide as a deviant leisure activity. The study, authored with ISU Associate Professor of sociology Jeremy Thomas and Western University, Canada, Professor Michael Arntfield, considers various themes of serial homicide as leisure.

Another paper, published this April in “Deviant Behavior,”furthers Williams’ serial homicide and leisure theory. “Application of the Serious Leisure Perspective to Intrinsically Motivated Serial Homicide,”uses case studies to situate serial homicide in various categories of leisure. Jolene Vincent, professor at Central Florida University, was coauthor on this paper.

Williams has previously studied sexuality, non-monogamy, tattoos and self-identified vampires in the context of social work. He is the director of Research at the Center for Positive Sexuality in Los Angeles and the co-founding editor of “Journal of Positive Sexuality.”

Williams recently returned from presenting some of this research at the Homicide Working Group Annual Meeting in Florida.

Pharmacists will be able to write prescriptions for up to 15-months for birth control, including the daily pill, progestin-only pills, vaginal ring, transdermal patch, contraceptive injection and emergency contraception. This service will increase access to birth control for women in Pocatello.

Programs like this have been introduced in multiple states throughout the United States, including many states in this region – California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

Bengal Pharmacy’s community pharmacy resident, Kori Wittrock, is spearheading the program.

“Lack of access to birth control has been a barrier in this country for years. I am excited to be able to help decrease those barriers and get women the healthcare they need,” Wittrock said.

She is leading the initiative under the direction of Shanna O’Connor, director of clinical services at Bengal Pharmacy. Wittrock designed this program and rolled it out over the past few months using mock patients.

“All of our pharmacists have a Doctor of Pharmacy degree, so we have a great understanding of the ins-and-outs of birth control,” Wittrock said. “Because pharmacists are newer to the role of prescribing, we wanted to make sure to work out any of the kinks of providing a new service before we started involving actual patients. Now all of our pharmacists have practiced providing this service and are excited to start prescribing.”

A small copay is associated with the visit, similar to what a patient would pay for an appointment at the doctor’s office. A birth control consultation will cost $20 and an emergency contraception consultation will cost $10. The copay includes the first visit and a follow-up phone call. The pharmacists will work with the providers at the ISU Health Center and with patients’ primary care providers to ensure communication across the health care team.

According to Wittrock, the benefits of receiving hormonal contraception at the pharmacy are numerous.

“We appreciate how busy our patients are,” she said. “The goal of this program is to get women the health care they need – that means decreasing the time spent trying to get a prescription and getting people back to their busy lives. Patients don’t have to make an appointment to see their pharmacist, they can walk in and talk to the pharmacist about birth control with virtually no wait time. The whole visit usually takes less than 20 minutes and the prescription can be processed right away because we’re already at the pharmacy.”

O’Connor said Bengal Pharmacy has a great understanding of the costs of prescriptions and can work with women and their individual financial situations to make sure they’re receiving the birth control regimen that makes the most sense for them.

“The other great part is that we have follow-up calls built into the program,” O’Conner said. “If we prescribe a new birth control or change any part of a prescription at the visit, we give every patient a call within three to six months to make sure everything is still working well – and if it’s not, we can easily change it.”

Bengal Pharmacy is located on the top level of the ISU Health Center at 990 S. 8th Avenue in Pocatello, and is a full-service pharmacy, open to the public.

“We accept all major insurances and have comparable non-insurance pricing for our prescriptions and over-the-counter products,” Wittrock said.

The pharmacy is open year-round Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“Basically, we are going to develop some high-resolution mathematical methods for the calculation of atmospheric flow,” said Yury Gryazin, ISU associate professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, who is the lead on the project.

He said the group’s most important focus is on cloud formation, which is the most unpredictable part of the atmospheric flow that delivers the weather.

“As soon as a cloud forms, the temperature can change rapidly, everything can change quickly, so the process of cloud formation is still unknown to some extent or is unstable,” Gryazin said. “Basically, it is hard to predict with enough certainty to guarantee some clouds will form at some particular time. In this particular case, using high-resolution methods, it will give us a chance to do more accurate weather prediction.”

The ISU team will work with Xiaoye (Sheri) Li of the Scalable Solvers Group in the lab’s Computational Research Division on this project to “construct a new type of parallel high-resolution compact numerical method for simulation of atmospheric flows.”

Gryazin, originally from Russia, will be joined by ISU engineering doctoral students Ron Gonzales, from St. Anthony, Idaho, and Yun Teck Lee, from Kuching, Malaysia. Lee and Gonzales both earned their master’s degrees working with Gryazin and have finished the first semester of their doctoral programs working with him.

“We will work as a team and this fellowship is absolutely huge, as far as my career goes,” Gonzales said. “We’re starting out wanting to do projects like this. It is a huge step.”

Lee, too, said he is pleased about the opportunity this fellowship offers at the prestigious Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

“I have really wanted to try to do an internship at other places, so this is a very good opportunity,” Lee said.

Gryazin, Gonzales and Lee work with ISU engineering master’s student Jasika Samantha

from Bangladesh on this project, but Samantha won’t be making the trip this summer.

The fellowship was competitive. Gryazin said about 100 entities applied for this fellowship so he was very surprised and pleased when it was awarded to this multi-disciplinary group from ISU. The fellowship provides $16,000 in funding for Gryazin and half that amount for each student.

Gryazin said this fellowship would not have been possible for this ISU contingent without the prior support of the Idaho National Laboratory.

“We mostly focus on developing parallel algorithms, and our opportunity to develop these algorithms came from the INL, which gave us access to their super computer where we could actually test different high-resolutions approaches to new numerical methods in cooperation with the INL,” Gryazin said.

The ISU professor said that this project was facilitated by the INL’s Ben Nicolson, who is a former computer scientist at ISU. Nicolson has also helped ISU develop a class in parallel computing.

The 10-week fellowship will run from June 4 through Aug. 10.

About half of the 30-minute program will tell the story of Kittie Wilkins, known as the “Horse Queen of Idaho,” who raised and sold horses in southern Idaho in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Woodworth-Ney, ISU executive vice president, has researched the political and social roles of women in Western settlement communities and Philip Homan, ISU associate professor and instruction librarian, has completed research on Wilkins.

“It is just fabulous,” Homan said. “This is really a dream come true for a scholar, getting academic and popular recognition about research that is appealing to a wide array of audiences. Wilkins is not only of regional, statewide and of national historical importance but also has international significance.”

His extensive research has included researching a book-length scholarly biography about her and publishing numerous popular and scholarly articles on Wilkins, including papers with titles such as “’Everything Growing into Money’: Kittie Wilkins, the Horse Queen of Idaho, and Range Horse Ranching in the Nineteenth-Century American West” and “Miss Wilkin’s Big Sale: Kittie Wilkins, the Horse Queen of Idaho, and Western American Horses for the Second Anglo-Boer War in South Africa, 1899-1902.” He has also presented information about her at scholarly conferences and at informal venues throughout the region, Idaho and United States, even internationally.

“I have been working on this for at least 10 years and it has been challenging to do because of the lack of archival resources about Wilkins and those resources are spread across the country and even in South Africa,” Homan said. “She sold about 7 percent of all the horses from the United States to South Africa 1899 to 1902 during the Boer War.”

The first Idaho Experience program of the season, titled “Titans,” that aired in March featured prominent Idaho male entrepreneurs such as Harry Magnuson, Joe Albertson and JR Simplot. Homan said it is fitting that the second program in the series features strong, successful women entrepreneurs like Wilkins and her contemporary, May Arkwright Hutton, of the Wallace area who became one of the richest women in Idaho who supported suffrage activities.

Homan is a fifth-generation Idahoan and his family had connections to Wilkins. His great-grandparents knew Wilkins personally and Homan first learned about her through family stories. As a child he remembers seeing a portrait of her hanging in a museum in Silver City. These experiences inspired Homan to pursue research about her.

Woodworth-Ney said she was interviewed by Idaho Public Television for an upcoming episode about “Women in the West,” and was interviewed for the Kittie Wilkins episode to provide context.

“This series, Idaho Experience, offers important critical re-analysis of topics that have previously been neglected or distorted by myth,” said Woodworth-Ney, a fourth-generation Idahoan.

Wilkins, whose formal name is Katherine Caroline Wilkins, was born in the Oregon Territory in 1857, “the daughter of fortune-seeking pioneers,” according to Idaho Public Television promotional materials, which also states, “On one of the Wilkins’ departures, neighbors gave the toddler two 20-dollar gold coins. Years later, Katherine would regale to reporters how she parlayed that 40 dollars into her fortune. She would become one of the most successful horse sellers in the United States, the undisputed boss of Idaho’s famed Diamond Ranch. The world would come to know her as the Horse Queen of Idaho. Friends and family simply called her Kittie.”

For more information about the upcoming television program, visit, https://idahoptvblog.wordpress.com/2018/04/23/taking-the-reins-features-two-women-who-tamed-idaho/.

Andrews has been at the facility since 2002. Along with her professional duties, Andrews currently acts as a mentor and supervisor to multiple CPI students.

“Working as a mentor for CPI interns is one of the highlights of my job,” said Andrews. “I am able to watch students grow academically, professionally, and personally during their internships, which is highly satisfying to me.”

Andrews trains her interns to prepare and perform molecular based research in a laboratory setting. Students gain skills in DNA sequencing, DNA/RNA profiling, flow cytometry and much more. The research produced by the research facility assists ISU students, faculty and the community. The research conducted obtains data needed to publish high-impact, peer-reviewed articles.

“The students that participate in an internship at the facility are better equipped to apply for graduate or professional school and have a competitive edge above their classmates,” Andrews said. “I am happy to be a part of helping them succeed.”

Andrews, who is originally from Utah, has been a Pocatello resident for more than 30 years. She is a proud mother of four and a grandma of two. Andrews enjoys being in the great outdoors and participates in boating, camping, biking and hiking with her two dogs, Charlie and Ginger.

This semester, the CPI Office received almost 70 nominations for the CPI Supervisor of the Semester. In addition to the grand prize winner, the CPI office selected five runners up: Nicki Aubuchon-Endsley from the Department of Psychology, Jena Hintze from Continuing Education and Workforce Training, Alan Sudweeks from Health West Inc., Thomas Wadsworth from the College of Pharmacy in Anchorage, Alaska and Kelsey West, from the College of Business.

“Once again, the CPI Office received outstanding supervisor nominations from our interns,” said Emily Jahsman, CPI program manager. “Students would not be able to participate in high-impact internships without excellent mentors to lead them. We are grateful to the many mentors who make the CPI program a success.”

Operating in its eighth year, the CPI program provides approximately 1,000 internship opportunities annually to ISU students. CPI internships provide career-related experiences to help students confirm their academic pursuits, gain valuable work experience and prepare for life after graduation.

For more information about the CPI program, contact Emily Jahsman at 208-282-3548 or visit isu.edu/career.