Month: April 2018

#NORDP2018 starts Monday, May 7 in Arlington, VA. Keep checking back here at the blog and on our Twitter feed (@NORDP_official) for live conference updates. Register here: http://www.nordp.org/conferences.
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Who: Emily Brashear, Faculty Research Development Specialist
Where: Washington State University
Number of years in research development: 2
Length of NORDP membership: 1
Number of NORDP conferences attended: 2018 will be my first one!
What is the most interesting place you’ve visited? Aruba, it truly is a desert island!

I jumped into the Research Development (RD) world without even knowing what exactly it was. What I did know was that RD is better than reviewing police reports, which is what I was doing in my previous career. (And although that work is filled with funny stories and action, it comes with bad shifts and can be lonely!) So, I jumped into RD with both feet.

My primary job at Washington State University is to find faculty funding. I think this is one of the most exciting parts of RD. I train faculty on how to navigate through the funding database and encourage them to explore new avenues where their research can fit. Another one of my tasks is to manage the university’s limited submission competitions. I feel our limited submission opportunity system is pretty strong, but I would love to hear what others are doing. I also recently took on a small internal program at WSU with the goal of learning pre-award functions. This is the beginning of a new career for me—it’s exciting!

My coworkers have attended a few NORDP Conferences and thought it would be a great way for me to learn more. The conference in May will be my first NORDP conference. I have only heard good things—there seems to be a lot of networking, building relationships, and learning. I’m eager to attend and see for myself!

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We hope to see you at the Conference, which will be held May 7-9, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, VA.  For more information about the conference program or to register, visit http://www.nordp.org/conferences. Follow @NORDP_official on Twitter for all the latest #NORDP2018 updates.

NORDP fosters a culture of inclusive excellence by actively promoting and supporting diversity, inclusion and equity in all its forms to expand our worldview, enrich our work, and elevate our profession.

Dear Colleagues,

We are five weeks away from the start of our 10^th annual conference, May 7-9, 2018, at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, in Arlington, Virginia.

It has been a privilege to help organize this conference with a large group of volunteers who have worked with us on communications, pre-conference workshops, reviewing abstracts, securing speakers, and completing the myriad of details that go into organizing our annual NORDP gathering.

Your response has been tremendous and we currently have more than 500 people registered to attend! This represents 57% of NORDP members, a significant number when you consider the industry average of 20% for association conference attendance.  NORDP has quickly become the forum where Research Development (RD) professionals find critical mass within their community to share ideas and resources, professional development, mentoring, and cutting-edge presentations and speakers in the burgeoning profession of RD.

Our membership numbers reflect this trend as well. From fewer than 100 members in 2009 to approximately 700 in 2017, we currently have 880 Active Members!

It’s not too late to register for NORDP 2018 – please visit our website to register online.

For those of you who are already registered, here are a few things you can do to prepare for the conference:

• Download the free NORDP 2018 Mobile Conference App by ATTENDIFY from your app store*, create your profile, and browse the conference sessions to create a personalized schedule;

• Register for the Monday April 9, 1:30 pm EDT, NORDP Webinar on Getting Ready for NORDP 2018;

• Sign-Up to join a Networking Dinner on May 7 and May 8, volunteer as a Scribe during a conference session on May 8 or May 9, and lead or join a morning Run/Walk or Bike excursion;

• Our hotel block at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City at Reagan National Airport is almost full. See here for nearby hotel options;

• Login to the Members Only section of nordp.org to find the 2018 Conference – Hotel Room Sharing Forum if you would like to find a roommate to save on your hotel accommodations. Shared rooms are billed at $249/night plus tax (single occupancy is $239/night plus tax).

If you have any questions, suggestions or concerns about the upcoming conference, feel free to contact us rdconf@nordp.org.

We are looking forward to seeing you in Arlington in May!

Best regards,

Karen Eck, Ph.D.
NORDP Conference Co-Chair
Assistant Vice President for Research
Office of Research
Old Dominion University

Kari Whittenberger-Keith, Ph.D.
NORDP Conference Co-Chair
Research Development
Office of Sponsored Programs
Co-Director, Responsible Conduct of Research
Office of Research
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

* To download ATTENDIFY, go to your app store, and search for and download the ATTENDIFY app. Then search for “NORDP 2018” and click on “Join.” After you create your profile, you’ll be connected to your fellow conference attendees and able to receive push notifications about happenings and updates during the conference, locate sessions and rooms, find information on sponsors and speakers, and create your personal schedule. Give it a try on your smartphone or tablet, and get ready for NORDP 2018!

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We hope to see you at the Conference, which will be held May 7-9, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, VA.  For more information about the conference program or to register, visit http://www.nordp.org/conferences. Follow @NORDP_official on Twitter for all the latest #NORDP2018updates.

NORDP fosters a culture of inclusive excellence by actively promoting and supporting diversity, inclusion and equity in all its forms to expand our worldview, enrich our work, and elevate our profession.

#NORDP2018 starts Monday, May 7 in Arlington, VA. Keep checking back here at the blog and on our Twitter feed (@NORDP_official) for live conference updates. Register here: http://www.nordp.org/conferences.
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Who: Dana Desonie, Proposal Manager
Where: Arizona State University
Number of years in research development: 3+
Length of NORDP membership: 3
Number of NORDP conferences attended: 2
What is the most interesting place you’ve visited? The bottom of the ocean in the research submersible Alvin.

The road to a career in research development rarely does run smooth.

In the beginning – that is, sophomore year of high school – there was the awe I experienced when I discovered that people actually understood the geologic processes that created Yosemite. I fell even more deeply in love when I discovered plate tectonics in my first college geology class. Unfortunately, later field courses revealed that my passion for science and the outdoors was not enough for me to be able to locate myself on a topographic map (my life might be very different if we’d had GPS in cell phones!). So I decided to take my interests on board a ship, where satellite navigation could tell us where we were, and I became a geological oceanographer.

My doctoral and postdoctoral work brought me great opportunities to travel – Brazil, the Yucatan, the Azores, the Galapagos, and the Marquesas – and I loved it! My most exciting science moment was when our team discovered the Lucky Strike hydrothermal vent site, the third known vent field in the Atlantic. But the further along I got in research, the narrower my focus became. I was still most interested in large-scale scientific processes, and my friends told me that I wrote great letters. So, of course, I became a science writer!

For many years, I freelanced as a science writer, editor, and lesson developer. One of my main clients was Arizona State University (ASU), where I edited research proposals. I also wrote about environmental concerns, including a set of books for grades 6-12, Our Fragile Planet. When the freelance life felt too isolating, I joined ASU’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability as a grant editor, a job that integrated environmental issues, science writing, and editing. My favorite part of my current position as proposal manager is helping young faculty navigate the crazy world of federal funding. That, and cutting wordy narratives in half!

I joined NORDP in my second year at ASU. The greatest benefit I received from my first conference in 2016 was getting to know the other RD professionals from ASU. Those contacts have made my daily work so much friendlier and easier. At my second conference, we took it further and networked with our counterparts from the two other Arizona universities. After each conference, I’ve brought back valuable lessons to my co-workers that enrich our ability to do our work well.

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We hope to see you at the Conference, which will be held May 7-9, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, VA.  For more information about the conference program or to register, visit http://www.nordp.org/conferences. Follow @NORDP_official on Twitter for all the latest #NORDP2018 updates.

NORDP fosters a culture of inclusive excellence by actively promoting and supporting diversity, inclusion and equity in all its forms to expand our worldview, enrich our work, and elevate our profession.