Other NM universities announcements

New Mexico State University Regents professor Cynthia Bejarano was among 32 faculty and staff that the United States Department of Agriculture welcomed to Washington, D. C. earlier this month in the 2024 class of E. Kika De la Garza Fellows. The group was selected from Hispanic Serving Institutions and Hispanic Serving School Districts across the country.

"The USDA offers numerous opportunities for NMSU students, particularly in the form of internships and potential employment after graduation. There also are an array of federal resources available to help rural communities in New Mexico," said Bejarano, who is also the principal investigator of NMSU's College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP). "I am enthusiastic about community partnership opportunities that are now in the works with the USDA, thanks to this week-long fellowship. I'm humbled and grateful for the opportunity, and the information that I am bringing back to NMSU and southern New Mexico."

New Mexico State University has selected Rick Marlatt to serve as associate dean of the Graduate School. He began his role on July 1.

"I am honored to join the Graduate School at New Mexico State University and am tremendously excited to contribute to the vision of empowering graduate students to succeed throughout their academic endeavors and beyond," he said.

New Mexico has been selected to join the 2024 Startup World Cup, a prestigious global competition organized by San Jose, California-based Pegasus Tech Ventures, offering a $1 million prize to the winner.

This opportunity will allow a New Mexico startup to compete for the $1 million prize at an event in San Francisco this October. The state winner will be selected through a pitch competition held at Arrowhead Center at New Mexico State University's New Mexico Startup Forum Sept. 4-5 in Albuquerque.

New research from New Mexico State University shows depression can reduce survival rates among American women diagnosed with breast cancer.

Jagdish Khubchandani, a professor of public health sciences at NMSU, led a study to understand the long-term impacts of depression among American women with breast cancer. Khubchandani's study partners included the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Walden University, and the National Institute on Aging, a division of the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

New Mexico State University Global Campus, the online campus of NMSU, has launched a new outreach campaign targeting the nearly 302,000 adults in the state who have some college credits but no degree.

The campaign aims to inform these individuals that they can return to school and utilize the New Mexico Opportunity Scholarship to complete their first undergraduate degree tuition-free. By enrolling in one of the flexible online bachelor's programs at NMSU Global, they can also fit school into their schedules more easily.

Honoring his father's legacy of supporting higher education, NMSU College of Business alumnus Michael F. D. Anaya is giving back to students in his own way by providing the Joe Anaya Memorial Scholarship.

"My father was a true role model for me, along with my mother, Grace Anaya," he shared. "They allowed me to attend NMSU without the burden of debt. I wanted to honor his memory by giving back to others in my own way, even if it's just a little."

Biochar, a charcoal-like material prepared from crop and forest residue, can have a big impact on soil health for large- and small-scale farms in New Mexico.

While research on how to effectively produce biochar for commercial purposes is still ongoing, growers can learn more about biochar and how it impacts soil health at this year's field day at the New Mexico State University Agricultural Science Center in Clovis. Researchers will also present information on other soil science projects, as well as dairy industry updates and hay production. The field day will begin at 8 a.m. Aug. 6 at the center, which is located 13 miles north of Clovis on Highway 288.

Manny Canas earned a bachelor's degree in astrophysics before choosing New Mexico State University in 2019 to pursue a master's degree. Guided by NMSU astronomy associate professor Wladimir Lyra, Canas collaborated on Lyra's 2022 NASA Emerging Worlds grant before earning his master's in 2023.

"Manny absorbed everything like a sponge," Lyra said. "It was a mentor-apprentice experience."

After receiving his master's, Canas launched a full-time tech career with Booz Allen Hamilton as a software engineer. He builds both the user interface and the server-side interactions of the software. The company has contracts with many government agencies from the IRS to NASA.