Luke Montrose, assistant professor in the Department of Community and Environmental Health, was awarded the opportunity to participate in the Newly Independent Investigators Engagement Program by the Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society (EMGS).
The award funds Montrose’s attendance for three out of the next five annual EMGS conferences and encourages him to publish in the society’s journal, with waved publication cost. Montrose will co-chair a symposium, and join both a committee and a special interest group as part of the award program.
The program is the society’s way of encouraging participation by early-career researchers.
“As a junior faculty your bandwidth is small,” said Montrose. “You are often pulled in many directions with constraints on time and funding, but there are a lot of added benefits to being an active member of a society.”
Those benefits include networking and building name recognition for both the researcher and their institution.
“This award really lays out a roadmap to become a member of the leadership of this society,” he said.
Beyond the face value of the award, there are exciting opportunities for students to network with cutting-edge researchers.
“One of my goals over the next couple years is to invest in mentoring students. With the cost of my attendance at EMGS meetings offset, I will be able to bring students so they can have the opportunity to present their research and network within a well-known society,” he said.
Montrose’s mentor at the University of Michigan, Dana Dolinoy, introduced him to the society and this award.
“She has been instrumental in the progression of my career, and I’d like to follow suit by leveraging EMGS to mentor students from Boise State,” he said.
Montrose also sees this award as a benefit for Boise State as the university grows its research capacity.
“This society represents the foremost researchers in my field. This is a great chance not just for me, but for the university to get our name out there,” said Montrose.