About Us: Oklahoma EPSCoR

Oklahoma EPSCoR
415 Whitehurst Hall
Stillwater, OK  74078

Ph:  405.744.9964
Fax:  405.744.7688
Email:  kbarnicoat@okepscor.org

The Oklahoma Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (OK EPSCoR) was initiated by the National Science Foundation in 1985 to strengthen Oklahoma’s exploration and growth in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. 

EPSCoR Jurisdictions
(Access EPSCoR State Websites)

Oklahoma EPSCoR’s central goal is to increase the state’s research competitiveness through strategic support of research instruments and facilities, research collaborations, and integrated education and research programs.

The national NSF EPSCoR program is designed to benefit states, including Oklahoma, that have historically received lesser amounts of competitive research and development funding. Twenty-eight states, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Territory of Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands are currently eligible to participate.

EPSCoR provides support for key research areas at Oklahoma’s public universities, while also establishing partnerships with higher education, government and industry to effect lasting progress in the state’s research infrastructure, research and development capacity, and R&D competitiveness. The goal is to stimulate lasting research infrastructure improvements in Oklahoma.  Access the national NSF EPSCoR brochure

The National Science Foundation awarded Oklahoma EPSCoR $20 million in 2013 for the program’s Research Infrastructure and Improvement (RII) Plan: "Adapting Socio-ecological Systems to Increased Climate Variability."  NSF grant award number IIA-1301789 began June 1, 2013, and is scheduled to conclude in 2018.  Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education will match the NSF award with an additional $800,000/year to further support climate variability research and educational outreach programs throughout Oklahoma.

Oklahoma EPSCoR State Advisory Committee

In July 2000, the Oklahoma EPSCoR Advisory Committee was codified by statute as an advisory committee to the State Regents. The committee, which is chaired by the chancellor of the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education, is made up of esteemed members of business, government and academia. The purpose of the committee is to promote cooperative research efforts among public and private universities in Oklahoma; promote private sector involvement in university research and encourage technology transfer; promote human resource development in science and engineering within the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education; recommend research projects when only a limited number may be submitted by the State of Oklahoma; and appoint the EPSCoR director. 

Click here to access the list of committee members.

Oklahoma EPSCoR External Advisory Committee

The Oklahoma State EPSCoR Advisory Committee has appointed an External Advisory Committee (EAC) in support of the Socially Sustainable Solutions for Water, Carbon, and Infrastructure Resilience in Oklahoma project (NSF award #OIA-1946093). The nine-member EAC is made up of discipline-specific experts who are also leaders in business, industry, and academia. The committee’s role is to provide recommendations to project leadership in order to increase the effectiveness and integration of all program elements during the five-year NSF award (July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2025). To that end, the EAC will develop an annual program assessment to evaluate the project's progress toward established milestones.

External Advisory Committee members are:

Carrie Billy, J.D.
 Former President & CEO
American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC)

Thomas Birkland, Ph.D.
Assoc. Dean for Research & Engagement, College of Humanities & Social Sciences
Professor, School of Public & International Affairs
North Carolina State University

Tim Faltyn, Ph.D. 
President
Oklahoma Panhandle State University

Heather Johnston, M.Ed.
State Director of Science & Engineering Education
Oklahoma State Department of Education

LeRoy Jones II, Ph.D.
Professor of Chemistry
Dean, College of Arts & Sciences
Chicago State University

Jonna Kirschner
President, CNI Manufacturing LLC
Senior Vice President, Chickasaw Nation Industries, Inc.

Nancy Love, Ph.D., P.E., BCEE
Borchardt & Glysson Collegiate Professor
College of Civil & Environmental Engineering
University of Michigan

Charles Rice, Ph.D.
Professor of Soil Microbiology
Kansas State University 

Sri Sritharan, Ph.D.
Interim Assoc. Dean of Engineering
Wilkinson Chair of Interdisciplinary Engineering
Iowa State University

For more information about EPSCoR programs, contact Kaley Barnicoat, outreach coordinator, at kbarnicoat@okepscor.org or call 405.744.9964.