NSF and Your Research

Please join us for an informative session on April 13, 2022, 2:00–3:30 pm with Dr. Steve Ellis, NSF Program Director, Division of Biological Sciences (BIO) and Dr. Courtney Jahn, NSF Program Director, Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS). Dr. Ellis and Dr. Jahn will share what NSF is (and isn’t), the history/structure, funding mechanisms and opportunities, and tips for success. 

Dr. Ellis has been a permanent Program Officer at the National Science Foundation since 2013. At NSF, he helps manage the review of grant proposals and the oversight of awards. He has worked in a range of programs in the Directorate for Biological Sciences, including the Physiological Mechanisms and Biomechanics; National Ecological Observatory Network; EDGE; I-CORPS; Infrastructure Innovations for Biological Research; Sustaining; Mid-Scale Research Infrastructure; and the Major Research Instrumentation programs. Prior to joining the NSF, Dr. Ellis was a faculty member in the Animal and Veterinary Sciences Department at Clemson University where his research program was focused on prepubertal ruminant mammary development. Steve has a B.S. in Animal Science from UConn, and earned both his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees researching lactation physiology and mammary development in dairy animals at Virginia Tech.

Dr. Courtney Jahn is a rotating Program Officer at the National Science Foundation, in the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems. Courtney is part of the management teams for the Plant Genome Research Program (PGRP) and the Organismal Response to Climate Change (ORCC) programs. She is a Program Officer for the cross-directorate and inter-agency Enabling Discovery through GEnomics (EDGE) program which includes the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health. At Colorado State, Dr. Jahn is a faculty member in the Department of Agricultural Biology where her research program focuses on stress responses of plants. Courtney has a B.S. in Bacteriology, a M.S. in the field of Microbial Ecology, and a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology all from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Jahn's prior research activities have also included studies in microbiology, plant growth, development, physiology and metabolism.