Wartburg College faculty have received more than $600,000 from the National Science Foundation to create a scholarship program for Academically and Civically Engaged Scientists.

Drs. LeAnn Faidley, assistant professor of engineering; Christine DeVries, associate professor of chemistry; and Mariah Birgen, professor of mathematics, will lead the new program, which will begin in fall 2015.

In each of the five years of funding, the college will award 10 $10,000 ACES scholarships. Recipients will work together on a community service project, participate in the college’s honors program and earn a leadership minor.

“Wartburg is well-known for its community engagement, but this will make it even more important to our scientists,” Faidley said. “Their learning will benefit because they are applying the skills they learn in the classroom to the service projects, and we will help meet a national need of producing STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) professionals who are engaged in their community and service.”

“In the sciences and math, we lose students who feel like they want to do something that will help people. They just don’t see how they can do that using their STEM gifts,” Birgen said. “This program will reinforce the idea that they can do both.”

NSF grant reviewers said the program was “unique in its intentional focus on increasing the civic mindedness and engagement of the students.”

Though nothing is finalized, Faidley said students from diverse majors would likely work in teams to finish a joint project—similar to what happens in the real world, Faidley said.

“Often the NSF sees student cohorts based on a major. Ours is based on a passion for community service with a diversity of majors,” Faidley said. “It’s a different approach, but one that works well on the Wartburg campus.”