Recent News

March 2012

Science & Technology :The Blasker Grants Program Celebrates 10th Anniversary Marked by $6.5 Million Granted to Early Career Scientists

Science & Technology The San Diego Foundation celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the Blasker Grants Program at a luncheon held on Thursday, November 10, 2011 at The Foundation’s Center for Civic Engagement. The Blasker-Rose-Miah Fund was established at The San Diego Foundation to nurture and develop unique and innovative discoveries and experiences which may be of benefit to all mankind, and to support and encourage individuals with high potential in the scientific, engineering, and medical fields to reach their full potential in their chosen areas of study, work, and analysis.

The Blasker Award was launched through an $8.9 million endowment to The San Diego Foundation in 2001. The endowment was established by Samuel L. Blasker, a former aeronautical engineer for Convair in San Diego, to honor his mother, Rose Miah, and to foster scientific innovation. To date, the fund has granted more than $4.5 million in support of 80 early career scientists in the Science & Technology program, and more than $1.95 million to support 29 early career scientists in their research that advances solutions to our region’s most pressing environmental concerns, including California’s first regional assessment of climate impacts.

The generosity and vision of Samuel Blasker has built an enduring legacy that has inspired creativity in the scientific, engineering and medical communities. The grants have helped produce nearly 200 scientific publications and have impacted approximately 600 student researchers throughout San Diego. This is the kind of spirit and innovation that Sam envisioned when he endowed the fund.

Click here for more information about Blasker-Rose-Miah Fund

Previous News

Dr. Ned Smith Ushers the Working Group into a Hopeful Future

Dr. Ned Smith

The San Diego Foundation would like to welcome Ned Smith, PhD as our new Science and Technology Working Group Chair. Dr. Smith was an academic fellow of the National Institutes of Health, an award winning college professor, and is a successful fundraiser, facilitator, project leader, writer and reviewer of grant proposals. His former positions include Director of the Science and Technology Department at The San Diego Foundation, Executive Director of the Birch Aquarium at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and the Director of the North Carolina Aquariums Division. Ned has established and been a member of several boards. He was the CFO of an arts council, and led four nonprofits in their successful national accreditation efforts. Dr. Smith’s consulting work has ranged from organizational analysis to program development. Ned is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, as well as the Zoo and Aquarium Association. Dr. Smith has a PhD in Neurobiology from the University of Pittsburgh.

New Fellow Supports the Working Group

We are pleased to announce our new Science & Technology Research Fellow, Casey O’Toole.
This fellowship opportunity was made possible by the generous support of one of our Science & Technology Working Group members to support with K-12 Science Education research and Blasker Program impact evaluation. Casey has a Masters in Pacific International Affairs from the University of California, San Diego. His studies focused on International Economics with specific interest in Latin America. Casey was the Co-Director of Baja Project, a student run sustainable development project in El Barril, Baja Mexico. Prior to graduate school, Casey worked as a Sales Representative for the Pepsi Bottling Group where he managed client accounts and performed forecasting projections and analysis. Casey holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Economics and Global Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Casey is in the process of administering a comprehensive survey to all past Blasker Grant recipients to measure the impact it has had on the trajectory of their respective careers. To get an idea of the impact of these special grants, we invite you to view the following short videos on some of our grantees.

Science & Technology - Blasker Recipients
Peter Iovine 9 minutes video	Matt Anderson 9 minutes video	Debbie Tahmassebi 9 minutes video

Science and Technology grants over $500,000 to the 2011 Blasker Grant Recipients

We would like to congratulate Ned Smith (Chair), Barbara Sawrey (Co-Vice Chair), Sam Takahashi (Co-Vice Chair), and all of the Science and Technology Working Group Members for doing an amazing job in selecting an elite group of 9 Blasker Grant Recipients. Our 2011 recipients are researching cutting edge techniques that range from curing drug addiction to enhancing the effectiveness of chemotherapy.

Despite the instability of our fragile economy, we were able to offer over $500,000 in grants to the largest number of recipients since our inaugural class. Congratulations to everybody involved.

An Update on Science & Technology

The Science & Technology Working Group sponsored a workshop on evaluation and assessment techniques on December 8, 2010. Participation in the workshop was a prerequisite for applying to the 2011 Science & Technology Community Grants program focusing on evaluation and assessment. In 2011, the grant program will assist math and science initiatives which apply the techniques learned in the workshop to develop evidence of their impacts. This workshop was open to all nonprofit organizations and school districts currently involved in K-12 science and math education initiatives within San Diego County. It was particularly applicable for programs that target 5th to 9th grade, and focus on enhancing teacher capacity. The seminar was led by Dr. Julian Betts, Professor of Economics, UCSD, who has published extensively on educational statistics, especially related to student achievement in the San Diego Unified School District. Workshop attendees will be invited to attend a follow up clinic this spring and grant recommendations will be made in June 2011.

2010 Evaluation and Assessment Grantees included: San Diego County Office of Education, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Rueben H. Fleet Science Center, BIOCOM Institute and San Diego Workforce Partnership.