SLIS Professor Mardis joins UCAR as Distinguished Research Fellow

Posted by Ebrahim Randeree on
Dr. Marcia Mardis
Dr. Marcia Mardis

FSU School of Library and Information Studies Associate Professor, Marcia Mardis, will join the University Corporation of Atmospheric Research (UCAR) during the 2013-14 academic year as a Distinguished Research Fellow at the National Science Digital Library (NSDL).

UCAR is a consortium of over 100 member universities and academic affiliates focused on research and training in the atmospheric and related Earth system sciences.  UCAR sets the directions and priorities for the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), as well as conducting community education and research programs in partnership with the National Science Foundation (NSF).  FSU President, Dr. Eric Barron, served as a former president of UCAR.

Mardis will be instrumental in positioning the NSDL to continue to provide high quality STEM learning resources to K-12 educators and learners.  She will work on their marketing strategy, help to build relationships, and negotiate agreements with federal, state, and commercial agencies.  From January to April 2014, Mardis will provide research leadership to collaboratively prepare scholarly articles that report analyses of NSDL’s policies, content, and impact.

Mardis is a national leader when it comes to the collection of STEM resources for the NSDL.  She focuses her research on the intersection of learning resources, high speed networking, and digital libraries.  According to FSU College of Communication and Information Dean, Dr. Larry Dennis, “No one works harder or smarter to enable 21st Century Learning in the STEM fields than Dr. Mardis.”

Prior to this latest UCAR appointment, Mardis has served as:
• Co-Chairperson, Collections Transition Task Force, National Science Digital Library NextGen Transition Team (2011–2013)
• Chairperson, National Accessioning Board, National Science Digital Library (2010–2012)

Before joining the faculty at FSU, Mardis was an advanced networking researcher, a digital library director, and a school librarian.  In 2008, she was a Fulbright Visiting Professor at the College of Education at the University of Alberta at Edmonton, researching the role of broadband in provincial school technology integration.  Mardis has been PI or Co-PI on seven NSF and IMLS grants totaling over $7 million.