Cindy Hartman awarded NSF Mid-Career Advancement grant

UNH Associate Professor of Recreation Management and Policy Cindy Hartman was recently awarded a prestigious $244,605 Mid-Career Advancement (MCA) grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences, which will allow her to study the cultural narratives rural students encounter as they weigh decisions about what to do after high school. 

The highly competitive MCA grants are awarded to mid-career faculty looking to advance their research skills through new collaborations at a critical career transition stage. 

“Dr. Hartman’s research offers fresh insight into the choices rural New Hampshire youth face about staying in or leaving the state and demonstrates how university research can directly benefit our communities and help shape a stronger future for New Hampshire,” says Dain LaRoche, associate dean for research at the UNH College of Health and Human Services. 

The three-year NSF-funded research project will allow Hartman to work directly with youth in three rural New Hampshire communities. The research has two parts: surveys to capture the content of messages youth are hearing about rural success and identity, and a youth-engaged project using a mobile app that allows students to collect and assess information about the messages they encounter in real time in rural places.  

Read more here.