Six interdisciplinary teams complete Level 1 of UNM’s Grand Challenges program

Last year, UNM launched six new Level 1 Grand Challenges teams with the shared goal of improving the lives of all New Mexicans. The teams focused on the challenges of biodiversity change over time, disaster resilience, multilingual education, access to perinatal care in rural New Mexico, traffic and pedestrian safety, and issues surrounding artificial intelligence.

"The Level 1 program aims to support newly formed interdisciplinary research teams in developing the relationships, resources, and shared knowledge necessary to tackling their chosen Grand Challenges," says Grand Challenges Sr Program Manager Tracy Wenzl. "We are pleased with the success our Level 1 teams have achieved across the academic year and look forward to seeing them implement their research plans in the future."

2026 Level 1 Grand Challenges:

• Disaster Resilience
• Multilingualism Matters
• Rural Perinatal Access
• Safer Streets
• Timescales of Biodiversity Change (BioTime)
• Trustworthy AI

Throughout the year, teams attended regular training sessions led by the Faculty Research Development Office and faculty experts from across the university as part of the Grand Challenges program. The program also provided $8,000 per team to further support teambuilding, community engagement, and the development of a structured research plan. Through monthly sessions and two half-day retreats, teams created mission and vision statements, team charters, and shared goals.

"Level 1 united us as a team and encouraged us to expand our boundaries, fostering a more interdisciplinary approach to our work. Mission and vision statements helped us clarify who we are as a team and what our primary focus is," said Naomi Shin, UNM professor and Multilingualism Matters co-convener.

The cohort of innovative teams successfully completed the program and will submit final reports next month. The program has enabled the six teams to connect researchers with shared interests from diverse academic disciplines across UNM campuses.

"Level 1 has provided the Rural Perinatal Access team with a framework for collaboration to address an issue that each of us has been working on, mostly separately, for some time," UNM Assistant Professor in the College of Nursing and Rural Perinatal Access co-convener Abigail Reese said. "The retreat format was especially helpful and allowed us to integrate the training content in the context of a working meeting."

Level 1 teams also presented at Grand Challenges Day, Research & Discovery Week, and UNM Tech days, encouraging faculty, researchers, students, and community partners to share their insights and join their initiatives.

"The momentum cultivated by our Level 1 teams throughout the year is not just promising; it is truly inspiring," UNM VPR Ellen Fisher said. "I've watched these challenges evolve from interesting ideas into robust partnerships and collaborations that actively include our broader community beyond UNM. I have every confidence that these dedicated researchers will relentlessly continue to push the boundaries of innovation and inquiry."

Some of our Level 1 successes include:

1. Disaster Resilience is developing a Community Action Response Team in collaboration with the Church Rock community on the Navajo Nation.
2. Multilingualism Matters is identifying the needs of families and communities and mapping resources for multilingual children in New Mexico.
3. Rural Perinatal Access and the board of Gallup Community Health (GCH) are forming a community-based research partnership.
4. Safer Streets engaged community members in identifying unsafe intersections and other hazards of street travel at ABQ CiQlovia, the city-sponsored version of the global community event that temporarily closes streets to cars and opens them for walking, cycling and skating.
5. BioTime is tracking the temperature and precipitation rates in Bernalillo County over the past twenty years to compare with the past ten thousand.
6. Trustworthy AI team members sit on the steering committee developing AI policy for UNM and are contributing to a National Science Foundation initiative with research institutions across the country that will guide development of a new generation of AI assistants for use in mental and behavioral health.

Level 2 of the Grand Challenges program provides significant funding to jumpstart team implementation plans. Applications for Level 2 funding are currently in review, with final decisions expected sometime this summer.