A woman wearing glasses stands in front of a vibrant garden filled with various flowers and greenery. — Dr. Mary Foltz, an assistant professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was recently named a recipient of the National Science Foundation's CAREER Award. It is the most prestigious award given by the NSF to early career faculty.

CIVE's Dr. Foltz receives prestigious NSF CAREER Award

Friday, June 20, 2025

Media Contact: Tanner Holubar | Communications Specialist | 405-744-2065 | tanner.holubar@okstate.edu

So much continues to change in the world, from seasonal weather to how technology impacts our lives. 

This requires innovative research and collaboration to improve how people can respond to such continuous change. This is especially true regarding the future of agriculture, meeting the food needs of the world’s growing population. 

This is an area of research Dr. Mary Foltz, an assistant professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology at Oklahoma State University, is working on. Foltz is a recipient of the National Science Foundation’s CAREER Award. It is the most prestigious award given by the NSF, bestowed upon faculty with the potential to serve as academic role models and leaders in their fields.  

“I was speechless when I found out I got the NSF CAREER Award,” Foltz said. “I had spent a year working on my application alongside a good friend who was also applying to the same program. She had found out she got hers shortly before, and we were both so excited. We had really hoped one of us would get it, but when we found out we both got it, we were in disbelief. What are the odds, we thought? I am so grateful to have had an accountability partner and experienced the ups and downs of this process with a friend.” 

Foltz will receive $549,852 in funding over a five-year period for a research endeavor titled: “Cultivating Sustainable Agriculture and Education through Transitions.” 

Intensive farming practices — or maximizing crop yield on a limited land area through higher amounts of technology, labor, and resources — can contribute to groundwater depletion, soil degradation and loss of biodiversity.  

At the same time, farms are also prone to extreme weather impacts such as drought and heavy rainfall, compounded even more by a changing climate.  

This research will study how farming practices impact the environment and the resilience of crops in a changing environment.  

Foltz structured this project into three main goals: quantify and assess environmental impacts of farm management decisions under various conditions; develop a user-friendly tool for farmers to make more informed decisions; and coordinate a state-wide mentorship network to educate and connect students and researchers.  

A group of five individuals gather around a machine for testing agriculture while standing in a field. — Dr. Mary Foltz has received the NSF CAREER Award for her research into agriculture production meeting the needs of a growing population in the face of climate change.

To accomplish the first goal, the team will use the Testing Ag Performance Solutions program in the Oklahoma Panhandle to quantify environmental impacts stemming from farm management decisions under multiple possible scenarios. They will leverage data gathered from field work, process-based modeling, life cycle assessment and water footprint analysis.  

To help farmers make more sustainable choices, a user-friendly tool will be created to educate them on understanding the impacts certain decisions have on their crop yields and the environment, accomplishing the second goal. 

“Overall, I hope that more folks will understand how important our decisions are in influencing the environment (and the other way around),” Foltz said. “Everything is connected, and the decisions we make today can have lasting impacts not just for our generation, but for many to come. This is something farmers deeply care about because they want to make sure their farm remains productive for their children and grandchildren.” 

The third goal of education and outreach will include a statewide mentorship program. Foltz and another CIVE professor, Dr. Jaime Schussler, started a water mentorship program in 2024 to connect current and future researchers in Oklahoma and provide educational tools to help them thrive in their education or careers. 

The mentorship program connects an Oklahoma high school or undergraduate student with two mentors at different career stages, one intermediate and one more experienced.  

Foltz incorporated the word “transitions” into the title out of a deep personal connection. Transitions, such as from high school to college or from college to the workforce, are a challenge for anyone, but particularly for people who are neurodivergent. This gave Foltz the idea to add to the program by involving mentorship for neurodivergent students experiencing a transition. 

“Specifically, we target high school seniors interested in attending a university in Oklahoma, or university seniors in the state interested in graduate school,” Foltz said. “These students are matched with someone who has recently gone through that transition (the intermediate mentor) and a more senior mentor (like a faculty member or Ph.D. student). Together, they can help navigate these challenging times with the support they need to succeed.” 

While developing the proposal for NSF, she realized the concept of transitions could also be applied to her research. Her group has a keen focus on how climate change and environmental impacts affect agricultural systems during transitional times.  

"For example, drought conditions in the western half of the state will require producers to draw more heavily on groundwater resources to sustain their crop water demands, which will then further deplete our diminishing freshwater resources and release greenhouse gas emissions from pumping and degassing,” Foltz said. “Those greenhouse gases then contribute to climate change, and the cycle continues. It is all connected and systems are continually transitioning through various short- and long-term conditions that need to be navigated with care to ensure producers don’t lose their livelihood and their fields can be sustained in the long-term.” 

There will be a multitude of opportunities presented to students throughout this project. Graduate and undergraduate research assistants will gain experience through collecting, analyzing and visualizing data to help develop the decision-making tool. The mentorship program will also open doors to students for mentorship and exposure to the careers available through engineering and science disciplines.  

“This award provides support and stability for my team to continue our work in sustainable agriculture for the next five years,” Foltz said. “It also sets us up to be experts in this field, which has always been a personal goal. I am also beyond thrilled that we will have this long-term support for the mentorship program, which I hope to leverage to further research and understand the dynamics of mentorship connections and the importance of these programs as students undergo critical transitions.”