New Mexico
33 years strong: NM AMP prepares future STEM leaders
Since its inception 33 years ago, the New Mexico Alliance for Minority Participation has operated with the goal of increasing the number of students who earn science, technology, engineering and mathematics degrees. Twenty-five conferences later, the program remains strong.
NM AMP hosted its annual Student Research Conference in late October, bringing together more than 160 students and faculty from across the state and across the border to celebrate student research and promote STEM careers.
Seven universities from New Mexico are part of the alliance, which is housed at New Mexico State University. However, three community colleges and the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez in Mexico, also attend the conference. Along with the university attendees, over 50 students from New Mexico high schools who participate in the NM MESA and TRIO Upward Bound programs also attended this year.
Paola Bandini is the newly appointed director of NM AMP and a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at NMSU. Bandini said conferences like these help encourage younger students who may not have thought about a STEM career before.
“The conference provides students the opportunity to network with other students and to meet and learn from successful role models,” Bandini said. “Students present their research in a professional setting and received positive feedback from faculty and graduate students who attended the poster session.
“Students also gain confidence in their research and presentation skills as a result of participating in and interacting with peers and other scholars. Younger students, such as high school and community college students, get inspired by their peers who are working on STEM research projects.”
During the research poster presentation session, faculty and graduate students served as judges to select winners for both the community college and university levels.
NMSU student Francis Silva, Willow Cunningham of the University of New Mexico and Riley Morris from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology were recognized for their poster presentations in the university category. In the community college category, Kayden Robey, Lane Porter and Celeste More, all from Doña Ana Community College, were recognized for their research posters.
The conference also featured New Mexico State Rep. Nathan P. Small, who delivered a keynote address during the luncheon session about education and opportunities in the state, and encouraged students to consider STEM education and career paths.
U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez also spoke during the luncheon session about the importance of higher education in improving the lives of New Mexicans.
“We are grateful to Rep. Small and U.S. Rep. Vasquez for their strong support of higher education and student success across New Mexico,” said David Jáuregui, interim dean of the College of Engineering. “The state’s commitment helps ensure that students, from high schools to community colleges and universities, have meaningful opportunities to engage in hands-on research and experiential learning. The continued strength of NM AMP shows the significant impact these investments have on our students and our great state.”
NM AMP has been continuously funded by the National Science Foundation for the past 33 years.
The seven universities making up the alliance are NMSU, Eastern New Mexico University, New Mexico Highlands University, NM Tech, Northern New Mexico College, Western New Mexico University and UNM.
Students are supported through a wide range of NM AMP initiatives, including Undergraduate Research Scholars, STEM Pre-Research Exploration Program, the Summer Community College Opportunity for Research Experience, the New Mexico AMP Transfer Stipend, an annual student research conference and community college professional development workshops held alongside the conference.
To get involved with NM AMP and its programs, visit https://nmamp.nmsu.edu/.
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CUTLINE: NMAMP_01: Mariana Navarrete Ovalle, a physics major at New Mexico State University, presents her research project the 2025 NM AMP Research Conference, which took place in October at the NMSU main campus. (NMSU photo by Hanna Muñoz Villalobos)
DESCRIPTION: A girl points at a research poster with text and graphics while two people watch her.
CUTLINE: NMAMP_02: New Mexico State Rep. Nathan P. Small was the keynote speaker for the 2025 NM AMP Research Conference that took place in October at the New Mexico State University main campus. (NMSU photo by Stella Aude)
DESCRIPTION: A man on a stage speaks to an audience of high school and college students sitting at tables.
CUTLINE: NMAMP_03: The 2025 NM AMP Research Conference, which took place in October at the New Mexico State University main campus, featured a poster session where students could network and present their work. (NMSU photo by Hanna Muñoz Villalobos)
DESCRIPTION: In a large room, students present research posters to other students, faculty and staff.
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KFOX14/CBS4) — A leader in the New Mexico Republican Party was arrested Wednesday, accused of a deadly hit-and-run in Las Cruces.
Former Treasurer of the Republican Party in New Mexico, Kimberly Ann Skaggs, 54, was arrested Wednesday and charged with leaving the scene and tampering with evidence, jail records show.
Police documents show the charges stem from a deadly hit-and-run crash that happened Monday afternoon, which killed 40-year-old bicyclist, Andrew Brown.
Investigators believed Skaggs was involved after an investigation revealed that Skaggs allegedly was driving fast in the area, fled the scene after the crash and then tried to hide the vehicle from authorities.
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The investigation
According to police documents, a witness at the scene of the crash– 850 N. Fairacres Rd.– described seeing a dark blonde-haired woman flee in a black Cadillac Escalade SUV.
Afterwards, investigators said they saw on Flock cameras– A.I. powered license plate readers– a black Cadillac Escalade traveling near the site of the crash minutes before the incident.
READ MORE: Dona Ana County expands Flock license plate cameras as officials cite crime-solving gains
The license plates showed that the vehicle belonged to Skaggs and that, in September 2025, the Las Cruces Police Department had given her a citation for “racing on streets-exhibition driving.”
Investigators stated that a business on Picacho Ave. captured what they alleged was the same black Cadillac Escalade driving fast.
Then, the documents described how investigators tracked down the Escalade using OnStar’s live GPS tracking, discovering the SUV was at a property on the 5000 block of Northwind Road, which investigators said the Dona Ana County Assessors Office confirmed is a property owned by Skaggs.
On Tuesday, at around 6:41 p.m.– over 24 hours after the deadly hit-and-run– investigators executed a search warrant on the property and described finding the black Cadillac Escalade behind a home, under a red metal carport.
Investigators noted damage on the SUV consistent with the crash, highlighting that there was blood splatter near one of the front tires, markings on the front bumper consistent with hitting a bicycle and parts missing, which investigators said were the same parts found at the scene.
Dona Ana County jail records show Skaggs was booked on Wednesday afternoon and remains jailed without a bond.
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About Skaggs
On the official website of the Republican Party of New Mexico, Skaggs was listed as the treasurer before she was removed.
KFOX14/CBS4 has reached out to the Republican Party to learn more and are waiting for a comment regarding the arrest.
Also, according to election statistics, Skaggs ran for State Representative in District 36 in 2022 and 2024, losing both times to Democrat Nathan P. Small.
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SANTA FE, N.M. – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham asked Attorney General Raúl Torrez to investigate whether any Drug Enforcement Administration agents broke state law when pills reached New Mexico streets.
In a statement, Lujan Grisham said, “make no mistake: the DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into New Mexico communities.”
The governor also shared a timeline from 2022 to 2025 that she said shows when she asked federal officials for help with New Mexico’s fentanyl crisis and violent crime.
Lujan Grisham said the first request came on June 21, 2022, when she wrote to then-Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray and asked for 50 additional federal agents.
She said she wrote to then-Attorney General Merrick Garland on Sept. 15, 2022, asking for more agents, resources and support for New Mexico law enforcement.
Lujan Grisham said she wrote Garland a second time on Aug. 8, 2023, with the same request.
What came next?
About a month later, Lujan Grisham said she sent Garland a third letter and said New Mexico needed more federal law enforcement to curb violent crime, drug trafficking and human trafficking.
She said her most recent request came on Sept. 4, 2025, when she wrote to former Attorney General Pam Bondi and again asked for additional agents and resources.
The governor’s statement says those requests span several years as she pressed the federal government for more help in New Mexico.
Full statement from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham:
“I am appalled by reporting this week by the Associated Press and Albuquerque Journal that revealed federal authorities made a deliberate decision to let hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills flood into New Mexico communities, despite knowing that fentanyl is so lethal the White House has designated it a weapon of mass destruction.
Let me say that again: the Drug Enforcement Administration watched as 74,000 fentanyl pills were delivered to a mobile home park in Albuquerque, and they did nothing. And that’s just one transaction. Shockingly, the federal government stood by while monitoring shipments, tallying exact pill counts, and watching as these deadly drugs hit the streets.
There are no words to describe how reckless and dangerous these decisions were. Make no mistake: the DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into New Mexico communities, and the agency let it happen anyway. The result: hundreds of New Mexican parents burying their kids. Hundreds of New Mexican kids growing up without stable parents. All while the federal government stood by.
If the justification for letting these pills flood our communities was that it would somehow make New Mexico safer down the road through bigger eventual busts, the results say otherwise. New Mexico now leads the nation in the increase in overdose deaths for the second straight year, despite deaths dropping nationwide.
Today, I wrote to Attorney General Raúl Torrez and asked him to investigate whether any federal agents broke state law when they allowed lethal drugs to remain on our streets, and to prosecute anyone responsible — regardless of whether they are a federal agent or not.
I have spent years working across two administrations — writing letters, traveling to Washington, meeting directly with President Joe Biden and his cabinet, pushing for accountability, asking for more federal agents to be deployed to New Mexico to help fight this crisis.
- On June 21, 2022, I wrote to FBI Director Christopher Wray, imploring the FBI to assign no less than 50 additional agents to New Mexico to stem escalating drug trafficking and violent crime.
- On September 15, 2022, I wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland, requesting that the Department of Justice provide additional federal agents, resources and support to New Mexico law enforcement. We asked the department to match the level of investigative, analytical, and technical resources the FBI had deployed in its Buffalo, NY surge.
- On August 8, 2023, I wrote again to Attorney General Garland, renewing my request that the DOJ expeditiously assign more federal agents to New Mexico.
- On September 7, 2023, I wrote to Attorney General Garland for a third time, reiterating my request once more federal law enforcement support to curb violent crime, drug and human trafficking.
- On September 4, 2025, I wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi, once again requesting additional agents and resources.
I have declared the surge of drugs like fentanyl to be a public health emergency. I have deployed the National Guard to both Albuquerque and Española. While my administration was doing everything we could to stem the tide of fentanyl coming into our state, the federal government deliberately allowed it to flood in.
New Mexican lives are not the federal government’s cost of doing business.
I plan to hold the federal government accountable for this disaster and will explore every possible avenue of action against the federal government to right these wrongs.”
The Canyon Venado Fire has grown to 852 acres east of Clines Corners and crews say wind farms in the area are threatened.
CLINES CORNERS, N.M. – The Canyon Venado Fire has grown to 852 acres east of Clines Corners and crews say wind farms in the area are threatened.
The fire is burning just east of Clines Corners, south of Interstate 40.
It forced the closure of eastbound Interstate 40 at Clines Corners on Tuesday night. I-40 reopened Tuesday night. I-40 is back open but smoke still affects visibility.
“We’re on the side of I-40 so drivers have to be pretty cautious. As far as our establishment itself we’re pretty isolated by the freeway itself as a nice fire break,” said Lincoln Tarantino, Clines Corner general manager.
The fire has burned around 852 acres, up from just 20 at this time Monday.
Crews say the fire is not contained and wind farms in the area are threatened.
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