Former state legislator Mike Sanders is one of several advisors and experts who have been selected to participate in a five-year $24 million research project that aims to address the impacts of Oklahoma’s diverse and unpredictable weather.
“I am honored so honored to be part of this,” said Sanders, who represented Senate District 59 for 12 years. “Being from an ag area of the state, I know how important things like soil health is. I look forward to working with everyone and finding common ground to the issues we’ll face. The unpredictable nature of our weather in Oklahoma affects so many things such as soil health, water and other agriculture-related issues.”
Sanders joins more than 20 other state leaders from government, industry and the private sector to serve in this role.
The research project, which began July 1, 2020, is titled “Socially Sustainable Solutions for Water, Carbon, and Infrastructure Resilience in Oklahoma (S3OK).” It is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) and the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.
Through the S3OK grant, more than 40 researchers from institutions across the state are working to find science-based answers to problems facing Oklahomans, including flooding, drought, and the rapid, unpredictable weather swings in between.
However, successful solutions to these issues may only be found through collaboration among the science community and state leaders from many sectors, as well as a buy-in from the public.
Through his participation in the Opinion Leader Advisory Network (OLAN), Sanders and his colleagues will provide researchers with the insight required to determine how these challenges and research-based solutions may affect communities across Oklahoma.
“The OLAN’s input will enable the research team to focus their scientific work in a way that will provide the most benefit to the state,” said Kevin Wagner, EPSCoR project director. “By collaborating with this diverse group of opinion leaders, our project is positioned to push the boundaries of conventional thinking and approaches to find new, creative solutions to some of our state’s most challenging problems,” he said.
Sanders’ background in government, private industry and agriculture provides a depth and diversity of knowledge. Sanders said the experts and advisors will meet for the first time in a few weeks.
Sanders spent the last four years of his legislative career as House Majority Leader.
He left office in 2020. Two U.S. presidents, Bush and Trump, presented him with White House appointments, and he has served the U.S. Department of Agriculture in numerous high-level advisory capacities. He is president and CEO of Sanders Strategy and Consulting Group in Kingfisher.
Mike and his wife Nellie have two sons, Davis and Walker.
OLAN is expected to include more than 70 distinguished members once the research project is concluded in 2025.
For more information about research project, visit www.okepscor.org.