In the Spotlight: July 2, 2020

Kudos to these faculty, staff and programs

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As an extension of a larger project focused on the social effects of COVID-19, Lisa Hardy, director of the Social Science Community Engagement Lab and associate professor of anthropology; Gwendolyn Saul, research affiliate; and Sonja Smith, a Navajo graduate student in socio-cultural anthropology, published the article “As Arizona coronavirus cases surge from early reopening, Indigenous nations suffer not only more COVID-19 but also the blame” in The Conversation. The article addresses how the virus is escalating racism toward Indigenous people and the effects it is having on tribal lands.
- Hardy also published the article titled, “Negotiating Inequality: Disruption and COVID-19 in the United States” in AnthroSource. The article draws on data collected prior to the recent public outcry for justice to document and understand how people experienced socio-spatial segregation during the first months of COVID-19 and through a progression to the most recent uprisings of 2020.

Daniel Palm, associate vice president and head of the Center for International Education, was selected as a 2020 Flinn-Brown Fellow. Fellows represent the private and public sectors in a variety of fields and will participate in 12 full-day seminars that focus on public policy development within the national, state and local political landscapes to address socio-economic issues in Arizona.
Eric V. Meeks, associate professor of history, published a revised edition of his award-winning monograph titled, “Border Citizens: The Making of Indians, Mexicans, and Anglos in Arizona.” Meeks explores how the racial classification and identities of the diverse Indigenous, mestizo and Euro-American residents of Arizona’s borderlands evolved as the region was politically and economically incorporated into the United States. The first edition received a Southwest Book Award from the Border Regional Library Association and NAU’s award for the Most Significant Scholarly Publication.
Coordinator of veteran and military services Zach Hamilton was featured in the article “The W.A. Franke College of Business’ Veteran Student Center: Supporting our Veteran Students at any Stage of their NAU Journey” published on Medium. The article highlights the work Hamilton does and how the Veteran Student Center focuses on being a support system and sense of community for veteran students.
Emily Dale, anthropology lecturer, guest edited Kiva: The Journal of Southwestern Anthropology and History. Dale also wrote the introduction titled, “New Perspectives on the American Southwest: Historical Archaeology of the 1800s and 1900s” and brought together researchers from throughout the Southwest to address historical sites, populations and events throughout the region that are often overlooked.
Steven Gehrke, assistant professor of geography, planning and recreation, co-authored an article with colleagues at Northeastern University and Boston’s Metropolitan Area Planning Council titled “A cycling-focused accessibility tool to support regional bike network connectivity” in Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment. The article discusses how authors develop a bike network routing engine to evaluate the job and labor force accessibility benefits of new bike infrastructure in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The cover story of Inside JEB features “Pygmy mice whistle for the audience,” which is about a study published in the Journal of Experimental Biology. Assistant professor of biological sciences Bret Pasch co-authored the study titled, “Pygmy mouse songs reveal anatomical innovations underlying acoustic signal elaboration in rodents.” The study investigates the foundation of vocal production in pygmy mice.
History professor Michael Amundson published the article “’The Most Interesting Objects That Have Ever Arrived’: Imperialist Nostalgia, State Politics, Hybrid Nature, and the Fall and Rise of Arizona’s Elk, 1866-1914” in the Journal of Arizona History. The article looks at the demise of Arizona’s native Merriam’s elk and the reintroduction of Yellowstone National Park Rocky Mountain elk by private citizens and the state’s Elks lodges in 1913 and how the new animals came to represent major themes in Arizona history.
NAU wide receiver coach Junior Taylor was selected to participate in the Bill Walsh NFL Diversity Coaching Fellowship by the Tennessee Titans. In his first season, Taylor coached three Lumberjacks to break the 800-yard mark and the team finished atop the Football Championship Subdivision in passing offense. He will enter his second season with NAU and the fellowship will be an opportunity to expand Taylor’s coaching experiences.