In the Spotlight: March 13, 2020

Kudos to these faculty, staff and programs

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Bram Stone, postdoctoral scholar with the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society, was named a 2020 Voices for Science fellow at the American Geophysical Union. He will join a national cohort of 20 scientists and spend next year leading outreach efforts to communicate with decision-makers about earth and space science.
Professor of psychological sciences Steven Barger presented at the American Heart Association Sessions on Epidemiology and Prevention. He compared cardiovascular risk across persons with high and low social relationship resources as a function of 10-year, 30-year and lifetime cardiovascular disease risk estimates.
Professor of art education Pam Stephens published the article, “Developing a Visual Dialogue” in SchoolArts. The article explores differing aspects of portraiture and how portraits can tell a story and develop a discourse with viewers.
Eric Yordy, associate professor in the Franke College of Business and president of the Academy of Legal Studies, attended the Southern Academy of Legal Studies in Business conference with criminology and criminal justice student Chance Strawderman. Yordy presented a paper entitled, “Managing Change Ethically: The Complimentary Contributions of Applied Business Ethics, Change Management, and Project Management.” Strawderman presented a paper on the California Consumer Privacy Act he wrote for Yordy’s Introduction to Business Law honors class during the fall of 2019.
Mike Smith, director of cross country and track and field, was honored as the Mountain Region Men’s Coach of the Year and was just named the Big Sky Men’s and Women’s Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year awarded by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Smith guided the men’s team to their ninth consecutive Big Sky Indoor Championship and the women’s team to their third conference indoor title in four years.
Marc Tollis, professor of in the School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems, coauthored the article, “The Evolution of Human Cancer Gene Duplications across Mammals,” published in bioRxiv. The article investigates cancer gene expansions across the mammalian radiation and provides a springboard for potential human therapies based on evolutionary medicine.
Morgan Vigil-Hayes, assistant professor in the School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems, is a principal investigator on an NSF-funded project that seeks to increase internet coverage in four pueblos north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Network measurements have been collected and workshops have been held at Santa Clara Pueblo to teach children and community members how to measure the performance of mobile internet in communities. An open source curriculum, developed for teachers and community leaders, will outline network measurement units to teach measurement skills to children and community members.
Heather Williamson, assistant professor of occupational therapy and part of the Center for Health Equity Research, was elected to the board of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and serves as a mentor in the Institute for Translational Research Education in Adolescent Drug Abuse. Williamson also published a paper titled, “Technology and Social Inclusion: Technology Training and Usage by Youth with IDD in the National Longitudinal Transitional Study of 2012,” in Inclusion. Williamson; Amy Armstrong-Heimsoth, principal investigator and clinical assistant professor of occupational therapy; Molly Hahn-Floyd, NAU alumna; and collaborators from Arizona State University published the article, “Former Foster System Youth: Perspectives on Transitional Supports and Programs,” in the Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research.
Luke Plonsky, associate professor of applied linguistics, was awarded a Fulbright Scholar award. Plonsky will spend the fall semester at the Universidad de Murcia in Spain.