In the Spotlight: Feb. 24, 2010

Kudos to these faculty, staff and students

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  • Nancy Muleady-Mecham, an adjunct faculty member in biology, was recently selected as a Fulbright Scholar for Gorno-Altaisk University in southwestern Siberia. Muleady-Mecham will teach biology courses to the university students and astronomy to the local community. She also will conduct research in the region’s nature preserves.
  • The November 2009 issue of the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research ranks NAU’s School of Hotel and Restaurant Management 22nd out of the top 100 Hospitality and Tourism Programs in the world that provided the most research instances by journal article from 2002-2006. The school also ranks 11th in the world for research output from 1992-2006.
  • The article, “A Web-Based Survey of the Relationship Between Buddhist Religious Practices, Health, and Psychological Characteristics: Research Methods and Preliminary Results,” by Bill Wiist, special assistant to the executive dean in the College of Health and Human Services, Bruce Sullivan, professor of comparative studies, Heidi Wayment, psychology professor, and Meghan Warren, assistant professor of physical therapy and athletic training, was published in the print version of the Journal of Religion and Health.
  • ant
    Pheidole stephensi

    Stephanie “Sky” Stephens, who earned her doctorate in forest science from NAU in 2008, has had a newly discovered species of ant named after her. Stephens discovered the Pheidole stephensi as part of her Ph.D. dissertation research in Ghana. “In the taxonomy world, this is a great honor and is the second insect species to be named after an NAU researcher in the past two years,” explained Mike Wagner, a Regents’ Professor in the School of Forestry.

  • Alexandra Carpino, chair of the department of Comparative Cultural Studies and associate professor of art history, has become the assistant editor and editor-elect ofEtruscan Studies: Journal of the Etruscan Foundation, the leading scholarly publication of Etruscology and related disciplines in the English language.
  • Ishmael Munene, assistant professor of educational leadership, recently had his book published, Transforming the Academia: Exploring African Universities in a Comparative Context, by Nova Science Publishers. Michael Butcher, a doctoral candidate in the College of Education’s educational leadership program, contributed a chapter to the book.
  • Eric Betz, a senior majoring in journalism and astronomy/physics, has won the grand prize in the inaugural writing contest for Arizona undergraduate students sponsored by the Water Resources Research Center at the University of Arizona. His article on El Niño’s effect on water supplies, “A Warm Wave Brings Wet Weather,” also won the prize for best article from Northern Arizona University. Eric will receive a $100 prize and see his work published in the quarterly newsletter, Arizona Water Resource.
  • Residents of Gabaldon Hall raised $726 for the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Red Cross toward its Haiti relief efforts. The funds were the result of a “Penny War” in which residents of each of the hall’s three wings collected spare change in large water jugs at the front desk. Each penny was worth 1 point, but nickels, dimes, quarters and dollars were worth negative points—5, 10, 25 and 100, respectively. The strategy was for residents of one wing to put pennies in their own jug for positive points, but to put coins with a negative value in their opponents’ collection jugs. At the end of two weeks, the wing with the highest amount of points won bragging rights and a pizza party funded by Gabaldon Hall Council.