Spotlight

In the Spotlight: Dec. 18, 2020

Kudos to these faculty, staff and programs

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  • Northern Arizona University was ranked by several organizations.
  • Laura Wasylenki, associate professor in the School of Earth and Sustainability; Piyali Chanda, postdoctoral scholar; and chemistry alum Jason Farmer co-authored the article, “Differential behavior of tungsten stable isotopes during sorption to Fe versus Mn oxyhydroxides at low ionic strength” published as an invited research article in Chemical Geology. The study examines how dissolved tungsten, introduced to the environment by mining, smelting, machining and weapons testing, binds to the surfaces of iron and manganese oxide particles. Samples were analyzed with NAU’s multi-collector inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometer in the School of Earth  Sustainability, funded by an NSF Major Research Instrumentation grant to professor Mary Reid.
  • Luke Plonsky, associate professor of English, received a $67,244 grant from Duolingo for the project titled, “The effects of frequency, duration, and intensity on L2 learning through Duolingo: A ‘natural’ experiment.” Duolingo analyzes how people learn to make language learning more assessable to everyone through the use of technology.
  • Assistant professor of physical therapy Amit Kumar was elected as the chair elect of the Aging Research and Geriatric Rehabilitation Networking Group. The group is part of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and works to improve the lives of older adults through the creation and dissemination of knowledge in gerontological rehabilitation policy, practice, research and education.
  • Ann Huffman, professor of psychological sciences, and alumna Kristine Olson co-authored the article, “The relationship between mentor support experiences and STEM graduate student career optimism” published in Career Development International. The study provides evidence that mentor support experiences are significantly linked to career optimism via self-efficacy and school satisfaction and, in some cases, the gender of the mentor and the mentee.
  • Assistant research professor of anthropology Alder Keleman Saxena co-edited an art project titled, “Feral Atlas: The More-than-Human Anthropocene” published by the Digital Projects section in Stanford University Press. The project is a digital-born compendium of environmental research and multimedia art.
  • Principal lecturer of sociology James Bowie established a column titled, “Logology” with the publisher Marker, a specialty platform from Medium for business related publications. The column contains several articles Bowie published this past semester. He also gave a virtual presentation titled, “Why Trends in Logo Design Matter” at the HOW Design Conference last month.
  • Chief institutional data officer Laura Jones and CIO Steven Burrell co-authored the article, “A Data and IT Governance Journey: Finding Truth Amid the Quicksand” published with Educause Review. The article discusses the importance and the development of a data governance model to establish necessary baseline institutional information. Vice President of Enrollment Management Anika Olsen and Vice President of Student Affairs Erin Grisham were quoted.
  • Blake Rayfield, assistant professor in the W. A. Franke College of Business, received a 2020 Literati Award from the Review of Behavioral Finance for his co-authored article, “Do overconfident CEOs stay out of trouble? Evidence from employee litigations.” The study examined the relationship between CEO overconfidence and litigation risk by examining employee-level lawsuit data.
  • Naomi Lee, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, was featured in an interview article titled, “Overcoming Challenges as a Native American in STEM” published with NeurOnline. Lee discusses her background, the challenges she faces and her goals of improving American Indian and Alaskan Native health through research, STEM education and mentoring.
  • Lynda Ransdell, professor of health sciences, received the Distinguished Administrator award from the National Association of Kinesiology in Higher Education (NAKHE), recognizing her accomplishments over the past 12 years as an administrator in higher education. She was also named a NAKHE Fellow, achieving fellowship in all four professional associations under NAKHE. Additionally, Ransdell co-authored the article, “Missing or seizing the opportunity? The effect of an opportunity hire on job offers to science faculty candidates” published in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal. The article won a 2020 Literati Award for outstanding paper from Emerald Publishing.
  • Steven Gehrke, assistant professor in the Department of Geography, Planning and Recreation, co-authored the article, “Direct demand modelling approach to forecast cycling activity for a proposed bike facility” published in Transportation Planning and Technology. The study introduces a state-of-the-practice method for predicting daily bicyclist volumes for a newly designed off-street, shared-use path.
  • Associate professor of physical therapy John Heick received a James A. Gould Excellence in Teaching Orthopedic Physical Therapy Award from the Academy of Orthopedic Physical Therapy of the American Physical Therapy Association. The award recognizes and supports excellence in instructing orthopedic physical therapy principles and techniques.
  • Nicole Hampton, lecturer of educational specialties, received the Postsecondary Teacher of the Year Award presented by the Association for Career & Technical Education (ACTE). ACTE is committed to the advancement of education that prepares youth and adults for successful careers.
  • From the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society, graduate student Elaine Pegoraro, assistant director Chris Ebert and professor of biology Ted Schuur, along with Kiona Ogle, professor in the School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems (SICCS), published new findings in Global Change Biology. The study suggests highly waterlogged thermokarst areas can moderate carbon release from microbial decomposition, however, when this terrain dries, old soil carbon loss accelerates in a way that could be a substantial feedback to Arctic warming.
  • Paul Jagodzinski, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, was elected chairman of the Board of Directors for the American Chemical Society (ACS). Chartered by the U.S. Congress, the ACS advances the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and its people.
  • PLOS Biology published a newly developed database that lists more than 100,000 of the most cited researchers in the world covering all fields of science. 29 NAU current or retired professors were ranked among the top 160,000 scientists in the world.
    • Yiqi Luo, biological sciences
    • Dan Binkley, forestry
    • Scott Goetz, SICCS
    • Peter Price, biological sciences
    • Thomas Whitham, biological sciences
    • Robert Whetten, applied physics and materials science
    • Andrew Richardson, SICCS
    • Ted Schuur, biological sciences
    • Nancy Johnson, School of Earth and Sustainability
    • Paul Keim, Pathogen and Microbiome Institute
    • Miguel José-Yacamán, applied physics and materials science
    • Paul Beier, forestry
    • Douglas Biber, English
    • Gregory Caporaso, biological sciences
    • Darrell Kaufman, SES
    • Peter Fulé, forestry
    • Wallace Covington, forestry
    • Anna Schwartz, nursing
    • Lee Drickamer, biological sciences
    • Peter Vadasz, mechanical engineering
    • Alan August Lew, geography
    • Matthew Bowker, forestry
    • Mark Cornwall, physical therapy
    • Naoko Taguchi, English
    • David Schultz, Vice President for Research
    • Luke Plonsky, English
    • Martha Crump, biology
    • Paul Torrence, chemistry
    • Venkata Yaramasu, SICCS