Kudos to these students
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- Nicholas Gaspar, a biomedical science major, received a $5,000 scholarship from SR Education Group. Gaspar hopes to take a year off after graduating in order to volunteer as an EMT while studying for the MCAT. His aspirations to continue research and learning throughout life, combined with has ambitions to become a doctor, are made more possible with the scholarship.
- Two biological science students recently won awards for papers at two separate meetings:
- Master’s student Lias Hastings won the Denny Constantine Best Student Paper Award for his talk entitled, “The Potential for Urban Water Sources to Increase Rabies Transmission between Bats and Mescocarnivores.” Hastings presented the talk at the 30th annual Rabies in the Americas meeting held in Kansas City, Missouri, Oct. 27-Nov. 1.
- Doctoral candidate Sean Mahoney received Best Student Paper Award for his talk at the meeting of the Wilson Ornithological Society and Association of Field Ornithologists held in Cape May, New Jersey, Oct. 27-30. Mahoney will finish his Ph.D. in the spring and has applied for a Fulbright Scholarship to do postdoctoral research in British Columbia.
- The Zeta Omega chapter of Delta Sigma Pi, a national co-ed professional business fraternity, received the Western Province Outstanding Scholastic Development Award for the ability to plan and implement effective comprehensive programs of scholastic development.
- The NAU Speech and Debate Team competed in two tournaments at California State University, Long Beach last weekend. Nine undergraduate students represented the university in speech competitions against 16 other college and university teams. NAU won two titles and multiple individual awards:
- Riley Smelkinson won first place in Novice Persuasive Speaking for his discussion on the growing student loan debt and mental health in the college/university systems. He placed sixth in Novice Impromptu Speaking, which asks students to deliver a speech with a mere two minutes of preparation.
- Eliot Lovell took first in Novice Informative Speaking after discussing continued human evolution and our current contribution to global change.
- Anabelle Daigle gave a speech on the medical industry’s systematic misdiagnosis of women, which was awarded fourth place in Novice Persuasive Speaking.
- Kailey Saenz was a finalist in Novice Persuasive Speaking and discussed the global sand shortage and the violence emerging as a result of the underground market it has created.
- Alyssa Layne placed in three different competitions: Second in Novice Persuasive Speaking for her discussion on the controversial history of tipping practices and minimum wage in the U.S.; fourth place in Senior After Dinner Speaking by delivering a humorous presentation calling for the abolition of fraternities; and second place in Novice Extemporaneous Speaking after a limited research presentation on contemporary political events.
- Melinda Goldman and Kellan Velarde presented on bringing Internet culture into the classroom at the annual Arizona Council for the Social Studies (ACSS) conference on Oct. 26 at Mesa Community College. ACSS is a well-revered organization in the social studies education community for their efforts in strengthening programs throughout the state.
- The Western Athletic Conference recognized NAU swimming and diving’s athlete Jenny Cheetham as Diver of the Week. This marks the first time in her career that she has received this honor. In the competition against Idaho, Cheetham finished atop the board on the 1-meter and 3-meter platforms for the second week in a row. She will be back in action at the Lumberjack Diving Invite on Nov. 22-24