In the Student Spotlight: March 26, 2021

Kudos to these students

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  • The Northern Arizona University Forestry Club partnered with the Northern Arizona chapter of the Society of American Foresters to begin a mentorship program. NAU students will be paired with local forestry professionals from a range of forestry-related organizations and agencies to help build new connections and gain hands-on experience.
  • Senior Eric Nakamato auditioned for and was awarded a spot with the U.S. Air Force bands to play string bass. He will be stationed at Travis Air Force Base and will play for the United States Air Force Band of the Golden West in northern California.
  • Doctoral student Jose G. Martinez-Fonseca received a travel award to attend the North American Regional Association of the International Association for Landscape Ecology (IALE) annual meeting to present preliminary research results from his dissertation. The mission of IALE is to foster landscape ecology research and practice across North America, provide links between people, promote interdisciplinary research among ecology professionals and promote diversity and inclusion.
  • Recent doctoral graduates Colbi McAfee, Braden Mengarelli and Monica Szeto, along with assistant professor Jeffrey Foucrier, all from the Department of Physical Therapy and Athletic Training, received a blue ribbon Social Responsibility award for their project titled, “Physical Therapy Access for Patients Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing: Pilot Qualitative Study.” They were awarded by the Global Health Special Interest Group at the American Physical Therapy Combined Sections Meeting. The team also collaborated with Tasmin Foucrier, director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and Transformational Change at the Evergreen State College in Washington.
  • Sophomore thrower Kimberly Buchanan was named the Big Sky Women’s Field Player of the Week. She threw a personal best of 57.77 meters in the women’s hammer at the Willie Williams Classic.
  • Senior thrower Parker Joens was named the Big Sky Men’s Field Player of the Week. He won first place in shot put at the Willie Williams Classic, throwing 18.06 meters, and he currently holds the top spot for shot put in the Big Sky Conference this season with a throw of 18.57 meters.
  • Senior tennis player Eban Straker-Meads was named the Big Sky Men’s Tennis Player of the Week, his first Big Sky honor during his Lumberjack career. This is the first time in two years the NAU men’s tennis program has received this recognition.
  • Freshman tennis player Gina Dittmann was named the Big Sky Women’s Tennis Player of the Week for the second time this season. She is currently 10-1 overall this season and is a contender for one of NAU’s all-time top-10 lists.
  • Junior golfer Aleksandra Chekalina was named the Big Sky Women’s Golfer of the Week for the third time in her career. She joins teammates Ashley Croft and Elle Kocourkova who previously earned the title making this the first time since 2014 that NAU has had three different golfers receive this award in one season.
  • At the recent Joint Annual Meeting of the Arizona and New Mexico Chapters of the Wildlife Society, the 2nd Place Oral Presentation went to Charlotte A. Rozanski, a graduate student in the School of Forestry, for her talk, “Can fluvial geomorphology predict New Mexico meadow jumping mouse occupancy?”