Kudos to these faculty, staff, students and programs
Do you have a spotlight item to share with the NAU community?
E-mail your announcements to Inside@nau.edu, or use our online submission form.
- Assistant research professor in the School of Informatics, Computing and Cyber Systems (SICCS), Allie Shenkin, SICCS assistant professor Jared Duval, SICCS associate professor Ashish Amresh and research associate at the Center for Science Teaching and Learning Anne Hamlin were selected as one of the 100 teams to make it through to the discovery round of the VITAL Prize Challenges for their project, “Bringing 3D Forests to Life: Immersive Learning for Underserved Students with Advanced Gaming Tech.” The U.S. National Science Foundation will support multidisciplinary teams that have advanced to the “Discovery Round” of the Visionary Interdisciplinary Teams Advancing Learning, or VITAL, Prize Challenge, a multiphase challenge supporting teams developing novel learning technologies with entrepreneurial training, customer discovery support, seed funding and mentorship to build K-12 learning innovations at speed and scale for adoption nationwide.
- The NAU chapter of American Society of Civil Engineers (ACSE) won first place in both environmental design and ASCE innovation, and second place in surveying competition at the ASCE 2023 Intermountain Southwest Student Symposium.
- Christopher Harrison, an instructor of political science, authored his first book, “Genocidal Conscription: Drafting Victims and Perpetrators under the Guise of War.” Harrison’s work traces the history and contemporary risks of enforcing deadly duties of required service including cases of the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust, and the ongoing crisis in Russia’s war in Ukraine. His analysis, built upon the dissertation he completed at NAU, includes suggestions for how states can avoid carrying out this newly identified form of genocide today. The book is available for preorder now from Rowman & Littlefield.
- University Marketing won a gold award from the Hermes Creative Awards for its integrated marketing campaign celebrating the 30-year anniversary of the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) and the university’s commitment to the protection of tribal lands. Hermes Creative Awards is an international competition for creative professionals involved in the concept, writing and design of traditional and emerging media. Hermes Creative Awards recognizes outstanding work in the industry while promoting the philanthropic nature of marketing and communication professionals. Winners range in size from individuals to media conglomerates and Fortune 500 companies.
- Northern Arizona University was ranked No. 7 on The College Post’s, “Top 15 Best Forestry Schools.” This ranking was based on several factors including accreditation status and cost of attendance.
- Theta Tau, the coed professional engineering fraternity on campus, had the opportunity to go work with the Ventura Habitat for Humanity this year. The Lumberjacks who participated included Christopher Weidman, Nicole Dawson, Elena Millanez, Briana Pilling, Haven Decker and Payton Correia. While working with Habitat for Humanity, these students had the opportunity to learn more about construction and about what Habitat for Humanity does as an organization.
- Kelkiyana Yazzie, master’s student in parks and recreation management, was awarded the 2022 Interpretation and Resource Education (IRE) Staff Person of the Year Award for her work elevating indigenous voices at Grand Canyon. In February 2022, Yazzie was officially named a permanent Grand Canyon National Park Ranger. She has served as a mentor to many employees, interns and volunteers across the National Park Service (NPS), developing programs for the public and for park staff focused on indigenous connections and traditional knowledge of the canyon.
- Dennis Foster, senior lecturer emeritus at The W. A. Franke College of Business, was featured in WalletHub’s publication about free credit cards. In his section, Foster provides insights to readers about managing credit cards effectively and wisely.
- David Trilling, chair of the Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science (APS), and Vice President for Research AIMER Coordinator presented on panels at the Arizona Space Summit hosted at ASU on April 6.
- Trilling was a panelist discussing planetary and geological sciences, deep space exploration, microgravity research, astronomy, space medicine, health and performance.
- NAU had a great showing at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) last month. Grad students Laura Lee, Jessica Walsh, Nicole Ozdowski, Oriel Humes, Lori Pigue, Anna Engle, Ari Koeppel postdocs Will Oldroyd, Christian Tai Udovicic, APS assistant research professor Ali Rutledge and visiting professor Jennifer Hanley all presented work.
- Christian Tai Udovicic, APS postdoctoral scholar, recently has an article accepted in JGR Planets. His research analyzes buried Ice deposits in lunar polar cold traps that were disrupted by ballistic sedimentation.