Kudos to these faculty, staff, students and programs!
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- Robert Church, NAU’s director of emergency management, graduated from the National Emergency Management Advanced Academy. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) hosts the Advanced Academy to provide emerging leaders an opportunity to refine their skills in strategic thinking, communication, program management and more. Church completed the full curriculum at the Emergency Management Institute in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
- NAU will be recognized by the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) in the November issue of their nationwide publication Winds of Change as one of the top 200 colleges for Indigenous students. The list is curated through a research-based approach and provides statistical and survey data on the quality of support for Indigenous students at these institutions. Carson Pete (Diné) oversees the NAU AISES program alongside his work as an engineering lecturer.
- Frederick DeMicco, executive director and professor in the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management, collaborated with NAU alumna and entrepreneur Vicki Mayo on an article about a new solution to the often overwhelming and pervasive stress of traveling. “Revealed: Breakthrough Wearables Revolutionizing the Hospitality and Travel Industry” discusses how a new wearable device called TouchPoints can actively reduce a wide range of stressors that influence anxiety and mental strain. The devices are placed on both sides of the body and elicit a subtle vibration that activates the body’s “calm” response, which gives travelers more control over balancing their stress.
- After impressive debut seasons last fall, seven NAU Lumberjacks were selected for the 2022 Phil Steele Preseason All-Big Sky Conference Teams. Sophomore running back Kevin Daniels received First Team Preseason honors, while senior offensive tackle Jonas Leader, senior guard PJ Poutasi, junior defensive end Eloi Kwete and senior safety Morgan Vest earned Second Team Preseason recognition. Rounding out the honorees were sophomore quarterback RJ Martinez and junior defensive lineman Cosmas Kwete.
- Rising junior and prolific NAU golfer Ekaterina Malakhova won this summer’s Russian Golf Championship for the fourth time in her career. Fellow Lumberjack teammates Aleksandra Chekalina and Nina Lukyanenko placed sixth and eighth respectively on the leaderboard, giving NAU three golfers in the top 10 overall. Prior to the championship, Malakhova, Chekalina and Lukyanenko soared to the top of the Russian Amateur Golf Championship’s leaderboard where they won the first, third and fifth place spots respectively.
- Kelsey Banister, who received their MS in informatics in December and is starting as a Ph.D. student this fall in Joseph Mihaljevic’s lab, won two awards for their research at the Global Amphibian and Reptile Disease conference. Banister won second place for the best grad student 15-minute talk and second place for crowd favorite.