In the Spotlight: Dec. 2, 2011

Kudos to these faculty, staff and students

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  • Thomas Kolb, professor of forestry, contributed ideas and data to a manuscript that appears in the Nov. 17 issue of Nature. The paper, “Observed Increase in Local Cooling Effect of Deforestation at Higher Latitudes,” included data from eddy flux towers in the NAU Centennial Forest and Coconino National Forest.
  • Bill Wiist, professor with the College of Health and Human Services and senior scientist with NAU’s Interdisciplinary Health Policy Institute, contributed a chapter to the recently released book, Sick Societies: Responding to the Global Challenge of Chronic Disease. Wiist’s chapter is titled “The Corporate Play Book, Health and Democracy: The Snack Food and Beverage Industry’s Tactics in Context.”
  • Provost Liz Grobsmith organized and chaired a joint session of the Council on Academic Affairs and the Commission on International Programs at the recent annual meeting of the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities in San Francisco.  The panel focused on ways of embedding global learning into the curriculum, in business, engineering and general education. Harvey Charles, vice provost for International Education, was one of the three presenters. The session was heavily attended and helped to showcase NAU’s Global Learning Initiative.
  • Four members of the School of Communication recently presented papers at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association in New Orleans. Brant Short and Dayle Hardy-Short, professors of communication studies, presented “‘For I was Hungry and You Gave Me Food:’ The Post-Denominational Rhetoric of Jim Wallis, Progressive Evangelical Christianity and The Poverty Forum.” Marie Baker-Ohler, lecturer in communication studies, presented her essay, “Exploring Recruitment, Organizational Maintenance and Scholarship in State Communication Associations.”  Baker-Ohler is president of the Arizona Communication Association and served on this panel of state association leaders. Mark Neumann, professor of journalism, presented his paper, “Ethnographic Listening: Studying Culture through Sound, In the Dumps.”
'Mennonite Girls,' taken by Laura L. Camden, assistant professor of photojournalism and documentary studies at NAU
‘Mennonite Girls,’ photographed by Laura L. Camden, assistant professor of photojournalism and documentary studies, was selected to appear in a juried photo exhibit at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.
  • A photograph by Laura L. Camden, assistant professor of photojournalism and documentary studies in the School of Communication, was selected for the eleventh annual juried photo exhibit, “High and Dry: People and Places of the World’s Dry Lands.” Camden’s image Mennonite Girls, was taken in Seminole, Texas, and will be on display at the International Cultural Center at Texas Tech University in Lubbock from Nov. 22 to Jan. 13. More than 500 entries were submitted by 150 professional photographers worldwide.
  • Mandy Hansen, director of International Admissions and Recruitment, presented “Pairing the Right Shoes with the Perfect Enrollment Plan” at the NAFSA Association of International Educators Region II conference in Ft. Collins, Colo., last month.  Hansen also was elected as treasurer for the region.
  • Venessa Jim, a master’s student in chemistry, won a Certificate of Achievement for successful accomplishment in the graduate session at the recent national meeting of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society in Minneapolis.
  • Students in Honors 190 recently collected 1,366 pounds of food for the Northern Arizona Food Bank as part of a four-week food drive coordinated by HON 190 faculty Kerri Quinn. Honors 190 is a required first-year course in the Honors Program’s curriculum with 300 students currently enrolled. This is the fourth year of the food drive.
  • NAU Campus Dining hosted two events this fall to fight hunger by feeding those in the community.Campus Dining teamed up with Sodexo last month for the Kellogg’s Share Your Bowl promotion, which provided a one-for-one match donation of cereal to a local food bank. Nearly 1,500 bowls of cereal were donated to St. Mary’s Food Bank, equal to the amount of cereal purchased by Campus Dining in October. Campus Dining also hosted more than 100 senior citizens at its annual Thanksgiving in the Community event Nov. 17 in the du Bois Center. Students from Kappa Sigma and Gamma Alpha Omega helped guests navigate the wide selection of food and joined them for the meal. NAU Parking Services provided transportation between campus and Thorpe Community Senior Center in Flagstaff. NAU’s Civic Service Institute also assisted with the event.