Kudos to these faculty, staff and programs.
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- Department of Anthropology professor Lisa Hardy joined the University of Arizona’s College of Public Health and Campesinos Sin Fronteras, a farmworker support agency, to publish a special issue of the journal Practicing Anthropology centered on health research along the U.S.-Mexico border. The issue, titled “Community at the Heart of Research,” contains writing, art, poetry and details of community engagement projects written by health workers in Spanish and English.
- Christopher Tyler Cox, a doctoral student studying astronomy and planetary science, was the first author of the paper “Photothermal Spectroscopy for Planetary Sciences: A Characterization of Planetary Materials in the Mid-IR,” submitted for publication in Planetary and Space Science. This article is the final entry of a two-part series developing a database of Optical photothermal infrared (O-PTIR) measurements that can be used to identify planetary materials.
- Marco Cabrera Geserick, the Latin American Studies program coordinator and an assistant professor for the Department of Comparative Cultural Studies, was a keynote speaker at the 2024 Napoleonic Historical Society conference in Mexico City. Geserick’s opening speech delved into the history of Latin America during the Napoleonic Era. Geserick also accepted a board member position for the Napoleonic Historical Society.
- Department of Anthropology professor Corina Kellner co-authored the manuscript “Migration and state expansion: Archaeological and biochemical evidence from Pataraya, a Wari outpost in Nasca, Peru (A.D. 650–1000),” which was published in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. The paper uses archaeological and bioarchaeological data collected from tombs near the Wari outpost of Pataraya to discuss the migration and identity customs of the ancient Peruvian Nasca people during imperial incursion.
- Natalie Landman, an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Physician Assistant Studies, co-authored a chapter in the new book “Recentering Learning: Complexity, Resilience, and Adaptability in Higher Education.” Landman’s chapter, “Creating Transformational Change Through Learning Innovation Departments,” examines how universities can address rapid technological, demographic and economic shifts by forming specialized innovation departments.
- Cline Library research coordinator Nix Mendy, archivist for discovery Sam Meier and archivist for digital programs Kelly Phillips joined University of Arizona and Diné College partners to present at the 2024 Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums conference in Palm Springs, California. The trio discussed their three-year project digitizing videos of the Colorado Plateau and detailed how to care for film materials held for Indigenous partners.
- In the Institute of International Education’s 2024 Open Doors Report, NAU placed in the top 10 doctoral universities in the United States for long-term study abroad programs in 2022-23. The institute builds its rankings and reports using surveys sent to approximately 3,000 accredited U.S. higher education institutions.
- Bill Carter, an associate professor of practice in the School of Communication, delivered a keynote address for the Global Business School Network’s annual conference in Bogotá, Colombia. Carter used his personal experiences working in war-torn cities and collaborating with scientists to transform Botswana’s diamond industry to challenge business educators to incorporate real-world issues into teaching.
- NAU was one of 471 campuses included in the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge’s 2024 Most Engaged Campuses for College Student Voting list. To be included on the list, universities had to make prominent efforts to increase nonpartisan democratic engagement and student voting on their campuses using a formal engagement action plan.
- The U.S. News and World Report placed NAU’s earth sciences program in the top 100 graduate school programs of its kind on its annual best science programs list. NAU’s earth sciences program was specifically ranked No. 59 while its biological sciences and computer sciences programs were ranked No. 158 and No. 187 on their respective lists. Academic officials decided on these rankings through surveys assessing each program’s academic quality, tuition costs, location and the job placement of graduates.
- Cline Library research librarians Bridget Wipf, Rita Baladad and Meier co-authored the article “Onboarding from the Ground Up: Creating a Community for New Academic Professionals,” published in the November 2024 issue of College and Research Libraries News. The article explores methods of expanding and improving the onboarding and promotion processes for Cline Library’s newly hired academic professionals, a title given primarily to librarians and archivists, using support systems and subcommittees.
- The National Science Foundation awarded more than $420,000 to assistant research professor of biological sciences Mariah Carbone for a project exploring how trees record atmospheric data in their rings. Sampling Bristlecone pines, some of the oldest trees on Earth, the results of this study could have major implications for past solar storms and future solar activity.