In the Spotlight: Jan. 8-12, 2024

Kudos to these faculty, staff, students and programs 

Do you have a spotlight item to share with the NAU community? 

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  • Elyse Policastro and Arielle Condes, undergraduate students in the Traustadóttir Lab, a biology, aging and exercise research focus lab, attended the Arizona Physiological Society Annual meeting, where they won first place for their presentation on research-based post-hoc analysis on sex differences as basal Nrf2 levels.  
  • Diego Munoz, assistant professor in the Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science (DAPS), was invited to speak at the recent Open Problems in Astrophysics of Gas Giants conference located in southern Natales, Chile.  
  • Maria Chernyavskaya, DAPS Ph.D. student and research assistant, will be one of two new career representatives for the Solar System Science Collaboration of the Legacy Survey of Space and Time project that will achieve the first light on a telescope in Chile in the next 18 months.  
  • Natalie Jones, DAPS Ph.D. student, was featured in the American Geophysical Union news magazine, “Microbe Goo Could Help Guide the Search for Life on Mars.” The article expands on Jones’s research on microbe goo and its correlation to landform development and search for life on Mars.  
  • Sara Rinfret, associate vice provost for faculty affairs and professor in politics and international affairs, co-authored a faculty burnout piece that was featured in Insider Higher Ed’s 2023 year-end views feature, “A Year in Views.”  
  • NAU partnered with the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps (NSF I-Corps Desert), a nationwide entrepreneurial curriculum, to help researchers understand the potential of their scientific research and its societal impact if translated into the marketplace.  
  • NAU Yuma social work students joined with a local community agency and an agricultural company to raise funds to buy winter clothing for Mexican farmworkers at the annual Dia Del Campesino Health Fair in San Luis, Arizona, held on Nov. 30.  
  • NAU’s hybrid Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program received accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education. This program will facilitate online learning and directly impact the number of graduates with a DPT degree impacting the healthcare worker shortage. The program starts this month.  
  • Janina Johnson, clinical professor and dean of the College of Nursing, was featured as one of the 100 most influential healthcare leaders in Arizona, in AZ Business Magazine’s list of “Who’s Who in Healthcare for 2024.”  
  • NAU’s Green Fund voted to invest $65,000 in a flatbed printer for NAU’s printing services, which will help NAU improve resource efficiency, consistent with the Climate Action Plan, by using a printer that has efficient bulbs and reduces waste.