In the Spotlight: Mar. 11, 2009

Kudos to these faculty, staff and students

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Associate professor Jeff G. Leid, associate director for the Center for Microbial Genetics and Genomics, recently published “Bacterial Biofilms Resist Key Host Defenses,” in the national American Society for Microbiology journal, Microbe, Vol. 4. He also co-authored The Role of Biofilms in Device-Related Infections, published by Springer. The book discusses the high number of hospital-associated infections related to biofilms on indewelling medical devices.

Wildlife Award
Brian Dykstra, President of the Arizona Chapter of The Wildlife Society, presents a wildlife award to Erika Nowak.

Erika Nowak, biology Ph.D. candidate, was awarded the Roger Hungerford Student Award by the Wildlife Society last month for her significant contributions to the management and conservation of Arizona’s wildlife and habitat.

Geeta Chowdhry, professor of politics and international affairs, co-wrote “The Geographies of Exclusion and the Politics of Inclusion: Race-based Exclusions in the Teaching of International Relations,” published in the February edition of International Studies Perspective. Chowdhry also participated in three roundtable discussions, “Postcolonial Feminist IR: A Feminist Theory and Gender Studies Critical Scholarship Recognition Panel,” “Gender, Globalization and (In)Security: Making Connections, Challenging Contradictions and Exploring Alternatives,” and “Feminist Interventions in the Economic Crisis,” at the International Studies Association Conference held in New York City in February. She also organized and chaired a panel, “Diversity and the teaching of International Relations.”

Mary I. Dereshiwsky, professor of educational leadership, presented “How to Communicate with Students About Grades” at the Multiple Assessments and New Ways of Grading web-based conference, sponsored by the Learning Resources Network. She also served as co-moderator of the conference.

Michael Costelloe, assistant professor of criminology and criminal justice, co-wrote a study, “Punitive Attitudes toward Criminals: Exploring the Relevance of Crime Salience and Economic Insecurity,” published in Punishment and Society: the International Journal of Penology, Volume 11, No. 1.

Matt Hurteau, an NAU post doctoral research associate, recently developed an equation to incorporate the risk of carbon loss due to wildfire in forests. The new forest carbon discount equation method could be used for a variety of business uses such as pollution-offset programs and determining the carbon market value of management actions implemented to reduce high severity wildfire.

Undergraduates Kaitlin Bundock, a dual anthropology and political science major and member of NAU’s Honors Program, and Travis Risner, political science major, are ranked as the 17th debate team out of 822 teams in the United States, according to the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence. The duo has qualified in the first round bid process for the NPTE’s 2009 tournament to be held March 21-21 at the University of California, Berkeley.