In the Spotlight: March 2, 2012

Kudos to these faculty, staff and students

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  • Anthropology professor Jim Wilce recently presented a paper, titled “Finnish Revivalist Lamenting as Sacred Therapy,” at an invited international conference on Religion, Healing and Psychiatry at Muenster University in Germany.
  • Chris Looney, graduate student and research assistant in the School of Forestry, was lead author of a recently published research project in the international journal Plant and Soil. “Pinyon Pine (Pinus edulis) Mortality and Response to Water Addition Across a Three Million-Year Substrate Age Gradient in Northern Arizona, USA,” examines the tree species and its mortality during recent severe drought. Coauthors of the paper include Jeffrey Kane, forestry graduate student, Ben Sullivan, forestry doctoral graduate, and Thomas Kolb, forestry professor. The paper is a result of Looney’s undergraduate research project, which was partially funded by the Hooper Undergraduate Research Program. The paper is available here.
  • group photo
    Students and staff recently gathered in front off the ARD building to celebrate a $5,000 donation from The Grove and Campus Crest Communities to support the NAU Green Fund.

    Flagstaff’s newest student housing development has yet to open its doors to tenants and already is investing in Northern Arizona University’s sustainable practices. The Grove and its parent company Campus Crest Communities recently donated $5,000 to support the NAU Green FundBryan McLaren, coordinator in the Office of Sustainability, and Lindsay Wagner, director in Capital Assets and Services, accepted the gift from Grove staff members Allicen Scott, Michael Hartnett and Mike Meehl.NAU students Liz WiggenMelody HartkeKevin OrdeanCaryn MasseyNolan Bade and Cori Cusker also attended on behalf of the university.

  • Twenty-six students from the TRIO Student Support Services program built more than 1,200 emergency food boxes for families of northern Arizona during National TRIO Day on Feb. 25. TRIO Day is a national service event focused on motivating and supporting students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are pursuing college degrees. The students and staff visited St. Mary’s Food Bank in Flagstaff to make the food boxes that will be delivered to low-income families in the area. 

    More than 2,900 federally-funded programs serve nearly one million first-generation students and students with disabilities nationally through the TRIO program.