In the Spotlight: Sept. 25, 2020

Kudos to these faculty, staff and programs

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Northern Arizona University was ranked by Value Colleges on its list of the Top 25 Most Affordable Online RN to BSN Nursing Programs for 2020. NAU’s RN to BSN program requires 120 credit hours, 30 of which must be from the BSN requirements and includes coursework in gerontology, palliative care, human anatomy, family nursing, nursing informatics and nursing in public health.
Steven Burrell, chief information officer and vice president of information technology, was featured in the article, “Ask yourself: could you live without internet for one day?” published in Toggle. The article discusses NAU’s mission to bring technology and education to the surrounding tribal nations and the work making it happen.
The following NAU faculty members have been awarded the 2021 Technology Research Initiative Fund (TRIF) Research Acceleration support. Each project will receive $5,000.
- Constantin Ciocanel, chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering
  - Project: “Innovative multifunctional composite material morphology for increased power density and storage capacity”
- Ryan Behunin, assistant professor of applied physics and materials science
  - Project: “Forward scattering Brillouin laser”
- Tim Becker, associate professor of practice in mechanical engineering
  - Project: “Particle counting through in-line imaging for endovascular device application”
- Amirhossein Arzani, assistant professor of mechanical engineering
  - Project: “Controlling ambient airflow to prevent airborne spread of COVID-19”
- Robin Tuchscherer, associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, Construction Management, and Environmental Engineering
  - Project: “Settlement behavior of earthbag bearing walls”
- Truong Nghiem, assistant professor in the School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems (SICCS)
  - Project: “Estimating occupancy density and ventilation quality for indoor health and safety during a pandemic.”
Maiah Jaskoski, professor of political science and international affairs signed a contract with Oxford University Press to solo author a book. “The Politics of Extraction: Territorial Rights, Participatory Institutions, and Conflict in Latin America” is forthcoming and is expected to publish in 2021.
Andrew See, head of user services and experience at Cline Library published the article, “Continuing Essential Services at an Academic Library During a Global Pandemic” in Against the Grain. The article is a case study which describes the library’s operation and importance to students during the pandemic.
Assistant professor of health sciences Olivia Lindly led the study, “Health Literacy and Health Outcomes for Children with Developmental Disabilities: A systematic review” published in the American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. The study determined evidence on associations of health literacy with health outcomes among children with developmental disabilities. Lindly, along with doctoral student Chelsey Tarazi, also co-authored a conference abstract on the study, “Determinants of Therapy Access for US School-Aged Children with Developmental Disabilities” published in Health Services Research. The study investigates whether significant state variation in therapy access exists and examines associations of child, parent or family, neighborhood, healthcare and state determinants with therapy access among U.S. school-aged children with developmental disabilities.
Charn McAllister, assistant professor in the W. A. Franke College of Business, was appointed to the editorial board of Group and Organizational Management, a peer-reviewed academic journal publishing articles that extend management and organization theory while addressing implications for practitioners. Previously, McAllister served as an ad hoc reviewer and published the article, “Do I fit in? Perceptions of organizational fit as a resource in the workplace stress process” in the 2017 issue. He will serve for three years in this position.
SICCS professor Paul Flikkema; James Palmer, interim associate dean of the College of Engineering, Informatics, and Applied Sciences and SICCS professor; Tolga Yalcin, assistant research professor in SICCS; and Bertrand Cambou, professor of applied physics and materials science, will be presenting their research paper “Dynamic Computational Diversity with Multi-Radix Logic and Memory” at the IEEE High Performance Extreme Computing Conference. The conference is the largest conference in New England focused on computing and the convergence of high performance and embedded computing.
- Cambou also co-authored the article, “Homomorphic Password Manager Using Multiple-Hash with PUF,” which was accepted for inclusion in the Future of Information and Communications Conference (FICC) for April 2021. FICC is the pre-eminent forum for reporting technological breakthroughs in the areas of communication, data science, networking, ambient intelligence and security and computing.
Associate professor in the W. A. Franke College of Business Eric Yordy, who serves on the Arizona State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, was part of the commission and many state committees that held hearings on section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act concerning the payment of subminimum wages to certain persons with disabilities. The Arizona committee released its report earlier this year and the U.S. Commission released its report citing to the Arizona hearings and report.
Andrew Sánchez Meador, executive director of the Ecological Restoration Institute (ERI) and associate professor of forestry, was featured in an article and podcast with NPR. “West Coast Fires: Climate, Forest Management, Lax Rules, Plenty Of Blame To Go Around” discusses the history and management of wildfires. In “Climate Change Is Not The Only Reason For Record Wildfires,” Meador is quoted about the management of fires in California and Oregon.
Wally Covington, professor emeritus of forestry and former director of ERI was interviewed and featured in several national publications.