Recent achievements among the university community were earned by Karen Becker, Michelle Carr Hassler, Judy Diamond, Katie Edwards, Irina Filina, Chris Graves, Maria Marron, Robyn Murray, Clark Potter, Jamie Reimer Seaman, Ross Secord and Ng’ang’a Wahu-Mũchiri.
Honors
Judy Diamond, professor in the University Libraries, and Ross Secord, associate professor of earth and atmospheric sciences, received a three-year National Science Foundation grant that will provide climate change resources to 50 tribal and rural libraries. The project includes paleontologists from Nebraska, Brooklyn College, Hunter College and Brown University.
Katie Edwards, associate professor of educational psychology, has been named the recipient of the American Society of Criminology’s Division on Women and Crime Community Engaged Scholar Award. The annual honor is reserved for a leader in teaching, outreach or scholarship initiatives that foster innovative community engagement in criminology or a similar discipline. Edwards was honored for her community-engaged research with Native American communities. Read more about the award and Edwards’ work with Native American communities.
Irina Filina, assistant professor of earth and atmospheric sciences, is participating in the International Ocean Discovery Drilling Expedition along the Norwegian coast. The multi-national project includes 20 scientists in a focused study of tectonic history along the mid-Norwegian continental margin, the cause of extensive magnetism during the margin’s formation, and how that magnetism influences the paleoclimate. Due to the global pandemic, the expedition is the first to sail in the last 18 months.
The Roberts Owens Ensemble has been awarded a Finalist Judges’ Citation for “Championing the Music of Robert Owens” in the 2020 American Prize Competition. The ensemble includes three Glenn Korff School of Music faculty — Jamie Reimer Seaman, soprano; Karen Becker, cello; and Clark Potter, viola. The American Prize is the nation’s most comprehensive series of contests in the classical arts. It is designed to evaluate, recognize and reward the best performers, ensembles, composers and administrators in the U.S. based on submitted recordings. Reimer Seaman also earned a special Judges’ Citation from The American Prize for the project.
Maria Marron, professor of journalism and mass communications, received the Donna Allen Award for Feminist Advocacy by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s Commission on the Status of Women. The award, presented July 26 during the association’s annual convention, was for Marron’s work in her two recent books, “Misogyny and Media in the Age of Trump” and “Misogyny across Global Media.” A longtime member of the Commission on the Status of Women, Marron was editor of the commission’s newsletter, Women’s Voices. Her advocacy for the inclusion of journalism/mass communications programs representative of greater diversity in the Carnegie-Knight Deans Group led to the inclusion of women and minority leaders.
Michelle Carr Hassler and Chris Graves, both faculty in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications, helped 13 Kenyan female journalists learn about solutions journalism in July as part of a U.S. State Department program. They joined two others from the university who participated in a six-session virtual workshop, which began July 6. Robyn Murray, assistant director of development communications for the University of Nebraska Foundation, helped organize the event and led a session on multimedia reporting. Ng’ang’a Wahu-Mũchiri, assistant professor of English, was a guest speaker who discussed Pan-African narratives. The workshop was developed by Lilian Kaivilu, who met the Nebraskans when she participated in the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders while on campus in 2019. The original proposal was to hold an in-person workshop in Nairobi in July 2020, but that was changed to a virtual event when the pandemic restricted travel.
This column is a regular feature of Nebraska Today. Faculty, staff and students can submit achievements to be considered for this column via email to achievements@unl.edu. For more information, call 402-472-8515.
