Recent accomplishments earned by members of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln community include those by faculty Angela Dietsch, Martin Gardner, Paul Johnsgard, Carrie Morgan and Martha Shulski.
Faculty/Staff
Angela Dietsch, assistant professor of special education and communication disorders, was selected as the recipient of the 2016 Early Career Contributions in Research Award from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. The award recognizes significant scientific accomplishments by individuals beyond the dissertation and within five years of receiving their doctoral or other terminal degree. Dietsch will be presented with her award at the ASHA convention scheduled for Nov. 17-19 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dietsch teaches classes in voice and swallowing disorders, and is the director of the Sensorimotor Integration for Swallowing and Communication Lab in the Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders at UNL. Her research focuses on sensory and motor aspects of the brain’s control for speech, voice and swallowing functions.
An article by Martin Gardner, professor of law, titled Youthful Offenders and the Eighth Amendment Right to Rehabilitation: Limitations on the Punishment of Juveniles, was published in the Tennessee Law Review. In the article, Gardner argues that in light of a recent series of cases disallowing capital punishment and life sentences without parole, the Court has now recognized that young people, specifically adolescents, uniquely possess the constitutional right to a meaningful opportunity to be rehabilitated. This right is based on the Court’s identification of adolescents as singularly amenable to rehabilitation. This designates them a categorically distinct class from adults. Specifically, Gardner shows, the Court’s decisions logically extend beyond LWOP sentences and strongly suggest that it is now unconstitutional to punish adolescent offenders with any sentence of imprisonment without providing for their possible rehabilitation.
Paul Johnsgard, emeritus professor of the School of Biological Science, was honored with the Washington State University Alumni Association Alumni Achievement Award on July 12. This award is in recognition of writing and teaching that has expanded public understanding of natural history, conservation and pressing environmental issues. Johnsgard studied waterfowl ecology and earned a master’s of science degree in wildlife management from WSU in 1955. He received his doctorate from Cornell University. He has also been a professor for more than 50 years at UNL. He has authored more than 100 papers/articles and 50 books, mostly on the comparative biology of several major bird groups of the world. In addition, Johnsgard illustrated nearly all of his books by himself with either line drawings or photographs. In retirement, Johnsgard has been curator of several exhibits about birds, the Lewis and Clark expedition, Charles Darwin and other topics. For more information, click here.
Carrie Morgan has been named curator of academic programs for the Sheldon Museum of Art. Morgan comes to Lincoln from Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she managed the Moriarty Art and Design Library for Lesley University and provided leadership in the provision of arts related library services across campus. Recently, she collaborated with a team of Lesley faculty on a project funded by the Davis Educational Foundation to create new pedagogical projects that integrate visual literacy across the liberal arts, science disciplines and professional majors. Although Morgan will serve in a new role at Sheldon, she is no stranger to the museum and the UNL campus. She is an alumna of the university and a former Sheldon intern.
Martha Shulski and Hannah Birge, of the School of Natural Resources, will represent the UNL at UArtic Congress 2016 this fall in St. Petersburg, Russia. UArctic is a cooperation of universities, colleges, research institutes and organizations dedicated to research and education in the far North. By pooling knowledge, infrastructure and resources, UArctic is better able to address the complex social-ecological needs of the region than any individual entity on its own, Birge said. UNL will became the first Big 10 school and one of the first public institutions in the United States to become a member of the cooperative network that spans all 24 time zones and includes 170 members. It will be inducted into the cooperative during the Congress set for Sept. 12 to 16. Shulski will be the representative to the main Congress; Birge will represent the university at the Student Forum.
Students
Phoebe Lockhart, junior economics major, was selected to participate in the 2016 Mount Vernon Leadership Fellowship program at the home of George Washington in Mount Vernon, Virginia. Lockhart was one of 16 students from across the United States in the intensive leadership development program for nearly six-weeks this summer. The fellowship program is for incoming juniors who want to learn from George Washington’s leadership lessons, interact with leaders in the corporate, government and military sectors in the nation’s capital and make a difference in the world. At UNL, Lockhart is president of the College of Business Administration Honors Academy Council. For more information, click here.
This column is a regular Friday feature of UNL Today. Faculty, staff and students can submit their achievements to be considered for this column via email to achievements@unl.edu. For more information, call 402-472-8515.
