Recent accomplishments received by Nebraska faculty and staff were earned by Lindsey Arneson, Gwendolyn Audrey Foster, David Hage, Yvonne Lai, Christopher Tuan and Betty Walter-Shea. Other featured honorees include six music students, the Nebraska Soil Judging Team and Mike Johanns.
Faculty/Staff
Lindsey Arneson, research compliance services specialist with Research Responsibility, recently passed the Certified Institutional Review Board Professional certification process. The national certification is for individuals administering and overseeing the daily activities of institutional review boards and human subjects research protections. The credential was developed to promote ethical research practices and programs by ensuring that professionals charged with their administration have demonstrated an advanced level of knowledge, understanding and experience.
Gwendolyn Audrey Foster, Willa Cather Professor of English, will open an invited, one-woman show of her work at the Museum of Future in Berlin, Germany, on Oct. 28. Foster is a prolific filmmaker and film scholar with a focus on a variety of cinematic areas, including gender, race, ecofeminism and class studies. Foster has made many films, including the 1991 documentary “Women Who Made The Movies.” Her recent work has focused on a number of short films, including “Self-Portrait” (below). Foster’s films have been screened internationally. Learn more about this honor and Foster’s filmography.
- David Hage, James Hewitt University Professor of Chemistry, received the 2017 International Society of Molecular Recognition Pierce Award in Affinity Technology. The award was presented during the society’s 22nd Affinity Conference, held June 25-29 in Paris, France. The biennial award includes a cash prize and an invitation to present a lecture during the conference, which is focused on the science and technology of biomolecular affinity interactions. Founded in 1985, the society fosters communication between researchers concerned with molecular recognition in chemistry, biology, biotechnology and medicine. Learn more about Hage’s research.
- Yvonne Lai, assistant professor of mathematics, will lead a five-year project to improve the math education of future high school teachers nationwide. Lai and her colleagues at Nebraska will receive part of a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to develop curricula in four areas and investigate how those materials inform future teachers’ math knowledge. The curricula – in the fields of algebra, geometry, modeling and statistics – will be piloted by more than 40 institutions, with Nebraska testing the materials in courses such as Math 407 and 408. Read more about the project.
- Christopher Tuan, professor of civil engineering, received the 2017 TechConnect Defense Innovation Award during the Defense Innovation Summit, Oct. 3-5 in Tampa, Florida. The award recognized Tuan’s development of concrete that can shield structures against electromagnetic pulses: high-energy bursts of electromagnetic waves that can disable electronics and power grids. Tuan’s research has also developed another formulation of the concrete that can conduct just enough electric current to offer de-icing capabilities. Only 15 percent of innovations submitted to the Defense Innovation Summit were selected for the award. Learn more about this innovation.
- Betty Walter-Shea, professor of natural resources, has been named interim associate dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. Walter-Shea will be responsible for faculty advancement programming, especially as it relates to early-career faculty with appointments in the college. She will also oversee graduate fellowship opportunities and strategic planning for graduate education. She will assist in initiatives to build a community of scholars, including graduate students, post-doctoral scholars and faculty members and will oversee the College’s graduate fellowships and on-line programming. Read more about the appointment, which is effective through June 30.
Students
Glenn Korff School of Music students earned 26 honors, including six of 10 first places and 17 top-three finishes, at Nebraska’s National Association of the Teachers of Singing Student Auditions contest held Oct. 6 at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Huskers earning first-place honors include: Katelyn Hinderer, Matthew Carter, Sam Galligan, Michelle Ingle, Patty Kramer and Trey Meyer. Learn more about these honors.
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln Soil Judging Team swept first-place honors in the Region 5 competition Sept. 28 in Redfield, South Dakota. The win puts the team in a top position for the 2018 National Soil Judging Contest, which is in the spring in Tennessee. Honors earned include a first-place finish for Bryan Peterson among the 71 students in the individual competition. Teammates Laura LeCuyer and Samantha Teten finished fifth and seven places in the individual competition, respectively. Also, the team — which includes 17 students from natural resources, and agronomy and horticulture — finished first in the group judging contest and the overall team placement. Other team members include Sung Byung Chae, Robert Clark, Zoe De Grande, Autumn Dunn, Kolby Grint, Riley Hackbart, Zachary Kuhr, Nicole Musgrave, Ashley Nassar, Adam Romans, Nicole Strand, Clare Wilton and Haley Zabel. Team coaches include Judith Turk, Rebecca Young and Jake Ziggafoos.
Departments/College/Units
- Mike Johanns, former U.S. agriculture secretary and Nebraska senator, has joined the board of directors of the Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute. Johanns brings 30 years of experience and expertise in agriculture, banking, commerce, foreign trade, law and governance. He also served as governor of Nebraska and mayor of Lincoln. The institute develops research and policy, enhances education and knowledge sharing, and advances technological innovations to improve the use and management of water in agriculture globally, nationally and in Nebraska. Read more about Johanns joining the Water for Food board.
This column is a regular Friday feature of Nebraska 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
