Recent accomplishments earned by members of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln community include honors, awards and publications collected by Rhonda Fuelberth, Hannah Birge, Shannon Moncure, Andrea Nichols and Shannon Sundstrom.

Faculty and Staff

Rhonda Fuelberth, associate professor of music education, was named president-elect for the North Central Division of the American Choral Directors Association. Fulberth will take office on July 1.

Students

Hannah Birge, doctoral student in applied ecology, earned a Dean’s Fellowship for the 2016-17 academic year. The fellowships are awarded only to those landing in the top 10 percent of the applicant pool. Dean’s Fellowships provide partial financial support to students, who may accept assistantships or other work. Birge studies cross-scale interactions, including soil processes, land management and nutrient cycling, that help explain the resilience of complex social-ecological grassland systems. Her dissertation will focus specifically on the North Central Great Plains.

Shannon Moncure, doctoral student in human dimensions, earned a Dean’s Fellowship for the 2016-17 academic year. Moncure’s studies focus on the people side of environmental issue: Why and how do people make decisions that impact the environment? Her doctoral project will connect her to groups of people in Los Angeles, Oslo, Norway and Athens who work to support local sustainable agriculture. Moncure’s interest in local, sustainable agriculture extends outside of her research work. She is involved in the local food movement in Nebraska, participates in local environmental organizations and enjoys gardening and spending time with animals in her down time.

Andrea Nichols, doctoral student in history, is the first recipient of the James Arthur Vineyards Medieval and Renaissance Studies Award. Nichols, from East Bend, North Carolina, will use the award to conduct research on the history of books owned by Elizabethan prisoners in the Tower of London, the marks made by the prisoners inside the books and the marks scratched into the prison cell walls. The award also will help with her travel expenses to present her findings at the Gloriana Society Conference in November in London.

Shana Sundstrom, applied ecology doctoral student, earned a Maude Hammond Fling Fellowship, one of UNL’s most prestigious graduate honors. The fellowship is awarded to advanced masters or doctoral students who have demonstrated the highest level of academic potential and provides a stipend that allows the student to be completely immersed in scholarship without having to hold an assistantship. Sundstrom studies behavior and dynamics of ecosystems as complex adaptive systems.

Departments, units, colleges

Five students from the College of Sciences and Natural Resources were featured for their climate change expertise in the student-produced Streaming Science podcasts, aired on soundcloud.com. The students, all part of the Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Communication program, and part of the Podcasting to Increase Science Literacy class, developed eight podcasts featuring CASNR scientists working in areas related to climate change. The students were charged with investigating science literacy concepts and communicating to public audiences, as well as developing writing, interviewing and podcasting skills. To hear the podcasts, click here. For more information on Streaming Science, visit their website.

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.