Recent achievements earned by the campus community were awarded to Merika Andrade, Kelsey Arends, John Farag, Ryan Fucinaro, Zahoor Ganie, Yufeng Ge, Rose Gensichen, Jon Hay, Derek Heeren, Josh Hilsgen, Damon Hudson, Nicole Iverson, Brandon Kreiling, Alyssa Mae, Emma McMinn, Marcella Mercer, Cahner Olson, Gabriella Parsons, Santosh Pitla, Deanna Ringenberg, Brayton Ringsdorf, Tyler Schank, Mitchell Stephenson, Steve Strehle, Chris Tuan, Hank Uleman, Isaac Vittetoe, Adam Warner, Tess Williams and James Wooldridge.
Faculty/Staff
Zahoor Ganie, agronomy and horticulture postdoctoral research associate, was received the Outstanding Reviewer Award by the Canadian Journal of Plant Science for consistently and expeditiously delivering comprehensive, discerning reviews to the journal’s authors. His thesis was titled “Mechanism of Resistance, Gene Flow an Integrated Management of Ragweed (Ambrosia) in Nebraska.”
John Hay, Nicole Iverson and Santosh Pitla, faculty in biological systems engineering, were honored during the Holling Family Award Program for Teaching Excellence on March 2. Hay, an extension educator, received a Senior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award. Iverson and Pitla, assistant professors, received Junior Faculty Teaching Awards.
Derek Heeren and Yufeng Ge, assistant professors of biological systems engineering, have been honored by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. Heeren received the A.W. Farrall Young Educator Award. Ge received the New Holland Young Researcher Award.
Brandon Kreiling, assistant professor of practice in construction management, mentored a team of eight Durham School construction management students that recently brought home a Merit Award in the ASC Region six and seven National Student Competition, held in Reno, Nevada. It was the first time in more than 10 years that a Nebraska Engineering team was fielded for this event. The Nebraska team competed in the Integrated Project Delivery competition. Student members of the team were John Farag, Ryan Fucinaro, Rose Gensichen, Josh Hilsgen, Brayton Ringsdorf, Steve Strehle, Hank Uleman and Isaac Vittetoe.
Mitchell Stephenson, assistant professor in rangeland ecology and management at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center, received an Outstanding Young Range Professional Award at the Society for Range Management’s 71st Annual Meeting, Technical Training and Trade Show in Sparks, Nevada. The award recognizes society members who exhibit superior performance and leadership potential in any range-related area.
A conductive concrete mixture invented by Chris Tuan, professor of civil engineering, has been implemented at a Bulgarian site of the company Aurubis. The company is Europe’s largest producer of copper.
Students
Kelsey Arends and Damon Hudson, both second-year law students, won the American Bar Association’s 2018 Region 8 Client Counseling Competition. They advance to represent Nebraska Law and Region 8 at the 2018 ABA National Client Counseling Competition in Durham, North Carolina in March. They will face the winning teams from each of the association’s other 11 regional competitions.
Deanna Ringenberg, a recent civil engineering graduate, and Bruce Dvorak, professor of civil engineering, earned the 2018 American Water Works Association Small Systems Division Best Paper Award for the master’s thesis they co-authored. The association defines small systems as those that serve less than 10,000 people. Ringenberg will be presented a plaque during the association’s conference in Las Vegas this summer.
Journalism students Adam Warner, Alyssa Mae, Cahner Olson, Emma McMinn, Gabriella Parsons, James Wooldridge, Merika Andrade, Tess Williams, Marcella Mercer and Tyler Schank will have their work from the Global Eyewitness trip to Uganda featured with eight photo stories in an exhibit at the Midwestern African Museum of Art, Culture and Resource Center. Mercer’s award-winning story will also be featured.
This column is a regular Friday 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.
