Recent achievements for the campus community were earned by Blessing Ademokoya, Matthew Ballweg, Allison Barnes, Clint Beiermann, Shannyn Bird, Crystal Bock Thiessen, Ashley Blunk, Nicholas Bohannon, Tommie Brechbill, Kyle Carlson, Chloe Christensen, Caitlyn Deal, Elizabeth Drey, Rodger Farr, Jeffrey Gabell, Thais Galhardo Egreja Riberio Silva, Jessica Glass, Deryl Hatch-Tocaimaza, Ibraheem Hamzat, Abby Herding, Kun Huang, Ryan Kalkwarf, Younhee Kang, Alexa Kapla, Hannah Krajicek, Madison Kraus, Chadd Lammers, Ryan Langemeier, Dayna Larreau, Nevin Lawrence, Lauren Lesiak, Amy Lester, Laura McLeod, Rajan Mediratta, Amber Messersmith, Abigail Nappier Cherup, Nam Nguyen, Eric Noel, Allison Olmer, Dinesh Panday, Bryan Petersen, Arun Saravana Kumar Annamalai, Robert Schroeder, Sarah Shewchuk, Shelby Springman, Kimberly Stanke, Scott Swenseth, Daniel Tannenbaum, Justin Tran, Hunter Traynor, Kelly Willemssens, Yan Ruth Xia, Junsi Yang, Jenna Zeleny and Jie Zhong.
Faculty/staff
Deryl Hatch-Tocaimaza, assistant professor of educational administration, was presented with the Barbara K. Townsend Emerging Scholar Award from the Council for the Study of Community Colleges at its annual meeting in Dallas, Texas. The award recognizes a new scholar for outstanding theoretical and/or applied research that contributes to the professional body of knowledge about community college; demonstrated excellence in teaching, advising and/or mentoring; and, integration of knowledge to teaching and service.
Crystal Bock Thiessen, English language instructor in Programs in English as a Second Language, was selected by the U.S. Department of State for a one-month English Language Specialist project in Belarus and Ukraine as a teacher-trainer. The Belarus project will focus on current methodologies and best practices in English language instruction, with a focus on photography, video and infographic projects for language learners. In Ukraine, she will travel to the conflict zone in the east to work with English language teachers there on resiliency, peace building, and conflict resolution through English, as well as student-centered learning and current best practices in engaged learning.
Dayna Larreau, outreach support associate in the College of Business, was featured in the Review of Economic and Business Studies for research with faculty at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Her article, “Hedonic Price Analysis of Non-Barren Broodmares,” examines factors that influence the selling price of thoroughbred mares used for breeding. Project results concluded that the mare’s pedigree and racing success of offspring are more important than racing performance in determining price.
Amy Lester, coordinator of the College of Business’ international business program, presented “When the World Comes to You: Designing Programs for All Students” at the Consortium for Undergraduate International Business Education conference. She discussed international student program initiatives in the college, including Conversation and Culture Pals, Career Readiness Certificate and the Export Challenge.
Amber Messersmith, lecturer of management, received the university’s Spirit of Service Faculty Award from the Center for Civic Engagement. The award recognizes self-less service for the good of others and for the betterment of the community. She partnered with the center in connecting her students in the Leading People and Projects (MGMT 411) course with local nonprofit organizations for service projects.
Daniel Tannenbaum, assistant professor of economics, received a $114,772 grant from the Russell Sage Foundation for his ongoing research, “Using Job Vacancy Ads to Study Long-Run Occupational Change.” Tannenbaum and his co-authors — Enghin Atalay of the University of Wisconsin and Sebastian Sotelo of the University of Michigan — will use a dataset of job vacancies from published ads between 1940 and 2000 to study long-run changes in the labor market.
Yan Ruth Xia, professor of child, youth and family studies, has been invited to present her research at the United Nations in New York City on May 15-16. She will discuss family policies for inclusive societies in an expert group meeting organized by the Division for Social Policy and Development of the U.N. Department of Economics and Social Affairs. Xia’s research focus is on Asian populations in the United States and Chinese family relationships in China. Learn more about Xia’s work.
Students
Clint Beiermann, an agronomy doctoral student specializing in weed science, received second place in the Weeds of Agronomic Crops Graduate Student Paper Contest at the Western Society of Weed Science Annual Meeting in Garden Grove, California, March 12-15. He also received an Elena Sanchez Memorial Outstanding Student Scholarship from the society. His winning presentation is titled “Integrating Crop Rotation and Herbicide Programs to Improve Control of Problematic Weed Species in Sugarbeet.” The scholarship is awarded to three students who attend and present at the annual meeting. Beirmann is advised by Nevin Lawrence, assistant professor of agronomy and integrated weed management specialist.
Ashley Blunk, a senior supply chain management major, received the Best Presenter Award at the Rutgers Big Ten Plus Supply Chain Case Challenge held in Brunswick, New Jersey. The event brings together undergraduate and graduate teams from Big Ten schools and other universities to test and demonstrate business acumen and ability to lead teams, creatively solve business needs and present innovative ideas to industry leaders. Coached by Scott Swenseth, associate professor of supply chain management, the Nebraska team also included Tommie Brechbill, Allison Olmer and Sarah Shewchuk.
Kyle Carlson, Ryan Kalkwarf, Hannah Krajicek and Jenna Zeleny were recognized as the 2018 Northwestern Mutual Charitable Champions for raising the most money for Alex’s Lemonade Stand, a nonprofit organization that works to fund treatments for childhood cancer. The four students, who are pursuing certificates in professional selling, participated in the fundraiser in Sales Practicum (MRKT 371) led by Laura McLeod, assistant professor of practice. The course provided students with a real-life sales project designed to strengthen goal-setting, planning, selling and communication skills. Overall, the class raised $4,300 and the winning team brought in more than $2,200. The class partnered with the Lincoln office of Northwestern Mutual.
Younhee Kang, a doctoral student in textiles, merchandising and fashion design, received a $1,000 scholarship from the Lincoln Quilters Guild. Kang’s proposed doctoral research project will focus on quilted armor of East Asia, especially South Korea. She will research cotton armor dating from the 4th- and 5th-century paintings and military uniforms from the 17th- and 18th-century that display the technique. Kang plans to learn and reproduce the traditional quilting technique known as “Noo-bi.”
Abigail Nappier Cherup, a doctoral student in marketing, was selected as a winner in the Academy of Marketing Science Review/Sheth Foundation Doctoral Competition for Conceptual Articles for her paper, “Drivers of Persuasion Knowledge: Decentering the Ideal Consumer.” Her project brings together marketing and feminist theory to examine what drives the development of persuasion knowledge among all consumers and discusses less privileged ways of knowing about persuasion. She will present this research at the Academy of Marketing Science conference in May.
Hunter Traynor, a junior political science major, was named Pike of the Month in April by the Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity. The award is reserved for a fraternity member who works toward individual improvement and has a positive impact on their chapter, campus and community. Treynor serves as vice president of the university’s Dance Marathon, which raised $200,000 for Children’s Hospital and Medical Center in Omaha. He also served as speaker for the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska and has been elected student body president.
Milton E. Mohr Biotechnology Fellowship and Scholarship awards were presented to 33 Nebraska students from the 2018-19 academic year. The awards recognize outstanding Huskers in the sciences of biotechnology and engineering based on academic performance and potential for accomplishments in their area of study. Award winners, listed alphabetically by area of study are: Agronomy and Horticulture — Rodger Farr, Chad Lammers, Ryan Langemeier, Dinesh Panday; Animal Science — Alexa Kalpla, Shelby Springman; Biochemistry — Allison Barnes, Shannyn Bird, Jeffrey Gabell, Jessica Glas, Nam Nguyen; Biological Sciences — Eric Noel; Chemistry — Matthew Balleg, Lauren Lesiak, Jih Zhong; Complex Biosystems — Kimberly Stankey; Entomology — Blessing Ademokoya, Justin Tran; Food Science and Technology — Chloe Christensen, Elizabeth Drey, Kun Huang, Junsi Yang; Microbiology — Ibraheem Hamzat, Abby Herding, Rajan Mediratta; Natural Resources — Bryan Petersen, Robert Schroeder, Kelly Willemssens; Nutrition and Health Sciences — Nicholas Bohannon, Madison Kraus; Plant Pathology — Thais Galhardo Egreja Riberio Silva; and Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences — Arun Saravana Kumar Annamalai, Caitlyn Deal.
Departments/Units
- The University of Nebraska–Lincoln received a silver award for its commitment to increasing college student voting rates. The award, presented during the first-ever All In Challenge Awards Ceremony, recognized the university’s student voting rate, which is between 60 and 69 percent. The awards were part of a national challenge that encouraged higher education institutions to help students form habits related to active and informed citizenship, and making democratic participation a core value on campus.
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
