Recent achievements for the campus community were earned by Arafat Alam, Edward Balistreri, Brandi Hilton-Hagemann, Kazi Albab Hussain, Alice Kang, Ishani Lal, Youra Moeun, Amanda Morales, Jenna Pieper, Plavini Punyatoya, Jordan Rasmussen and James Schnable.

Honors

• Arafat Alam, a doctoral student majoring in civil engineering, has been chosen as one of eight recipients of the Transportation Research Board’s 2022-23 Airport Cooperative Research Program Graduate Research Awards. The ACRP Graduate Research Awards focus on applied research on airport and related aviation system issues to help the public sector continue to improve the quality, reliability, safety, and security of the U.S. civil aviation system. Learn more here.

• Kazi Albab Hussain, a doctoral student in civil engineering, was chosen as one of the 2022-23 Buffett Early Childhood Institute Graduate Scholars. The program annually awards one-year fellowships worth up to $25,000 to a maximum of four University of Nebraska doctoral students. The awards support high-quality research that impacts the early years from diverse fields including health, education, social work, music, art, psychology, the neurosciences, and others, encouraging multidisciplinary research and new methodologies. Learn more here.

• Alice Kang, associate professor of political science and ethnic studies, received the C. Herman Pritchett Book Award from the American Political Science Association for her latest work, “Reimagining the Judiciary: Women’s Representation on High Courts Worldwide.” Kang has been instrumental in creating the first international database of when and how women are elevated to high courts. Learn more here.

• Ishani Lal, graduate student in agronomy and horticulture, is one of 25 recipients of the Irrigation Association 2022 E3 program. E3 was created to provide irrigation students with exposure, experience and education around the irrigation industry. Learn more here.

• Youra Moeun, a doctoral candidate in chemical engineering, earned the American Institute of Chemical Engineering’s Women in Chemical Engineering Mentorship Excellence Award, Graduate/Postdoctoral. Though hundreds are nominated for the award, AIChE’s Women’s Initiatives Committee bestows the Mentorship Excellence Award to one recipient in each of three categories — Industry and National Labs, Academia (Faculty), and Graduate/Postdoctoral. The award’s website notes it is given to recognize women who “have contributed to the development of the next generation of chemical engineers through outstanding mentoring.” Learn more here.

• Plavini Punyatoya, doctoral student in marketing, had her proposal, “Effective Time Management In Sales: When An Hour Is More Than Sixty Minutes,” selected as the winner of the University Sales Center Alliance 2022 Research Grant Program. This proposal is based on her second-year paper. The national competition’s other winner was Nebraska marketing alumnus Avinash Malshe, a professor of marketing at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis.

• James Schnable, the Gardner professor of Agronomy in the Nebraska Food for Health Center, the Center for Plant Science Innovation, and the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, was named a Fellow of the German PhenoRob Cluster of Excellence, based at the University of Bonn. Schnable joined a group of eleven Fellows identified by the Cluster of Excellence from institutions such as Oxford, Wageningen and UC-Davis identified by the Center as leaders in working towards sustainable crop production using digital technologies. Learn more here.

Publications

• Edward Balistreri, Duane Acklie Chair and associate professor of economics, co-authored “The Impact of COVID-19 and Associated Policy Responses on Global Food Security” published in Agricultural Economics. This research considers the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated government policies on the global trading system and its ability to deliver food to impoverished people in 80 countries. Learn more about the research.

• Jenna Pieper, associate professor of management, co-authored “Collective Turnover Response Over Time to a Unit-Level Shock” published in the Journal of Applied Psychology. This work examines how a shock that affects an entire unit influences the pattern of collective turnover. Learn more about the research.

Appointments

• Brandi Hilton-Hagemann and Jordan Rasmussen, both Nebraska Extension educators, was named the new program co-leaders for Rural Prosperity Nebraska, the community development arm of Nebraska Extension, and its community development efforts. The two will serve in these positions for one year, at which time the positions will conclude. Rasmussen joined Rural Prosperity Nebraska in 2020 and currently works in Burwell, serving as the statewide Leadership Development team lead. Hilton-Hagemann joined in 2021 and acts as the statewide Community Engagement team lead, based in McCook, Neb. Learn more here.

• Amanda Morales, associate professor in teaching, learning and teacher education, was selected for the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education Educator Diversity Programmatic Advisory Committee.

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.