Recent achievements for the campus community were earned by Sasitharan Balasubramaniam, Morgan Cade, Jordan Gonzales, Priscilla Grew, Katrina Jagodinsky, Elizabeth Karnopp, Srivatsan Kidambi, Eunhong Lee, Regan Myers, Jill O’Donnell, Erin Ramsdell, Witawas Srisa-an and Cassidy Taladay.

Honors

• Morgan Cade, a graduate student in biological sciences, received the Graduate Student Excellence in Mentoring Award from the Office of Graduate Studies. The honor recognizes a graduate student who demonstrates excellence in mentoring undergraduate and graduate students in research and creative activities.

• Priscilla Grew, emerita professor of geology, recently received a President’s Medal from the Geological Society of America. Commissioned in 2007, the medal is reserved for those whose impact has profoundly enhanced the geoscience profession through supporting and contributing to the society; advancing or promoting the field in service of humankind; or significantly expanding the range of scientific achievement for the growth of the profession. Learn more about Grew’s career, which includes the 2020 naming of a new mineral in her honor.

• Katrina Jagodinsky, Susan J. Roswoski Associate Professor of History, received the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Education from the Office of Graduate Studies. The honor recognizes a faculty member whose dedication to graduate students and commitment to excellence in graduate mentoring have made a significant contribution to graduate education at Nebraska.

• Elizabeth Karnopp, a junior biochemistry major, is among 10 students from across the United States to be named a 2022 Seaboard Royal Scholar. The Seaboard Royal Scholars program is a competitive scholarship program for students majoring in agriculture, food, natural resources or related disciplines and have a grade point average of at least 3.0. Applicants for the program complete an application and interview with the scholarship committee.

• Eunhong Lee, a graduate student in philosophy, received the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award from the Office of Graduate Studies. The honor recognizes a graduate teaching assistant who has demonstrated special effectiveness in teaching undergraduates at Nebraska.

• Regan Myers and Cassidy Taladay, doctoral students in English (composition and rhetoric) and communication studies, respectively, received Folsom Distinguished Master’s Thesis Awards from the Office of Graduate Studies. Myers’ thesis is titled “In Defense of Girls who Love Taylor Swift.” Cassidy’s thesis examined “Tales of Love and Perseverance: Family Bereavement Stories as a Means to Investigating Impacts of End-of-Life Care on Sense-Making.”

• Erin Ramsdell, a graduate student in psychology, received the Outstanding Research and Creative Activities Award from the Office of Graduate Studies. The honor recognizes excellence in graduate student research and creativity at Nebraska.

Publications

• Sasitharan Balasubramaniam, Srivatsan Kidambi and Witawas Srisa-an, are among co-authors of a paper that examines the emerging and expanding interdisciplinary field of cyberbiosecurity. The paper, “Using Deep Learning to Detect Digitally Encoded DNA Trigger for Trojan Malware in Bio-Cyber Attacks,” explores the concept of “biohacking,” in which an attack is conducted both from the cyber and biological domain. The paper also examines the use of deep learning technologies to safeguard DNA sequencing against such attacks. The team included researchers from South East Technological University (Ireland) and Munster Technological University in Cork, Ireland.

Appointments

• Jordan Gonzales has been promoted to the role of senior director of alumni engagement and senior diversity officer with the University of Nebraska Alumni Association. He previously served as director of alumni engagement.

• Jill O’Donnell, who leads the Clayton Yeutter Institute of International Trade and Finance, has been named the Haggart-Work Director of the institute. The new title is effective July 1. She joined the institute as its inaugural director in 2018. Learn more about her tenure.

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.