Recent honors, awards and publications collected by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln community include recognition for faculty Sheree Moser, Edgar Cahoon, Susan Swearer and James Specht, the College of Journalism and Mass Communications, the Department of Biochemistry, several journalism students and a third-year law student.

Departments/Units

The Department of Biochemistry earned accreditation from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The UNL program was recognized for its rigorous curriculum, quality of research conducted, and high-caliber graduates. The accreditation gives UNL biochemistry educators access to an independent, nationally-recognized evaluation tool which help pinpoint strengths and weaknesses in curriculum. For more information, click here.

The College of Journalism and Mass Communications received six awards at the Nebraska American Advertising ADDYs Awards event held Feb. 20 in Omaha. UNL won Student Best of Show, two Gold ADDYs and three Silver ADDYs. The work represented in-class projects and collateral from the college’s National Student Advertising Competition. To learn more, click here.

Faculty

Sheree Moser, assistant professor of practice in children, youth and family studies, has earned the Nebraska Family, Career and Community Leaders of America Distinguished Service Award. The Distinguished Service Award recognizes outstanding contributions and continuing service by individuals whose primary responsibilities are directly related to the organization’s programs. Moser volunteers for FCCLA judging and state leadership events and helps organize state conferences. To learn more, click here.

James Specht, emeritus professor of agronomy and horticulture, will receive the Outstanding Achievement Award from the United Soybean Board. The honor, the highest award given by the USB, is reserved for an individual, organization or group that has made an outstanding positive impact on the soybean industry. Specht is part of a national research team that developed the first soybean genetic map of 20 linkage groups. He was also a member of a research team that sequenced the soybean genome. He also discovered the differences in soybean genotypes, delineating them into slow and high water users. Recent accomplishments involved using genomics to search for genes that govern soybean seed protein and oil content and Specht was the principal investigator in developing the national Nested Associated Mapping Populations that will serve as a resource for the soybean genetics and physiology research community for years to come. Specht will receive the award during the American Soybean Association banquet during the Commodity Classic on March 4 in New Orleans.

Susan Swearer, school psychology, took part in a recent “Hack Harassment” planning session in Santa Clara, Calif., with more than 40 experts, media representatives and technology industry leaders who are seeking to defeat online harassment. Swearer is co-director of the Bullying Research Network and was one of four academics who attended the session for the initiative, which was launched by Intel Corp., Vox Media, Re/code and Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation. Hack Harassment is a technology-driven effort to combat hate speech and threats on the web. Its tactics include a series of hackathons with a goal of advancing anti-harassment technology. It uses the #HackHarassment hashtag for social media conversation. The project fits with Swearer’s translational research efforts through the Empowerment Initiative, which seeks to address the complex personal, social and cultural factors that contribute to bullying and other negative behavior.

Edgar Cahoon, biochemistry and researcher in the Center for Plant Science Innovation, published “Dedicated Industrial Oilseed Crops as Metabolic Engineering Platforms for Sustainable Industrial Feedstock Production” in the journal Scientific Reports on Feb. 26. Cahoon co-authored the study with Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences’ Li-Hua Zhu. The two led a team of researchers from Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, Australia, China, Canada and the United States to develop and demonstrate the use of three non-food oilseed crops as metabolic engineering platforms for dedicated production of high-value industrial feedstocks.

Students

Calla Kessler, Sydni Rowen, Benjamin Schoenkin, Mary Theresa Wahlmeier and Nora Williams, all College of Journalism and Mass Communications students, will share in $12,000 in scholarships that the Omaha Press Club Foundation will award on April 29. The scholarship recipients, chosen by the journalism and mass communications faculty for their accomplishments and professional potential, will be honored at a dinner at the club in Omaha.

Christopher Schmidt, a third-year law student, is one of 25 future lawyers honored in The National Jurist magazine’s “Law Student of the Year” feature. National Jurist specifically cited Schmidt’s work with the Community Legal Education Project, a student organization focused on teaching local elementary and middle school children about the Bill of Rights, the constitution and other legal issues in an accessible way. Read more on the honor here.