Recent honors collected by the UNL community include recognition for faculty/staff Jocelyn Bosley, Jeffrey Day, Becky Faber, Sharon Kuska and Jonnisha McCleod; students in communication studies, English, journalism and mass communications, and music; and researchers in the multi-institutional Useful to Usable project. Read on for more information about each award.
Faculty/Staff
Jocelyn Bosley, education and outreach coordinator for the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, earned 2015 Raytheon Math Hero award. Bosley was nominated for her past work as a mentor at Irving Middle School in Lincoln. Bosley was one of 25 total recipients who were recognized for their effective, creative and novel methods for teaching students in math and science. The award provides a $2,500 award to the nominating institution as well as a personal grant of $2,500 for each winner. Irving Middle School plans to use its grant for an e-book library that features books on math and science subjects.
Jeffrey Day, director and professor of architecture, earned several honors during the American Institute of Architects most recent design awards. The awards were for work Day’s Omaha- and San Francisco-based architecture firm Min | Day completed on Bucktown House in Chicago. AIA awards collected for the project include: Honor Award, Interior Architecture; Interior Architecture Award, Citation of Merit; Honor Award, Architectural Interiors; Honor Award, Architectural Detail. The work on Bucktown House also earned awards from AIA San Francisco, Residential Architect Magazine and the Illuminating Engineering Society. For more information on the Bucktown House project, click here.
Becky Faber, a senior career adviser for Career Services with a courtesy appointment in English, received the 2015 Priscilla A. Scotlan Award for Distinguished Service from the American Association for Employment in Education. The award honors contributions Faber has made while serving for several years as the association’s secretary. Along with maintaining board meeting minutes, Faber also serves as the association’s unofficial parliamentarian and historian, and was co-chair of the group’s 2015 job search handbook editorial committee.
Sharon Kuska, professor of architecture, was listed as one of DesignIntelligence’s 25 Most Admired Educators for 2016. The honor was part of an annual school ranking guide, “America’s Best Architecture and Design Schools 2016.” The publication said Kuska is, “a leading voice in the field of sustainability and action models on campus at the University of Nebraska. She brings an engineer’s talent and analysis to design forms and mentor students focused on achievement.”
Jonnisha McCleod, a 2014-2015 AmeriCorps Service Scholar in Nebraska Extension’s ExtensionCorps program, has been honored as a finalist for a ServeNebraska Step Forward Award in the National Service Volunteer category. During the service year, McCleod taught more than 3,000 youth in the Omaha metro about healthy food and physical activity choices. She delivered nutritional programs in childcare centers, Omaha Public School after-school programs, Bank for the Heartland feeding sites and other locations. ExtensionCorps is an AmeriCorps program that helps Nebraska Extension extend its reach in communities across the state. Honorees were submitted via a nomination process and then selected by Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts. The awards luncheon was Oct. 30 at the Lodge at Mahoney State Park.
Students
Jordon Allen and Nicole Allen, both communication studies doctoral candidates, earned a top paper award from the Western States Communication Association’s Interpersonal Communication Interest Group. Their paper topic was “Complicating and Critiquing the Classical Twin Methodology: Decentring Biogenetic Approaches to Twin Studies.” The paper will be presented in February at the association’s annual meeting in San Diego.
Jaime Brunton, an English doctoral candidate, received the Robert and Adele Schiff Award from The Cincinnati Review for her poem “Chase.” The award recognizes one piece of poetry and one piece of prose each year. Winners receive a $1,000 prize and publication of their work in an upcoming issue of the journal, which is published by the University of Cincinnati. To read more about the award, including judges’ comments on Brunton’s poem, click here.
Jon Carter and Jamie Dowling, both communication studies doctoral candidates, earned top paper honors at the National Communication Association conference, Nov. 19-22 in Las Vegas. Downing earned the award for two papers: “Escaping Entelechy: Exploring Intersections of Piety and Style” and “Keeping the Feast: Digitality, Counterpublics, and Conversations Surrounding Christian Seders.” Carter earned a top paper recognition for “Good Metonyms Make Great Metaphors: Embracing the Opportunities for Scientific Forms in Non-Scientific Contexts.”
Julia Moore, a communication studies doctoral candidate, has been awarded a top paper honor and the Top Student Paper award from the Western States Communication Association’s Interpersonal Communication Interest Group. The award was for her paper, “Where is the Critical Empirical Interpersonal Communication Research? A Roadmap for Future Inquiry.” The paper will be presented in February at the association’s annual meeting in San Diego.
Jacht Ad Lab, the College of Journalism and Mass Communications’ student advertising agency, has selected 25 students to participate in its spring 2016 session. Jake Bunger, a senior advertising/public relations and business administration major, was named student chief executive officer for the spring term. Other participating students are: Alyssa Cody, Austin Christensen, Bailey Williams, Brent Flentje, Carlos Velasco, Claire Wieger, Craig Zimmerman, Emily Nemec, Emma Hanson, Haley Bydalek, Jake Bunger, John Ficenec, Jordan Geisert, Kacie Hughes, Karla Marines, Lauren Farris, Leila Tatby, Moira Delaney, Nate Hoffman, Rachel Halbmaier, Savannah Nelson-Tyrrell, Sydney Prorok, Sydni Rowen, Taylor Bogle and Zoe Ursick. Amy Struthers, associate professor, is the faculty adviser for the Jacht Ad Lab.
Seven students earned honors during UNL’s Graduate and Undergraduate Solo Competition, held the weekend of Nov. 6. Patricia Kramer (voice) was named the graduate award winner, with Adriana Ceia (cello), and Adam Schweitzer (timpani) earning honorable mentions. Hannah Bell (clarinet) and Adella Hotchkiss (cello) were named the undergraduate award winners, while Jonathan Vusich (piano) and Sara Wegner (violin), collected honorable mention honors. The competition was judged by a panel of three masters from otheruniversities. The judges — Kevin Bobo of Indiana University, Leone Buyse of Rice University and Charles Castleman of Miami University — also presented clinics, master classes and performances in UNL’s Glenn Korff School of Music.
Six music students earned honors in the Music Teachers National Association’s Young Artist Competition for Nebraska. Hannah Bell won the woodwind category and advances to the division level of the competition, where she will compete against winners from other states. The Hijinx Quartet, which includes Elizabeth Johnson, Katie Rice, Nicole Jensen and Jennifer Reeves, also advanced to the division level of the competition. Johnson also placed as an alternate winner in the woodwind category.
Departments/Units/Groups
Useful to Usable, a multi-institution effort that features several UNL researchers, earned the National Institute of Food and Agriculture Partnership Award for mission integration, presented Oct. 22 in Washington, D.C. The project offers online tools to help farmers and agricultural advisers manage increasingly variable weather and climate conditions across the Corn Belt. Martha Shulski, director of the High Plains Regional Climate Center at UNL, serves as one of the co-principal investigators on the project. Other UNL contributors include Roger Elmore, Tonya Haigh, Juliana Dai and Tapan Pathak.
This column is a regular feature of UNL Today. Faculty, staff and students can submit their achievements to be considered for this column via email to achievements@unl.edu. For more information, call 402-472-8515.
