Recent honors collected by the UNL community include recognition for faculty Jack Beard, Dipra Jha, John Lenich, Elizabeth Niehaus, Beverley Rilett and Linda Young; and students Brittany Bell, Ellie Feis, Kellan Heavican, Haley Herzog, Robby Korth, Jacy Marmaduke, Tommy Rezac, Megan Smith, Morgan Spiehs and Elliot Wilke. Read on for more information about each award.

Faculty/Staff

Jack Beard, assistant professor of law, has been named chair for the American Branch of the International Law Association’s committee on the use of force. The committee is tasked with advancing the discussion and analysis of legal issues on international use of force and related legal topics. It also works to advance the discussion of scholarship in the field and to conduct assessments of contemporary state practice.

Dipra Jha, assistant professor of practice in hospitality, restaurant and tourism management; and Linda Young, associate professor of practice in nutrition and health sciences traveled to Oman to deliver a workshop on instructional best practices at Oman Tourism College. The Sept. 29 workshop was attended by 45 faculty from various disciplines and is part of UNL’s ongoing international engagement in the Middle East.

John Lenich, professor of law, has been appointed by Gov. Pete Ricketts to serve a three-year term as a Nebraska representative on the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. Commission membership consists of lawyers, judges, legislators and law professors who have been appointed by their respective state governments. The goal of the commission is to promote uniformity among the states on various subjects by researching, drafting and promoting the adoption of uniform statutory acts. The commission was founded in 1892 and has drafted more than 300 uniform acts.

Elizabeth Niehaus, assistant professor in educational administration, has been awarded two grants to study Caribbean student engagement in higher education. The American College Personnel Association Foundation awarded a $2,500 grant and NASPA (Student Affairs Administrators In Higher Education) Foundation awarded $4,650. The study, “Exploring Student Engagement and Student Development in Caribbean Tertiary Education,” builds on existing research on student engagement in the United States and around the world. The purpose of this exploratory, mixed-methods study is to identify the role of engagement in students’ interpersonal, intrapersonal and cognitive development in the context of Caribbean higher education. Large-scale survey data from three institutions in Trinidad and Tobago will be paired with in-depth interviews with graduating students to inform a better understanding of student engagement and student development specifically in the Caribbean context. Findings will expand the knowledge base of student affairs and services around the world, and provide Caribbean student services practitioners with information to help them best support student learning and development.

Students

** Megan Smith**, senior in biochemistry and microbiology, received an Undergraduate Research Fellowship from the American Society for Microbiology. Smith was among 43 undergraduates to receive a 2015 fellowship from ASM, the largest society dedicated to a single life science. With the support of Nicole Buan, assistant professor of biochemistry, Smith is investigating the purpose of binding proteins recently discovered in the gut-dwelling microbe Methanobrevibacter smithii. Smith is specifically examining how these bindings proteins affect the dynamics between M. smithii and one of the gastrointestinal tract’s most important bacteria.

Robby Korth, Jacy Marmaduke and Morgan Spiehs were part of the Carnegie-Knight News21 national investigation team that won the Online News Association award in the student projects pro-am category. The UNL journalism students were among 29 students from 16 universities. The 2014 investigation featured dozens of multimedia stories, videos, databases and photo galleries examining the polarizing issues of gun rights and regulation in the United States. Students analyzed gun laws in all 50 states and compiled the most complete database on gun-related deaths among children in America. They also traveled to more than 28 states, interviewing hundreds of people and sharing their stories. The Washington Post, USA Today and NBC News were among the news organizations that published major portions of the investigation.

Tommy Rezac, Kellan Heavican and Haley Herzog earned Grand Prizes during the National Broadcasting Society’s South Central Broadcasting Society conference and awards ceremony on Oct. 2-3. Rezac and Heavican were awarded a grand prize in Audio Sports Program for their broadcast of a final game between Schuyler and Columbus Lakeview. Herzog was awarded a grand prize in Video Hard News/Spot News for her report on the death of Maury Lorence. UNL also received nine finalist awards.

Ellie Feis, Brittany Bell and Elliot Wilke presented papers at the 40th annual European Studies Conference, hosted Oct. 9-10 by the University of Nebraska at Omaha. All three students are undergraduate research assistants through UNL’s UCARE program and work with Beverley Rilett, lecturer in English. Feis presented on “Victorian Married Women’s Rights, Feminism and George Elliot’s ‘Middlemarch.’” Bell discussed “Silence = Death: Gender Rights, ‘Wuthering Heights’ and the Outspoken Emily Brontë.” Wilke presented “Distance, Death, Sexual Violation and other traumatic Triggers in Virginia Woolf’s Childhood.” Rilett also chaired two panels at the conference, exploring perspectives on Shakespeare and British feminist history.

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.