In the Spotlight: August 2026
Kudos to these faculty, staff and programs.
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- Quarterback Ty Pennington was included on the Panini Senior Bowl Top 300 list. He is one of 25 quarterbacks on the preseason watch list for the preeminent college football all-star game and one of the only quarterbacks from the Football Championship Subdivision.
- Ph.D. student Cat Alberts was the recipient of the Inaugural Indigenous Peoples’ Excellence in Wildlife Stewardship Award from the Native Peoples’ Wildlife Management Working Group of the Wildlife Society.
- NAU was recognized as one of Money’s Best Colleges in America 2026. This analysis showcases the country’s top 735 colleges based on graduation rates, cost of attendance, financial aid and alumni salaries.
- Cline Library’s Special Collections and Archives (SCA) made The New York Times! Heather Hansman, author of the article “Rafting a River in Flux Through the Grand Canyon” and former KNAU reporter Melissa Sevigny, author of “Brave the Wild River,” discussed their use of SCS resources in their research and discussed it in the article.
- NAU football ranked No. 24 in the American Football Coaches Associate FCS Coaches Preseason Top 25 Poll. Earlier this month, NAU ranked No. 25 in the Stats Perform FCS Preseason Top 25, giving the Lumberjacks their second consecutive preseason national ranking.
- NAU alumna and former faculty member, Edythe Weeks, was selected to present four research presentations at the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research Open Science Conference in Norway. Her work focuses on equity, inclusion and the geopolitical future of the “Pivotal Global Commons” (Arctic Antarctica and Outer Space).
- Diana Coleman, associate teaching professor in the Department of Comparative Cultural Studies, participated as the keynote speaker in the international conference “Camps, Belonging, and Abolition Democracy” at the 3rd Graz/Puerto Rico International Conference on Human Rights.
- More than 20 students from the School of Communication were selected in 11 categories and 14 nominations across Communication Media Film, Journalism and Sports Adventure Media and Visual Communication Animation. In the College Newscast category are Jadelyn Narido and Dylan Mishima as anchors, Iceshya Tanaka as producer, Kayleigh Doyle as meteorologist and Alyssa Munoz as sports analyst. Ashley Hinchy and Reese Clarke are nominated in the College Non-fiction Long Form category for the photography and production of “What Dries in a News Desert?” Ariel Reighard is nominated as director/animator for Stella and the Stars in the Short Form category. Reighart and Natalia Fletcher are nominated as animators in the College Commercial category for “Funk.a.Tronica.” In the College Sports Story category, Alyssa Munoz (reporter), Reese Clarke (photographer) and Ashley Hinchy (photographer) are nominated for “NAU Swimmer-Chef,” while Reese Clark (reporter) and Ashley Hinchy (photographer) are nominated for “Football and Family.” In the College Animation/Graphics/Special Effects category, Alessandra Morales is nominated for “Nosferatu Title Sequence” and Anna Kellar for “Road Trip.” Hope Deaver is nominated for College Director for “Teeth” and Aspen Drake-Frailer is nominated for College Photographer for “Cynical Skin.” In the College Talent category, Olivia Tell is nominated for “Teeth” and Austin Hull for “Past Tense.” Bradley Moses is nominated in the College Writer category for “Past Tense.” The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter 2026 Student Production Awards Ceremony is scheduled for Sept. 19.
- Forward Micala Boex from the NAU soccer team was named the 2026 Big Sky Preseason Most Valuable Player. Boex also received a spot on the Preseason All-Conference Team. NAU was picked to finish fourth in the preseason poll.
- Gerard van Belle, research professor in the Department of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences co-hosted Science Track panels at the Phoenix Fan Fusion on “The Wright Stuff: The Science of Flight,” “I am on a curiosity voyage and I need my paddles to travel: Scientist looks at ‘’Stranger Things” and “But it was a scientific poke with a very scientific stick!: The Science of ‘Project Hail Mary.’”
- Andrea Gonzalez Sotelo, assistant director of Arizona GEAR UP at NAU, was one of two recipients of the 2026 National Council for Community and Education Partnerships (NCCEP)/GEAR UP Professional Leader of the Year Award at the NCCEP/GEAR UP Annual Conference in Washington, D. C. Gonzalez Sotelo was nominated by GEAR UP director Robert Neese for her exceptional leadership, commitment to student success and contributions to collage access across Arizona.
- NAU welcomed more than 150 public service professionals, managers, and executive leaders from across Arizona for the inaugural High Country Public Service Academy (HCPSA), a first-of-its-kind professional development experience designed to strengthen leadership, innovation, and collaboration across the public sector. Hosted by NAU’s Master of Public Administration program in partnership with NAU Continuing Education and the School of Communication, the inaugural academy welcomed a number of Arizona leaders and public servants, including Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, Arizona Board of Regent Steve Peru, Flagstaff Mayor Becky Daggett, Flagstaff City Manager Joanne Keene, Mesa City Manager Scott Butler, Phoenix Assistant City Manager Ginger Spencer and Sedona City Manager Anette Spickard, among other distinguished speakers from government, higher education and the nonprofit sector. Sara Rinfret, professor in the Department of Politics and International Affairs, led the event.
- Diego Muñoz, assistant professor in the Department of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences, authored the article “Planet-Planet Secular Migration Predicts a Stellar Obliquity-Period Anti-Correlation” that was published in the AAS Journals. The article provides a fossil record of hot Jupiter migration.
- Will Grundy, research professor in the Department of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences, authored the article “Rotation and Mutual Eclipse Events Season in the Kuiper Belt” will be published in the Astronomical Journal, while his article “Tracing the source of carbon oxides on the large moons of Uranus” was accepted in the AAS Planetary Science Journal.
- Professors Mark Loeffler, Steve Tegler, Will Grundy, and graduate student Will Burris from the Department of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences published the article “Infrared Band Strength of Molecular Oxygen in Astrophysical Ices” in The Planetary Science Journal.
- Josh Emery, professor in the Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science, Lucas McClure and NAU alum Brittany Harvison co-authored the article “The Polana-Eulalia Complex with JWST NIRSpec: Connections to Bennu, Ryugu, and Outer Solar System Bodies,” which was accepted by the Planetary Science Journal.