{"id":56066,"date":"2019-06-27T09:03:38","date_gmt":"2019-06-27T16:03:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=56066"},"modified":"2019-06-27T10:19:14","modified_gmt":"2019-06-27T17:19:14","slug":"in-the-spotlight-june-28-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/in-the-spotlight-june-28-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"In the Spotlight: June 28, 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kudos to these faculty, staff and programs<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Do you have a spotlight item to share with the NAU\ncommunity?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">E-mail your announcements to&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:Inside@nau.edu\">Inside@nau.edu<\/a>, or use our&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/news-tip\/\">online submission form<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>School of Art senior lecturer <strong>Debra Edgerton<\/strong> was awarded a Research and Development Grant by the <a href=\"https:\/\/azarts.gov\/news\/arts-commission-awards-research-and-development-grants-to-31-arizona-artists\/\">Arizona Commission of the Arts<\/a> in support of \u201cBy the Grace of God,\u201d a series of paintings that reimagine the notion of grief and loss for women of color. Edgerton\u2019s paintings respond to \u201cthe spectacle of grief\u201d frequently presented in the media when depicting women of color mourning the loss of loved ones, offering an alternative image of their grieving process. Edgerton\u2019s win was featured in an <a href=\"https:\/\/azdailysun.com\/entertainment\/arts-and-theatre\/arts-commission-awards-research-and-development-grants-to-arizona-artists\/article_52b8850d-22c5-5990-9d80-7fb78e47de8b.html\">article published by the Arizona Daily Sun<\/a>.<\/li><li><strong>Northern Arizona University <\/strong>was included in a number of national rankings:<ul><li>\u00a0The university was named No. 14 in <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.bigbelly.com\/top-25-most-efficient-smart-campus-deployments-bigbelly-2018-in-review\">BigBelly\u2019s Top 25 Most Efficient Smart Campus Deployments<\/a> for 2018. BigBelly is a smart waste and recycling system. NAU has 329 bins at 162 locations throughout campus. <\/li><li>AffordableSchools.net ranked NAU No. 8 on its list of <a href=\"https:\/\/affordableschools.net\/20-affordable-online-bachelors-degrees-psychology-studies\/\">20 Best Affordable Colleges for Psychology Degrees Online 2019<\/a>. Universities were given points based on tuition, student-to-faculty ratios, graduation rate and national rankings from U.S. News &amp; World Report. <\/li><li>HealthGrad.com included NAU on its list of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthgrad.com\/physical-health\/best-value-doctor-of-physical-therapy-dpt-degree-programs-for-2019-20\/\">Best Value Doctor of Physical Therapy Programs of 2019-20<\/a>. The list is compiled of programs that are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education and had a 100 percent pass rate on the National Physical Therapy Exam in 2016-17. Also considered was program affordability. <\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>South Dining in The D\u00fcb<\/strong> was officially named LEED Gold for implementing sustainable infrastructure such as low-flow plumbing, LED lights and sustainably sourced materials. These efforts have reduced potable water use by 33 percent, diverted more than 1,200 tons of materials from landfills and diminished lighting power by 58 percent. This is the 15<sup>th<\/sup> LEED structure on NAU\u2019s Flagstaff Mountain campus. <\/li><li>Assistant professor in physical therapy and athletic training <strong>Amit Kumar<\/strong> co-authored a paper published in Annals of Internal Medicine. \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/annals.org\/aim\/article-abstract\/2736919\/hospital-readmission-rates-medicare-advantage-traditional-medicare-retrospective-population-based\">Hospital Readmissions Rates in Medicare Advantage and Traditional Medicare: A Retrospective Population-Based Analysis<\/a>\u201d compares readmission rates between Medicare Advantage and traditional Medicare in 4,748 acute care hospitals in the U.S. <\/li><li><strong>Nadine Laporte<\/strong>, research professor in the School of Forestry, and <strong>Scott Goetz<\/strong>, professor in the School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems, are co-authors of a paper published in Nature Sustainability. \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41893-019-0310-6\">Road expansion and persistence in forests of the Congo Basin<\/a>\u201d studies the progressive expansion of logging roads across the Congo Basin. By comparing older and newer roads of different types, whether primary, secondary or logging roads derived from Landsat image time series data, the scientists show why the dramatic expansion is causing broad concern for forest ecosystems, carbon storage and wildlife vulnerable to subsistence hunting\u2014and how decommissioning roads after logging could play a crucial role in reducing the negative impacts of timber extraction on tropical forest ecosystems. <\/li><li>Planetary scientist <strong>Christopher Edwards<\/strong> is a collaborator on a Caltech-led <a href=\"https:\/\/www.caltech.edu\/about\/news\/nasa-selects-caltech-led-lunar-mission-finalist\">project<\/a> that is one of three finalists selected by NASA from a dozen proposals. The Lunar Trailblazer mission would map water on the surface of the Moon and ice deposits inside craters. The mission will receive funding for up to one year before NASA reviews the preliminary design. <\/li><li>Resident dining manager <strong>Ben Hartley<\/strong> was one of five North American leaders recognized by Sodexo as a 2019 Hero of Everyday Life. The award goes to Sodexo employees who invest personal time to help people at risk of hunger in the U.S. In addition to his responsibilities at NAU, Hartley champions on-campus food recovery resulting in 4,000 pounds of food donated each semester and coordinates employee volunteers to cook and serve lunch for homeless veterans. His work resulted in the Arizona Housing Coalition recognizing Sodexo as their Business Partner of the Year.<\/li><li>Ecoss faculty members <strong>Bruce Hungate<\/strong>, <strong>Rebecca Mau<\/strong>, <strong>Michaela Hayer<\/strong>, <strong>Xiao-Jun Allen Liu<\/strong>, <strong>Egbert Schwartz<\/strong>, <strong>Paul Dijkstra<\/strong> and <strong>Benjamin Koch<\/strong> are co-authors on a paper published in Nature Ecology and Evolution. \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41559-019-0918-y.epdf?author_access_token=iQaITPvf2ls3M6nOXgXRu9RgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0M7h99guUlXhqTN9kEyzh7JFhY3Cp40mL-b1JO3f4WEoWldkFTPIcbIUSNhMQ6I6RqQs7SChXJ0rhXyrkNzV809ONf2myKqiwuskV9DxUBO8g%3D%3D\">Evolutionary history constrains microbial traits across environmental variation<\/a>\u201d examines the nature vs. nurture debate in microbial species by tracking isotopes into their DNA as an indicator of carbon assimilation and growth and measuring these traits in four different ecosystems. <\/li><li>Assistant professor for the School of Communication <strong>Toni DeAztlan Smith<\/strong> was named the 2019 recipient of the Robert P. Knight Multicultural Recruitment Award from the Scholastic Journalism Division of the Association of Educators of Journalism and Mass Communication. Since 2014, Smith has been a co-director of the <a href=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/communication\/native-american-broadcast-workshop\/\">Andy Harvey Broadcast Journalism Workshop<\/a>, for which she designed the core curriculum focusing on radio and broadcast media. Every summer, Native American high school students from Arizona and the Southwest come to NAU for a week of hands-on learning in broadcast media. <\/li><li>\u201cEye on Innovation,\u201d a recently published article in the energy issue of <a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/tcguy\/docs\/tc_may19_final2?e=1320737\/70344202\">Tech Connect magazine,<\/a> highlights the multi-discipline approach NAU researchers are using to solve energy-related issues. SICCS professor <strong>Kevin Gurney<\/strong> is featured for his work on carbon cycle science and physics, as is astronomy assistant professor <strong>Ryan Behunin<\/strong> for his work using laser physics to cut energy consumption.<\/li><li>Assistant professor in biological sciences <strong>Jut Wynne<\/strong>, along with a team of 21 globally recognized cave scientists, co-authored a paper in BioScience. The paper discusses the importance of protecting subterranean ecosystems, the ecological services provided to humankind and recommendations for future research and conservation policy needs. <\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"search-results-excerpt-link\" href=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/in-the-spotlight-june-28-2019\/\">Kudos to these faculty, staff and programs Do you have a spotlight item to share with the NAU community? E-mail your announcements to&nbsp;Inside@nau.edu, or use our&nbsp;online submission form. School of Art senior lecturer Debra Edgerton was awarded a Research and Development Grant by the Arizona Commission of the Arts in support of \u201cBy the Grace&hellip;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spotlight"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56066\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}