{"id":76628,"date":"2025-12-15T08:00:39","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T15:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=76628"},"modified":"2025-12-15T08:00:39","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T15:00:39","slug":"in-the-spotlight-dec-15-19-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/in-the-spotlight-dec-15-19-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"In the Spotlight: Dec. 15-19, 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Kudos to these faculty, staff and programs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Do you have a spotlight item to share with the NAU community?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">E-mail your announcements to\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"mailto:Inside@nau.edu\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Inside@nau.edu<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, or use our\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/news-tip\/#.YEjwNWhKg2w\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">online submission form<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u25cf\" data-font=\"Calibri\" data-listid=\"1\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\u25cf&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;multilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Human Rights Educators USA, a Center for Transformative Action project, honored Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice assistant professor\u00a0<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Pedro Jose Gonzalez\u00a0<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">with its 2025 O\u2019Brien Award for Individual Achievement. The annual award recognizes educators across the nation who make outstanding contributions to human rights curricula. Gonzalez was chosen for his research on genocide and state-sponsored violence in Latin America, as well as his innovative use of faculty-led programs and photographic exhibits in his teaching.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u25cf\" data-font=\"Calibri\" data-listid=\"1\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\u25cf&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;multilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Former NAU microbiology research associate\u00a0<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Kevin Drees<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0was featured in the book \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/pelagicpublishing.com\/products\/the-nature-of-pandemics\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">The Nature of Pandemics,<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201d authored by microbial ecologist Jake Robinson. Dress\u2019 research is cited in the author\u2019s discussion of how ecological and social systems shape pandemic risks and solutions.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u25cf\" data-font=\"Calibri\" data-listid=\"1\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\u25cf&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;multilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">NAU alum\u00a0<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Kyle Montgomery\u00a0<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">won the Arizona Commerce Authority&#8217;s inaugural Venture Challenge Showcase by pitching his startup, Generous, which uses AI and recipient preferences to help users find the perfect gift. Montgomery was one of six finalists pitching in front of more than 60 innovators, earning a $10,000 first-prize grant for his work.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u25cf\" data-font=\"Calibri\" data-listid=\"1\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\u25cf&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;multilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"4\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science postdoctoral scholar\u00a0<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Emily Mason\u00a0<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">and professor\u00a0<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Christopher Edwards\u00a0<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">co-authored an\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S001910352500274X\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">article<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0on Mars dust devils recently published in the journal Icarus. The paper\u2019s authors compare more than seven Mars years of pressure, temperature and ultraviolet data to confirm where and when Mars vortices form.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"search-results-excerpt-link\" href=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/in-the-spotlight-dec-15-19-2025\/\">Kudos to these faculty, staff and programs. Do you have a spotlight item to share with the NAU community? E-mail your announcements to\u00a0Inside@nau.edu, or use our\u00a0online submission form. Human Rights Educators USA, a Center for Transformative Action project, honored Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice assistant professor\u00a0Pedro Jose Gonzalez\u00a0with its 2025 O\u2019Brien Award for Individual&hellip;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":96,"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-76628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spotlight"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76628","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\/96"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76628\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}