{"id":77646,"date":"2026-04-13T16:16:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T23:16:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=77646"},"modified":"2026-04-13T16:16:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T23:16:33","slug":"in-the-spotlight-april-13-17-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/in-the-spotlight-april-13-17-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"In the Spotlight: April 13-17, 2026"},"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\">,\u00a0or use\u00a0our\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;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">NAU\u2019s\u00a0<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Martin-Springer Institute<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0(MSI) is opening its student- and faculty-created exhibition on disappearances in Mexico, titled \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/coconinoarts.org\/exhibitions\/disappeared\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Disappeared: Portrait of Absence<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">,\u201d within the Museo del\u00a0Holocausto\u00a0in Guatemala on April 18. The day before the exhibition opening, MSI Director and Regents\u2019 professor\u00a0<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Bj\u00f6rn\u00a0Krondorfer\u00a0<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">will give a presentation on Holocaust objects and spaces at the museum. Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice assistant professor\u00a0<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Pedro Gonzalez\u00a0<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">will formally open the exhibit the following day.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360}\">\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;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Collins Ezea<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, a graduate student studying applied sociology, presented his master\u2019s thesis research to the Southwestern Social Science Association on April 3. The association awarded his thesis research paper, titled \u201cAn Exploration of Arizona\u2019s Mental Health Services for International Graduate Students,\u201d its best\u00a0master\u2019s\u00a0paper award, making Ezea the first student to earn the honor for two consecutive years. In addition, Ezea received the association\u2019s $300 Pascal\u00a0Ngoboka\u00a0Student Travel Grant, which is designed to fund travel expenses for students with limited institutional support.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360}\">\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;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Aerospace company Northrop Grumman launched the STPSat-7 satellite payload on April 7, which includes the Satellite Fingerprint Experiment (SFPE) developed by affiliates of\u00a0<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">NAU\u2019s School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems\u00a0<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">over the past 10 years<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">.<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0SFPE will allow the satellite to generate on-demand encryption keys in space that can be predicted by trusted systems on the ground.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360}\">\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;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"4\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Department of Anthropology assistant teaching professor\u00a0<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Kayeleigh Sharp\u00a0<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">traveled to Vienna, Austria, with three NAU students to\u00a0participate\u00a0in two international archaeology conferences.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u25cb\" data-font=\"Calibri\" data-listid=\"1\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:1440,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769242&quot;:[9675],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\u25cb&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"2\"><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Larry Griffith<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, a graduate student studying computer science, gave a lightning presentation at the Conference of the Global\u00a0pXRF\u00a0Network, titled \u201cAre \u2018smart\u2019 tools really\u00a0smarter?:\u00a0Mobile AI for\u00a0pXRF\u00a0in Archaeological Fieldwork.\u201d Sharp and Griffith hosted a discussion table on case study implications at the same conference.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559685&quot;:1440,&quot;335559991&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u25cb\" data-font=\"Calibri\" data-listid=\"1\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:1440,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769242&quot;:[9675],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\u25cb&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"2\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">NAU was represented in two sessions at the 53rd annual meeting of the Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology organization:<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559685&quot;:1440,&quot;335559991&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u25a0\" data-font=\"Calibri\" data-listid=\"1\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:2160,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769242&quot;:[9642],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\u25a0&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"3\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Graduate anthropology student\u00a0<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Kate Collette<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0presented the paper &#8220;Applying Convolutional Neural Networks to Archaeological Skeletal Analysis: Toward Open-Access\u00a0Bioarchaeological\u00a0Methods&#8221; in a session on artificial intelligence co-organized by Sharp. Collette\u2019s paper was one of 12 nominated for the Nick Ryan Bursary Award.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559685&quot;:2160,&quot;335559991&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u25a0\" data-font=\"Calibri\" data-listid=\"1\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:2160,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769242&quot;:[9642],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\u25a0&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"3\"><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Tate Whittaker<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, an undergraduate student studying computer science, presented the paper &#8220;DIGital: A Substantive Virtual Field School Experience,&#8221; which focuses on a capstone project directed by Sharp, in a session on digital archaeology research.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559685&quot;:2160,&quot;335559991&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"search-results-excerpt-link\" href=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/in-the-spotlight-april-13-17-2026\/\">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,\u00a0or use\u00a0our\u00a0online submission form. NAU\u2019s\u00a0Martin-Springer Institute\u00a0(MSI) is opening its student- and faculty-created exhibition on disappearances in Mexico, titled \u201cDisappeared: Portrait of Absence,\u201d within the Museo del\u00a0Holocausto\u00a0in Guatemala on April 18. The day before&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-77646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spotlight"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77646","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=77646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77646\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}