Accolades News for Researchers
Posted November 26, 2024 by Tiffany Lee
Honors and Recognitions
James Checco, chemistry, received the Young Chemical Biologist Award from the International Chemical Biology Society. The award advances the career development of young investigators in chemical biology. Recipients give a presentation showcasing their work during a “Rising Stars” session at the society’s annual meeting. Checco’s work focuses on understanding neuropeptides and peptide hormones that act as cell-to-cell signaling molecules.
Amy Goodburn, senior associate vice chancellor and dean of undergraduate education, was named one of five Russell Edgerton Innovation Fellows by the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Higher Education. The fellowship recognizes Goodburn’s contributions to improving undergraduate education and student success. The cohort of 2024-27 fellows will spend the next three years in collaboration and mentorship with the Gardner Institute, including participating in its annual symposium and engaging with its alumni and community networks.
Patricio Grassini, agronomy and horticulture, received the International Agronomy Award from the American Society of Agronomy. The award recognizes outstanding contributions in research, teaching, extension or administration made outside of the United States by a current agronomist. Grassini’s work focuses on narrowing the existing yield gap between potential yields and current farm yields, while improving resource-use efficiency and producer profit and minimizing environmental footprint.
Massimiliano Pierobon, computing, received a Best Presentation Award and a Best Poster Presentation Award at the 11th annual Association for Computing Machinery International Conference on Nanoscale Computing and Communication. He was honored for his presentation “Fitness Value of Subjective Information for Living Organisms” and his poster “Preliminary Characterization of a Redox-Based Electrical-to-Molecular Communication Channel.”
Daren Redfearn, agronomy and horticulture, was named a fellow of two societies, the American Society of Agronomy and the Crop Science Society of America. Fellow is the highest recognition available in both societies and is based on professional achievements and meritorious service. Redfearn was honored at the annual meeting of the ASA, CSSA and the Soil Science Society of America, held Nov. 10-13 in San Antonio, Texas.
Madoka Sato Wayoro, director of the Kawasaki Reading Room for Japanese Studies, was recognized by Jun Yanagi, consul-general of Japan in Chicago, on Oct. 24 for her work in promoting Japanese culture. During a conferment ceremony in Lincoln, Yanagi said Wayoro displayed “distinguished service to furthering each understanding and deepening relations between Japan and the United States of America.” Wayoro is in her 11th year directing the room, which includes overseeing its 7,000 Japanese books, magazines, manga and DVDs and hosting events that promote Japanese culture, such as Tea Time Fridays and Japanese Conversation Tables.
Publications
John Bender, journalism (emeritus), is author of the textbook “Writing and Reporting for the Media,” which was nominated for the 2025 McGuffey Longevity Award from the Textbook and Academic Authors Association. The award recognizes textbooks and learning materials whose excellence has been demonstrated over time.
Michael Forsberg, natural resources, self-published “Into Whooperland,” a book about the lives of North America’s rarest crane species. The book’s photos and essays show the whooping cranes nesting, wintering and making their 2,500-mile annual migration from northern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. In the late 1940s, there were only 16 whooping cranes left in the world. Intensive conservation work has brought the population back to about 850, making whooping cranes a symbol of the conservation movement.
Phil Geib, School of Global Integrative Studies, is author of a new book published by the University of Utah Press. “Barrier Canyon Style: Thousands of Years of Painting on Rock” explores 20 of the most important sites of Barrier Canyon Style, a distinctive style of rock art composed primarily of Indigenous American pictographs in the canyon country of eastern Utah and far western Colorado. Geib’s book is the first to focus solely on the art and its context.
Ted Hamann, teaching, learning and teacher education, published his co-edited book “Teaching and Learning in the New Latino Diaspora” on Oct. 29. The book documents educational dynamics that impact Latino populations in the U.S., including plans to solve challenges facing these constituencies. Chapter authors include faculty members Amanda Morales, Lydiah Kiramba and Trish Gray and doctoral student Jessica Mitchell-McCollough, all of the Department of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education.
Patrice McMahon, political science, was co-editor and contributor for “Activism in Hard Times in Central and Eastern Europe,” which was recently published by the Taylor and Francis Group. The book elevates the voices of civic activists from Central and Eastern Europe and analyzes a wide range of information to generate new insights into how activism in the region manages to be vibrant, diverse and consequential.
Professional Service
College of Law faculty have served as presenters, panelists, debaters and more at a wide range of recent events:
- Jamie Cooper was a panelist for “Masculinity, Law, and Justice: The Trial of the Menendez Brothers,” an interdisciplinary conversation regarding how masculinity, family dynamics, class, race and media influence intersected with the legal implications of the Menendez Brothers’ murder case in the 1990s, and how the same themes resonate strongly today.
- Rick Duncan participated in a debate with University of Texas School of Law professor Hugh Brady on the merits of the electoral vote system for president. Duncan argued it should be maintained because it protects electoral federalism and democracy in the states.
- Danielle Jefferis presented as part of the Claims for Monetary Damages panel at the Prison Law and Advocates Conference hosted at Georgia State University School of Law.
- Jessica Shoemaker co-hosted the 2024 Law and Rurality Workshop, held at the University of Iowa on Nov. 15. The workshop is facilitated by the Rural Reconciliation Project at the University of Nebraska College of Law and the University of South Dakota Knudson School of Law. In addition to hosting, Shoemaker also workshopped a project she is co-writing, tentatively called “Financialized Farmland.”
- Korey Taylor served as moderator and panelist during the Nebraska State Bar Association’s annual meeting panel on New Age Ethical Conundrums. Panelists discussed how the fall in leadership and ethics in everyday life, business and politics has impacted ethical challenges and failures in the law, with judges and courts, and in public service.
- Adam Thimmesch presented an article he co-wrote, “Beyond ChatGPT: Transforming Government with Augmented LLMs,” at the University of Tennessee College of Law.
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