OPEN Book – May 2024

OPEN Book is R&I’s internal monthly electronic newsletter that highlights upcoming activities, office news, and accomplishments.  The OPEN Book newsletter is sent on the last business day of the month.

Upcoming Events – Save the Date!

Our Ice Cream and Sorbet Social will be held Thursday, June 27, 2:30-4:30 p.m. in the Nebraska East Campus Union, Fireplace room and South Patio.  Register your attendance plans, today! 

R&I’s Staff and Family Picnic will be held on Friday, August 23 at Haymarket Park, starting at approximately 5:30 p.m. There will be a picnic, Saltdogs baseball game, and a Fireworks show after the game – details and registration to come.   

Learning and Development

Supervisor Learning Series

UNL Human Resources and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion are partnering to offer training and development series on supervisory training this summer. Learn more at https://hr.unl.edu/training/ These trainings will be offered in-person only.  Register through Bridge.  Attend just one, or as many sessions as you want in the series.

Welcome New Team Members

Kristen Ohnoukta, Awards Setup Administrator, Sponsored Programs, started April 24, 2024

I joined the OSP awards team in April 2024 as the Awards Setup Coordinator. I have been at UNL for seventeen and a half years. I spent sixteen years with the Research Finance team and spent the last year and a half with the Filley Hall Business Center. I’m a sports girl and I absolutely LOVE College Football (for anyone counting, we are 84 days away from kickoff on August 24th). When I’m not watching sports, my husband and I enjoy trips to Colorado to visit family and go hiking, fishing, and camping.   

James Martino, Senior Technology Manager, NUtech Ventures, started May 1, 2024

I’m James Martino and I’m excited to take on my new role as a Senior Technology Manager at NUtech Ventures, where I’ll with UNL researchers in Mechanical & Materials Engineering, Civil & Environmental Engineering, the College of Architecture, and the College of Business to protect and facilitate the commercialization of their innovations. I was previously on the technology licensing team at Stony Brook University, which is also where I earned my B.E. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering, along with my MBA. Outside of work, I enjoy staying involved in IEEE and practice leatherworking, 3D printing, and archery.

Avery Stillahn, QA/QI Coordinator I, Research Compliance Services, started May 22, 2024

Hello, my name is Avery Stillahn and I am excited to join the R&I team as a QA/QI coordinator. A little about me, I graduated from Concordia University Nebraska with my bachelor’s in biology in 2022. I more recently completed my masters in biochemistry and molecular biology at UNMC doing research on prostate cancer. Outside of work you can find me gardening, fishing, bowling, woodworking or spending time with friends. 

Farewells

Endeliza Hampton‘s last day with NUtech Ventures was May 16, 2024.  In the interim, please contact Cheryl Horst. 

Kudos to Our Colleagues

UNL and R&I were well represented by members of the research development group during the 16th annual research development conference hosted by the National Organization of Research Development Professionals (NORDP) from April 28 to May 1 in Bellevue, WA.

Petrina Suiter, chair of the NORDP awards task force, presided over NORDP’s 2024 awards ceremony during which Tisha Gilreath Mullen, director of the Office of Proposal Development, received a mentoring award.

Mentoring awards celebrate a NORDP member’s unique ability to provide an engaging, supportive, and inclusive environment for professional and/or personal growth through mentorship in the research development community.

In addition, research development group members contributed the following panel and poster presentations:
Maria Almanza (University at Buffalo), Petrina Suiter, Marie Teemant (University of Arizona), and Susan Weiner (Brown University): “Supporting Honorific Awards, Recognition, and Excellence” [Panel]
Amanda Bohlin and Jaclyn Tan: “CAREER Club: A Case Study for Enhancing Faculty Competitiveness for NSF CAREER Awards through Cohort-based Programming” [Poster]
Carly Cummings (University of Idaho), Carrie Busha (University of Nevada, Reno), Nathan Meier, and Nicole Motzer (Montana State University): “Multi-institutional Collaboration Efforts to Achieve Institutional Goals” [Panel]
Matthew Dwyer and Tisha Gilreath Mullen: “Integrating Research and Education for Faculty Career – and CAREER – Success” [Poster]
Karen Fletcher (Appalachian State University), Kimberly Eck (Emory University), Michael Jacobson (Binghamton University), Anne Maglia (University of Massachusetts Lowell), and Nathan Meier: “Bridging Research Impacts and Research Development: A Practical Discourse” [Panel]
As a member of NORDP’s board of directors and current president, Nathan Meier provided strategic leadership for the conference. Nathan’s term as president will conclude on June 30, when he will become the immediate past president of NORDP.

Do you know someone who should join our team? Share these opportunities!

Administrative Coordinator, Center for Brain, Biology & Behavior application review date begins, 5/31/2024
Associate Director for Research and Open Rank Research Professor, Center for Brain, Biology & Behavior, application review date begins, 5/31/2024
Research Assistant Professor, Center for Brain, Biology & Behavior, application review date begins, 5/31/2024

The Month in Pictures

On April 24, 2024, I participated in the 1st annual Multi-dimensional Office Professional Conference. It was hosted by UNOPA, SCC, and the Nebraska Educational Office Professional Association.  It was a great way to network and to learn new things. There were over 100 people who attended. I enjoyed the Emotional Intelligence session and the Outlook calendar session. – Jess Weaver (Morrison Business Center).  

Mary Guest (Vice Chancellor’s Office) presented at this conference on Parlimentary Procedure (psst…don’t let it scare you away). 

OPEN Book Submissions

If you enjoyed the news and photos, please consider sharing some for the next OPEN Book Newsletter. 

Thank you to the OPEN Book reporters:
Mardi Bonner (Office of Sponsored Programs)
Megan Ebbers (Institutional Animal Care Program)
Tisha Gilreath Mullen (Office of Proposal Development)
Nova Gocchi Carrasco (Methodology and Evaluation Research Core)
Brooke Goedert (Nebraska Innovation Campus)
Mari Greer (Vice Chancellor’s Office)
Casey Lundberg (NUtech Ventures)
Sara Quinn (Research Compliance Services), and
Ashley Washburn (Research Communications).

If you have anything you would like to include in the monthly OPEN Book newsletter, please reach out to one of these reporters or send it directly to Becky Carter (Vice Chancellor’s Office).