The College of Science celebrates a long list of faculty, staff and students honored with a range of accolades, awards and promotions in the 2021-2022 academic year. These achievements showcase the high level of research, teaching, and outreach in the College. In addition to thirteen College awards, the event celebrated six faculty appointed to named professorships, fourteen Westfall Scholars and their faculty mentors, seven faculty and staff retirements, five outgoing department chairs and five incoming department chairs, and several University, Foundation, and Regents awardees. Interim Dean of the College of Science Katherine McCall presented the awards.
“Each year I am inspired by the accomplishments of our faculty, staff and students in the College of Science,” McCall said. “I am especially impressed by those in our community who commit time and energy to public service and outreach while pursuing challenging degrees, developing international research reputations, and/or advancing teaching excellence.”
The following are the 2021-2022 academic year accolades received by College faculty, staff and students
Regents and University awards
- Regents Distinguished Researcher: Steven C. Hayes, Psychology
- Regents Midcareer Researcher: Jamie Voyles, Biology
- 3-Minute Theses First Place Ph.D.: Jennifer Heppner, EECB PhD
- Patricia Berninsone People's Choice Award: Jennifer Heppner, EECB Ph.D.
- Donald Tibbitts Distinguished Teacher Award: Lyndsay Munro, Chemistry
- University Distinguished Faculty Award: Linda Hayes, Psychology
- Foundation Professor, Ana de Bettencourt-Dias: Chemistry
- Foundation Outstanding Committee Service Award: Brian Frost, Chemistry
- Foundation Outstanding LOA Instructor Award: Kaitlin Ochsenrider, Chemistry
- Foundation Outstanding LOA Instructor Award: Christine Johnson, Geography
- Student Employee of the Year: Piyada Sriphong-Ngarm, Psychology
- Cavanaugh Community Volunteer Award: Rachael Roach, Neuroscience
- Henry Albert Senior Public Service Award: Jayde Powell, Psychology, Biology
- Henry Albert Senior Public Service Award: Christopher Sanchez, Micro & Immunology
- Phi Kappa Phi Award: Hana Hackbusch, Neuroscience
- Outstanding Senior Award: Rachael Roach, Neuroscience
- Sam Lieberman Regents' Award for Scholarship, Undergraduate: Nicole Choma, Biology
College Awards
- Department Generosity Award (2021): Geography - 76%
- McMinn Research Professorship in Science: Jamie Voyles-Ensor
- McMinn Research Professorship in Science: Ilia Zaliapin
- Gibson Professorship in Science: Raul Rojas-Gonzalez
- Clemons-Magee Professorship in Physics: Thomas White
- Hyung K. Shin Award for Excellence in Research: Jing-Jing Huang
- Mousel-Feltner Award for Excellence in Research: Sudeep Chandra
- Outstanding Classified Staff Award: Roxanne Piskel
- Outstanding Graduate Assistant: Valentina Alaasam, EECB Ph.D.
- Outstanding Graduate Assistant: Chris Halsch, EECB Ph.D.
- Outstanding Graduate Assistant: Alexia Spoon, Math M.S.
- Outstanding Postdoctoral Scholar: Daniel Joyce, Psychology
- Berninsone Award for Outstanding Service: Joel Scheingross
- LeMay Award for Excellence in Teaching: Suzanne Welcome
- Durham Scholar, Kennedy Sparling: Neuroscience
- Senior Scholar - College of Science: Justin Malogan, Neuroscience
- Senior Scholar - Honors College: Jessica Camelon, Microbiology and Immunology
Mackay Special Awards
Read about Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering awards
- Vernon E. Scheid Award: Nate Crummett
- Bordon C. Frisby Award: Milad Ghahramanieisalou
- The Watchman Award: Luis Becerra
Department Chairs, Incoming, Outgoing
- Biology Department Chair: Sander Van der Linden, Jack Hayes
- Geography Chair: Adam Csank, Douglas Boyle
- Geological Sciences & Engineering Chair: Paula Noble, Wendy Calvin
- Mining & Metallurgical Engineering Chair: Javad Sattarvand, Manoj Mohanty
- Physics Department Chair: Joshua Williams, Paul Neill
Westfall Scholars, Spring 2022, Department, Mentor
Read about the Spring 2022 Westfall Scholars
- Pouyan Mofidi Nasab, Biology, Jeff Baguley
- Elena Sretenovic, Biology, Elena Pravosudova
- Anthony Viola, Biology, Jesse Krause
- Kyle Griffin, Chemistry, Krisztina Voronova
- Andrea Gonzalez, Geography, Jesse Clark
- Nate Crummett, Geological Sci & Eng, William Hammond
- Morgan Cartledge, Math & Stat, Pavel Soin
- Jessica Camelon, Microbiol & Immunology, Deanna Colton
- Luis Becerra, Mining and Met Eng, Eniko Kocsis
- Justin Malogan, Neuroscience, Elena Pravosudova
- Kennedy Sparling, Neuroscience, Elena Pravosudova
- Jacob Molina, Physics, Thomas White
- Gretchen Wulfekuhle, Psychology, Edward Ester
- Bailey Coleman, Psychology, Genevieve DeBernardis
Westfall Scholars, Fall 2021, Department, Mentor
Read about the Fall 2021 Westfall Scholars
- Henry Tang, Biology, Elena Pravosudova
- Julia Davidson, Chemistry, Ying Yang
- Andrew Azar, Geography, Scott Kelley
- Blake Shane, Geological Sci & Eng, Robert Watters
- Tanner Miller, Math & Stat, Joshua Williams
- Madelyn Norberg, Microbiol & Immunology, Jennifer Hollander
- Casey Crawford, Neuroscience, Michael Crognale
- Daniel Tooker, Physics, Vern Davis
- Megan Lovell, Psychology, Brittany Avila
Academic Tenure and Promotion
- Behrooz Abbasi, Associate Professor
- Christopher Barile, Associate Professor
- Adam Csank, Associate Professor
- Paul Hurtado, Associate Professor
- Kenneth Nussear, Associate Professor
- Samuel Odoh, Associate Professor
- Jenny Ouyang, Associate Professor
- Phillip Ruprecht, Associate Professor
- Deena Schmidt, Associate Professor
- Thomas White, Associate Professor
- Yueran Yang, Associate Professor
- Andrew Zuza, Associate Professor
Academic Tenure
- Bridget Ayling, Associate Professor
Academic Promotion
- Jeffrey Baguley, Teaching Professor
- Marian Berryhill, Professor
- Gideon Caplovitz, Professor
- Jennifer Hollander, Teaching Professor
- Adrienne Peterson, Senior Lecturer
- Yftah Tal-Gan, Professor
- Mariann Weierich, Professor
Administrative Promotion
- Joel DesOrmeau, Manager, Geosciences Instrumentation Facilities
- Steve Calhoun, Director, Advising, Recruitment and Retention
- Taylor Diamond, Coordinator, Recruitment
- Heidi Eskew, Manager, Research Grants
- Corey Gucker, Coordinator, Great Basin Fire Science Exchange
- Jennifer Kent, Coordinator, Marketing Communications
- Rachel Micander, Specialist, Geologic Information
- Genie Montblanc, Manager, Great Basin Fire Science Exchange
- Emily O'Dean, Manager, Geoscience Data & Great Basin Science Sample & Records Library
Emeriti Faculty
- Linda Hayes, Psychology
- Scott Mensing, Geography
- David Zeh, Biology, Graduate School
- Jeanne Zeh, Biology
Staff Retirement
- Melissa Bell, College of Science
- Lou Christianson, Biology
- Eric Williams, Nevada Seismological Laboratory
