Examples of UHP Student Achievement 2007

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT 

Barry M. Goldwater National Scholarship–Chris Chandler; Maryann K. Watkins, Honorable Mention

Phi Eta Sigma National Undergraduate Scholarship–Jared Zook

Phi Kappa Phi National Award of Excellence Fellowship for Graduate Studies–Danielle Pals

UI Alumni Awards for Excellence–Casper Bendixsen, Nathan Bialke, Kristin Boyd, Heather Coddington, Jennifer Founds, Jonathan Gaffney, Shannon Grant, Lindsey Harris, Jessica Helsley, Christopher Horgan, Rose Keller, Erik Luvaas, Alexander Mockos, Kylie Castellaw Pfeifer, Hartley Riedner, Torry Van Slyke

ASUI Student Achievement Awards in Leadership and Service
           
Dean Vettrus Scholarship
              Freshman: Jeffery Stackhouse         
              Sophomore: Joshua Pohlman, Jared Zook
              Junior: James Fox, Ashley Reeves
Idaho Leadership Certificate–Jonathan Gaffney, Jennifer Hasenoehrl, Daniel Jaklich, William Gitau Munge
ASUI President’s Scholarship Award–James Fox
The University Leadership Activities Scholarship–Melissa Firor, James Fox, Jonathan Gaffney, Amy Huddleston, Nina York, Jared Zook
Individual Community Service Award–Bryn Parker
Guy & Grace Wicks Memorial Award–Kristin Dahlin, Derik Robinson
Jeannie Eva Hughes Multicultural Student Leadership Award–William Gitau Munge
George E. Dafoe Memorial Award–Jonathan Gaffney
Outstanding Freshman–Kevin Joyce, Kyle Legoll, Jennifer Mano, Christine Maxwell, Mitchell Odom, Jeffery Stackhouse, Ze Michael Zhao
Outstanding Sophomore–Amy Huddleston, Melinda McAllister, Joshua Pohlman, Jenna Robinson, Jared Zook
Outstanding Junior– Rachel Bianchetti, James Fox, Carrie Phillips Ashley Reeves  
Outstanding Senior– Kimberly Farnen, Lindsey Harris, Jessica Helsley, Rose Keller, Bryn Parker, Hartley Riedner

Phi Eta Sigma Local Chapter Freshman Scholarship– William Gitau Munge

Inducted into Phi Beta Kappa for 2006-2007–(Juniors)Anna Makowski, Andrew Martineau, David McArtor, Rachel Muscarelli, Danielle Pals, Katherine Scott, Alexander Stegner, Whitney Strong; (Seniors) Ketti Boyce, Tara Roberts, Torry Van Slyke

Many UHP students across campus have received other distinctions for their academic and extracurricular achievements and are noted in the following examples, which are representative rather than comprehensive of UHP students’ accomplishments and service.

Colleges and departments made awards to the following students.  The Lindley Award to the outstanding graduating senior in the College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences was presented to Rose Keller.  The John B. George Memorial Award to the outstanding graduating senior in the College of Science was presented to Ted Yamamoto; Dean’s Award to Nathan Bialke and Ted Yamamoto; Department of Biological Sciences Richard D. Gibb Student award to Brooke Jardin, the Curtis and Mary Sundquist Undergraduate Research Award to Melia Nafus and the Biological Sciences Undergraduate Research Award to Eric Howell and Ted Yamamoto; Department of Mathematics Outstanding Seniors Nathan Bialke and Shannon Grant; Department of Physics George and Della Luke Award to Jessica Snow.  The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Capital Press Outstanding Junior was awarded to Christopher Chandler; the Department of Animal and Veterinary Science Outstanding Pre-Veterinary Student went to Amanda Morrison; Sara Gilmore received the Biological & Agricultural Engineering Outstanding Senior Award. 

The College of Engineering presented the Outstanding Senior Award in Computer Engineering to Nathan Bialke.  Recent graduate Matthew Benke was selected as the National Institute for Advanced Transportation Technology's Student of the Year.  Benke earned his Honors Certificate in 2003 and completed his master's degree in computer science in 2005.  Following completion of his research with NIATT in 2006, Benke joined the Department of Defense, in Maryland, conducting vulnerability analyses for embedded operating systems. 

The College of Natural Resources gave the Outstanding Senior Award to Javan Bauder, Wildlife Resources. 
 
The Department of English awarded the William C. Banks Best Student Writing in English courses for 2005-06 to nine undergraduate students to include program members Sarah Crider (Junior, English), Whitney Kembel (Sophomore, English), Megan Larrondo (Senior, English/Spanish), Sarah Moore (Junior, English), and Jennifer Yandt (Senior, French).   Interns from English 402 who tutor in the Writing Center during the academic year were Lindsay Dixon, Tara Roberts, Juliane Smith, Miranda Carman, Kimberly Dahl, Levi McGarry, and Rebecca Memmott.

Tim Lieske (Psychology) was named Distinguished Military Graduate by the Officer Education Program. 

Eleven students were selected to participate in the Graue Scholars Program for the university's College of Business and Economics.  Top academic achievers from the college who are also  members of the program included seniors Kristin Boyd (Finance) and Chris Youderian (Business Econ-General Opt./Finance), and freshmen Mary Hourihan (Management and Human Res.), Kelsey Pilch (Business Econ-General Opt.), Tyde Sirk (Marketing), and Michael Zhao (Business  Econ.:Fin. Econ. Opt./Information Systems), along with five other university students.

The Martin Research Scholars for 2006-2007 were chosen to explore two broad topics: peacekeeping operations and conflict resolution.  Student scholars selected to participate and who received stipends of $500-$1000 were Caitlin Chenoweth (Senior, International Studies/Foreign Languages-Spanish Opt.), David McArtor (Junior, Anthropology), William Gitau Munge (Junior, Physics/Mathematics-Appl. Math. Computation Opt.), Danielle Pals (Senior, International Studies/Foreign Languages-Spanish Opt.), Allison Neterer (Junior, Philosophy and Classical Languages), Whitney Power (Senior, Economics/Political Science), and Jessica Tueller (Senior, History).  The eighth Martin Institute-sponsored delegation to the National Model United Nations in New York City represented the Czech Republic this year with Katherine Carscallen (Junior, International Studies), Kimberly Castelin (Junior, International Studies), James Fox (Junior, Political Science), and Audrey Mattoon (Sophomore, International Studies),  participating, along with 11 other UI students. 

Cynthia Reynaud is one of 16 college seniors and recent graduates awarded a Summer  2007 Fellowship for Young Journalists by the Poynter Institute, a school for journalists, future journalists and teachers of journalism.  Reynaud spent the spring semester of 2006 studying at the American University at Rome, Italy.

Undergraduate students from throughout Idaho are working on biomedical research projects this summer as paid research fellows through the statewide IDeA Network for Biomedical Research Excellence.  The INBRE program is funded by a $16.1 million grant through the National Institutes of Health.  Eight UI Fellows were selected in 2007 and included program members Sara Gilmore (Senior, Molecular Biology/Biochemistry), Alexis Jones (Junior, Chemistry-General Opt.), and Elizabeth Myers (Senior, Animal Science-Sci/Pre-Vet Opt.).  A total of 31 students are involved with the INBRE Fellows. 

Following his freshman year, Ted Yamamoto (Biology) received a fellowship through the statewide Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network.  He joined Dr. Larry Forney's lab in the spring semester of his freshman year and has remained a part of the lab group ever since.  "He regularly presents his research to the group with the organization, clarity and professionalism usually found in third or fourth year graduate students," said Forney.  With his team, Yamamoto currently is finalizing a paper to report the findings of research he has done of vaginal microbiota of adolescent women; he will be the first author, or lead investigator, something rarely accomplished by an undergraduate.  Before going to medical school Ted may travel to Guatemala to work for several months in rural areas to gain experience in health care delivery; he will move first to Boston, to take up a hospital lab research position.

Seventeen UI Honors Program students participated in the Moscow Schools tutoring program this year: Peter Atkins, Marriah Banghart, Jenica Draney, Meagan Gleckler, Skye Gombert, John Hamilton, Alisa Hart, Eric Howell, Megan Jasper, Kristen Konzek, Tyson Meeks, Amy Morgan, Nicolle Rose, Joseph Sprague, James Wagoner, Maryann Watkins, and Sylvia White.  Lynn Weaver, coordinator of the program in 2007 once again praised the students, saying, "We couldn't have provided the level of support that we have this year without them.  Thank you for referring them to us."

Other students remain active in different social and academic endeavors.  Javan Bauder attended the Idaho chapter of The Wildlife Society annual meeting in Pocatello, Idaho, to deliver a paper on prairie rattlesnake movement at the UI’s Taylor Ranch.  Caleb Bouma plans to work in Dr. Caroyln Bohach’s E. coli research lab this summer; he also has been a member of the UI chapter of American Society of Civil Engineers Concrete Canoe team this past year.  Kent Queener participated in PianoSummer at SUNY New Paltz, including a performance in Steinway Hall, New York City.  Ben Coté created a series of short videos for the UI Sustainability Center’s website, joined other students for the Alternative Service Break work for Habitat for Humanity in Tennessee, and will intern this summer at Parsons Brinckerhoff, an engineering firm, to work on a solution to Seattle’s Alaskan Way viaduct.  Shannon Grant completed a math and statistics Research Experience for Undergraduates at SUMSRI (Summer Undergraduate Mathematical Sciences Research Institute) at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.  During her time at Miami she coauthored a paper on applying multivariate analysis to consumer spending data, which will be presented this summer at the Joint Statistical meetings in Salt Lake City.  Amber Lankford plans to study barn owls in the Mission Valley in Montana this summer.

 Nathan Bialke interned at the Advanced Products Group at Xilinx, Inc working with radiation-hardened field-programmable gate arrays.  He also spent time at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's cyclotron and Los Alamos Neutron Science Center's linear accelerator.  In addition, he developed a method of measuring the radiation hardness of digital electronics at a specific particle energy, which is in the process of being patented.  For his senior design project, he developed a small, high velocity atmospheric reentry probe that will be launched to 500 km altitude by an experimental rocket in September 2007 in order to reconstruct various atmospheric parameters (working in collaboration with NASA Ames Research Center). His research team has submitted an abstract for the Fifth International Planetary Probe Workshop.  Emmalee Kearney was elected to the Residence Hall Association E-Board as the Housing Services Coordinator, was also selected to be a New Student Orientation Leader, serves as a Vandal Ambassador, and she was awarded the 2007 ASUI Outstanding New Member Award for her participation and leadership within the University of Idaho Public Relations Club.  Mitch Pentzer presented a paper at the regional meeting of the Phi Alpha Theta history conference in Lincoln City, Oregon, joining several others UI students led by honors faculty member Dr. Ellen Kittell.

It is also of interest to note some of the immediate plans of students who graduated from the program in December 2006 and May 2007.  Thomas Barnett is enrolled in a Ph.D. program in Zoology at Colorado State University.  Casper Bendixsen, who received a fully funded fellowship, will attend Rice University's MA/PhD in Cultural Anthropology Program.  Abbey Burgess will conduct cardiology research at the Washington State University Bear Center, working with the grizzly bears; in the fall, she begins her first year of veterinary school at Washington State University.  Heather Coddington graduated in December and accepted a position with Northwest Media Productions, an advertising/marketing/pr firm, where she is employed as a communications specialist.  Kimberly Farnen will begin work at an investment banking firm in Detroit, Michigan. Alyssa Flerchinger will enroll in a graduate program in animal science at Texas A&M University.  Samantha Garlow will work in Spain for three months, then hopes to join an architectural firm in Boise.  Melinda Giacalone has accepted a position as an event planner in San Francisco.  Meagan Gleckler has been accepted to the Masters of Agronomy Program at Mississippi State University, with full funding for a graduate research assistantship.  Shannon Grant will begin graduate studies with the Biostatistics Department at the University of Washington.  John Hamilton was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Air Force where his primary duty position will be as an analytical scientist.  Christopher Horgan will begin a masters program in Civil Engineering at the University of Idaho. 

Rose Keller will attend the first U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta, Georgia this summer, and then will immediately return to Finland, Joensuu and Helsinki specifically, to conduct research under the University of Joensuu's Dept. of Human Geography on Informal Economic Activity in the Russian Republic of Karelia and the cross-border implications for Finnish North Karelia.  Rose will also be enrolling in a geography masters program there that will eventually take her to Helsinki to finish her thesis.  Erik Luvaas plans to work during the summer at at the university’s Sustainability Center; this fall he will attend California State University-Chico to pursue an M.A. in Recreation Administration with an emphasis on Therapeutic Recreation.  Kathryn Morris has accepted an offer from the University of Georgia at Athens to do her Ph.D. in Cellular Biology at the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases where she will be studying parasitology.  Alexander Mockos will pursue a graduate degree in Environmental Engineering at the University of Idaho. David Morris will enter law school, on scholarship, at Rutgers University.

Melia Nafus has accepted a graduate position at Cornell University studying in the field of Environmental Toxicology.  Danielle Pals will go to Boise for an internship in international marketing with the Idaho State Department of Agriculture; she has applied to serve in the Peace Corps, and will then decide whether to defer attending Willamette law school in Salem, Oregon until after her Peace Corps service.  Bryn Parker will begin her medical school studies in August at the University of Washington.  Emily Poor will work for the Stillinger herbarium for six months, and work as a teaching assistant for a Systematic Botany course as she applies to graduate programs in Botany.  David Sare will attend Navy Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Florida, then continue as an officer in the Civil Engineer Corps of the Navy.  Dylan Sinclair plans to attend Pharmacy School at Washington State University.  Jessica Snow will attend the University of Wisconsin to work toward a Masters degree in Medical Physics.  Danielle Stumbo has an internship with Walden’s Puddle Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Nashville, TN.  Lindsay Walters will attend the University of Kansas to pursue a Masters in Geology.  Mark Weagel plans to return to Reno, NV to work as an architect-in-training.  Both Whitney Power and Jessica Yadao will begin law school at the University of Idaho this fall. 

Recent graduate (Spring 2006) and Honors Certificate recipient Erica Nees (Horticulture) was accepted to the University of Washington School of Medicine.  Erica will be placed at a "satellite campus" at the University of Wyoming, where she’ll work with staff from both Wyoming and Washington.  She then will return to Seattle for another year of classes and two years of clinical rotations.

Student Achievement 2006

Student Achievement 2005

Student Achievement 2004