awards

2022-23 Faculty Awards

May 23, 2023

Pictured above, L-R: Lauren Barth-Cohen, Brett Clark, Brian Codding, Kenneth Golden

At the close of the 2022-2023 academic year, the University recognized the contributions of outstanding faculty who affiliate with the GCSC:

  • Kenneth M. Golden, distinguished professor, Department of Mathematics, received the Calvin S. and JeNeal N. Hatch prize in teaching.
    • “Having more than 40 years of classroom experience to perfect the art of teaching, 80-plus publications in academic and scientific journals, more than 500 invited lectures and having presented three times in front of the United States Congress, Dr. Golden has amplified what it means to be a teacher by not only being at the top of his field but also by creating a safe and inclusive environment where students can be challenged to reach their full potential.”
  • Brett Clark, professor, Department of Sociology, received a Distinguished Research award.
    • “Brett Clark’s research broadly examines the human dimensions of environmental change. This includes analyzing the social drivers of greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and industrial pollution; studying the political-economic, historical and environmental conditions that influence the emergence of ecological problems; and assessing how the structure and organization of militarism contributes to unique forms of environmental degradation. He is one of the leading scholars developing and employing social metabolic analysis as a means to investigate environmental issues such as climate change and overfishing.”
  • Brian Codding, professor, Department of Anthropology, was recognized for Distinguished Teaching.
    • “Brian is outspoken about his desire to increase opportunities for students from many backgrounds. He takes students seriously and is able to encourage discussion and ideas from a multitude of students from different life and educational experiences. Beyond actively seeking out diverse opinions and opportunities for students to work with him, Brian regularly works to facilitate a supportive environment within the department. He repeatedly advocates at faculty, departmental and college levels for educational opportunities, programs and resources that support student success both inside and outside of the classroom.”
  • Lauren Barth-Cohen, assistant professor, Department of Educational Psychology, was honored with an Early Career Teaching award.
    • “Dr. Barth-Cohen has been a leader in the College of Education in developing high-quality science education curriculum for her individual courses and in advancing college initiatives in STEM offerings. She has led multiple efforts to help solidify and grow the College of Education’s relationship with the university’s Center for Science and Math Education (CSME) and currently serves as a CSME faculty associate. She has been an exemplary faculty member who is dedicated and has made significant contributions to the undergraduate and graduate education at the department, college and university levels.”

Outstanding undergraduate research mentors:

  • Dr. Sara Grineski is a prominent scholar of environmental justice and asks questions about how environmental issues affect the health of individuals and communities. She is also a scholar of “mentorship” and has developed best practices for mentorship. She has mentored countless Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program Scholars and Summer Program for Undergraduate Research Scholars and utilized NSF and NIH funding to support research experiences to underserved undergraduate students, emphasizing their pathways toward graduate school and research-intensive careers. Her mentor structures have resulted in a number of publications and presentations that feature student co-authors.
  • Dr. Gannett Hallar has been successfully mentoring undergraduate researchers at the University of Utah since 2016. Her mentees participate in the Hallar Aerosol Research Team (HART) making connections between the atmosphere, biosphere, and climate. Her mentees have successfully received awards such as the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program and Wilkes Scholars. Her commitment to mentoring includes her role as a faculty fellow with Utah Pathways to STEM Initiative (UPSTEM), training in inclusive teaching and mentoring strategies. As stated by Dean Darryl Butt, “Dr. Hallar is a world-class mentor. Her dedication to our undergraduate students comes naturally, but she is also very deliberate in creating a structure of experiential learning that is inherently unforgettable.”
  • Dr. Sarah Hinners works with undergraduate researchers in various contexts (Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program Scholars–UROP, honors program, independent study, SCIF, research assistants, and Campus as a Living Lab). She encourages undergraduate involvement in research-oriented SCIF projects. In addition to direct mentoring of undergraduate student researchers, Dr. Hinners has dedicated considerable effort to cultivating opportunities for student research via Campus as a Living Lab. Department Chair Stacy Harwood states, “Undergraduate students enjoy working with Dr. Hinners because she creates opportunities for impactful hands-on research experiences.”

Quoted from original articles in At The U: Exceptional Faculty; Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentors

John Lin named Earth Leadership Program Fellow

January 26, 2021

GCSC faculty affiliate John Lin, professor of atmospheric sciences, has been named a 2021 fellow of The Earth Leadership Program. The program recognizes mid-career academic researchers who focus on environmental and sustainability issues and provides them with an opportunity to develop as global leaders to bring their expertise to effect positive change. Dr. Lin will join a global network of scientists, researchers, and innovators engaged in transdisciplinary research that will be needed to support rapid transformations towards sustainability.

Lin has been an innovative and collaborative researcher since being recruited to the U of U (with the help of the GCSC) in 2012. His Land-Atmosphere Interactions Research (LAIR) group studies phenomena that impact climate and the environment such as air quality, greenhouse gases, and wildfire emissions.

Lin says his selection as a fellow reflects the quality of research at the U in studying climate change and air pollution. “As importantly,” he says, “the Earth Leadership Program recognizes the potential for work at the U to provide solutions to these issues by working with stakeholders and the public at large.  This is testament to the efforts in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences as well as the many, many wonderful members of the Global Change and Sustainability Center across campus.” (quoted from an article in @theU. Click link to read further.)

 

This leadership training program “provides opportunities for Fellows to learn leadership skills and to practice them in a dynamic setting. The network of trainers, mentors, and peers promotes relationships that are meaningful and may lead to new professional opportunities. The value for each Fellow is in building these connections and in becoming inspired and confident that our research has purpose and impact on the world.” Sharon K. Collinge, Executive Director of the Earth Leadership Program.

 

GCSC Affiliate Faculty Recognition 2019-2020

May 13, 2020

At the end of the 2019-2020 academic year, the University of Utah recognized several GCSC faculty affiliates for their contributions to research and education.

  • Robin Kundis Craig was named Distinguished Professor of Law in the S.J. Quinney College of Law.
    Dr. Craig researches the law and policy of “all things water,” including water rights, water pollution, and ocean and coastal issues, as well as climate change adaptation, the intersection of constitutional and environmental law, and the food-energy-water nexus. She has authored, co-authored, or edited 11 books, 21 books chapters, and over 100 articles in both law and scientific journals.
  • Dave Bowling, Professor, School of Biological Sciences, received a Distinguished Research Award. The Bowling lab group studies how environmental and climate change affect the carbon and water cycles of forests, grasslands, and shrublands of the mountain West.
  • Shelley Minteer, Professor, Department of Chemistry, received a Distinguished Research Award. Her research focuses on improving the energy efficiency of energy conversion and storage devices.

Two faculty affiliates were named “Career Champions of the Year” for their contributions to student career and internship success:

  • Peter Lippert, Associate Professor, Department of Geology and Geophysics
  • Kody Powell, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering

Three GCSC faculty affiliates were awarded NSF CAREER Grants, awards that support junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through research and education, and the integration of these endeavors in the context of their organizations’ missions. They are:

Award to Anderegg for studying the future of forests

October 15, 2018

Bill Anderegg, GCSC affiliate and Assistant Professor in the U’s School of Biological Sciences, has been awarded a Packard Fellowship to support his research to understand the future of forests in a changing climate. He aims to use this flexible funding to conduct long-term climate change research that’s hard or nearly impossible to fund with traditional grants. Read more in U News.