UW Graduate School Award Winners Named

April 25, 2008 -- Outstanding students in the University of Wyoming Graduate School have been selected to receive awards for their teaching and research accomplishments during the 2007-2008 academic year.

The honors include the Ellbogen Outstanding Graduate Assistant Teaching Awards, which recognize exceptional contributions to undergraduate education. Winners are:

Derrick Cohens, Little Rock, Ark., English; Collin Garnett, Laramie, mathematics; Emily Knight, Madison, Miss., communication and journalism; Cynthia Laborde, Paris, France, modern and classical languages; Johnna Nunez, Shoshoni, counselor education; Diann Olson, Cheyenne, modern and classical languages; Keith Underwood, Shallowater, Texas, animal science; and Jennifer Weatherford, Laramie, statistics.

Three students received Outstanding Dissertation Awards. Winners, with their projects and UW mentors were:

Sigan Hartley, Madison, Wis., social sciences, "Stressful Social Interactions, Coping and Depression among Adults with Mild Intellectual Disability," mentor William MacLean.

Adam Siepielski, Waynesboro, Pa., zoology and physiology, "The Ecology and Evolution of Seed Dispersal Mutualisms Between Nutcrackers and Pines," Craig Benkman.

Peisheng Xu, Jiamgxi, China, physical, chemical and petroleum engineering, "Functional Polymer for Drug and Gene Delivery," mentor Youqing Shen.

Outstanding Master's Thesis Awards were presented to five students. Award recipients, with their projects and UW mentors were:

Henneke Dersken, Baak, Netherlands, political science, "The Role of Tony Blair's Belief System in Great Britain's Decision to Support the War in Iraq," mentor Jean Garrison.

Megan Marshall, Portland, Ore., creative writing, "Pack Animals," mentors Beth Loffreda and Brad Watson.

Kelsey McArthur, Houston, Texas, geology and geophysics, "Tectonic Reconstruction and Sediment Provenance on the Sauren-Torghatten Nappe, Helgeland Nappe Complex, West-Central Norway," mentor Carol Frost.

Jonathan Pauli, Madison, Wis., zoology and physiology, "Ecological Studies of the Black-tailed Prairie Dog (Cynomys ludovicianus): Implications for Biology and Conservation," mentor Steven W. Buskirk.

Lucas Shaw, Cody, computer science, "A Computational Framework for Modeling the Spread of Pathogens and Generating Effective Containment Strategies in Weakly Connected Island Models," mentor William Spears.

Jason Shrogren, professor in the Department of Economics and Finance, received the Distinguished Graduate Faculty Mentor Award. The award recognizes and honors the important contribution that graduate faculty mentors make to guiding and assisting students during the transition from novice to expert in a discipline.

Posted on Friday, April 25, 2008

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