Debora Christensen, associate professor of biology, and Thomas Rosburg, professor of biology, recently received distinguished science awards from the Iowa Academy of Science. Christensen was presented with the Distinguished Iowa Science Teaching Award and Rosburg with the Distinguished Iowa Scientist Award during the academy’s annual meeting at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa, on April 20. The awards honor and promote educators for their innovative teaching practices and exceptional scientific research at the post-secondary level.

Christensen has been teaching at Drake since 2008. She has taught 10 different courses. Her main courses include the physiology portion of the general biology course and the mammalian physiology course and lab. Known for her collaborative instruction in the classroom and laboratory, Christensen utilizes diverse strategies to engage students, including video clips, in-class demonstrations, computerized virtual experiments, small group discussions on case studies, and prerecorded lectures. Christensen is also a mentor to approximately 10 research students each semester. Her students have also served as coauthors on research papers and posters at professional meetings.

Rosburg has been teaching at Drake since 1996. He has taught 14 different courses primarily in the subjects of ecology, botany, biological research and statistics, natural history and nature photography. He is known among his peers for his scholarly activity, which includes authoring over 125 scientific papers and reports, contributing to four field guides, and presenting hundreds of lectures and conference papers/posters, many with Drake undergraduates. Among his students, he is known for enhancing learning opportunities through hands-on trips to natural areas and by serving as a mentor to those conducting research.

The Office of the Provost is happy to announce that Jenny Tran-Johnson has accepted the position of Drake University Registrar. She has been serving as interim registrar and will assume her permanent role July 1.

Jenny has a bachelor’s in biology from Drake, a master’s in leadership in student affairs from the University of St. Thomas, and she recently finished her doctorate in education from Drake. Jenny started at Drake in May 2008 as the director of student programs in the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. In 2013, she accepted the role of assistant dean in the College of Arts and Sciences. Jenny also teaches in the leadership education and development (LEAD) concentration.

— Drinda Williams, Office of the Provost

Last month, Chris Nickell, director of environmental health and safety, was named the 2017 Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMP) shareholder of the year for work done on the Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council (ITRC) Stormwater BMP Performance Verification team. He received the award April 17 at the ITRC annual meeting in Anaheim, California.

Rainfall, if not managed properly, can cause a variety of unwanted challenges, such as flooding, or collecting impurities such as chemicals and debris that can potentially pollute and contaminate waterbodies. As part of the Stormwater BMP Performance Verification team, Nickell works to better manage stormwater by examining the effectiveness of best practices and technologies. He also works to verify that practices comply with regulations administered by the Clean Water Act.

Nickell has been a part of the ITRC for over a year. He serves as the lead for the operations and maintenance team, a sub division of the Stormwater BMP Performance Verification team.

On April 19, Erin Lain, associate provost of campus equity and inclusion, and Gary Johnson, director of HR operations, hosted the 2018 Central Midwest Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC) annual conference at Shivers Courtside Club. Drake is a founding member institution of Central Midwest HERC, which recently completed its second year.

According to its website, Central Midwest HERC’s vision is to promote equity and excellence in higher education recruitment worldwide and to be a premier resource for recruitment and retention of highly trained, diverse applicants to higher education institutions and community partners in the region.

The group seeks to:

• Create a robust, multi-institution network that strengthens participating institutions and the region as a whole;
• Serve as a recruiting, marketing, and professional development resource for HERC member institutions;
• Enhance the ability of member institutions to connect spouses/partners of candidates and new hires to regional employment opportunities, including through partnerships with key partners from business and industry;
• Generate cost savings and efficiencies for member institutions through education regarding the national discount and cooperative advertising programs, partnerships, and services; and
• Evaluate HERC’s qualitative and quantitative return on investment.

Read more about HERC and the resources available to members on the Central Midwest HERC website.

— Gary Johnson, Human Resources

Kieran Williams, adjunct professor in the Department of Political Science, was featured on the cover of the May 4 issue of The Times Literary Supplement.

Williams contributed a full-page essay on Czechoslovakia’s Prague Spring of 1968. His book on that topic, titled “The Prague Spring and its Aftermath,” (Cambridge University Press, 1997) is regarded as one of the definitive works on those events, and recently was cited in an article in The Economist.

The Times Literary Supplement, published in London since 1914, is one of the world’s top publications for book reviews, essays and commentary. The issue in which Williams was featured included a special section dedicated to the 50th anniversary of 1968.

Williams has taught at Drake since spring 2004. Previously he taught for nine years at University College London’s School of Slavonic and East European Studies, where he was an associate professor in politics and a frequent consultant to the UK Foreign Office.

A comparativist and specialist in the politics of Central and Eastern Europe, he has authored or co-authored three books, serves on the editorial boards of four journals, and is a regular reviewer for The Times Literary Supplement.

Maria Valdovinos, professor of psychology, has been invited to present at the Association for Behavior Analysis International’s 44th Annual Conference later this month.

Valdovinos will hold a session titled “The Elephant in the Room: Addressing Psychotropic Medications When Assessing Behavior,” on May 28 in San Diego, Calif. Presenting data collected during research funded by the National Institutes of Health, Valdovinos will discuss the effects of psychotropic medications on adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities who engage in problem behavior. By the end of the hour-long session, participants should know how to collect data on the ways psychotropic medication impacts behavior, and identify the medication’s therapeutic and adverse side effects.

ABAI’s website says the session is targeted to board certified behavior analysts, licensed psychologists, and graduate students.

Valdovinos has done federally funded research evaluating the pharmacological treatment of challenging behaviors in individuals with developmental disabilities, including autism. Before joining the Drake faculty in 2010, she worked in residential and day treatment settings with adults diagnosed with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Her courses at Drake deal with She teaches courses in child and adolescent development, psychology of developmental disabilities, behavior analysis of child development, applied behavior analysis, and applied and professional ethics.

Valdovinos is a member of the Board of Directors for the Association of Professional Behavior Analysts, nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote and advance the science and practice of applied behavior analysis.

Anna Steenson, digital media production senior, won two Emmys at the recent Upper Midwest National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences 2018 awards contest. She won in both the Animation/Graphics/Special Effects and Director categories of the college/university competition. Steenson was honored in last year’s contest as well.

— Kathleen Richardson, School of Journalism and Mass Communication

SJMC student work was recognized in the recent Region 7 (Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska) Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence awards in Ames.

Winners

• Urban Plains, onlineFch independent student publication
• Matt Gogerty, JO’17, and Adam Rogan, JO’17, online sports reporting
• Sam Fathallah, senior, feature photography
• Katherine Bauer, senior, breaking news reporting

Finalists

• Angela Ufheil, JO’17, online feature reporting
• Anne Matte and Nathan Sohn, seniors, best use of multimedia
• Molly Longman, JO’17, nonfiction magazine article
• The Annual, best student magazine
• Adam Rogan, sports writing (small schools)
• Jess Lynk, senior, general news reporting

Regional winners will advance to the national competition, with those winners announced late spring/early summer.

— Kathleen Richardson, School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Catherine Gillespie, associate dean and professor of education, recently published the book Putting Together the Puzzle Pieces of Full Eating Disorder Recovery. It is available on Amazon in paper and kindle version. The book draws on the results of two research studies that Gillespie conducted, along with her own personal experience and others’ research in the area of eating disorder recovery. It is unique because it is a readable, accessible hybrid of research and personal experience.