Championing sustainability
Northern Arizona University’s commitment to sustainability largely manifests itself in the work and dedication of its environmental student groups and sustainability staff. Their efforts have lately culminated in the proposed Climate Action Plan, facilitated by Abraham (Avi) Henn, NAU’s manager of sustainability.
View this email as a webpage. July 27, 2022 ⭐ A flight to the stars ⭐ Oriel Humes got an unforgettable view of Flagstaff recently, with Venus, the crescent moon, Jupiter and Mars gracing the night sky over the city.…
Despite a rare condition affecting her joints and muscles, Kim Kolstad was determined to participate in outdoor sports. Through her research, she discovered the Adaptive Ski and Snowboard Program, a collaboration between NAU’s Institute for Human Development and the Northern Arizona Adaptive Sports Association and one of only six programs in the world that provides its participants with TetraSkis, state-of-the-art adaptive ski equipment featuring a joystick and a breath-controlled system for turning and controlling speed, allowing individuals with complex disabilities to ski independently.
Astronomy postdoctoral scholar Valerie Payré is on an international team that discovered the origin of the martian meteorite known as Black Beauty, one of the most-studied meteorites in the world. It may hold clues to the development of Earth and other terrestrial planets and help explain why Earth sustains life when its closest neighbor does not. The results of this study are shared in the latest Nature Communications.
Is a universal coronavirus vaccine in our future? Possibly, according to a recent study from TGen and NAU. The research team, which includes assistant professor Jason Ladner, found that COVID-19 vaccination activates antibodies targeting parts of virus spike protein shared between coronaviruses. This technology could help fine-tune future vaccines.
Our community is in desperate need of help as the monsoon season brings floods to neighborhoods below the burn scar. Homeowners in the affected areas, including some in our NAU community, need millions of sandbags to protect their property. Lumberjacks are encouraged to use their volunteer hours to fill sandbags—various filling stations are set up throughout the city and county. Consider taking a few hours over the coming days to fill sandbags with friends, coworkers, family and fellow community members. Check in with those who may be affected to see what you can do to help.
José Luis Cruz Rivera recently completed his first year as the 17th President of Northern Arizona University (NAU). To mark this anniversary, we asked him about key initiatives during his first year, NAU’s niche in the higher ed marketplace, what local restaurants he’s discovered, and his upcoming formal installation in September. You can see the full interview here.
Q: What do you feel your biggest success has been this first year?
A: Well, that’s an easy answer. The fact that I survived the Running of the Freshman at the first home football game!
In all seriousness, while there have been many success stories, I think my biggest success has been learning about and connecting with the people and organizations who live and work at NAU, in Flagstaff and throughout northern Arizona. It has been important to me from day one to understand the values here. Time will be the judge of my success leading and supporting the efforts of our awesome university community, but I have truly enjoyed listening and learning and still feel it is a privilege to serve as the President of NAU and live is this amazing and beautiful community.
Senior wins Udall Undergraduate Scholarship
Beyoncé Bahe took advantage of every opportunity she could when she got to NAU—undergraduate research, studying abroad, being a peer mentor, the Honors College. She’s picked up a couple of prestigious national honors along the way, including her latest accomplishment—the Udall Undergraduate Scholarship, which recognizes students preparing for careers in the environment, tribal public policy or Native health care.
NAU welcoming two new Flinn Scholars
Emily Delabarra and Kaya Dickson will join the other Flinn Scholars on campus, giving NAU a record six scholars. This prestigious scholarship, which has an acceptance rate of less than 2 percent, offers funding for four years of school as well as mentoring and study abroad opportunities.
pplied physics doctoral student Jorge Muñoz came to NAU almost a decade ago for a master’s degree. After life took him in different directions, he found his way back to Flagstaff, in a new department, working on a Ph.D. and researching the potential uses of force microscopy for investigating advanced functional materials. This work led him to be selected for the Department of Defense’s SMART Scholarship, which pays for the rest of his education and ensures him a job continuing his research after graduation.
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What does Pride Month really mean?
Celebrating LGBTQIA+ didn’t always mean rainbows and parades. Prior to the 1969 Stonewall Riots, where this community took a stand and fought back against prolonged harassment and oppressive laws, there wasn’t much celebrating at all. Even now, despite June being declared Pride Month, people in this community suffer—2021 was the worst year on record for transgender deaths. So, Assistant Director for LGBTQIA+ Student Services M. Lee Griffin poses the question: How can we make pride a reality for the LGBTQIA+ community? Read more in this Views from NAU.
NAU’s track & field teams swept the Big Sky Conference Outdoor Championship for the second consecutive season, claiming their all-time 24th men’s title and 13th women’s title. The Lumberjacks have now swept the Big Sky cross country, indoor and outdoor team team championship titles in the same calendar year for the third time in program history. Coach Mike Smith called the weekend one that he will not forget.
Successfully guiding Diné youth toward health and public health professions begins with two important ideas––start students in a program in high school and cultivate in them a love and understanding of their own cultural, strength-based assets.
Researchers from Diné College and Northern Arizona University explored these findings and other lessons in their recently released publication, “Engaging Native American High School Students in Public Health Career Preparation Through the Indigenous Summer Enhancement Program.”
The publication examines the Indigenous Summer Enhancement Program (ISEP), a one-week summer training program that exposes Native American high school students to public health careers and mentorship in Tsaile, Arizona.
NAU is welcoming back 900 alumni this weekend to get their long-awaited, long-delayed opportunity to put on their cap and gown and walk across the stage. The spring and fall classes of 2020 and the spring class of 2021, who had virtual commencement ceremonies during the pandemic, are returning to NAU this weekend for a special celebration.
Nur sets NCAA record in 5,000-meter run
Competing with some of the world’s fastest 5,000-meter runners, the stage was set for Abdihamid Nur and Nico Young to make history at Friday night’s Sound Running Track Meet in San Juan Capistrano, California. And make history they did—the pair of Lumberjacks quickly moved into the top five and held their spaces, eventually finishing in first and second. Nur finished with an NCAA record-breaking time of 13:06.32, and Young finished at 13:11.30, the third-fastest collegiate time in history.
Explore a topic that interests you and learn something new this summer. Northern Arizona University offers summer courses for the whole family—in Flagstaff, Phoenix, and online.
Summer is a great time for NAU students to catch up or get ahead on degree requirements, or supplement their studies with courses that interest them. There’s still time to register for summer sessions that begin May 30 and July 4.
Community members can explore non-credit courses on topics for personal enrichment or professional development. Start dates vary from May through July. From the Young Author’s Day Camp to Developing a Dynamic Strategic Plan for Your Small Business and Intro to Brewing Science, it’s easy to learn something new at NAU this summer.
Almost 5,600 students are graduating this weekend, and four leaders, including an NAU alum and the National Teacher of the Year, will speak at the ceremonies and receive honorary doctorates.
When you’re undocumented, you don’t always feel like you have a voice. Alexandra Samarron Longorio wanted to make sure undocumented students did. The first-generation college student took on an undergraduate project that shared stories of Arizona’s undocumented students, and as a master’s of public health student and a senior research coordinator for CHER, she studied how hotel practices and policies affect the health of Latina immigrant housekeepers. She also helped establish Aqui Entre Nos—Just Between Us, a CHER initiative focused on wellness and health for hospitality workers, in collaboration with hotel housekeepers, CHER researchers and other MPH students.
President José Luis Cruz Rivera announced today that, starting in Fall 2023, NAU will provide tuition-free college education for Arizona residents with household incomes at or below $65,000. This new Access2Excellence initiative reflects the urgent need to broaden participation and increase educational attainment in Arizona, helping students gain the knowledge and skills needed to participate in the state’s booming economy.
The Orpheum Theater.NAU’s student-led UTV Studios presents the NAU 2022 Film Festival LIVE at the historic Orpheum Theater in downtown Flagstaff. 5 p.m.
It’s been seven years since NAU Golf’s last Big Sky Conference championship, but the team put that history behind them last week at Talking Stick Golf Club with a decisive win against Sacramento State, taking the championship and advancing to the NCAA Regionals. The Lumberjacks captured their conference-leading ninth all-time Big Sky title after what coach Brad Bedortha called “a very good year and good semester.” The NCAA Regional will be held May 9-11, and the Lumberjacks will learn their fate at 1 p.m. April 27 on the NCAA Women’s Golf Selection Show on the Golf Channel.
NAU’s soon-to-be Ranger James
James Jensen received a bachelor’s in political science, then quickly got a sales job that left him feeling unsatisfied and unfulfilled. After spending a week last summer backpacking through Glacier National Park, he decided it was time for a change; he wanted to pursue something he truly enjoyed—the outdoors. Northern Arizona University’s accelerated Park Ranger Training Program is one of only six in the country. In just 16 short weeks, students earn a certificate that opens the metaphorical door to working in state and national parks throughout the U.S. This week, Jensen and his cohort will graduate. Thanks to this program, he will soon get to work his dream job in his favorite place on Earth.
President Cruz Rivera honored 48 Gold Axe winners, five President’s Prize recipients and nine Distinguished Seniors for their hard work and commitment to their educations and their careers at NAU. “These students have shown incredible resilience and determination to arrive at this point in their academic and personal journeys, and they all have achieved a tremendous amount to excel in their studies and give back in such meaningful ways,” he told the crowd on Tuesday night. The recipients of the President’s Prize, which is the highest award for undergraduates at NAU, are Maylee Acosta, Matthew Billings, Clarreese Greene, Ariana Kelley and Rachell Krell.
Support what you love on NAU Giving Day
Give, show your pride and share your love for NAU alongside Lumberjacks throughout the world on Giving Day, our annual celebration of everything that makes NAU great. On Wednesday, wherever you are, don your True Blue and Gold, break out your LJs and donate to your favorite fund. Unsure of where to give? Take the NAU Giving Day online quiz and find the perfect fund to make an impact.
A new study, co-authored by Pamela Bosch, Indrakshi Roy and Amit Kumar, found that people with lower socioeconomic status and people from ethnic minority populations have a greater likelihood of severe stroke than white Americans or those of a higher socioeconomic status. But it’s not just that—those groups also are more likely to have a more severe stroke incident at the time they are admitted to the hospital.
This April, join the NAU community in celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Month. IMQ and other organizations will host a variety of events to celebrate and recognize these cultures on campus. With the increase in violence toward Asian and Pacific Islander people, it is especially important to honor and celebrate these countries and cultures.
In 2020, federal fire agencies spent a whopping $2.2 billion—that’s billion with a “B”—fighting fires. That number has increased tenfold in the last few decades. For Southwest Wildfire Awareness Week, take a look at NAU’s diverse efforts to increase forest health, improve firefighting capabilities, help communities become more resilient and rebuild after a fire and better understand fire behavior.
Advances in stroke treatment aren’t just coming from medicine—they’re coming from engineering too. Mechanical engineering student Josette Vigil is spending her career at NAU working on stroke research, including material testing of 3D printed polymers and tissues and algorithm development to define the volume and dimensions of an aneurysm. For stroke patients, this work could be life-changing—or even life-saving. Vigil, who works in associate professor Tim Becker’s Bioengineering Devices Lab, is sharing her work publicly this semester at NAU’s Undergraduate Symposium on April 22.
Throughout her education and career, Melissa Wheeler was used to being the sole Indigenous person in a room, or one of a few. She’d never had a Native American professor. That’s no longer the case for Wheeler, a doctoral student in the counseling/school psychology education program, as she has helped open doors to others by bringing her work to them. In recognition of her commitment to culturally centered work, Wheeler was named to the second cohort of Rising Graduate Scholars from Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. She was one of only 10 students nationwide to receive this honor.
Three NAU athletes—Abdihamid Nur, Nico Young and Drew Bosley—scored enough points to earn NAU a fourth-place spot in the championship. With his first-place victory, Nur became the first national double event champion in NAU’s history.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, only 10 percent of all master’s degrees are awarded to Latinx students, and only 1 percent to Indigenous students. The situation for Ph.D. students is even more dire. To address these inequities on an institutional level, a multidisciplinary team of researchers will partner with Diné College and NAU-Yuma to launch two related projects, supported by nearly $1.3 million in funding. Their ultimate goal is to recruit, train and place students from historically excluded groups into STEM careers.
Presidential pedagogy
Education is a second career for three-time Lumberjack Robyn Yewell. But it didn’t stop her from jumping in when she made the move to teaching elementary school science. After a decade of teaching in Tucson schools, two master’s degrees from NAU (and working on a third!), in February she was announced as a winner of the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, K-6, for 2020. She is one of only two
NAU’s Department of Women’s and Gender Studies has crowd-sourced a list of outstanding historical and contemporary figures who advocated for women’s rights and human rights across all conceivable fields of intellectual, political, medical and artistic endeavors from different geographical locations. From artists to authors to protestors, these women are recognized for their contribution to human history.
In congressional testimony, President Cruz Rivera shares critical need for increased access to students from historically underserved communities
In addition to laying out the attainment gaps throughout the U.S.—only 40 out of every 100 white kindergartners are expected to get a bachelor’s degree and that number drops by half for Black children and one-third for Latino and Native American children—Cruz Rivera, himself a product of Hispanic Serving Institutions, offered policy recommendations to increase economic mobility and equitable postsecondary educational value. These include doubling the maximum amount of Pell grants; investing equitably by increasing per-student investments among all Minority Serving Institutions; improving data transparency and investing in P-12 education.
Examining the past and changing the future: Celebrating Women’s History Month
Our community is celebrating the vital role of women in American history and present for Women’s History Month in March. In addition to the Martha Portree CSW Scholarship, NAU is hosting events throughout March to celebrate Women’s History Month with the whole community.
The boreal forest is a belt of cold-tolerant conifer trees that stretches nearly 9,000 miles across northern North America and Eurasia; it makes up almost a quarter of the Earth’s forest area. It’s also the coldest—and most rapidly warming—forest biome on the planet, and its shifting characteristics amid climate change are raising concerns about increased fire activity, decreased biodiversity and other long-term adverse effects for human and natural ecosystems.
LumberSNAPS: Pets of NAU
Question: Who is a Lumberjack’s best friend? Answer: Shaun, Binx, Rupert, Winston, Volt, Banjo, Nucky, Hazel, Missy, Huckleberry and Worm, to name a few. In America, 70 percent of households own at least one pet. Or do they own us? 🤔 In honor of National Love Your Pet Day on Sunday, The NAU Review collected photos of the Lumberjack community’s furry (and slimy!) companions.
What happens when an invasive insect starts killing Flagstaff’s fall staple and, more importantly, how can we stop it? These are questions a team of School of Forestry professors and graduate students are asking alongside the U.S. Forest Service as a plague of sap-sucking insects threatens northern Arizona’s aspens.
Last week, NAU announced an admissions pilot program that will broaden access for higher education in Arizona. By aligning with current high school course offerings, this program will eliminate barriers that undermine the college-going aspirations of highly talented, diverse students throughout the state, giving them a clear pathway to attainment and supporting the state’s prosperity.
If your life were to suddenly come to an end, how would you feel looking back? Ira Allen, an associate professor of rhetoric in NAU’s Department of English, was faced with this daunting question when he found himself lying in the snow, paralyzed and in excruciating pain, unsure he would survive. That snowboarding accident at Snowbowl should have killed him, but life had other plans. Through his recovery—which included a reconstructive spinal surgery, neurorehab and relearning how to walk—he not only learned how to live with a disability and appreciate the small victories but also how to be a more compassionate professor and human being.
How NAU is reducing health inequities among Indigenous populations
One of the most effective ways to address health disparities among Indigenous people is by ensuring the health care providers serving a community are offering culturally informed services and programs. For a long time, however, that need was ignored. A few years ago, after being regularly confronted with this deficit, professors in the Center for Health Equity Research created a track in the master’s of public health program that focused on Indigenous health.
Native Americans are one of the least represented populations in the field of computer science. Moreover, Native American participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM fields) at the college level continues to be severely limited, resulting in a fraction of Native Americans earning bachelor’s degrees in STEM and computer science. Education researchers have found that a lack of rigorous preparation in mathematics and computational thinking, beginning as early as elementary and middle school, are major factors in this underrepresentation.
Assistant professor Morgan Vigil-Hayes of NAU’s School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems was awarded $275,944 by the National Science Foundation for a two-year project entitled “Towards Culturally Responsive and Computationally Rich Problem Based Learning for K-5 Students.” The project’s goal is to develop solutions to this problem, beginning right here in the Flagstaff community.
The West sees destructive wildfires every year—yet it hadn’t seen anything like California’s Camp Fire. Three months after the most destructive wildfire in recent history, wildfire sociologist Catrin Edgeley went to the devastated town of Paradise to learn how residents and town leaders were recovering. What she found was that, even with the frequency of fires, many cities and towns found themselves navigating unfamiliar territory as they attempted to rebuild. In her research, Edgeley didn’t just want to know how people and towns recovered; she wanted to know how lessons learned in one disaster could be individualized and applied to other fires—lessons that are increasingly important in Arizona as climate change leads to longer, more severe fire seasons.
NAU is hosting a variety of events to celebrate Black history this month. These are opportunities for all of the NAU community to learn about diverse cultural traditions and honor and celebrate the contributions African Americans have made to society while raising awareness of their struggles of the past and present.
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Is kindergarten too young for students to get excited about STEM? No way, says assistant professor Morgan Vigil-Hayes, who is partnering with FUSD to develop a curriculum to get K-5 Native American students doing fun learning activities that focus on math and computational thinking.
NAU is offering a new study abroad program starting this summer—one that will take students out of the classroom and challenge them to interact with the world in new ways. South America NAU will allow students of all majors to do community outreach, interact with different cultures and do hands-on work in climate change, sustainable tourism, anthropology and other big questions of our day.
Students—interested in studying abroad? Find the program that meets your personal, educational and financial needs at Education Abroad.
Assistant professor Cristina Thomas of Northern Arizona University has been named an Emerging Scholar by the leading education magazine Diverse: Issues in Higher Education in its Jan. 20 issue. The publication annually recognizes an interdisciplinary group of early-career minority scholars who represent the best of U.S. academia.
“An accomplished planetary astronomer, Latina scientist and mentor, Dr. Thomas serves as a shining role model for our community. She is blazing the trail for our diverse student population to embrace research and explore the boundless universe,” said NAU President José Luis Cruz Rivera.
President Cruz Rivera gives a video update on the United Way of Northern Arizona campaign and discusses his week, which included meetings with students and council members, MLK Day celebrations and reflections and his work with the Arizona Senate.
The fall semester was exciting—it was President Cruz Rivera’s first at NAU and the first in-person semester for our Class of 2025 and Class of 2026, our researchers made groundbreaking discoveries, we expanded our world-class faculty, celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the Native American Cultural Center, cheered as NAU Cross Country won its fifth title and NAU Football beat the Arizona Wildcats, and so much more. Phew! President Cruz Rivera talks about his favorite memories of the fall—including the best moment so far at NAU. Can he do it in less than four minutes?
On Monday, NAU will honor the life and mission of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., a man who dedicated his life to the nonviolent but unending march for civil rights. The day’s events include a celebration, a march and a day of service to support the Flagstaff community. Volunteers can participate in a day “on” with opportunities at the Flagstaff Family Food Center, Hope Cottage, the Sunshine Rescue Mission and the Murdoch Center.
There’s no doubt that Northern Arizona University plays a huge role in our community. In addition to being Flagstaff’s largest employer, it is the home of thousands of students who live, work and study here.
NAU is also a major player in local philanthropic efforts, including its annual workplace campaign to support United Way of Northern Arizona.
This year, NAU President José Luis Cruz Rivera successfully challenged the university’s community to boost its contributions to UWNA, increasing their campaign goal from $25,000 to $35,000.
“NAU stepped up for community and for that I’m grateful,” he said.
Because NAU met the new goal, President Cruz Rivera authorized another $10,000 donation from the Office of the President, making NAU’s total contribution this year $45,000.
The Fall 2021 semester was a big one for NAU—it brought new leadership, a return to fully in-person activities, another national championship and a new look to the university newsletter. Reread some of our most popular stories from the semester and share your news with us to help us start the new year strong.
On Christmas Day, astronomers and planetary scientists around the world watched as a telescope 20 years in the making was launched into space. NASA called the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope one of the most exciting developments in astronomy in the 21st century. For the astronomers, planetary scientists and students at NAU, the launch of this massive observatory, and the information it will transmit back to Earth, is an important step in advancing our understanding of the solar system.
For the last two years, Laurel Malm, the first graduate of a joint program between nursing and ROTC, was on the front lines of health care, working in the COVID ward at Flagstaff Medical Center. Now she’ll take that experience with her into the Army, applying the leadership lessons she learned from ROTC and the need for flexibility, collaboration and focus she’s learned in nursing school.
First, youth and young adults were invited to craft creative COVID-19 public health messages. Now, it’s the community’s turn to choose their favorites.
The Arizona Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) Against COVID-19 Disparities set out to inspire Arizona youth and young adults to showcase their artistic talents through the “It’s Our Turn” contest, asking them to add their unique spin on public service COVID-19 messages, especially around masks and vaccines.
Jamie Begay, who earned a master’s in public health, has spent her educational career doing outreach and research on public health in Indigenous communities; finding a program that allowed her to specialize in Indigenous health brought her back to her alma mater for a second degree. At no time did this come together more than when the COVID-19 pandemic struck the Navajo Nation particularly hard; she kept busy delivering food, medicine and other necessities to Indigenous communities and checking in with people. The love of community drives Begay. “The value of that experience stems from my appreciation and responsibility I feel for my community. Through that experience, resilience was the foundation of our efforts.”
When Alondra Angelica Alvarez Ortiz was seven years old, her family moved from Mexico to the U.S. She spent every night thereafter crying herself to sleep—she missed her little hometown of Gomez Palacio, visiting her tia’s snack cart after school and dressing up in a long traditional skirt and bright red lipstick to celebrate Mexico’s Independence Day. She didn’t understand America, with lines down the middle of the roads and lack of people in the back of pickups. She also didn’t understand the “better life” her mother insisted she would have here, for which she sacrificed so much. How could a society so fixated on working and money be better than her simple and carefree Gomez?
For the first time in two years, NAU will celebrate commencement in the Skydome, with almost 2,800 students completing their degrees and President Cruz Rivera officiating his first commencement as president of NAU. With snow in the forecast, people traveling for commencement are encouraged to sign up for text alerts (by texting “NAU” to 237233) and leave extra travel time.
Graduate Eduardo Moreno’s experience in NAU-Yuma’s nursing program encompassed a breadth of experiences—working in the COVID-19 unit during clinicals, educating the community about the stigma behind mental illness and substance abuse and spending a little time in the hospital as a patient. He did it all with the goal of increasing access to affordable and effective health care.
Medical anthropologist Lisa Hardy says we all need to get comfortable with questions this season: Are you vaccinated? Do you mask appropriately? Will you wear a mask in my house? This kind of communication prioritizes safety and socializing.
