The NAU Review — A grad says no to the familiar, the effect of grazing on drylands and the anthropology of Star Trek

Nov. 29, 2022

The NAU Review. The official news source for Northern Arizona University.

Valerie Pietrczak and another woman in front of an Audi sign

🎓 Saying no to the familiar helped NAU grad find life-changing experiences 🎓

Valerie Pietrczak, who graduates in December, has kept busy during her time at NAU. She’s had three internships, including a six-month stint at Audi HQ in Germany; she is in the NAU Wind Symphony, which went to the national championship this year; and she’s a member of the Honors College. As for what’s next, well, figuring that out is part of the fun.

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Graphic showing how ecosystems are affected by grazing

How grazing affects the world’s drylands

A recent study co-authored by associate professor Matthew Bowker found important connections between grazing pressure on drylands and the ecosystem services they provide.

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Humans of Flagstaff
with Monika Damron

There’s a good chance that at any moment, the digital media coordinator has a child strapped to her back while she climbs a mountain. Find out what brought her to NAU, how she spends her days, what inspires her at work and the creative and individual ways she exemplifies her Native American heritage.

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Monika Damron in a dress in Indigenous patterns

Boldly going where no one has gone before 🖖

Star Trek: Voyager’s Commander Chakotay was the first Native American scientist Justin Lund saw on TV. It presented to him an option he’d never considered. Today he’s an Indigenous anthropologist and teaching a course called The Anthropology of Star Trek. In this Views from NAU, learn how the popular franchise discusses present-day and past concerns of society and science to public audiences.

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Finding the answers hidden in our antibodies

An innovative protocol called PepSeq is changing how researchers test for contagious diseases—and this knowledge should change the way humanity responds to future pandemics. NAU researcher Jason Ladner and a team of collaborators from TGen just published a comprehensive study about PepSeq that lays out the process, the tool and how to interpret the results, with the goal of more, better and faster information for the next outbreak.

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Give back this Giving Tuesday

Today is Giving Tuesday, a global generosity movement that encourages everyone to give. But when money is tight, giving monetarily is not always an option. Erin Kruse, director of the Center for Service and Volunteerism, encourages the campus community to give back by volunteering—something we are afforded the opportunity to do with NAU’s Community Engagement Policy. With those hours set to expire at the end of the year, now is the time to use them!

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