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2022 UAS Faculty Excellence Celebration

On Monday, May 2 UAS honored faculty at an event hosted by the Office of the Provost. Faculty Excellence Awards were presented and the designation of Faculty Emerita was bestowed on Professor Jan Straley. Also announced were promotions and sabbaticals granted for the upcoming academic year. 

 

Faculty Excellence Awards

Faculty Advising: Dr. Carolyn Bergstrom, Associate Professor of Marine Biology 

Nomination excerpt: “She is thoughtful when offering advice and considers me and my interests and goals when giving direction. Her love for science and her field of study is obvious. She is incredibly knowledgeable and has a diverse set of experiences that she draws from for my benefit. I cannot think of a time that I left Dr. Bergstrom office without feeling more confident than entering.”

Open Educational Practices: Dr. Heather Batchelder, Associate Professor of Education 

Nomination excerpt: “She has been an advocate for student access with a keen awareness of the challenges facing UAS students related to textbook affordability, logistical access, and the impact of these challenges on student success… Heather has adopted library ebooks in nearly all of her courses and has served as an ambassador for open educational practices among her colleagues in the School of Education, at the Faculty Alliance level and among her students, current and future Alaskan teachers.”

Service: Elizabeth Zacher, Assistant Professor of Art

Nomination excerpt: “Liz is a fantastic colleague who does so much for both the UAS Sitka campus and for the entire university as well. It astounds me how much service Liz is able to take on, and she always seems to have more on her plate than anyone else. She has effectively managed the Sitka campus Art Studio for many years, and the extensive care she puts into that studio is obvious… Liz also works on several grants, and she has maintained the Sitka campus’s end of the new Northwest Coast Indigenous Arts program. She has been instrumental in these efforts, and it’s clear that without her, our programs wouldn’t have the success that they clearly have.” 

Teaching: Dr. Andrzej Piotrowski, Professor of Mathematics

Nomination excerpt: “Andrzej is a well-loved math faculty member which as many of us know is a subject that even the most gifted students can struggle with. I have had the unique opportunity to see first hand the number of students that take advantage of Andrzej’s office hours as he has been holding them in the Whitehead conference room or just outside my office. There are some students that I see Andrzej meet with every single week and there are some students that pop in and out throughout the semester. Seeing students take advantage of office hours no matter what is somewhat unusual, but especially with math faculty, not because they are available or willing to but just that math is a subject that is a hurdle and intimidating for many students, so to see so many students who are comfortable to take advantage of his office hours is really phenomenal.” 

Faculty Emerita

Jan Straley, M.S., Professor of Marine Biology

Nomination excerpts: 

“Jan is internationally recognized for the research program she has developed at the Whale Laboratory on the UAS Sitka campus. Researchers have come from all over North America, Hawaii, and the Circumpolar North to work with Jan and better understand the whales that serve as sentinels for the changes that are so rapidly occurring in our oceans and our global climate.”

“Her extra work on whaling commissions, conservation meetings, fishery science and sensitive cultural and economic impacts of whale biology goes beyond being an excellent scientist. It is her drive to apply that knowledge to current and important public topics that is the key… She shares herself, her knowledge and her passion for marine sciences with the community, her students and her colleagues.”

“She has worked to create learning opportunities for underrepresented and underserved groups in marine science. In recent years, she has obtained substantial National Institutes of Health funding to increase Alaska Native and rural high school involvement in science. She has also mentored a cadre of young female graduate and postdoctoral students who have studied marine mammals in the Gulf of Alaska. It is clear that she has leveraged her reputation and gravitas to create opportunities for others who have traditionally not had access to marine science and research.”

Promotions

• Associate Professor Robin Gilcrist promoted to Full Professor
• Associate Professor Jeremy Kane promoted to Full Professor
• Associate Professor X’unei Lance Twitchell promoted to Full Professor
• Term Research Assistant Professor Jason Fellman promoted to Term Research Associate Professor
• Term Assistant Professor Elizabeth Zacher promoted to Term Associate Professor

Sabbaticals

Dr. Eran Hood: “Visiting Scholar at the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines; and Visiting Researcher at the US Geological Survey Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center ”

Mr. Jeremy Kane: “Exploring the ceramic surfaces of Southeast Alaska”

Dr. Sonia Nagorski: “Improving research productivity and teaching materials on a wide variety of geologic topics, from major landslides to microscopic contaminants.””

Dr. Andrzej Piotrowski: “Zeros of Polynomials Program”

Dr. David Tallmon: “Using Genomics Tools to Further Our Understanding and Conservation of Auke Creek Salmon.”