HDNR Yearly Award Winners

2022

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Department Level Awards

DEI Awards

Faculty/staff:

  • Dr. Christina Cavaliere ” is a global leader speaking out for equity/inclusion and impacting women’s roles and recognition for the better in our department and around the world… of note this year was her influence leading to greater representation by women as keynote speakers in the Tourism Naturally Conference [which had 1000+ registrants from over 50 countries] in October 2022.”

Graduate students:

  • Arianna Basto Eyzaguirre served as a TA for NR400. “The CSU Principles of Community, environmental justice, and social justice are a core component of NR 400….Arianna is a TA with experience in and passion for these areas. She challenges students to think critically and apply justice-related concepts. She also shares successes from her Master’s project, which is about Latinx fishers in Colorado and is a joint project with CO Parks and Wildlife. Arianna also goes the extra mile to support students struggling with mental health challenges and accommodation needs.”
  • Carly Quisenberry is “a graduate student in CLTL, and a member of the Cherokee Nation, who has demonstrated exceptional commitment to promoting DEI in our academic community. Carly’s thesis [uses Indigenous methodologies to examine] the workplace experiences of rangers who identify as Indigenous women. Carly was invited to be a panelist at the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry’s “Indigenous Women’s Narratives as “Felt Theory” & Indigenous Methodology for Healing” event. She has also worked and volunteered for organizations committed to supporting underserved communities, including Homeward Bound, a leadership NGO focused on supporting women’s leadership in STEMM fields.”

Undergraduate Student:

  • Rebekah Moats “is minoring in Diversity & Inclusion and majoring in HDNR. In her classroom projects this year, she has been doing projects centered around DEI subjects, including on decolonization and equity in Warner College education”

2020

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College Level Awards

George Wallace

Warner College Emeritus Award

The Center for Protected Area Management (CPAM) was born out of George’s research and outreach lab as Professor and Head of HDNR. One of the flagship programs that Dr. Wallace started, CPAM’s annual International Seminar on Protected Area Management, is now in its 30th year and has impacted over 600 professional land managers from 26 countries. CPAM also benefits today from the long-standing relationship that Dr. Wallace created with the US Forest Service International Programs, and his continued fiscal support.

 Dominique David-Chavez

WCNR Outstanding PhD Dissertation Award

Dr. David-Chavez’s dissertation, “A guiding model for decolonizing environmental science research and restoring relational accountability with Indigenous communities” made important advances, all of which contribute to the literature in diverse academic disciplines and have already begun to shape environmental research and practice across multiple scales. Dominique developed an “evidence-based, practitioner-informed analytical framework that can be applied for guiding and evaluating responsible Indigenous community engagement across a wide range of research fields”. The dissertation presents the first global assessment of Indigenous community engagement in climate research studies, concluding that “the vast majority of climate studies (87%) practice an extractive model in which outside researchers use Indigenous knowledge systems with minimal participation or decision-making authority from communities who hold them.” Importantly, this global analysis also “concludes with a series of guiding questions and methods to support responsible research practice with Indigenous and local communities.”.

Tara Teel

WCNR Outstanding Mentorship Award

Dr. Tara Teel regularly invests the time to speak with the students she advises, offers helpful and timely feedback on manuscripts, and always does so with the enthusiasm needed to keep students motivated towards their goals. It is evident that she is deeply invested in the personal and academic successes, and it is reflected in all of the students she advises. She continues to provide support during difficult times and is always there to celebrate our accomplishments, inside and outside of our academic pursuits. Any student under Dr. Teel’s guidance will come out of the HDNR program feeling confident and well-prepared to make a difference in the conservation field. Dr. Teel has shown that she is the very best kind of mentor – one who is constantly building up those around her and instilling confidence in their abilities. Our department, and the academic community at CSU, is made better because of her work and positivity.

 

 

Department Level Awards

 

JVK Wagar Honor Senior Awards

Sylvia Johnson                          Sammi Lauth

 Allie Sands                          Ben Skarban

JVK Wagar highlights graduating seniors in recreation resources  that have demonstrated outstanding academic achievement, involvement in affairs of professional societies, and potential for leadership in their field of study.

Brianne Lauro

Undergraduate Student Diversity and Inclusion Award

Brianne LauroBrianne was award the Undergraduate Student Diversity and Inclusion Award in HDNR for her outstanding efforts to promote diversity and inclusion in research, teaching, outreach, and administration, as well as day-to-day acts that foster an inclusive community on the campus.

Megan Jones

Graduate Student Diversity and Inclusion Award

Megan was award the Graduate Student Diversity and Inclusion Award in HDNR for her outstanding efforts to promote diversity and inclusion in research, teaching, outreach, and administration, as well as day-to-day acts that foster an inclusive community on the campus.

Jennifer Solomon

Faculty/Staff Diversity and Inclusion Award

Jennifer was award the Diversity and Inclusion Award in HDNR for her outstanding efforts to promote diversity and inclusion in research, teaching, outreach, and administration, as well as day-to-day acts that foster an inclusive community on the campus.

Rebecca Niemiec and Jerry Vaske

Article Award

 Niemiec and Vaske were awarded for their outstanding article in the journal Society and Natural Resources. Niemiec, R. M., Champine, V., Vaske, J. J., & Mertens, A. (2020). Does the Impact of Norms Vary by Type of Norm and Type of Conservation Behavior? A Meta-Analysis. Society & Natural Resources, 1-17.

Outside Awards

Brianne Lauro

Truman and Udal ScholarBrianne Lauro

Lauro has been listed on the Dean’s list four out of five times in her academic career and has also won the college’s R.S. Knaub Science Award for sustainability innovation. Currently, she is a congressional intern at U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse’s district office in Fort Collins and a research assistant for a National Science Foundation study on Indigenous data stewardship led by Dominique David-Chavez.

Vitoria Dante

Colorado Governor’s Tourism Conference Scholarship

Vitoria Dante was awarded a scholarship to attend the Colorado Governor’s Tourism Conference, an honor rarely bestowed upon an undergraduate student. Vitoria is a B.S. Natural Resource Tourism student with a concentration in Global Tourism and has matriculated to MTM.

Kathryn Powlen

SWG Evelyn L. Pruitt National Fellowship for Dissertation Research

The Society of Woman Geographers (SWG) Evelyn L. Pruitt National Fellowship for Dissertation Research has awarded PhD Candidate Kathryn Powlen’s dissertation focuses on understanding the factors that shape protected area performance globally and in Mexico. 

Kelly Jones

Fulbright Scholar Fellowship: Colombia

The overarching goal of Dr. Jones’ Fulbright Scholarship in Colombia is to contribute to addressing knowledge gaps about how conservation approaches, specifically protected areas, impact forest outcomes during conflict and post-conflict situations, and in turn, enhance fundamental understanding about environmental governance and land systems science.

Ryan Finchum

National Association for Interpretation President’s Award

Finchum has been awarded for his efforts in organizing a global conservation conference amidst a challenging political landscape in Brazil, his work as Co-Director of CPAM, and their global conservation successes.

Congratulations to our nominees!

Megan Jones                      Warner College Diversity and Inclusion Award

Lina Xiong                            Warner College Diversity and Inclusion Award

Sylvia Johnson                   Robert Davis Honor Senior Memorial Award

Emily Sinkular                    Undergraduate Research Award Department of HDNR with Department of FRS

Shelby Fitzgerald              Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award

Jacqie Hasan                      Outstanding Administrative Staff Award

Dawson Metcalf                Outstanding Administrative Staff Award

Ricky Berl                             Outstanding Research Support Award

Becky Niemiec                   Dean’s Award for Excellence to an Early Career Faculty Member

Outreach and Conference Team (Claire, Wes, and student interns)             Warner College Team Award

2019

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College Level Awards

Paul Layden

Distinguished Faculty Member of the Year – CSU Career Services

Paul-Layden

Paul Layden is an instructor within the Human Dimensions of Natural Resources program. Professor Layden crafted an internship program within the major and has developed working relationships with over 400 companies, non-governmental organizations, and natural resource agencies to help students network.

Brett Bruyere

International Humanitarian Award – United Nations Association of Northern Colorado

Brett Bruyere was recognized by the United Nations Association of Northern Colorado and presented with the International Humanitarian Award for his academic research focused on developing a landscape that would support all wildlife and livestock people in Samburu, Kenya.

Stuart Cottrell

Abraham L. Pizam Best Paper Award – World Research Summit for Tourism and Hospitality

The World Research Summit for Tourism and Hospitality: Innovation, Partnerships and Sharing recognized  Associate Professor Stuart Cottrell with The Abraham L. Pizam Best Paper Award for their paper on “Factors Affecting Corporate Sustainability Among Colorado Ski Resorts: A Mixed-Methods Approach”.

Wen Zhao

Outstanding Teaching Assistant – Warner College of Natural Resources

Wen Zhao

This award is presented to a student who served as a teaching assistant in one or more classes offered by a member of Warner College during the previous calendar year, for outstanding performance as a teaching assistant.

Jacqie Hasan and Paul Layden

Warner College of Natural Resources Team Award

 

HDNR team members Jaqcie Hasan and Paul Layden were recognized for their role in the Warner College Academic Success Collaborative.

Megan Jones

Best Speed Presentation – North American Congress for Conservation Biology

Megan Jones

Human Dimensions of Natural Resources Ph.D. candidate Megan Jones recently won an award for the Best Speed Presentation at the North American Congress for Conservation Biology in Toronto Canada. Jones’ talk was only 4 minutes long, a feat in and of itself, and was centered around the research she conducted on “wildscape” gardening on the Colorado Front Range as a case study on conservation behavior change. This project was done in partnership with Audubon Rockies, and describes the process of creating native habitat for wildlife on private properties in urban areas.

Department Level Awards

Gina McCrackin and Abby McLennon

JVK Wagar Honor Senior Award

Gina and Abby received recognition for her outstanding academic achievement, involvement in affairs of professional societies, and potential for leadership in her field of study. This award highlights HDNR seniors who have done outstanding work in their field of study.

Michael Gavin

Outstanding Publication

Gavin, Michael C., Patrick H. Kavanagh, Hannah J. Haynie, Claire Bowern, Carol R. Ember, Russell D. Gray, Fiona M. Jordan et al. “The global geography of human subsistence.” Royal Society open science 5, no. 9 (2018): 171897.  This award is presented to a faculty member in Warner College who has demonstrated outstanding research impact, as recognized through two lenses. One, excellence in outputs and productivity, such as demonstrated through scholarly publications, inventions, patents, licenses, or extramural grant support and contracts. Two, excellence in outcomes and impacts, as reflected through research findings that significantly advance scientific understanding in a way that fundamentally shapes a scientific field, significantly advance practice and application of some aspect of natural resource science, or other significant impact.

Ava Williams and Tom Gordon

Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources Outstanding Students

Ava Williams

 

Congratulations to our nominees!

Faculty

Paul Layden: Career Impact Award, Outstanding Career Advocate – CSU Career Services

George Wallace: Emeritus Award – Warner College of Natural Resources

Rebecca Gruby: Diversity and Inclusion Award – Warner College of Natural Resources

Jacqie Hasan: Outstanding Administrative Staff Award – Warner College of Natural Resources

Students

Megan Jones: Outstanding Teaching Assistant – Warner College of Natural Resources

Abby McLennan: Robert Davis Senior Memorial Award – Warner College of Natural Resources

2018

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College Level Awards

Rebecca Gruby

Outstanding publication award

Rebecca Gruby

Rebecca Gruby (HDNR) received this award recognizing her publication: Toward a Social Science Research Agenda for Large Marine Protected Areas — Rebecca L. Gruby, Noella J. Gray, Lisa M. Campbell, Leslie Acton. This award highlights outstanding publications from each department in the Warner college

Jennifer Solomon

Outstanding mentorship award

Jennifer Solomon

Jennifer Solomon (HDNR) received the Outstanding Mentorship award for her exceptional mentorship and advising of students, associated, staff members, and other faculty of HDNR.

Department Level Awards

Julie Lipson, Madeleine Sweeney and Lauren Hughes, Kami Bakken

JVK Wagar Honor Senior Award

Madeleine SweeneyKami BakkenJulie LipsonLauren Hughes

Julie, Madeleine, Lauren, and Kami received recognition for her outstanding academic achievement, involvement in affairs of professional societies, and potential for leadership in her field of study. This award highlights HDNR seniors who have done outstanding work in their field of study.

2017

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University Level Awards

Kelly Jones (HDNR), Yu Wei, Stephanie Kampf, Antony Cheng
Warner College of Natural Resources

Interdisciplinary Scholarship Award- Team

Kelly Jones (HDNR) along with her team received the interdisciplinary scholarship award from the university. This award recognizes either a faculty member or research team whose interdisciplinary scholarship has had a major impact nationally and/or internationally, or who have demonstrated their potential to do so. Kelly and her team find ways to quantify return on investments for forest fuel reduction projects and involve investors in the process of protecting watersheds.

College Level Awards

Michael Gavin

Outstanding Research Impact Award

Michael’s research focus involving defining and promoting biocultural approaches to conservation has sparked a network of researchers at CSU and other institutions. This award is presented to a faculty member in Warner College who has demonstrated outstanding research impact, as recognized through two lenses. One, excellence in outputs and productivity, such as demonstrated through scholarly publications, inventions, patents, licenses, or extramural grant support and contracts. Two, excellence in outcomes and impacts, as reflected through research findings that significantly advance scientific understanding in a way that fundamentally shapes a scientific field, significantly advance practice and application of some aspect of natural resource science, or other significant impact.

Rebecca Gruby
Notable HDNR Publication

Rebecca (HDNR) received this award recognizing her publication: Toward a Social Science Research Agenda for Large Marine Protected Areas — Rebecca L. Gruby, Noella J. Gray, Lisa M. Campbell, Leslie Acton. This award highlights outstanding publications from each department in the Warner college.

Sunshine Swetnam

Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award

Sunshine’s outstanding work as a teaching assistant in NRRT 320 and NRRT 372 has earned her recognition. This award is presented to a student who served as a teaching assistant in one or more classes offered by a member of Warner College during the previous calendar year, for outstanding performance as a teaching assistant.

Rick Knight

Harry E. Troxell Distinguished Service-to-Students Faculty Award

Rick’s impact on students has been recognized year after year with WCNR awards and this year is no different. This award is presented to a faculty member in the Warner College of Natural Resources who has given outstanding service to students. The award seeks to recognize faculty members who stimulate the curiosity of students by motivating and challenging them.

Esther Duke

Outstanding Administrative Staff Award

Esther’s dedication to the department has earned her recognition by the Warner college. This award is presented to a staff member in the Warner College who has demonstrated outstanding dedication and innovation, and an exceptional customer-service ethic in fulfilling their job responsibilities.

Jim Barborak and Ryan Finchum

Outstanding Service Award

Jim and Ryan received this award for their outstanding service work through the management of CPAM. This award is presented to a member of Warner College who has demonstrated outstanding service by advancing the college or university mission through service assignments within the university; exceptional extension of new knowledge beyond the university walls; leadership in professional societies, advisory boards, or other organizations; statewide, regional, or national service roles; or engagement to advance broad societal goals.

Department Level Awards

Casey Franklin
Outstanding Student in the Human Dimensions of Natural Resources Department

Hannah Karn and Torrey Stephenson

Outstanding Graduating Senior J.V.K. Wagar Award

Hannah and Torrey received recognition from the HDNR faculty for their excellence in HDNR. They have demonstrated success in the department through out their time in HDNR.

Other Awards

Olga Gachkova
MTM Student in the Human Dimensions of Natural Resources Department

The 2017 MTM cohort was fortunate to have a Fulbright Scholar in the on-campus program, Russian student Olga Gachkova.  As a participant in the Fulbright Foreign Student Program, Olga was able to study at Colorado State University through funding from the U.S. Department of State.  During the 2016-2017 school year, the Fulbright Scholars were able to partake in many different activities including on-campus scholar dinners and conferences in cities across the nation to meet and foster community among Fulbright participants throughout the United States.  In the summer of 2017, Olga participated in the Edmund S. Muskie Internship Program as a part of the Fulbright Program, where she was involved with the Appalachian Mountain Club in New Hampshire, focusing on Tourism Development and International Affairs.  Contributing to the online, and specifically social media, presence of the Appalachian Mountain Club, Olga was able to travel the northern region of the Appalachian Trail where she gained a stronger appreciation for recreation opportunities in the northeast region of the United States.  Upon completion of her summer internship, Olga plans to return to Russia and continue her work in international relations and tourism development, hoping to improve the industry in her home country.