About the Faculty Award Winners
Donald Crawford Graduate Faculty Mentoring Award
Mark Warner
Professor, Department of Culture, Society and Justice, College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences
About
Dr. Mark Warner has been teaching at University of Idaho for 25 years. During that time, Dr. Warner has served on the committees of 88 students (chairing 43) who have completed their degrees and is currently on another 16 student committees. 17 former students have gone on to doctorate programs at other universities with seven completing their degree and three more whose degree is expected this year. In terms of research, Dr. Warner is a historical archaeologist whose focus can be broadly characterized along two threads: exploring the histories of disenfranchised groups and public archaeology. Over the past decade, our state-focused work has engaged roughly 4000 of Idaho’s citizens through archaeology. As a scholar, Dr. Warner has authored or edited four books, two thematic journal issues, 23 articles, 27 technical reports (notably the nine-volume Sandpoint project, reporting on the largest archaeology project in Idaho’s history) and is past president of the Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA). Most importantly, however, as of the fall of 2022, Dr. Warner and wife Amy are empty nesters, with one son in college and the other now gainfully employed and off our health insurance.
Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award
Gianna Stoddard
MFA Candidate, Department of English, College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences
About
Gianna Stoddard was raised on an avocado orchard in Southern California and studied at University of California Santa Barbara’s College for Creative Studies. Their poems, essays and fiction engage the semi-fluid boundaries between the body and its environments — between the natural and the unnatural, the human and the nonhuman — as well as quiet moments of queer intimacy, domesticity and joy. They serve as the nonfiction editor of Fugue.
Outstanding Graduate Student Research and Creative Activity Award
Hallie Walker Brown
Research Assistant, Department of Fish and Wildlife. College of Natural Resources
About
Hallie Walker Brown studies the causes and consequences of animal behavior to better understand how individual decisions may scale up to have population- and community-level impacts. Hallie’s dissertation work took place in southern Africa and evaluates how large mammal behaviors while foraging, rearing young and in response to disturbance influenced individual fitness, population trajectories or community compositions. When Hallie is not on campus or in Mozambique, you can find her on road trips exploring the Pacific Northwest, on the trails at Moscow Mountain or reading epic science fiction with her husband.
Postdoctoral Mentoring Award
Xiaogang (Marshall) Ma
Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science, College of Engineering
About
Xiaogang (Marshall) Ma is an associate professor of computer science and College of Engineering Dean's Distinguished Fellow at University of Idaho. He received his doctorate in earth systems science and GIScience from University of Twente, Netherlands in 2011, and then completed postdoctoral training in data science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His research focuses on deploying data science in the Semantic Web to support cross-disciplinary collaboration and scientific discovery, with broad interests in complex systems in Earth and environmental sciences, data interoperability and provenance and visualized exploratory analysis of Big and Small Data. Ma was one of the four invited early-career panelists at the 2016 International Data Week. He is active in international societies of data science and geoinformatics, including ACM SIGWEB, CODATA, ESIP, RDA, GSA, AGU and IAMG. Ma received the Science of Team Science (SciTS) Meritorious Contribution Award in 2018, the IAMG A.B. Vistelius Research Award in 2015 and the inaugural ICSU-WDS Data Stewardship Award in 2014.
Outstanding Postdoctoral Scholar/Fellow Award
Joseph Feldman
Postdoctoral fellow, Martin Institute, College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences
About
Joe Feldman is a postdoctoral fellow at the Martin Institute and the Idaho Society of Fellows. He is a cultural anthropologist by training and much of his research has focused on the memorialization of political violence in Peru. Joe is originally from Portland and has enjoyed being closer to family, exploring the Palouse and playing pickup basketball during his time at U of I. In August, he’ll begin a new position as an assistant professor of anthropology at the Metropolitan State University of Denver.
Excellence in Research and Creative Activity Award
Michelle (Shelley) McGuire
Director and Professor, School of Family and Consumer Sciences, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
About
Michelle (Shelley) McGuire, Ph.D., is Director and Professor of Nutrition at the Margaret Ritchie School of Family and Consumer Sciences at University of Idaho. Dr. McGuire received her Bachelor of Science in biology and Master of Science in nutritional sciences from the University of Illinois and her doctorate in human nutrition from Cornell University. She has a background in human physiology and nutrition, with specific expertise in maternal/infant nutrition, human milk composition, nutritional assessment and milk and fecal microbiomes. Dr. McGuire has conducted studies (many using a team science approach in collaboration with Drs. Mark McGuire and Janet Williams) related to myriad human milk components including minerals, hormones, lipids, pesticides, oligosaccharides, immune components, allergens, bacteria and most recently SARS-CoV-2. She has overseen a variety of projects related to human nutrition and lactation funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the US Department of Agriculture, as well as a variety of industry and commodity sources. A seasoned science writer, Dr. McGuire is author of two college-level introductory nutrition textbooks. In 2018 she received the Excellence in Nutrition Education Award from the American Society for Nutrition and in 2022 became a member of the National Academy of Medicine. Shelley has lived in the beautiful community of Moscow, Idaho since 1995. When she’s not studying milk, Shelley thoroughly enjoys spending time and traveling with her family, playing with her Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers, reading historical novels, playing music, cooking and eating, hiking, running and practicing Iyengar yoga.
Excellence in Teaching Award
Kevin Chang
Associate Professor, Department Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering
About
Kevin Chang, Ph.D., P.E., F.ITE, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of the National Institute for Advanced Transportation Technology at University of Idaho. He has taught courses ranging from the fundamentals of transportation engineering to traffic systems design, as well as multiple first-year engineering courses. Kevin’s passion for teaching and mentoring extends well beyond the classroom, as he is President-Elect for the Pacific Northwest Section of the American Society for Engineering Education and serves as faculty advisor for both University of Idaho’s American Society of Civil Engineers and Institute of Transportation Engineers student chapters. Outside of work, Kevin enjoys spending time with his family and serves on the Board of Directors for Washington Golf.
Hoffman Award in Teaching Excellence
Sarah Alice Campbell
Assistant Professor, Theatre Arts Department, College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences
About
Sarah Alice Campbell (she/her) is an assistant professor of Theatre History, Literature and Criticism in the Theatre Arts Department. She holds a doctorate in Theatre and Drama with a minor in Folklore and a doctorate Certificate in Latin American and Caribbean Studies from Indiana University. Prior to joining the faculty at University of Idaho, she taught in Querétaro, México. As an educator, Sarah is interested in transforming classroom spaces through Critical Pedagogy and Disability Studies. Her most recent publication is “The Xtáabay as Monstrous Woman: Gender in Maya Cultural Production in the Yucatán Peninsula,” published in the edited volume "Monsters in Performance: Essays on the Aesthetics of Disqualification". Sarah’s research interests include contemporary Yucatec Maya language theatre and how theatre is used as part of the anti-feminicidio movement in México. She is currently at work on a book project about the interpretation of Maya performance in the Yucatán peninsula. As a theatre practitioner, Sarah has worked as an actor, director, in publicity and marketing and as a dramaturg. In her free time, Sarah enjoys practicing circus arts and she is the faculty advisor for the U of I Aerial Arts Club.
Advising Excellence Award — Faculty
Andrew Scheef
Assistant Professor, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, Health and Human Sciences
About
Dr. Andrew Scheef is an Assistant Professor of Special Education in the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences at University of Idaho. He teaches courses designed to prepare general education teachers and special educators to lead classrooms that feature meaningful inclusion of students with disabilities. Dr. Scheef’s research and professional activities are primarily focused on supporting the post-school goals of students with disabilities. Dr. Scheef has led the charge in developing and delivering Vandal QUEST, an inclusive postsecondary education program at University of Idaho that provides opportunities for students with disabilities aged 18-21 to learn alongside same-aged peers.
Faculty Advising Excellence Award
Trevor White
Academic Advisor, School of Family and Consumer Sciences, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
About
Trevor White has been an academic advisor and administrative assistant for the Margaret Ritchie School of Family and Consumer Sciences at University of Idaho for almost eight years. Due to his split role, he takes part in scholarship awarding, curriculum planning, study abroad opportunities and classroom scheduling which allows him to support students in multiple different facets of student success. Trevor is currently working on completing his Master of Science In Adult, Organizational Leadership and Learning through University of Idaho. In his free time, he enjoys gardening at his house in Genesee with his wife and dogs.
Dr. Arthur Maxwell Taylor Excellence in Diversity Award — Faculty
Erin N. Chapman
Clinical Associate Professor, School of Family and Consumer Sciences, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
About
Dr. Erin Chapman is Clinical Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at the Margaret Ritchie School of Family and Consumer Sciences and is currently serving as Vice Chair of Faculty Senate. Since stepping foot on campus in 2010, she has purposefully sought out collaborations with folks working on the many facets of equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility across campus including the Women’s Center, Vandal Healthy Education, the LGBTQA Office, Athena and the Athena Women’s Mentorship Program, Violence Prevention Programs and the Green Dot Bystander Awareness Training, the President’s Council on Diversity and Inclusion, the CALS IDEA Committee and the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) as the first ever Faculty Associate for Diversity and Inclusion in Teaching and Learning. She is an affiliate faculty for the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies minor teaching courses related to human development across the lifespan, healthy relationships, sexuality and gender and family dynamics. Additionally, she has served as the faculty advisor for U of I Generation Action, a student affiliate group of Planned Parenthood. Erin has continually dedicated her time and energy to serving our campus and community by promoting inclusivity and gender equity and advocating for an affirming climate for all students, staff and faculty. She is most proud of being part of a recent Athena/Faculty Senate joint subcommittee that helped bring paid parental leave to the university (January 2023). In her remaining time in senate, she hopes to work toward a more equitable policy regarding spread pay as an option for U of I employees on 9-month contracts. When she is not working to dismantle the patriarchy, advocating for inclusive and accessible learning environments and helping to foster and maintain an equity-minded culture at U of I, Erin can be found spending time with friends and family and taking in the joys of home improvement projects with her husband, Brooks, while doting on her four dogs, two cats and eight chickens.
Dr. Arthur Maxwell Taylor Excellence in Diversity Award — Staff
Julia Keleher
Director LGBTQA Office, Office of Equity and Diversity
About
Julia Keleher, M.S. (she/they), has been the Director of the LGBTQA Office at University of Idaho for the last ten years. She has dedicated her professional and personal life to the inclusion of LGBTQA+ people in higher education. Originally from northwestern Iowa, Julia has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Iowa State University and master’s degrees in Gender and Women’s Studies and Educational Leadership from Minnesota State University, Mankato. Julia is a doctoral candidate in Education at University of Idaho. Julia lives in Moscow with her partner, Leanna, and their two daughters, Ramona and Willow. In her spare time, she likes to be involved within the Moscow community as a manager for a co-ed adult softball team and a Girl Scout troop leader for Daisy Troop 2216.
Outreach and Engagement Excellence Award
Steven Peterson
Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Business, College of Business and Economics
About
Steven Peterson, a Clinical Associate Professor, Economics, is a lifelong Idaho resident and has taught over 15,000 students at University of Idaho. Steve began his career with the founders of Lightcast (formerly Emsi), a Moscow-based analytics firm that has become a global company with over 500 employees. Steve has conducted over 300 economic studies on nearly every industry in Idaho and has been a co-principal investigator on funded projects totaling over $2 million, including several USDA AFRI grants.
Excellence in Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Efforts Award
Xiaogang (Marshall) Ma
Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science, College of Engineering
About
Xiaogang (Marshall) Ma is an associate professor of computer science and College of Engineering Dean’s Distinguished Fellow at University of Idaho. He received his doctorate degree in earth systems science and GIScience from University of Twente, Netherlands in 2011, and then completed postdoctoral training in data science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His research focuses on deploying data science in the Semantic Web to support cross-disciplinary collaboration and scientific discovery, with broad interests in complex systems in Earth and environmental sciences, data interoperability and provenance and visualized exploratory analysis of Big and Small Data. Ma was one of the four invited early-career panelists at the 2016 International Data Week. He is active in international societies of data science and geoinformatics, including ACM SIGWEB, CODATA, ESIP, RDA, GSA, AGU and IAMG. Ma received the Science of Team Science (SciTS) Meritorious Contribution Award in 2018, the IAMG A.B. Vistelius Research Award in 2015 and the inaugural ICSU-WDS Data Stewardship Award in 2014.
General Education Teaching Award
Katie Krahn
General Education Service Award
Ann Abbott
Intermountain Forestry Cooperative, College of Natural Resources
About
In January 2023, Ann Abbott became a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Forest Biometrics at the Intermountain Forestry Cooperative in the College of Natural Resources. Ann was a Senior Instructor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistical Sciences previously and was Director of Introductory Mathematics prior to her current position. When Ann is not working, she is riding or building fences.
2022-2024 University Mid-Career
Bert Baumgaertner
Associate Professor, Department of Politics and Philosophy, College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences
View ProfileElizabeth Cassel
Associate Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, College of Science
View ProfileBerna Devezer
Associate Professor, Department of Business, College of Business and Economics
View ProfileJan Eitel
Associate Professor, Department of Natural Resources and Society, College of Natural Resources
View ProfileMatthew Bernards
Associate Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, College of Engineering
View ProfileAleksandra Hollingshead
Associate Dean and Associate Professor, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, Health and Human Sciences
View ProfileKatherine Lee
Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
View ProfileBert Baumgaertner
Associate Professor, Department of Politics and Philosophy, College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences
About
Bert's research lies at the intersection of philosophy and the cognitive and social sciences. He is interested in the complicated ways that beliefs spread within and across groups. His favorite classes to teach are Symbolic Logic and Intro to Decision Theory. Bert is an avid trail runner and wilderness adventurer. His goal this summer is to spend at least 18 days hiking and fast-packing in the great outdoors of Idaho.
Elizabeth Cassel
Associate Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, College of Science
About
Dr. Elizabeth Cassel is fascinated by the growth and evolution of mountains and uses multiple field and analytical approaches to reconstruct past elevations, landscapes and tectonic histories of the major mountain belts of North and South America. Dr. Cassel also wants to increase the participation of women in earth science at all levels and works toward this goal through our lab’s STEM Access high-school summer internships, undergraduate independent research and running a recent national earth science community-wide field forum. When Dr. Cassel is not working in the lab or taking students into the field, she enjoys skiing, running, competitive ultimate frisbee, time with family and friends, puzzles and pop culture.
Aliza Plener Cover
Associate Dean of Faculty and Professor of Law College of Law
About
Aliza Cover joined the faculty of University of Idaho College of Law in 2014. Her teaching and scholarly interests focus primarily on criminal law, criminal procedure and the death penalty. Professor Cover’s scholarship has appeared in law reviews including the Alabama Law Review, George Washington Law Review, Washington Law Review, Indiana Law Journal, Yale Law Journal Forum and Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. She has published editorials in the Washington Post and Idaho Statesman. Professor Cover currently serves as Vice President of the Board of the Federal Defender Services of Idaho. She was recognized as a 2022 Leader in Law Honoree in the Educator category by the Idaho Business Review. Professor Cover earned her undergraduate degree in English and her Juris Doctorate from Yale. After law school, Professor Cover clerked for the late Judge Stephen Reinhardt on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, then worked as a staff attorney at the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center in New Orleans, representing indigent defendants facing the death penalty.
Berna Devezer
Associate Professor, Department of Business, College of Business and Economics
About
Berna Devezer is an associate professor of Marketing in the Department of Business, and an affiliate faculty of Statistics at the Department of Mathematics and Statistical Science. She holds a doctorate in Marketing and Master of Science in Statistics from Washington State University. She has a background in consumer behavior and applied statistics and has recently been working on building an interdisciplinary research program in theoretical meta-research that brings together perspectives from statistics, modeling, philosophy of science and behavioral science. Outside of work, Berna enjoys spending time with her partner/collaborator Erkan and two huge, furry cats named Pseudo and Random, sailing, photography, learning to play the clarinet and cooking.
Jan Eitel
Associate Professor, Department of Natural Resources and Society, College of Natural Resources
About
Jan Eitel is a remote sensing ecologist whose research is fueled by his desire to understand patterns and processes of the natural world and to provide practical tools for sustainably managing the earth’s environment and natural resources. He has published more than 85 peer-reviewed journal articles that include publications in top-tier journals such as "Remote Sensing of Environment", "Global Change Biology" and "Science". Over the last five years, more than 2800 published works have cited his research. Eitel has been involved in acquiring project funds as Principal Investigator (PI) (USD 1.5 million) and Co-PI (USD 2.5 million) from funding agencies such as NASA and NSF. Three of his graduate students have received the prestigious Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology award over the last few years. Eitel teaches ecology at the McCall Outdoor Science School where he uses the great outdoors as his classroom. His great passion for teaching and mentoring has been recognized by receiving the College of Natural Resources student-nominated teaching award in 2017 and the Donald Crawford Graduate Faculty Mentoring Award in 2021. Outside of work, Eitel loves spending time with his family and skiing, running and mountain biking.
Matthew Bernards
Associate Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, College of Engineering
About
Dr. Matthew Bernards is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at University of Idaho, where he has been a faculty member since 2016. Since August 2019, he has also served as the Director of the NASA Idaho Space Grant Consortium and Idaho NASA EPSCoR programs. Bernards graduated with his doctorate in Chemical Engineering from the University of Washington in 2008 and started his faculty career at the University of Missouri. The Bernards research group is focused on computational and experimental investigations into the interactions that occur between biological entities and material interfaces to directly target challenges in the biomedical and space fields. Outside of work, Matthew and his wife, Kate, enjoy watching their two children participate in a variety of activities including track and field and swim meets.
Aleksandra Hollingshead
Associate Dean and Associate Professor, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, Health and Human Sciences
About
Dr. Aleksandra Hollingshead is an associate professor of special education at University of Idaho in Moscow, ID. She was born and raised in Poland and moved to the United States in 2003. She earned her doctorate from the University of Cincinnati in 2013. Dr. Hollingshead’s research interests focus on engagement in learning and Universal Design for Learning. Dr. Hollingshead has extensive leadership experience at the university level as well as in state- and national-level professional organizations. At U of I, she serves as an Associate Dean in the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences and a program coordinator for special education. In her professional organization, she serves as a President of the Innovations in Special Education Technology division of the Council of Exceptional Children. Dr. Hollingshead is also an associate editor for "FOCUS on Autism and other Developmental Disabilities" journal. In her free time, Alex likes to read and spend time with her family outdoors.
Katherine Lee
Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
About
Katherine Lee is an Associate Professor at University of Idaho in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology. Her primary research interests lie within environmental and resource economics, particularly helping to maximize the benefits of resource use and management. Her work provides insight into understanding how environmental risk affects decision-making, valuing ecosystem services and evaluating incentives for the adoption of conservation practices. When not working, Katie enjoys all the outdoor recreation that Idaho and the Northwest offers, including mountain biking, skiing and whitewater rafting with family and friends.