With the graduation of nearly 600 Vandals this December, we've concluded a great semester at the University of Idaho. We’re delivering on our mission for students, for research and for the communities of Idaho. The stories below offer selected highlights of U of I success over the past three months. A more extensive catalog of progress can be found in our "Idaho Impact: Annual Report and Strategic Plan Update 2017-18." We are well-positioned for continued success in the months ahead. | | Go Vandals! Chuck Staben President | | | Commencement Celebrates 578 Graduates Graduating students were eligible to receive a combined 587 degrees – 430 baccalaureate degrees, 125 master’s degrees, 25 doctoral degrees, four law degrees and three specialist degrees – at U of I’s winter commencement. The commencement brings the university's all-time totals to 120,471 graduates and 128,859 degrees. Awardees included honorary doctor of science recipient Dayaldas Meshri, owner of Advance Research Chemicals Inc.; and honorary doctor of administrative science recipient Maj. Gen. Erik Peterson, commander of Division West of the U.S. Army. Kathy Clark, retired educator, coach and administrator with U of I Athletics for more than 25 years, earned the President’s Medallion. | | Higher Education Is the Road to the Future Guest Column in Twin Falls Times-News by President Chuck Staben: “See it, and you can be it.” For more Idahoans to fulfill their potential, and for communities like Jerome to continue to thrive, we need to ensure post-secondary education is a visible part of people’s lives and plans. The Caminos al Futuro project, based at Jerome middle and high schools, is testing an approach to improve post-secondary readiness with 40 Hispanic eighth- through 12th-graders. U of I delivers highly targeted services and resources such as academic coaching, college counseling, summer programs and family engagement. U of I staff connect with students to ensure they’re getting the support they need to be ready for college — any college — and navigate admissions and related matters. Read more. | | Vice President Janet Nelson Named 2018 AAAS Fellow University of Idaho Vice President for Research and Economic Development Janet E. Nelson was named a 2018 fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for her contributions to the field of chemistry. The honor, one of the most prestigious given to scientists in the United States, was formally announced in the journal Science. Nelson, also a U of I chemistry professor, is the sole awardee this year from an Idaho institution of higher education. The AAAS Council elected Nelson for her distinguished contributions to the field of inorganic chemistry and for her national leadership across academia, government, not-for-profit organizations and industry communities. | | Nelson is the second Vandal to be elected an AAAS fellow in as many years. Distinguished Professor Lisette Waits was named an AAAS fellow in fall 2017 for her contributions to research and teaching in conservation genetics, wildlife and conservation biology, and non-invasive DNA sampling techniques. | | | U of I Awards $25 Million in Scholarships for 2018-19 In fall 2018, U of I awarded more than $25 million in scholarship support to more than 6,000 students – including more than 4,000 from Idaho who received more than $12 million in scholarships. Funds were awarded to students from 46 states and all backgrounds for the 2018-19 academic year, part of the university’s mission to make higher education accessible to students entering college from all walks of life. Donors and alumni fund many scholarships through the University of Idaho Foundation Inc. | | 11th Tribe Signs on to Collaboration Agreement The University of Idaho has signed an agreement with an 11th Native American tribe to collaborate on improved educational opportunities for Native American students. U of I and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon agreed to establish formal collaborations to advise the university and President Chuck Staben on educational and service issues aimed at bolstering university-tribal relations. Under the long-standing agreement, U of I recognizes the sovereign status of Northwest tribes and provides in-state tuition to tribal members in tribes that have signed the agreement. | | Snapshots: Innovation and Discovery with Impact U of I Researchers Examine Milk Production Disease Nutritionist Michelle McGuire and lactation physiologist and dairy researcher Mark McGuire will co-lead a $2.4 million National Institutes of Health-funded project to study mastitis in women and cows. Mastitis, an inflammation of the mammary gland, causes discomfort for breastfeeding mothers and damages dairy industry productivity. Researchers Awarded $2.6 Million to Develop Nuclear Technologies U of I researchers received $2.6 million in U.S. Department of Energy Nuclear Energy University Program funding for five nuclear engineering research and development projects aimed at making nuclear reactors safer, more resilient to stressors, compatible with renewable energy systems, and capable of producing synthetic fuels and other beneficial byproducts. Forest Fire Smoke Focus of U of I Study Forest fire smoke contains living microbes, and the types differ from those in nearby non-smoky air, according to a team of scientists led by U of I Associate Professor Leda Kobziar. Researchers hadn’t known microbes moved with forest fire smoke in the same way as with large wind events like wind storms and dust storms. U of I Team Advances in $10 Million Water Prize Challenge A U of I team including environmental chemist Greg Moller, soil scientist Dan Strawn and mechanical engineer Martin Baker advanced to the final stage of the $10 million George Barley Water Prize competition to stop toxic algae blooms from poisoning drinking water supplies and the environment. | | | MOSS Program Wins National Award The University of Idaho’s McCall Outdoor Science School (MOSS) won a University Economic Development Association Award of Excellence for innovative educational programs that sustain regional economic development. MOSS, operated through U of I’s College of Natural Resources, brings place-based outdoor learning to more than 2,100 K-12 students and educators across Idaho annually. Since 2001, the first-of-its-kind initiative has delivered immersive STEM education programing in the Idaho outdoors. It has been successful in building scientific literacy and positive attitudes toward science in Idaho. These efforts have helped Idaho build a STEM-focused population for the benefit of local communities. | | First-Generation Architecture Student Sets Sights on Affordable Housing Yanira Saldana grew up in a low-income neighborhood in Garden City – now she wants to revive it. Architecture interested her, but it wasn’t a degree offered in the area. When Saldana began researching colleges, she figured she’d stay in Boise. Then Saldana got word that U of I was starting an architecture program in Boise for first- and second-year students. In fall 2017, Saldana joined four other students to become the first group to go through U of I Boise’s Architecture Program. Operating out of the Urban Design Center (UDC) — the hub for the College of Art and Architecture’s Boise-based master’s programs in architecture, landscape architecture, bioregional planning, and integrated architecture and design — students can take the first two years of architecture classes at the UDC and then transfer to Moscow. | | | | |