The Department of Physics has announced awards in excellence for physics graduate students and postdoctoral researchers who have demonstrated excellence in and beyond their fields. Congratulations to the Spring 2021 award winners:
Excellence in teaching
Cai Cash for outstanding contributions to the 1120 teaching team, including:
- Above-and-beyond assistance handling unexpected pandemic-related issues
- Serving as an outstanding example of pedagogy to the other TAs
Sarah Kerr for outstanding contributions to both the 1120 and 3220 teaching teams, including:
- Above-and-beyond assistance handling unexpected pandemic-related issues
- Serving as an outstanding example of pedagogy to the other TAs
- Always looking for new opportunities to engage with and assist students in these courses.
John Zaris for outstanding contributions to Phys 2010 & Phys2130 including
- Above and beyond concern for his students and their learning
- Analyzing his teaching and looking for ways to further improve
- Always ready to help out with course logistics as needed
Dr. Jacob Pettine for outstanding contributions to the online version of Phys 4410 including
- Invaluable assistance with course logistics
- Daily interactions with students, creating connections to both people and course material, despite the remote format
- Nominated by both course instructor Prof Rogers and research advisor Prof Nesbitt
Dr. Alexandra Werth for outstanding contributions to Phys 1140
- Primarily responsible for the design, creation and running of a remote version of the Phys 1140 lab course
- Remote version of Phys 1140 has been very successful and popular with students.
Outstanding service contributions
Kazemi Adachi for outstanding contributions to CU prime and GASP (CU graduate student association)
- Interim president and founding member of GASP
Pablo Aramburu Sanchez for outstanding contributions to GASP and CU-Prime
- GASP interim Social Chair and founding member
- CU-Prime Diversity Workshops & Mentorship
Berenice Garcia for outstanding contributions to equity and inclusion work including:
- Founding member and graduate liaison for COSMOS (Community of Support for Marginalized Students)
- Work with Upward Bound, a mentoring and tutoring program for first-generation and low-income high school students
Yonas Gebre for outstanding contributions to EIC (Equity, Inclusion and Cookies committee).
Gayle Geschwind: for outstanding contributions to Equity and Inclusion work in the department, including:
- PISEC (Partnerships in Informal Science Education in the Community) site leader, consistently ensuring that PISEC logistics run smoothly
- Chair and convening member of JEDI (Jila’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion committee)
- One of the founding members of the CU APS – IDEA team.
- One of the founding members of GASP
Andrea Marton Menendez for outstanding contributions to Partnerships in Informal Science Education in the Community (PISEC), over 10 semesters, including:
- Procuring special experimental supplies for students interested in creating their own experiment
- Leading PISEC sites for multiple years
- Helping to manage PISEC's social events and build culture
- Planning for the program’s future health and success
Juniper Pollock for outstanding contributions to Equity and Inclusion work in the department, including:
- Founding member of the CU APS-IDEA team and newsletter contributor
- Founding member of GASP
- Member of R-Cubed
Dr. Michael Bennett for outstanding informal science learning work including:
- Leadership in JILA’s Physics Frontier Center educational programs
- Directing and strengthening the Partnerships in Informal Science Education in the Community (PISEC) program for the last 5 years. This program engages youth from historically under-represented communities in physics and enables undergrads, grad students and post-docs to learn about community engagement, diversity and teaching
- Member of JEDI (JILA’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) committee.
Dr. Jessica Hoehn - for many years of outstanding contributions to equity and inclusion work in the department including:
- Broadening diversity in the department
- A leading member of the Equity, Inclusion and Cookies committee for many years
- Long standing member of the Partnerships in Informal Science Education in the Community (PISEC), which engages youth from historically under-represented communities in physics.
- Founding member of the CU APS-IDEA team
Dr. Alexandra Lau for outstanding contributions to Equity and Inclusion work in the department, including:
- Founding member of CU APS-IDEA team
- Many years of work on the EIC (Equity, Inclusion and Cookies) team.
Dr. Ben Pollard for outstanding contributions to CU prime over many years. • Founding member and organizer of CU-Prime and the broader Access Network (national) • Advising and support of many undergraduates within and beyond CU
Dr. Michael Vignal for outstanding contributions to Equity work in the department, including:
- Service to the R^3 committee
- Running ‘Fostering Inclusivity’ workshops for incoming grad students
- Working to create a culture where all voices within the department are represented
- Assisting with the formation of a new graduate student association (GASP)