More than 100 Aggies gathered in NMSU’s Atkinson Recital Hall Tuesday, Jan. 16, for NMSU’s spring convocation to celebrate the new semester and cheer on the award recipients.
“I extend my congratulations to all the recipients of New Mexico State University’s research awards,” NMSU Provost Alan Shoho said. “Your work also serves as a testament to the power of research and its ability to be bold and shape the future. Everyone here in this audience makes a difference in their own way. New Mexico State University is a place where dreams are nurtured, ideas are cultivated and lifelong connections are made.”
The first awards went to Dennis N. Lozada and Eric Magrane, who received NMSU’s Early Career Award.
Lozada, an assistant professor of chile pepper breeding and genetics in the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, conducts research that focuses on selecting, breeding and improving chile pepper varieties.
Magrane, associate professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, trained as a geographer and poet. His work centers on the geohumanities and has explored literary and artistic responses to climate change, art-and-science collaboration, and human perceptions of nature.
Rebecca Palacios and Manoj Shukla then received the Distinguished Career Award. Recipients of the award must demonstrate a lengthy record of scholarly accomplishment that has attracted outside recognition.
Palacios, a health psychologist and professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences, has more than 25 years of experience conducting community health research along the United States-Mexico border. Her research has focused on culturally tailoring cancer education programs to make them more engaging and efficacious for Latina mothers diagnosed with early-stage cancer.
Shukla, a professor of soil physics in the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, centers his research on addressing important needs of New Mexico, including managing soil health and improving water use efficiencies. He is also a visiting professor at China Agricultural University and a fellow of the Soil Science Society of America, where he serves as a technical editor for its journal.
The Team Award went to Pei Xu, Yanyan Zhang, Huiyao Wang and Robert B. Young. All four recipients play critical roles in the New Mexico Water Produced Research Consortium, a collaborative initiative of the New Mexico Environment Department and NMSU. The consortium works to advance scientific research and technology development required to guide future statewide produced water reuse policy.
Xu, a professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, serves as the consortium’s research director; Zhang, an associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, serves as the co-chair of the consortium’s Risks and Toxicology Working Group; Wang is an associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering; and Young is the director of NMSU’s Chemical Analysis and Instrumentation Laboratory.
The Research Recognition Award went to Jose Ortega-Carranza, a research scientist in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. Since joining NMSU in 1995 as a post-doctoral fellow, Ortega-Carranza has trained many students in biochemical and molecular methods. He also studies carbon and nitrogen metabolism in leguminous plants.
Ross Marks, an award-winning director, writer, producer and educator, received the Community Engagement, Extension and Outreach Award. Marks serves as the executive director and founder of the Las Cruces International Film Festival, which attracts an estimated 10,000 film fans annually from around the world. He also teaches screenwriting, directing and a class on the film festival, now in its 10th year.
The final award went to Nancy Chanover, a professor of astronomy who received the Dennis W. Darnall Faculty Achievement Award.
Since joining NMSU in 1998, Chanover has made significant contributions to NMSU’s undergraduate astronomy curriculum and has overseen the successful completion of 14 astronomy Ph.D. students. Chanover is currently the principal investigator of NASA’s Planetary Data System Atmospheres Node, a portion of NASA’s planetary data archive. She is also the director of the Astrophysical Research Consortium 3.5m telescope at Apache Point Observatory.
