Last week, the University of Wyoming awarded and honored the research and innovation of several members of its faculty in celebration of the impact, relevance, and importance of their respective work. Awardees included faculty from the UW College of Agriculture, Life Sciences and Natural Resources.

UW’s annual Celebration of Excellence in Research and Innovation awards event, which was held at the Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center, featured distinguished researcher, innovator, and research service awards to three faculty members. An award also featured a standout UW school for demonstrating exemplary research culture.

The event designated several faculty members as honorees for research and innovation excellence, and recognized faculty members from select UW schools and colleges for their respective contributions to research excellence.

“We are incredibly fortunate and proud to have such prodigiously productive and impactful researchers here at the University of Wyoming,” President Ed Seidel says. “The work that the researchers being recognized today perform has massive consequences for our university, state, and the world. These are just a few of the many UW faculty similarly making positive and profound impacts with the research they conduct. Congratulations to those we recognize today, along with our gratitude and thanks to all researchers here at UW.”

Scott Seville, a professor of zoology and physiology and senior associate dean of UW’s College of Agriculture, Life Sciences and Natural Resources, was given the UW Distinguished Research Service Award. He directs the Wyoming IDeA Networks for Biomedical Research Excellence Program (INBRE), which is funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH). In this capacity, he led UW collaborations in biomedical research with all community colleges and fostered NIH-funded research at UW. As a result, many UW faculty members have been able to submit competitive research projects. Seville also has served in leadership roles in many national organizations.

Kevin Monteith, a professor of natural resource science in UW’s Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, was given the UW Distinguished Researcher Award. His research focuses on understanding the behavior and life history of large mammals to reveal the mechanisms behind their fitness and population dynamics. Monteith is experienced at employing extensive field studies of individual animals’ life history and nutrition. He engages and mentors a large number of undergraduate and graduate students in his research. Monteith’s research is used in managing wildlife populations in Wyoming.

Maohong Fan, a professor of chemical and biomedical engineering and energy and petroleum engineering in the School of Energy Resources, was given the UW Distinguished Innovator Award. Fan has led and worked on many projects in the areas of chemical production, clean energy generation and environmental protection that have been supported by various domestic and international funding agencies and industrial companies. He has helped various chemical, environmental, and energy companies to overcome their technical challenges. He is a member of the prestigious National Academy of Inventors and is one of the most cited researchers, according to the annual list published by the analytics company Clarivate.

The event also featured recognition of UW’s School of Energy Resources with the Exemplary Research Culture Award.

Honorees in Research and Innovation Excellence

UW recognized research by Matt Kauffman, Department of Zoology and Physiology; David Fay, INBRE and Department of Molecular Biology; and innovation by Mark Gomelsky, Department of Molecular Biology, and John Oakey, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, as Honorees in Research and Innovation Excellence.

Additional college- and school-specific research honors were accepted by respective faculty members, including: Melissa Morris, College of Arts and Sciences; Jeff Beck and Thomas Boothby, College of Agriculture, Life Sciences and Natural Resources; Katie Li-Oakey and Jifa Tian, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences; Kelly Simonton, College of Health Sciences; Linda Price, College of Business; Emanual Eidin, College of Education; Kelly Dunning, Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources; Jason Robison, College of Law; Selena Gerace, School of Energy Resources; and Andrew Kirby, School of Computing.

2024 CAREER Award Winners

The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) CAREER award is among its most prestigious recognitions of research by university faculty. It is awarded to those who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education, and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations. UW’s 2024 NSF CAREER awardees recognized at the event are Nga Nguyen, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences; Diksha Shukla, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences; and Xiang Zhang, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences.

This story was originally published on UW News.