Confluence 2018-2019

Lauren Adams of Belgrade, Mont. is the first MSU student to win a place at a Fulbright summer program in England designed to encourage young scholars.

Haley Cox, a double major in cell biology and neuroscience and liberal studies and a student in the Honors College, received a 2018 Truman Scholarship, a highly competitive and prestigious scholarship given to one college junior from each state who has demonstrated leadership potential and commitment to public service.

Will Griffiths, a liberal studies student from Bend, Ore., was selected as the Montana entry in the Council on Undergraduate Research's Posters on the Hill display at the U.S. Capitol rotunda.

Colin Hammock, a junior majoring in cell biology and neuroscience and an offensive lineman with the MSU Bobcat football team, was the recipient of an inaugural Cameron Presidential Scholarship, MSU's most prestigious student scholarship.

Cathy Whitlock, a professor in the Department of Earth Sciences and fellow of the Montana Institute on Ecosystems, is the first scientist from a Montana institution to be elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

The American Chemical Society selected Joan Broderick, professor and head of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, for the 2019 Alfred Bader Award in Bioinorganic or Bioorganic Chemistry.

Neil Cornish, a physics professor whose work has contributed to some of the most important gravitational and astrophysical discoveries of the century, was named a MUS Regents Professor, the most prestigious designation for a Montana professor.

Scott Creel, a professor in the Department of Ecology, received a 2018 KSLA Wallenberg Professorship from the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry. He'll use the professorship to spend the 2018-2019 academic year in Umea, Sweden collaborating on research involving African carnivores.

Kristen Intemann, professor of philosophy in the Department of History and Philosophy, published her new book, "The Fight Against Doubt: How to Bridge the Gap Between Scientists and the Public."

Isaac Swensen, an assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics, co-authored a paper detailing how game days at top college football programs are associated with a 28 percent increase in reports of rape from college-age women.

Professor Andrew Hansen and research scientist Linda Phillips, both in the Department of Ecology, published the results of a study on the health of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem finding that increased population and density, as well as climate change, are impacting the region.

Associate professor Jennifer DuBois and doctoral student Melodie Machovina, both in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, were part of an international team that discovered a new class within an important family of enzymes that could speed up the process of converting plant waste into useful products.

Louisa Hall was selected as the new Wester Writer-in-Residence at MSU, beginning her one-year appointment in September. She will be housed in the Department of English during her time at MSU. Hall's latest novel, "Trinity," was released in October.

MSU will receive a major portion of the funding needed to build a state-of-the-art American Indian Hall thanks to a $12 million pledge from the Kendeda Fund, a private grant-making foundation with a long history of supporting conservation and community led projects in Montana.

A generous gift from Ann Jackson and Ken Wilson will be used to support programs and initiatives that will expand writing experiences for students and faculty in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines at MSU.