Students recognized for 2024-25 achievements

Congratulations to the following students, who received recognition for their work in the 2024-2025 academic year from off-campus organizations.

Note: This page will be updated as more award recipients are named.

---

A multi-disciplinary team of students won the first-place Poster Presentation Award at the recent Mississippi River Research Consortium in La Crosse, Wis. Dr. Jenny Arkle¡¯s connections with U.S. Fish and Wildlife ignited the research project. Once Dr. Arkle (environmental studies, geography, geology) discovered the project required both a GIS and a field component, she contacted Dr. Tierney Brosius (biology) to get the ball rolling. Dr. Arkle worked with Erik Bergren ¡¯25 to use GIS to determine possible areas where rusty patched bumble bees are located. Then Dr. Brosius¡¯ students Dakota Serra ¡¯25 and Charley Williams ¡¯25 took over, completing weekly surveys of the bees during the summer. They turned over their data to Dr. Arkle and Bergren, who mapped out the bees¡¯ location. Together GIS and entomology students created an award-winning poster that Serra presented at the conference. Undergrad and grad students from schools across the Upper Mississippi Watershed ¡ª primarily Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota ¡ª attended the conference. The student research contributed to knowledge of the natural value or function of the landscape in the upper Mississippi Watershed. 

---

Two 2023-24 student films were juried in competition to screen at the Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival on April 6, at the Collins Road Theatre in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Ludovica Chiovini¡¯s five-minute short "Love Bites" and "Clean Up," a seven-minute short created by Laura Makari, John Reda, Jordyn Van Santen and Corey Whitlock, were chosen to be included in the three-day festival lineup. The Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø filmmakers in attendance received certificates of recognition at the awards ceremony, participated in screenings and Q&A panels, and attended an informative student filmmaker forum. Stacy Barton, Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø's film program director, attended the festival with the students.

---

Mackenzie Lauridsen '25, a Spanish, computer science and applied mathematics major from Des Moines, Iowa, was recognized with the Excellence in Spanish Award for "academic excellence and impressive evolution in learning Spanish" from SSA Education Abroad. Lauridsen is currently studying in Sevilla, Spain, for the four-month spring semester program run by SSA. Lauridsen was nominated by her professors and SSA staff for not only excellence in her studies but also growth in her linguistic skills and participation in Spanish and Seville cultural activities.

---

Jessica Cotturone '25 was honored with the Chambliss Award at the 245th American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting. The award recognizes exemplary research by undergraduate and graduate researchers in astronomy and astrophysics. Cotturone's achievement is the result of her dedication and experience through the CIERA Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at Northwestern University. Her project, titled "Characterizing Compact Object Binaries in the Lower Mass Gap with Gravitational Waves," examines uncertainties in binary system parameters and explores whether future gravitational wave detections can better distinguish between heavy binary neutron stars and neutron star-low mass black hole systems.

---

Iratze Aceves '25, a Classics, psychology and French major from Monmouth, Ill., was selected as first runner-up to the prestigious Fauci Award in STEM and Classics from the Classical Association of the Middle West and South (CAMWS). This is the third year Aceves has been recognized by the association, having received the Rudolph Masciantonio Diversity Award in 2023 and the Manson A. Stewart Undergraduate Award in 2024. At this year's conference, Aceves presented her Senior Inquiry project, "Classics, Catharsis, and Community" with Dr. Kirsten Day.