James Folkestad

            Education Professor James Folkestad was named a University Distinguished Teaching Scholar this week, ranking him among the most outstanding educators at CSU, as reflected by his accomplishments as both a scholar and teacher. Folkestad has a long history of leveraging technology to advance learning and understanding. Due in part to his use of screen-capture technology for teaching, he received the Outstanding Industrial Technology Professor Award in 2001, four years before YouTube was founded. His innovations have continued in the years since, including research collaborations that have brought in more than $20 million in funding, the development of digital tutoring platforms and over 50 publications. Folkestad’s outstanding accomplishments are only part of his story, however. He was diagnosed with dyslexia four years ago after decades dealing with print-based challenges. His own trouble with reading and writing the English language has inspired him to help others who have similar problems and need different educational approaches. “It’s been something that’s informed my teaching philosophy – I’ve continually tried to find alternative ways to help students learn,” Folkestad says. “It was natural for me to think about different ways of learning because I relied on them myself.” He described what it was like growing up with dyslexia in a statement on his personal teaching philosophy. “Because I was dyslexic (undiagnosed), I had extreme difficulty processing text-based information at the pace the school system prescribed,” he wrote. “So I was placed in remedial reading classes and labeled. The messages of not belonging were consistent and relentless as I made my way through the educational system.” In college, instead of completing reading assignments, he just paid close attention in class and exceled at making logical connections and connecting different concepts he heard the faculty discussing. “In one class, we had seven novels to read, and I only read parts of them,” Folkestad recalls in an interview. “But I never missed class, and I loved my history professors because they told stories, stories that let me learn by listening. I know there are students on campus who are struggling with this as well, and we can further welcome and value their unique contributions to our campus.” As part of the UDTS award, he plans to explore the effects of having text-to-speech tools that can read print aloud available in the digital/hybrid classroom. Digital readers are already provided by the Assistive Technology Resource Center, but Folkestad wants to see the impact on students when the devices are more readily available. “What if these technologies were simply available?” he asks. “I think that is a message of inclusion, a message of, ‘You are welcome and valued here.’” Folkestad pointed out that his ideas are a small part of a larger campus-wide effort, and he pointed to a statement on CSU’s Accessibility by Design website developed and managed by the Assistive Technology Resource Center: “Just as we provide automatic door openers in the physical world, we can open the door to electronic information for users of diverse technology, including mobile devices and assistive technology that allows those with disabilities to participate in the digital world.” “Although estimates vary, current data indicate that print-based reading difficulties impact a considerable number of university students, estimated at between 10 percent to 15 percent of the student population,” Folkestad said. “Like I said, I want to welcome these students, but more importantly, I want to concentrate on finding individual strengths; it’s about leveraging human potential.” Folkestad, who started at CSU in 1997, came to the School of Education after teaching in the Industrial Technology Management and Construction Management programs. He has received outstanding teaching awards from the School of Education and College of Health and Human Sciences, CSU’s Institute for Learning and Teaching and several professional organizations. He’s chaired the Educational Advisory Committee in CSU’s Information Science and Technology Center for 10 years, and he co-founded and directs the Center for the Analytics of Learning and Teaching (C-ALT). One of that center’s priorities is using data to examine how students engage with learning materials, and then inform students about alternative and potentially more effective ways to learn. Gene Gloeckner and Louise Jennings, co-directors of the School of Education, wrote the letter nominating Folkestad for the UDTS position. They listed his many accomplishments, substantial grant funding and wide-ranging impact, then focused on feedback from his students. “Most importantly to us is how students feel about Dr. Folkestad’s teaching,” they wrote. “He receives high teaching evaluations, but above all is his positive influence on students’ lives. One recent doctoral graduate from journalism stated that he was the best professor she had during her doctoral journey. Another education student gave credit to James for being open about his struggles with dyslexia and how working with Dr. Folkestad gave him courage to face his own struggle.” In his personal statement, Folkestad concludes, “I continue to push educational institutions to change, to move beyond a system that accommodates disability to one that welcomes neurodiversity through universal designs that reward the unique contributions of diverse thinkers and enable individuals to fulfill their potential.”

Edward Barbier

            Edward Barbier, who joined CSU last summer as a professor in the Department of Economics and a Senior Scholar in the School of Global Environmental Sustainability, has received CSU’s 2018 Scholarship Impact Award. The award, one of the university’s highest honors for accomplishment in research, goes to a scholar who was recruited to CSU from the University of Wyoming and is one of the most cited environmental economists in the world. “I am honored and humbled to receive the 2018 Scholarship Impact Award from Colorado State University,” Barbier said. “CSU has a growing international reputation for high-quality research, and to be recognized for contributing to this scholarship means a lot to me. I am also grateful for the continuing support I receive for my research from the Department of Economics, the College of Liberal Arts and the School of Global Environmental Sustainability.” Barbier is the author of more than 300 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters and has written or edited 23 scholarly books. He is consistently ranked among the top 10 most cited environmental economists in the world and among the top 5 percent economists globally. Google Scholar lists him as currently having nearly 47,000 citations to his scholarly works, including around 18,000 since 2013. He got his undergraduate degree in economics and political science from Yale University, then attended graduate school at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he studied under renowned economist Partha Dasgupta. After earning his Ph.D. at the University of London, Barbier was hired by the International Institute for Environment and Development in London. At IIED, Barbier co-authored, with fellow environmental economists David Pearce and Anil Markandya, Blueprint for a Green Economy in 1989, which was widely influential in shaping economic thinking on sustainability. It was at IIED that he met his wife, Jo, who also joined CSU’s Department of Economics as a special assistant professor and faculty member in SoGES last year. At the University of York in the UK, the two helped form the interdisciplinary environment department. In 2000, Barbier accepted an endowed chair position at the University of Wyoming, where he was recognized by Cambridge University’s Institute of Sustainable Leadership as one of the 50 most influential scholars on sustainability in 2008. He was elected a fellow of the prestigious Association of Environmental and Resource Economists in 2015. “Over the course of his distinguished career, he has consistently produced groundbreaking work that has helped shape early thinking about global environmental sustainability,” College of Liberal Arts Dean Ben Withers wrote in his nomination letter. “Dr. Barbier’s research productivity is immense and of wide-ranging, interdisciplinary scope. … Recruiting Dr. Barbier has added to the research stature of the University and further establishes the reputation of the Department of Economics and its graduate programs as leading centers of research and study in regional economics and political economy.” Withers also writes that Research Papers in Economics, a discipline-specific bibliographic database of working papers, journal articles, books, books chapters and software components, ranks CSU Economics 31st out of 256 academic and non-academic institutions in the field of environmental economics. “It should be noted that CSU was not significantly ranked in this field area of economics before Dr. Barbier’s arrival,” Withers said. “His addition to the faculty, therefore, has already been transformative in terms of research and external engagement, as it also has been in terms of the influence of his scholarship on his classroom teaching in the area of natural resource and development economics and at the intersections of these fields with ecology.”

P. Shing Ho

            P. Shing Ho, professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, has received the Colorado State University Scholarship Impact Award. Established by the Office of the Vice President for Research, the award recognizes faculty members whose scholarly work has had a major impact in the world. Ho is an internationally recognized scientist with expertise in DNA structure and function. He is particularly known for his contributions to defining and understanding molecular interactions called halogen bonds. Ho and colleagues have found that different halogen atoms (fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine) in organic and biochemical structures can form non-covalent interactions with other atoms that are analogous to hydrogen bonding, but could be much stronger. His research has demonstrated that a halogen bond can be engineered to direct the conformation of a macromolecule that has a higher stability than a comparable hydrogen bond. Ho’s group has applied this special interaction as a tool to engineer molecular structures, including the design of inhibitors and drugs. Ho is senior author on the most-cited research article in the field of halogen bonding. Since joining the CSU faculty in 2007, he has authored two of the most highly-cited papers in his field. Over half his publications since 2007 are selected as featured articles in the journals they appear in. Ho is principal investigator on National Science Foundation grants from both the Biological Science Division and the Chemistry Division – one of few scholars to have obtained research support from two distinct NSF directorates. He has recently been invited to serve as an NSF program director to help determine the overlapping mission of these programs. At CSU, Ho served as chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology for 10 years, leading the department in the hiring of seven new faculty. He was also awarded the Preston Davis Award for Innovations in Teaching. He is a fellow of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry as well as a Special Member of the Iodine Society (Japan), both in recognition of his halogen bond research. Ho’s Ph.D. in biochemistry, molecular and cellular biology is from Northwestern University, and he also holds a B.A. in chemistry from Franklin and Marshall College. Before coming to CSU, he was a faculty member and department chair at Oregon State University.

Tod Clapp

            Tod Clapp, an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, received the Board of Governors Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award. This distinct university honor is bestowed annually upon one outstanding faculty member who stimulates the curiosity of students by motivating and challenging them. Clapp, who teaches human anatomy and neuroanatomy, oversees the human anatomy curriculum, directs the Biomedical Sciences Master of Science program, and is head of the anatomy outreach program that engages K-12 youth in science and health education, possesses a unique passion and talent for engaging students. Clapp’s teaching philosophy is based on the belief that learning should be student-driven and experience-based and he is motivated by watching his students become superior scientists, problem solvers, and lifelong learners. Through captivating lectures, contagious enthusiasm for the material he teaches, and the high expectations he holds for his students, Clapp encourages his students to take responsibility for their education and shoot for the stars. His primary passion is teaching neuroanatomy and helping students understand the “why” behind complicated systems. Students and colleagues alike often praise Clapp’s ability to make learning meaningful while also encouraging his students to develop the important life skill of being able to solve a novel problem. Said one former student, “Taking neuroanatomy with Tod Clapp was one of the best decisions I made in college. His enthusiasm, genuine interest in student learning, and logical approach to teaching with an emphasis on content and critical thinking rather than rote memorization forever changed my approach to learning.” Aside from consistently being rated in the “superior” range for all teaching categories in all of his classes, Clapp is also committed to quality outreach and program development. In 2016, he oversaw the creation of the very successful annual summer Anatomy Camp program for high school students. Clapp was also instrumental in securing funding for the new Health Education Outreach Center, which in addition to providing new and improved space for human anatomy and neuroanatomy education will house his team’s groundbreaking Human Virtual Reality Project. “When I look back on my career, I wish that I would have had the opportunity to learn to teach from someone like Tod Clapp,” said Colin Clay, head of the Department of Biomedical Sciences. “He understands that teaching is a partnership that, at its best, respects and elevates both the student and the teacher. This partnership lies at the very core of what CSU is an academic institution that fully celebrates discovery, dissemination, and learning.” Clapp’s previous honors include the Water Pik and CSU Athletic Department Excellence in Education Award, the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Science’s Outstanding Academic Advising Award in Graduate Education, the Lisa Marie Craft Memorial Graduate Scholarship for exhibiting career promise in teaching, and the CSU Alumni Association’s Best Teacher Award.

Jeffrey Pierce

            Jeffrey Pierce, an associate professor in the Department of Atmospheric Science, has been named a Monfort Professor. Established by the Monfort Family Foundation, Monfort Professorships are awarded to faculty who are considered rising stars in their fields. The two-year awards help Colorado State University attract and retain talented young faculty. Pierce joined the CSU faculty in 2013 as an assistant professor, and he was previously an assistant professor at Dalhousie University. His Ph.D. in chemical engineering is from Carnegie Mellon University, and he also holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from Northeastern University. One of the world’s leading modelers of atmospheric airborne particles, Pierce is a widely sought-after collaborator for U.S. and international research projects. Pierce’s expertise is in the impacts of atmospheric particles on human health and climate. Human-generated atmospheric particles are among the most uncertain areas for accurate predictions of global climate. His work has examined how changes in atmospheric aerosols affect the Earth’s climate by interacting with the sun and the Earth’s radiation, and by modifying clouds. The author or co-author of more than 90 peer-reviewed articles in leading journals, Pierce has secured in excess of $8 million in sponsored research funding throughout his time at CSU. He has also worked actively with other researchers across campus, including through the Office of the Vice President for Research-sponsored Partnership for Air Quality, Climate and Health (PACH). Through his work with PACH, Pierce and colleagues have estimated that airborne particles lead to approximately 3 million premature deaths around the world every year. Pierce is furthermore an accomplished and respected teacher. Among his many contributions are the development of a new course for training atmospheric scientists in the field, and the redesign of the department’s Intro to Air Pollution course. “It is hard to overstate the highly positive impact Jeff has had on the Department of Atmospheric Science, on the Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering, on the CSU Partnership for Air Quality, Climate and Health, and on CSU as a whole,” wrote atmospheric science department chair Jeffrey Collett, in nominating Pierce for the Monfort Professorship. “He is an exceptional colleague to faculty from many parts of campus, an outstanding adviser, and a dedicated member of many graduate student committees. Jeff is a collegial, humble, and thoughtful member of the CSU faculty.”

George Wittemyer

            George Wittemyer, an associate professor in the Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology who is recognized as a world-renowned expert on elephant conservation, has been named a Monfort Professor, one of CSU’s highest honors. He began studying elephants and the effects of poaching on them when he was an undergraduate at Colorado College in the 1990s. After graduating from college, he received a coveted fellowship through the Fulbright Program, which took him to Kenya in 1997, where he met Iain Douglas-Hamilton, one of the preeminent elephant biologists in the world and founder of Save the Elephants. Douglas-Hamilton helped Wittemyer land an internship with the Kenya Wildlife Service, which led the researcher to the Samburu National Reserve, a rugged and semi-desert park in Kenya. From 1997 to 2007, Wittemyer lived primarily in Samburu, where he launched a project to identify every elephant that came into the park. With the Save the Elephants field team, he continues to monitor these elephants to this day, following them and recording the ups and downs of their lives. Wittemyer has testified about his research on Capitol Hill and is among a group of scientists who have joined a coalition of concerned citizens, activists, nongovernmental organizations, politicians and governments whose aim is to stop the killing of elephants, and the trafficking and demand for ivory. He is highly sought after by top U.S.-based and international media outlets to talk about these topics. Earlier this year, he was interviewed about China’s ivory ban and effects on poaching in Africa on National Public Radio‘s “All Things Considered.” Wittemyer, who has a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, was described as a “rising star” by Ken Wilson, professor and department head, in his nomination letter. “Dr. Wittemyer has developed into a brilliant scholar, whose faculty research productivity has been exceptional,” he said. “As his publication record will attest, Dr. Wittemyer has established a superb research program that has generated incredible recognition, especially for his work with African elephant conservation. But, his research goes beyond the scientific and is touching people and livelihoods, and generating the kind of outreach that exemplifies the land-grant mission.” His research findings have been published in top journals, including Science, where he has had a paper published each year over the last three years. Based on a media analysis, a 2017 study he co-authored on the effects of noise pollution in U.S. protected areas reached 1.9 billion viewers, listeners and readers, and had an advertising equivalency of $3.7 million. Wittemyer has secured more than $6 million in external funding during his time at CSU, serving as a principal investigator on 22 projects. He also teaches undergraduate and graduate students about wildlife management, conservation of large mammals and conservation biology research. Wittemyer serves as the chair of Save the Elephants’ scientific board, a testament to his expertise. He is also a technical advisor on elephants for the Kenya Wildlife Service and a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s African Elephants Specialist Group. The Monfort Professor designation comes with a monetary award of $75,000 a year over the next two years to support Wittemyer’s internationally-recognized research.