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• Nadine Barlow, associate professor of physics and astronomy, was one of 40 people worldwide invited to participate in a Committee on Space Research special colloquium which defined "special regions" on Mars, Sept. 18-20, in Rome. A special region is one where either Martian life might exist or where terrestrial microbes could survive and propagate if introduced. Spacecraft visiting such regions would be required to undergo higher levels of sterilization. Results of the meeting are being written up for publication in the journal Advances in Space Science.
• Al Henderson, tribal liaison for NAU's Institute for Native Americans, received the 2007 Native American Community Scholars award from the Smithsonian Institution. Henderson spent the summer conducting independent research on tribal sovereignty in Washington, D. C. The research involves how best to teach and convey the meaning of tribal sovereignty to Native high school and college students. Henderson said his approach is to make the concept of tribal sovereignty simple to understand and visible for Native students by telling the story of the early history of the Navajo tax policy and supplemented with traditional and cultural knowledge.
  
• Barbara Fox Nellis, director of regulatory compliance, had a presentation accepted for the annual American Biological Safety Association International Conference in Nashville, Tenn., Oct. 10. Her presentation, "Successful Construction of a Select Agent BSL-3 Laboratory Complex within a Platinum LEED Building," addresses how, once the Keim laboratory moves into the new Applied Research and Development building's third floor, this will be the first biological high containment laboratory constructed in a Platinum LEED building. The presentation deals with the issues involved in this unusual construction and how the team found solutions to various containment issues and problems to make this lab a reality without sacrificing the LEED goals.
• Jim Allen, interim executive director of the School of Forestry, has been appointed to the Arizona Forest Stewardship Committee, a state-level coordinating committee that provides guidance to the state forester on the development, delivery and oversight of cooperative forestry programs. These programs are aimed primarily at increasing the amount and quality of forest management on private lands.
• Kate Ellis, assistant professor of theater who teaches costume design and costume technology, designed the costumes for the Baton Rouge Little Theatre production of Cats, which opened in July.
• Michael Jones, scene shop and theater facility manager, designed the set for Theatrikos production of the contemporary comedy, Steve Martin's The Underpants.
• Robert Yowell, professor of theater, worked as an actor in Spilling Stuff and Breaking Things, by Ben Clawson, at a national program sponsored by the Association for Theatre in Higher Education, held this summer in New Orleans. Yowell also served as a senior member of the association's panel on strategies for employment for the theater academic.
• Darby Winterhalter Lofstrand, theater adjunct faculty, completed a month of performing eight characters in The Laramie Project at Theatrikos in Flagstaff, a play by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project about the reaction to the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyo. She then spent three weeks in California beginning research for an upcoming biographical fiction, The Gang of Eight.
• Helaine M. McLain, associate professor in the School of Art, has a mixed-media painting in the exhibition, "The Splendor of Chaos," at the Coconino Center for the Arts.
• NAU jewelry/metalsmithing students will travel to Arizona State University for the second annual Intercollegiate Metals Exhibition on Oct. 8. The following NAU jewelry/metalsmithing majors will be exhibited: Loren Candela, Jessica Davis, Edward Glenn, Linda Fitchett, Ivan Jimenez, Larry Lane, Suzanne Lee, Emy Lewis, Amanda Parker, Stephanie Preciado, and Tom Yazzie. The exhibition closes Oct. 19.
• Mary I. Dereshiwsky, associate professor of educational leadership, had two articles published in the September issue of E-LERN, the monthly newsletter of the Learning Resources Network: "Helpful Strategies for Preparing Your Online Syllabus" and "Benefits of an Online Peer Help Desk."
• Glen Cushing, recent master's graduate in physics and astronomy, and J. Judson Wynne, doctoral student in Biological Sciences and cave research scientist, co-authored an article, "THEMIS observes possible cave skylights on Mars," published in the October issue of Geophysical Research Letters.