CONNECT WITH US!
      |
Did you notice we're now on LinkedIn?
Join our group and connect with your fellow CSBS alums, students, faculty and staff!
We want to hear from U!
Send us a headshot and a biography and we will feature you on our Alumni, Emeriti and Friends Spotlights page
2014-2015 Faculty and Staff Awards
Staff Excellence
Cindy White (Psychology)
Superior Research
Ming Wen (Sociology)
Jeanine Stefanucci (Psychology)
Superior Teaching
Tim W. Smith (Psychology)
Ilse Dekoeyer-Laros (Psychology)
Excellence in Mentoring
Rebecca L. Utz (Sociology)
Distinguished Professor (University of Utah Faculty Award)
Pauline W. Wiessner (Anthropology)
Alta Sustainability Leadership Award
Barbara Brown (Family and Consumer Studies)
Professors Emeriti
Hans G. Ehrbar (Economics)
Lance Girton (Economics)
Ronald J. Hrebenar (Political Science)
John M. MuCullough (Anthropology)
Carol M. Werner (Psychology)
Student Research Day Winners
Department Winner: Anthropology
Graduate Division:
1st Place (3-way tie):
Erica Barhorst (psychology) "The correlation of dance experience and spatial memory abilities"
Devin Gill (psychology) "Examining possible perceptual proxies of flow state"
Ashley Parker (anthropology) "Numic Fires: Biogeography of Forages and Fire in the Great Basin"
Undergraduate Division:
1st Place:
Hannah Schryver (psychology) "EEG and cognitive correlates of elementary task performance"
2nd Place (tie):
Carlie Teague (geography) "A high-resolution record of mountain pine beetle outbreaks from 7500-8500 cal yr
bp at Baker Lake, Montana"
Kayla Watson (sociology) "Changing times and its effect on marriage formation: gender equality and marriage
in comparative perspective"
Student Choice Award:
Kya Palomaki (political science) "A world without nukes: international relations perspectives"
Kirsi White (psychology) "Suicidal and non-suicidal thoughts and behaviors among adolescent survivors of commercial
sexual exploitation living in Cambodia"
2014-2015 Student Awards
Monson Prize: Colette Ankenman (Family and Consumer Studies)
"Understanding youth educational and occupational goals in after school programs"
Tanner Humanities Center Dissertation Fellowship Award: Daniel Auerbach (Sociology Ph.D. candidate)
Outstanding Undergraduate Student Researcher: Martin Puga (Sociology)
New Grants
The National Center for Veterans Studies received a $200,000 SBIR Grant to test accuracy of speech recognition and voice frequency technology designed to diagnose PTSD in military personnel.
Psychology professors Dave Strayer and Joel Cooper were awarded a grant from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety for their study of the degree of cognitive distraction in vehicles that are equipped with different in-vehicle voice-based systems.
Trafton Drew, in collaboration with Jeremy Wolfe at The Brigham & Women's Hospital, has received funding from the Department of Defense for their project entitled, "Attentional support for visual search and surveillance."
College Kudos
MPP students Emily Strong and Eric Johnson received an all-expenses-paid trip to the
United Arab Emirates to showcase their research at the Graduate Research Conference
in Abu Dhabi's Zayed University.
Sociology undergraduate Tara Streng was published in the Journal of Education and Practice for her work on sexual assault prevention.
The U's E.U. Simulation Team returned from the The 11th West Coast Model EU with two
awards: Outstanding Foreign Minister and an Honorable Mention.
The Global Change and Sustainability Center awarded a total of $6,675 in research
and travel funds to several CSBS students.
Sociology Ph.D. students Amanda Bertana, Jennifer Tabler, and Yvette Young received
NSF grants for their research.
Subscribe to CSBS
Keep informed on all the latest news and information by subscribing today!
The Class of 2015
The University of Utah's awarded a record number of 8,363 degrees this year. CSBS represented almost 24% of that number with 2,000 students.
As in previous years, the college held two convocations: the graduate convocation, to recognize the master's and Ph.D. students, and the undergraduate convocation to recognize undergraduate students. You can view the undergraduate convocation here.
Student Ambassador Team Recap
The CSBS Student Ambassadors were involved in several aspects of the college this year including donor relations, student mentoring, fundraising, participating in university and college events, as well as contributing their time to the community.
The program will continue in the 2015-2016 year, with 3 returning ambassadors and
13 new members.
The Transformation of the Social Sciences
CSBS Dean Cindy Berg and Heidi Hadley (Ph.D., Geography), National Science Advisor, Bureau of Land Management recently held an alumni event in Washington D.C. to discuss the new interdisciplinary research conducted in the college under the transformative excellence program to address how families can support good health and how climate changes are creating challenges for water availability. Berg discussed her role as Co-Director of the Consortium for Families and Health Research, and Hadley spoke on her work on the BLM's new approach to landscape policy and management, including the promotion of citizen science.
The Future of Scientific Research
As the University of Utah's transformative research cluster hires (Consortium for Families and Health Research and Society, Water and Climate) continue to take shape, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Ruth Watkins expresses the potential in faculty members working together across academic departments. Read her op-ed here.
CSBS: Degrees to Everywhere
Several alumni returned to campus to discuss how their degrees have helped them gain
the valuable skills needed to succeed in their careers. Click here for the video.
Thank you to our panelists:
Marlowe Dazely (Health, Society and Policy), Senior VP and Senior Managing Director at PNC; Luis Garza (Economics and MPA), Executive Director at Comunidades Unidas; Brian Haslam (Geography), President and CEO for Cityworks; Sean Meegan (Psychology), Senior Researcher with Intermountain Healthcare; Luciano Pesci (Economics and Political Science), CEO at Emperitas Services Group; Erin Trenbeath-Murray (Family and Consumer Studies), CEO for Salt Lake Community Action and Head Start; Denise Winslow (MPA), VP Community Relations at Wells Fargo.
The U's Real Food Campus Commitment
In February, University of Utah President David Pershing signed the Real Food Campus Commitment—a national challenge that several CSBS students brought to campus in an effort to
change its food purchasing to include 20 percent "real food" by the year 2020.
MPA/MPP Team Wins National Policy Solutions Challenge
Students from the public administration and public policy programs took home the National Policy Solutions Challenge trophy for the second year in a row. This year's topic: How to Supply an Adequate and Affordable Supply of Drinking Water to Citizens in the Future. Read more.
U Program Dresses Students for Success
Thanks to the Career Services Suit Up program, several CSBS students will receive assistance with purchasing business attire for their upcoming career. Find out more about the program.
Student Research Day 2015
Undergraduate and graduate students were given an opportunity to showcase their research and compete for prizes at our annual CSBS Student Research Day. Throughout the day, students and faculty from all over the campus came through the halls of OSH to check out the posters and the innovative research coming from the college. Check out photos of the event.
CSBS in the News
Family Violence
FCS professor Sonia Salari explores domestic violence and a host of other topics in her newly released book, "Family Violence Across the Life Course: Research, Policy and Prevention."
Sexual Goals VS. Availability
Anthropology post-doctoral fellow Ryan Schacht studies how people make reproductive decisions and how individual and contextual differences influence behavior.
Greenland Aquifer Expedition 2015
Breast Cancer and Retirement Plans
CSBS Associate Dean Cathleen Zick's latest study suggests those who have a family history of breast cancer are less focused on making their retirement plans.
Calculating how the Pacific was Settled
Anthropology professor Adrian Bell's latest study analyzes theories of how people from 900-3,500 years ago settled islands of the Pacific.
An Anatomy of Nationhood and the Question of Assimilation
Equal Pay: Debunking the Myths Behind the Gender Wage Gap
Economics professor Gunseli Berik weighs in on a new study from the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) that shows more women in Utah are living below the poverty line than men.
Georgia Seeks Advice from CSBS Master's Programs
Former MPP and MPA Interim Director Lina Svedin recently met with six Georgian top-level civil servants to discuss American experiences and research on how to design a good civil service.
Veteran Suicide Rates Decrease with Cognitive Therapy
NCVS Director Craig Bryan's latest research evaluates the effectiveness of brief cognitive-behavioral therapy for the prevention of suicide attempts in military personnel.
Loneliness as a Public Health Concern
A recent study by psychologists suggests that social isolation might be deadlier than obesity.
The Benefits of Failure
Marissa Diener, family and consumer studies associate professor discusses the benefits of not shielding children from disappointments or frustrations that come with failures.
When Mothers Need Others
Anthropology professor Karen Kramer explores the moment when ancient societies began to "take a village to raise a child" in new research published in the Journal of Human Evolution. Kramer's research also shows that mothers count on the older children to help rear younger siblings in the family. Click here for more.
Economics doctoral student Diksha Arora was recently profiled in Pacific Standard Magazine's "30 Top Thinkers under 30" series.