Award Fosters Collaboration on Climate Change
Meteorology Professor Cindy Shellito, Ph.D., was recently named a Fulbright U.S. Scholar, a highly prestigious and competitive award that will take her across the Pacific Ocean to Vietnam for five months starting in January 2023. This is Shellito’s second Fulbright award. In 2015, she traveled to Ecuador where she researched climate change in the Andes. Climate change will continue to be the focus in Vietnam, this time, although solely collecting data, Shellito will be tapping into her passion for teaching and exploring the most effective ways to integrate the topic into the classroom.
“We are in a period of rapid, global environmental change,” Shellito said. “I love scientific research, but we have reached a point in Earth history when finding ways to mitigate and adapt to changes has become critical.”
While in Vietnam, Shellito will connect with fellow professors. She will collaborate with instructors in the University of Dalat’s Department of Chemistry and the Environment, located in the southern portion of the country, to develop an engaging university curriculum focused on weather and the climate.
“To teach about climate change, we have to work across cultures to support each other in a global community,” Shellito said. “It gives us better insights and perspectives on what’s going on.”
Audiology Professor Receives Prestigious Research Award
Professor Deanna Meinke, Ph.D., recently received the 2022 Jerger Career Award for Research in Audiology from the American Academy of Audiology (AAA).
The Jerger Career Award recognizes individuals whose innovative research contributions in the field of audiology/hearing and balance sciences has had groundbreaking impacts on the field and/or practice of audiology. As described on the AAA website, Meinke’s research “has been innovative and influential, and she is known for her seminal contributions to the field of hearing loss prevention.”
“I am humbled and honored to be selected for this award from my peers and colleagues,” said Meinke. “My name will be listed among others whose research I read as a young student and relied upon for my clinical practice and academic teaching. It is hard to imagine that I am recognized amongst such distinguished company.”
Meinke was also selected as UNC’s A.M. and Jo Winchester Scholar in 2018, an award that recognizes demonstrated continued excellence in scholarly activity at the university. She has authored several book chapters, government publications and peer-reviewed articles and has received numerous accolades throughout her career in recognition of her work.
