Continuing with our celebration of this year’s CALS Awards recipients, we are sharing information about the winners of the WALSAA Outstanding Advisor Award, the Arthur J. and Ellen A. Maurer Extra Mile Award, and the Robert R. Spitzer Teaching Excellence Award.

Claire Minor

Claire, recipient of the WALSAA Outstanding Advisor Award, is the only academic advisor in the Department of Genetics, where she advises more than 250 students. She takes the time to learn about each student’s interests and goals, investing in her students beyond the scope of just advising. Claire goes out of her way to learn more about how to support her students, such as going to local biotech companies to learn about career options and organizing events and workshops.

Megan Sippel

Megan, recipient of the Arthur J. and Ellen A. Maurer Extra Mile Award, is the graduate program manager in the Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences. She is a strong advocate for students through her roles as the Graduate Student Association advisor and leader of the Research and Graduate Education Committee. Megan has been a key asset in developing and implementing numerous policies and procedures to facilitate student success.

Claudia Solís-Lemus

Claudia, recipient of the Robert R. Spitzer Teaching Excellence Award, is an assistant professor in the Department of Plant Pathology. Her research focuses on evolution, phylogenetic networks and interactions of microbial communities with their environment. She  makes statistics approachable to biology students by aligning learning objectives with real-world data. Claudia has taught statistics in forensic science for public defenders across the country and created a seminar for Science and Art in Spanish as well as educational materials about data science for K-12 students.