2025 awards ceremony honors faculty, staff and students
Photo: Paul Henderson
More than two dozen people from the Michigan State University College of Natural Science were recognized for their outstanding achievements and service at the college Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony.
The Nov. 21 event honored faculty, staff and students nominated by their peers from across the college. Those nominations were evaluated by the Natural Science Awards Committee and the Center for Integrative Studies in General Science staff. Each year, the college conducts an awards ceremony to celebrate exceptional members of the college community.
Dean Eric Hegg welcomed attendees and emphasized the importance of honoring the people whose work strengthens the college’s mission every day.
“Our college succeeds because of the dedication our community brings to their scholarship, teaching, and support of students,” Dean Eric Hegg said. “Tonight, we recognize individuals who elevate NatSci and embody what it means to be part of MSU.”
Photos of the event can be viewed in our Awards Flickr album.
Outstanding Faculty Awards
Nick Haddad — Kellogg Biological Station / Integrative Biology
Laura Chomiuk — Physics and Astronomy
Sean Crosson — Microbiology, Genetics, and Immunology
Phoebe Zarnetske — Integrative Biology
Research Leadership Award
Sue Rhee — Plant Resilience Institute / Biochemistry & Molecular Biology / Plant Biology / Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences
NatSci Mid-Career Research Award
Thomas Hamann — Chemistry
NatSci Early Career Research Award
Ilya Kachkovskiy — Mathematics
NatSci Teacher-Scholar Awards
Emily Josephs — Plant Biology / Plant Resilience Institute
Ekaterina Rapinchuk — Mathematics / Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering
NatSci Undergraduate Teaching Awards
Dirk Colbry — Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering
Katherine Krueger — Biological Sciences Program
NatSci Junior Faculty Mentoring Award
Richard Lenski — Microbiology, Genetics, and Immunology / Integrative Biology / Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences
NatSci Postdoctoral Mentoring Award
David Lowry — Plant Biology / Plant Resilience Institute
NatSci Distinguished Academic Staff Award
Virginia Cangelosi — Chemistry
Undergraduate Academic Advisor Award
Brian Chadwick — Mathematics
Graduate Academic Advisor Award
Berkley Walker — Plant Research Laboratory / Plant Biology
NatSci Support Staff Awards
Deanna Ely — Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Kimberly Crosslan — Physics and Astronomy
NatSci Excellence-in-Teaching Citations
Tiange Deng — Chemistry
Alyssa Vadovsky — Physiology
NatSci Undergraduate Learning Assistant Awards
Jenna Greene — Biological Sciences Program
Kaveri Nambiar — Neuroscience
NatSci Faculty Teaching Prizes
Jenifer Saldanha — Biological Sciences Program
Elijah Dikong — Statistics and Probability
Seth Jacobson — Earth and Environmental Sciences
Devin Silvia — Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering
Katherine Krueger (right), Biological Sciences Program, received the NatSci Undergraduate Teaching Award.
Photo: Paul Henderson
Lorena Blinn Endowed Teaching Award
Saroopa Taylor — Center for Integrative Studies in General Science (CISGS)
James D. Hoeschele Endowed Teaching Award
Carissa Buchholz — Earth and Environmental Sciences / CISGS
Ronald W. Wilson Endowed Teaching Award
Claudia Vergara — Center for Integrative Studies in General Science (CISGS)
Harlo Mervyn Mork Memorial Excellence in Teaching Award
Christopher Brown — Entomology / College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Ralph and Alison Taggart Endowed Teaching Award (inaugural)
Jana Burke — Center for Integrative Studies in General Science (CISGS)
Norman L. and Olga K. Fritz Excellence in Teaching Award
Rachel Henderson — Physics and Astronomy
Photo: Paul Henderson