Research and Graduate Studies

Research Week commenced on March 31, 2008, beginning with the annual Research Awards Luncheon. Utah State University’s Vice President for Research Office, host of Research Week, honored USU’s best faculty researchers, along with Fred Provenza, this year’s winner of the D. Wynne Thorne Career Research Award.

The D. Wynne Thorne Award was presented to Fred Provenza, professor of wildland resources. Provenza was honored for his groundbreaking work in behavior-based management of livestock, wildlife and landscapes. As a result of their research, Provenza and his colleagues have created a consortium known as BEHAVE (Behavioral Education for Human, Animal, Vegetation and Ecosystem), which is committed to integrating behavioral principles and processes with local knowledge to enhance ecological, economic and social values of rural and urban communities and landscapes.

The Utah State University College Researchers of the Year were also honored at the luncheon for their outstanding work in research this past year. The recipients included the following individuals:

College of Agriculture: John D. Morrey
College of Business: Arthur J. Caplan   
College of Education and Human Services: David A. Wiley II
College of Engineering: Jagath J. Kaluarachchi
College of Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences: J. Daniel Murphy
College of Natural Resources: Michael R. Conover
College of Science: James Alan Powell

The Researchers of the Year are engaged in research projects that solve real, practical problems for Utahns and people throughout the world.  They were recognized this year for their research that pushes the boundaries of knowledge and discovery.  For the first time, the college Researchers of the Year will make up the pool of finalists for a new award, USU Faculty Researcher of the Year, to be announced at USU's Robins Awards.

Following the luncheon and awards ceremony, Ray Reutzel, 2007 D. Wynne Thorne Research Award winner, presented the annual address.

New to the agenda this year, a New Faculty Seed Grant Workshop was held. The faculty grant program has been adjusted this year and Jeff Broadbent, associate vice president for research, presented background and tips about the new USU faculty seed grants, GEM, RC, and SPARC.

On Undergraduate Research Day, Tuesday, April 1, students will display their research throughout the day in the TSC at the annual undergraduate Student Showcase, and USU's top undergraduate researchers and mentors of the year will be honored with the Peak Prize, or undergraduate researchers of the year awards, at noon in the TSC Sunburst Lounge.

For more information about the events, visit http://researchweek.usu.edu.

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