President's Research Enterprise brochure - 2020

Always aspiring
NAU Research

A Message from University Leadership
Always
aspiring

Greetings from
Northern Arizona University
At NAU, aspirations are at the heart of everything we do. Our students
bring their aspirations to NAU to learn, grow, and achieve academic
success that will ultimately lead to fulfilling lives. Our faculty researchers
are always aspiring, too—to solve the most compelling problems,
to meet the most complex challenges, to boldly explore the next
frontiers of knowledge.
Our significant aspirations for our research enterprise are already
being realized, witness the substantial growth we’ve experienced this
past year. In 2019, we reached $58.9 million in research expenditures.
The National Science Foundation ranked NAU as one of the top research
universities in the nation—in fact, we cracked the Top 200 to become
No. 196 overall, No. 144 among all public institutions, and No. 75 among
all public institutions without medical schools.
Research thrives at NAU, and through the efforts of our world-class
faculty, many of whom are profiled here, we continue to build our capacity
for research in a broad range of disciplines that will help improve health,
the environment, the economy—and the quality of life—for all.
Rita Hartung Cheng, PhD
President

On behalf of the NAU community of researchers and scholars, I would
like to acknowledge the efforts of NAU faculty, students, and staff, who
work tirelessly together to accomplish so much. Working alongside
every great researcher and scholar is a collaborative team of
undergraduate and graduate students, research faculty members,
laboratory managers, research assistants, and administrative staff—
all aspiring to contribute to the group’s and the university’s
collective success.
I feel fortunate to be able to support and help administer NAU’s research
enterprise, with so many outstanding people, and with outstanding
achievements and their resulting benefits for our students, our society’s
welfare, and our economy. We will always aspire.
David Schultz, PhD
Vice President for Research

NAU Innovations
Whether it’s exploring deep space or cyberspace, the
human microbiome, or the global ecosystem, NAU generates
technologies to meet the needs of the 21st century.
19
new patents
awarded in
2019
50
new invention
disclosures
submitted in
2019
46
new patent
applications filed
in 2019
nau.edu/innovations

Astronomy and Planetary Science
From planet Earth
to Planet X

Expanding our understanding
of the universe—and our
place in it
NAU has led the transformation of Flagstaff—
the “Home of Pluto”—into a global destination for
exploring the stars, searching for far-flung planets,
studying the surface of Mars, and investigating
near-Earth objects. Our strong partnerships with
NASA and with institutions all over the world give
our researchers and students access to a broad
array of advanced telescopes as they discover
the origins of our solar system and look for
answers to the challenges our own planet may
face in the future.
discovered/
co-discovered more than
57
minor and dwarf
planets.
discovered/
co-discovered
the furthest
known objects
in the solar
system.
NAU researchers
have...
more
access
to world-class telescopes
than nearly any
other researchers.

Asteroid investigator
Professor David Trilling
Astronomer
Trilling studies asteroids and comets to understand how our
solar system evolved. He uses telescopes all over the world
and in space, including the Hubble Space Telescope, and will
soon be using data from the new Vera C. Rubin Observatory
in northern Chile. He has authored or co-authored more
than 650 scientific publications that advance original
knowledge in his field.

Planetary explorer
Assistant professor Christopher Edwards
Planetary scientist
Edwards (right) studies the surfaces of extraterrestrial planets
to better understand their habitability as well as the history
of our solar system. He works with multiple NASA Mars
missions and develops new instruments to discover water
and the geology of the planets’ surfaces. Edwards directs
NAU’s Planetary Instrumentation eXperimentation and
Exploration Laboratory, where he teaches students to analyze
data and command NASA’s Curiosity Rover operating on Mars.

Crater expert
Professor Nadine Barlow
Planetary scientist
Barlow studies planetary surfaces with a focus on impact
craters, revealing elements of geological history that help
scientists understand changes to environmental conditions
on planetary bodies over time. A founding member of the
Planetary Crater Consortium, Barlow is an associate director
of the Arizona Space Grant Consortium and directs NAU’s
NASA Space Grant program. She has authored or co-authored
more than 340 abstracts and publications.

Seeker of “Planet X”
Associate professor Chad Trujillo
Planetary scientist
Trujillo searches the outermost reaches of our solar system to
find extremely distant objects whose unusual orbits suggest
the presence of an undiscovered giant planet: the hypothetical
“Planet X.” He leads a three-year telescopic survey funded
by NASA to search for the massive planet that, if found, would
change our understanding of the solar system as we know it.
Trujillo was jointly awarded the prestigious Paolo Farinella Prize
by the Europlanet Society in 2019.
Asteroid observer
Assistant professor Cristina Thomas
Planetary astronomer
As the Observations Working Group lead for NASA’s Double
Asteroid Redirection Test mission, Thomas makes critical
observations that test asteroid deflection by kinetic impactor,
helping scientists better understand how to prevent potentially
hazardous asteroids from colliding with Earth. She is also a
collaborator on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, and was quoted
in The Atlantic on the mission’s surprising discovery that the
asteroid Bennu is orbited by small particles.
nau.edu/research

Cancer Research
Taking on the
fight with cancer

Investigating causes,
promoting prevention, and
enhancing survivorship
Cancer is the second-leading cause of death
worldwide, but some populations bear a greater
cancer burden than others. NAU researchers work
with affected populations—some as far away as
Australia and Alaska—to investigate its causes.
Our scientists are discovering links between toxic
pollutants and higher rates of cancer among
populations exposed to them. Our public health
experts are finding culturally competent ways
to encourage individuals at risk to participate in
cancer screenings. And others are demonstrating
that exercise can help cancer survivors live full
and meaningful lives.
2X
higher graduation rate
for Indigenous students with
the Partnership for Native
American Cancer
Prevention.

Equity leader
Professor Jani Ingram
Analytical chemist and mentor
As NAU’s principal investigator for the Partnership for
Native American Cancer Prevention, Ingram addresses
cancer disparities while preparing Indigenous students to
become researchers. Under her leadership, NAU received
$6.83 million in additional funding from the National Cancer
Institute for this long-term project. Ingram investigates
how environmental contaminants on Navajo Nation lands
potentially impact risk of cancer. She received the American
Chemical Society Award for Encouraging Disadvantaged
Students into Careers in the Chemical Sciences.

Exercise oncology pioneer
Professor Anna Schwartz
Oncology nurse practitioner
The researcher who pioneered the exercise oncology
movement, Schwartz (left) helped create guidelines published
by the American Cancer Society and the American College
of Sports Medicine, which recommend exercise programs
to lower the risk of developing certain cancers and to
support people living with and beyond cancer. The associate
director of research for NAU’s School of Nursing, Schwartz
also co-directs NAU’s Southwest Health Equity Research
Collaborative Investigator Development Core.

Global ecotoxicologist
Professor Frank von Hippel
Biologist
von Hippel studies the health effects of a variety of
contaminants, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs),
neurotoxic metals, pesticides, and flame-retardant and
industrial chemicals. Many of his projects incorporate
community-based participatory research, working with
Indigenous communities in Alaska, Arizona, Guatemala,
Ecuador, and Australia. von Hippel’s research has been widely
covered in the press, including the New York Times, National
Public Radio, and the BBC. He is the author of the book
The Chemical Age.

Resilience investigator
Professor Priscilla Sanderson
Public health expert
Sanderson was co-leader on a study of male cancer
prevalence through NAU’s Partnership for Native American
Cancer Prevention and a principal investigator for the
Center for American Indian Resilience. She is co-leader on
a study of Helicobacter pylori and a project funded through
a National Institutes of Health R01 grant to evaluate the
impact of the Healthy Diné Nation Act, in partnership with
the Navajo Nation.
Cancer immunotherapist
Assistant professor
Narendiran Rajasekaran
Biochemist
Rajasekaran investigates the role of Natural Killer (NK)
cells in tumor growth, migration, and invasion, with the
goal of developing novel immunotherapies against cancer.
He is currently examining the effect of hypoxia and nitric
oxide signaling on NK cells in the tumor microenvironment
of triple-negative breast cancer, a metastatic cancer with
few treatment options.
nau.edu/research

Climate and Ecosystem Science
The future of
life on Earth

Predicting the effects
of climate change
As the realities of global warming become more
broadly accepted, climate scientists and their
work will unquestionably have more influence on
policy, law, and public perception. A recognized
leader in environmental research, Northern Arizona
University has grown its capacity for climate
science through the School of Earth and
Sustainability and the Center for Ecosystem
Science and Society (Ecoss). As they study
ecosystems all over the world, from the Arctic
tundra to the African savanna, NAU experts apply
broad transdisciplinary thinking and leading-edge
methods to understand the pressing challenges
facing Earth. The answers they find will help
determine the very shape of our world’s future.

Lead ecosystem
scientist
Regents’ professor Bruce Hungate
Microbial ecologist
Founder and Director of NAU’s Center for Ecosystem Science
and Society, Hungate’s research focuses on the ecology and
management of global change, and on microbial ecology from
humans to the globe. He is a Fellow of the American Academy
of Microbiology and is Chair of the Department of Energy’s
Biological and Environmental Research Advisory Committee.
Hungate is also NAU’s Frances B. McAllister Endowed Chair in
Community, Culture, and Environment.

Phenology
observer
Regents’ professor Andrew Richardson
Ecologist
Richardson is principal investigator of the PhenoCam
network, a continental-scale phenological observatory
that uses digital camera imagery to track, in near-real time,
vegetation seasonality in diverse ecosystems across
North America. His research centers on how global change
alters ecosystem health and productivity, which is critical
for sustainable management of the earth’s resources.
Richardson’s scholarly work has been ranked among the
top one percent of most-cited works in his field, earning
the mark of exceptional impact.

Permafrost principal
Professor Ted Schuur
Ecosystem ecologist
The lead investigator for the international Permafrost Carbon
Network, Schuur’s research focuses on the response of Arctic
ecosystems in a warmer world, key for understanding how
natural ecosystems interact with human emissions to control
the overall pace of climate change. He has earned accolades
and recognition from leading climate researchers around the
world, and was one of 101 scientists selected to produce a
landmark report examining the effects of climate change for
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Schuur was
elected a Fellow in the American Geophysical Union.

Ecological response
investigator
Professor Michelle Mack
Plant and ecosystem ecologist
Mack, a recognized leader in plant and ecosystem ecology,
seeks to understand how global climate change affects plants
and soils. Her work focuses on the impacts of increasing
disturbances, such as wildfires, on plant growth and soil carbon
storage in boreal forests, the Arctic tundra, and in thawing
permafrost soils. She also works to understand the effects
of climate change on plant dynamics in warmer ecosystems,
studying huge trees in tropical wet forests of Costa Rica
and Panama and elephant-impacted savanna ecosystems in
South Africa. Mack was elected a Fellow of the Ecological
Society of America for her seminal research in plant ecology.

Ecological informaticist
Professor Scott Goetz
Remote sensing scientist
As science lead of NASA’s Arctic Boreal Vulnerability
Experiment, Goetz drives this 10-year effort to monitor
changing ecosystems through data collected via satellite,
airborne, and ground observations across Alaska and Canada.
Through various grants from the Department of Defense
and the National Science Foundation, among others, he also
conducts major research projects on ecosystem responses
to environmental change. His work has been covered
by numerous mainstream news agencies, including the
New York Times and National Public Radio.

Global change modeler
Professor Yiqi Luo
Ecosystem ecologist
Luo conducts research in the areas of computational
ecology, Earth system science, global change biology, and
biogeochemistry. He has been involved in various global
change experiments in grasslands, forests, deserts, and
wetlands. His lab is among the first to develop and apply data
assimilation to improving ecological forecasting from multiple
sources. His group’s matrix approach brings clarity, capacity,
and computational efficiency to land carbon modeling.
nau.edu/research

Cybersecurity
Securing
cyberspace

Solutions for strengthening
national security
Securing cyberspace—one of the greatest
technological challenges of the 21st century—
is critical to the country’s economic vitality and
national security. Scientists in NAU’s School
of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems
are developing disruptive solutions to provide
unprecedented levels of cyber defense for critical
national infrastructures. Our researchers, some
of the nation’s top thought leaders, are also
addressing equally compelling challenges in
disciplines that involve extremely large datasets
and high-performance networked computation.
107
teraflops
peak CPU performance of
Monsoon, NAU’s highperformance
computing
cluster
NAU researchers
have developed
48
patented and . patentpending
technologies for
significantly strengthening
cybersecurity.

Nanotechnology and
cybersecurity leader
Professor Bertrand Cambou
Electrical engineer
Cambou leads NAU’s cybersecurity program. Co-funded
through a $6 million grant, he is developing technology for
the US Air Force and US Navy to make blockchains resistant
to quantum computer attacks, which could have a significant
impact on the way online transactions are protected in
some of the most highly sensitive areas, including financial,
governmental, and industrial applications. Cambou has
authored or co-authored 52 patents to date, and the National
Academy of Inventors named him a senior member.

Ecoinformaticist
Professor Paul Flikkema
Electrical and computer engineer
Flikkema (right) led the development of cyber infrastructure
for NAU’s Southwest Experimental Garden Array, a research
facility that improves predictions of the effects of climate
change on plants and plant communities. He is currently
developing new technologies to help computers fend off
cyberattacks, as well as autonomous aerial vehicles for
wildlife tracking. Flikkema was the 2013–14 Fulbright-Aalto
University Distinguished Chair at Aalto University in Finland.

Wireless networking
and AI wizard
Associate professor Fatemeh Afghah
Electrical engineer
Afghah directs NAU’s Wireless Networking and Information
Processing Laboratory. She is the principal investigator or
co-investigator on major cybersecurity projects funded by
the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the US Air Force
Research Laboratory. She is a recipient of the prestigious
Young Investigator Award from the Air Force Office of Scientific
Research for a new project involving unmanned aerial vehicle
networks for disaster management, and the NSF CRII award
for AI-based decision-making in ICUs.

Astroinformaticist
Assistant professor Michael Gowanlock
Computer scientist
Gowanlock applies his expertise in high-performance computing
to a wide range of research topics, including cybersecurity,
astrobiology, and astroinformatics. As co-principal investigator
on a $3.3 million project funded by the Air Force Research
Laboratory, he is developing ternary computing technology to
protect the Internet of Things (IoT) from cyberattacks. Gowanlock
is also working on an enhancement to the Large Synoptic Survey
Telescope to detect events on small bodies in the solar system.
Microelectronics
expert
Assistant research professor Tolga Yalcin
Electrical engineer
Yalcin is an expert in hardware security, specializing in
mixed-signal microelectronics, embedded cybersecurity,
microsystems, and digital signal processing. He is a
contributing member of an interdisciplinary team of NAU
researchers developing key technology modules that will add
new forms of protection across the cybersecurity landscape,
including resource-efficient implementations, post-quantum
cryptography, physical unclonable functions, and blockchain.
nau.edu/research

Environmental Sustainability
Sustainability
at work

Preserving the natural
environment while protecting
the human-built environment
Sustainability is not just about the environment;
it’s about people, too. It’s about using research to
shape public policy, preserving natural resources
while protecting our built environment. With a
strong legacy in environmental sciences, Northern
Arizona University has tapped into the abundant
natural resources of the Colorado Plateau to
develop leading research capacity in conservation
and forest restoration. Researchers in NAU’s
Ecological Restoration Institute work to heal
forests after cataclysmic wildfires. Scientists in
NAU’s Center for Adaptable Western Landscapes
forge new environmental solutions through applied
biological science and collaborative planning.
And NAU informatics experts use “big data”
to map out the complex relationships between
human activity and its effects on the natural world.

Forest restorer
Regents’ professor Peter Fulé
Fire ecologist
Fulé is an internationally recognized expert in restoration
ecology and fire ecology, studying fire-adapted forests
all over the world, including the Grand Canyon, the Sierra
Madre of Mexico, Mediterranean forests in Spain and
Greece, Indonesian rain forests, and the Himalayas.
He tests restoration treatments and runs simulations
to preserve critical ecosystems. Fulé has been awarded
$13.8 million in grant funding over his career. He is the
inaugural Charles O. and Mary Minor Endowed Professor
in NAU’s School of Forestry.

Data mapper
Professor Ben Ruddell
Engineer and data scientist
Director of NAU’s School of Informatics, Computing, and
Cyber Systems, Ruddell works within the domains of civil
engineering, water resources, networks, ecology, and
data science. His largest project, FEWSION, produced
a public visualization website that became a critical means
of understanding the nation’s supply chains in the midst
of the coronavirus global pandemic—and was applied
by the Department of Homeland Security during the crisis.

Community ecologist
Associate professor Clare Aslan
Conservation biologist
As co-director of NAU’s Center for Adaptable Western
Landscapes, Aslan conducts solutions-oriented research in
the ecology and conservation of species interactions. She
studies how dynamics at the interaction level can scale up to
the full community level. Aslan is co-investigator on a major
restoration project studying the plants and pollinators that are
essential for promoting diversity and ecosystem services.

Land manager
Assistant research professor Kevin Grady
Ecological restoration expert
Grady’s research improves global capacity to restore degraded
ecosystems in harmony with local cultures, which includes
restoration planning at local, regional, and national scales;
forest restoration involving millions of plants; and economic
and sustainability models to empower communities to build
reforestation platforms. He is the principal investigator of a
major land restoration study funded through a $930,000 grant
from the USDA to determine which foundation species are
most fit for large-scale restoration of lands damaged by wildfire.

Climate policy influencer
Professor Kevin Gurney
Atmospheric scientist
Gurney’s work informs climate science and policy at all levels,
from local ordinances to multilateral international climate
agreements. Using advanced data mining and atmospheric
observations to quantify greenhouse gas emissions for every
building and roadway, he has produced emissions maps for
large cities as well as maps of the entire US. Gurney has
contributed to the United Nations Climate Change negotiating
process for three decades and to the formation of US national
and municipal policy approaches.

Biomass marketer
Professor Han-Sup Han
Forest engineer
Director of Forest Operations and Biomass Utilization
for NAU’s Ecological Restoration Institute, Han develops
innovative forest operations and business strategies to
address the needs of the region’s forest products industry.
A recent pilot project assessed the feasibility of a wood
products production facility in northern Arizona that ships
wood chips to a customer in South Korea for the production
of renewable energy.
nau.edu/research

Genetics, Genomics, and Bioinformatics
Fighting disease
with data

Investigating deadly
diseases and potential
bioweapons
In an era of superbugs, bioterrorism, and
pandemics, the need to protect public health
against rapidly evolving, potentially deadly
diseases has never been greater. Northern Arizona
University has taken the lead in the highly
specialized field of pathogen and microbiome
research. Building on its faculty’s renowned
contributions in the areas of anthrax and other
infectious diseases, the university launched the
Pathogen and Microbiome Institute (PMI) in 2016,
representing a key investment in interdisciplinary
teams and emerging technologies.
PMI scientists collaborate with prominent experts
all over the world in areas including health sciences,
bioinformatics, and human microbial ecology to
expand the frontiers of knowledge while developing
new technologies—including diagnostic tests and
innovative treatments—for safeguarding against
these growing threats. With the emergence of the
COVID-19 pandemic, PMI repurposed its existing
biodefense research infrastructure for a new testing
facility, dedicating much of its significant research
capacity to fighting the disease.

Pathogen pioneer
Regents’ professor Paul Keim
Microbial geneticist
The executive director of PMI, Keim is internationally
known—and widely covered in the media—for his expertise
in the genomic analysis of infectious diseases, including
COVID-19 and anthrax, for applications in biosecurity and
public health. He has invented patented assays to detect and
treat potentially deadly diseases such as MRSA and swine
flu. NAU’s E. Raymond and Ruth Reed Cowden Professor in
Microbiology, Keim is a Fellow of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science and a Fellow of the American
Academy of Microbiology.

Biodefense detective
Professor David Wagner
Disease ecologist
Director of PMI’s Biodefense and Disease Ecology Center,
Wagner is one of the world’s leading experts on several
pathogens and infectious diseases. He is principal investigator
on major projects including an advanced microbiological
study of the bacterium Francisella tularensis—a highly
pathogenic bacterial species—funded through a $2.25 million
grant from the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency.
By analyzing data from multiple experiments, Wagner’s team
will increase understanding of how this pathogen survives
in the environment.

Bioinformatics
software engineer
Associate professor Greg Caporaso
Microbiome scientist
Director of PMI’s Center for Applied Microbiome Science,
Caporaso studies microbiomes: communities of microbes
living in and on the human body and in the world around us.
His lab leads the development of the QIIME microbiome
bioinformatics platform, open-source software that has
been instrumental in many recent advances in microbiome
research. Caporaso’s research is supported by grants from
the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes
of Health, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the Chan
Zuckerberg Initiative.

Fungus finder
Associate professor Bridget Barker
Geneticist
Barker conducts research in microbiology, molecular biology,
medical mycology, and fungal infections. Her current work is
focused on all aspects of Coccidioides, a fungus in the soil that
causes Valley Fever—a potentially deadly disease that affects
canines as well as humans. Barker is working to understand
how the fungus develops, its ecological niche, and the factors
that make its hosts susceptible to Valley Fever, and she is
developing new technologies for detecting the disease.
Animal disease analyst
Associate professor Jeff Foster
Wildlife disease ecologist
Foster studies pathogen evolution and disease ecology in wildlife
and livestock. He is collaborating on two projects funded by
the National Science Foundation—one investigating the fungal
disease of white-nose syndrome in bats in the Midwestern US
and China, and another studying the genomics of avian malaria in
Hawaiian birds. Foster’s other research focuses on the evolution
of disease resistance in bats and birds and genomic approaches
to assess disease transmission and global spread.
nau.edu/research

Health Equity
Improving the
human condition

Achieving health equity for
underserved populations
in the Southwest
A vast region of unparalleled natural beauty, the
southwestern US is at the same time a land of harsh
socioeconomic realities for many, especially Native
American and Hispanic populations. The Southwest
has some of the highest poverty rates in the country,
some of the lowest rates of healthcare access, and a
widespread incidence of serious chronic diseases,
infectious diseases, and behavioral health problems.
The issue of health disparities is one of the most
compelling facing the region today. Building
on its long history of serving under represented
populations, Northern Arizona University is
committed to blazing a trail through health sciences
and public policy to improve health outcomes for
these communities in Arizona and beyond.
NAU’s Southwest
Health Equity Research
Collaborative serves
15
Native Nations in northern
Arizona across 6
counties

Health equity leader
Regents’ professor Julie Baldwin
Public health and health
promotion expert
As director of NAU’s Center for Health Equity Research,
Baldwin (left) leads major projects that are changing the way
researchers address health disparities in the region across a
range of topics including oral health, drug abuse, and obesity.
She is the principal investigator for the Southwest Health
Equity Research Collaborative, a multi-year, $21.4 million
initiative funded by the National Institute on Minority Health
and Health Disparities to increase NAU’s basic biomedical,
clinical, and behavioral health research capacity.

Community health
collaborator
Professor Nicolette Teufel-Shone
Public health scientist
Associate director of NAU’s Center for Health Equity
Research, co-investigator for NAU’s Southwest Health
Equity Research Collaborative, and co-principal investigator
of the Navajo Native American Research Center for Health,
Teufel-Shone (center) has more than 30 years of experience
collaborating with Native Nations to build tribal capacity
to address health disparities and leverage social and cultural
assets to improve community health. She was awarded
the Fulbright Canada-Norlien Foundation Distinguished
Research Chair for 2015–16.

Disease detective
Assistant professor Crystal Hepp
Evolutionary biologist
(Left) Hepp’s research centers on pathogen genomics, the
spread of viruses, and health disparities related to infectious
disease and substance abuse. Recent projects include
a study of antimicrobial resistance funded through the
US Department of Agriculture and a study of infants with
neonatal abstinence syndrome funded through the National
Institutes of Health. Hepp also received funding from the
Flinn Foundation and the Arizona Biomedical Research Centre
to study birds and mosquitoes carrying the West Nile virus.

Impact investigator
Associate professor Dirk de Heer
Public health scientist
In collaboration with the Navajo Tribal Epidemiology Center,
de Heer (left) is the principal investigator on a $1.4 million
project funded by the National Institutes of Health to
determine the impact of the Healthy Diné Nation Act, which
mandates a 2 percent tax on unhealthy foods—a study that
could affect public health policy across the US. His other
research interests include community-based health promotion
programs, cancer, and pediatric obesity.

Health promoter
Associate professor Samantha Sabo
Expert in family and child health
As co-investigator for NAU’s Southwest Health Equity
Research Collaborative, Sabo’s research focuses on the
role and impact of the Community Health Worker (CHW)
workforce, including 19 tribal CHW programs, to improve
the social determinants of chronic disease and maternal and
child health among Indigenous and immigrant communities.
She has led several state and national workforce studies to
advance the CHW workforce in Arizona.

Population health
specialist
Assistant professor Ricky Camplain
Epidemiologist
Camplain’s research focuses on health disparities among
incarcerated populations. She co-authored an independent
study of the Yavapai County Detention Center’s Reach Out
program to evaluate recidivism rates after the first year
of the three-year program, which connects people with
mental health diagnoses and substance abuse disorders to
treatment. Camplain is also a co-author of the Community
Health Representative Workforce Assessment report.
nau.edu/research

Language and the Arts
Across time,
across place

Understanding
human culture
through expression
Throughout history, language and the arts
have been key forms of human expression—
acknowledging, translating, and revealing
how lives are lived. At Northern Arizona
University, our top scholars explore these
cultural expressions to understand how
people respond to the world around them—
revealing how alike we all are despite the
centuries and continents between us.

Research reformer
Associate professor Luke Plonsky
Applied linguist
Plonsky’s research centers on two areas of applied linguistics:
second-language acquisition and research methodology,
addressing topics ranging from replication, open science, and
meta-analysis to statistical analyses, reporting practices, and
data ethics. His work in these and other areas—comprising
more than 80 articles, book chapters, and books—leads the
methodological reform movement currently underway in
applied linguistics. He received a Fulbright Scholar award to
spend the Fall 2020 semester in Spain.

Accent scientist
Professor Okim Kang
Applied linguist
Director of NAU’s Applied Linguistics Speech Lab, Kang
investigates the nature of accented speech of non-native
English speakers, with the goal of mitigating biases toward
accents and the stereotyping of immigrants. She analyzes
naturalistic speech through her patent-awarded computer
program that goes beyond conventional automated speech
recognition to include intonation and other subtleties of verbal
expression. Kang is currently developing a mobile app for
tutoring non-native speakers.

Biblical translator
Professor Jason BeDuhn
Religious and cultural historian
BeDuhn’s research focuses on biblical studies, ancient
Christianities, Manichaeism, and religions of West Asia in late
antiquity. He is translating the “Dublin Kephalaia”—a papyrus
manuscript from Egypt written in ancient Coptic by followers
of Mani—with funding through the Australian Research Council
and the National Endowment for the Humanities. BeDuhn is
both a Guggenheim and National Humanities Center Fellow; he
is also an advisor to UNESCO’s Atlas of the Silk Road project.

Ancient excavator
Associate professor Jaime Awe
Archaeologist
Awe has conducted archaeological fieldwork in every corner
of Belize, and his research has touched on every facet of Maya
civilization. His contributions include pioneering Maya cave
archaeology, charting the Preclassic development of Maya
civilization, and expanding our understanding of its collapse.
He was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from
the Archaeological Institute of America and a Field Discovery
Award from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Historian of religious art
Professor Zsuzsanna Gulácsi
Art historian
A historian of Asian art, Gulácsi specializes in the contextualized
study of pan-Asiatic religions that spread throughout the Asian
continent during late antique and medieval times. She is the
author of four books and several dozen scholarly articles. She
is a Guggenheim Fellow and was awarded a Getty Residential
Scholar Grant. Her work has also been supported through the
National Humanities Center and other grants.

Poet
Assistant professor Sherwin Bitsui
Creative writer
Bitsui writes poetry rich with details of the landscape of the
Southwest. He is the author of three collections of poetry—
Dissolve, Flood Song, and Shapeshift—and his work has been
published in many literary magazines, including Poetry and the
New England Review. His honors include a Lannan Foundation
Literary Fellowship and a Native Arts and Culture Foundation
Arts Fellowship. He is the recipient of a PEN Open Book Award,
an American Book Award, and a Whiting Writers Award.
nau.edu/research

Materials Science
Engineering a
better future

Accelerating discovery
through revolutionary
materials science
The study of materials science—an interdisciplinary
field spanning applied physics and
chemistry as well as informatics and chemical,
mechanical, civil, and electrical engineering—
may be the most important technology of the
next decade, say industry analysts. By making
computational advances that accurately predict
materials properties, conducting high-throughput
experiments to expand materials libraries, and
sharing materials data across the landscape of
scientific literature, researchers have effectively
accelerated the pace of discovery, and Northern
Arizona University scientists have joined them
in this so-called “Materials Revolution.”
NAU established
the interdisciplinary,
inclusive Center for Materials
Interfaces in Research and
Applications (¡MIRA!) in 2019 as a
transformative model for high-impact
materials research, recruiting
some of the top names in the
field who are catalyzing the
university’s strengths in
these areas.

Nanoengineer
Professor Jennifer Martinez
Biochemist
The director of ¡MIRA!, Martinez develops genetically
encoded polymers for regenerative medicine, which will
enable scientists to control the properties of these materials
at the DNA level for applications such as “smart skins” and
self-healing materials. Other research centers on developing
fluorescent metal nanoclusters and their biomedical
applications. Martinez’s numerous awards include the
Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering;
she has also been honored as a Fellow by the American
Association for the Advancement of Science.

Biomaterials
integrator
Professor Gabriel Alonzo Montaño
Materials scientist
As chief scientist of ¡MIRA!, Montaño (left) works at the
interface of the biological and synthetic worlds. His goals are
to understand how natural materials (from which all living
things are composed) work, and to design artificial materials
from synthetic nanomaterials that mimic what nature can
do. As NAU’s Diversity Fellow, Montaño is as devoted to
outreach initiatives as he is to his research, particularly
to enhancing diversity in the STEM workforce. He is an
Affiliate Scientist with the Department of Energy’s Center
for Integrated Nanotechnologies.

Atomic explorer
Professor Miguel José Yacamán
Physicist and materials scientist
José Yacamán is a world-renowned expert in using electron
microscopy to study the properties of materials at the atomic
level. His research spans several fields, including physics,
materials science, and nanotechnology. Current areas
of interest include synthesizing nanoparticles to be used
for detecting breast cancer and developing new catalysts
to produce cleaner fuels. José Yacamán’s numerous awards
include a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Robert Franklin
Mehl Award of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society.

Molecular
metallurgist
Professor Robert Whetten (not shown)
Applied physicist and materials scientist
Whetten’s research focuses on molecular and discrete
metallurgy. He is a globally recognized expert in protected
metal nanoclusters, collaborating with colleagues around the
world to predict and elucidate nanocluster structures and their
applications. Whetten has been honored with the FIDIPRO
award, 3ème Cycle Lectureship, and Alexander von Humboldt
Senior Scientist Award. He has received both the Packard
Fellowship for Science and Engineering and the Alfred P. Sloan
Research Fellowship.

Nanoscale analyst
Associate professor John Gibbs
Experimental condensed matter physicist
(Right) Gibbs’ research focuses on the fabrication and
optical properties of metamaterials with nanoscale features
and on the active transport and collective behavior of selfpropelled
particles at the micro- and nanoscale. Gibbs was
awarded a prestigious $502,000 National Science Foundation
grant to harness active matter for nanoscale applications.
The Research Corporation for Science Advancement
named him a Cottrell Scholar for his proposal to study the
fundamental principles of active matter.

Quantum explorer
Assistant professor Ryan Behunin
Applied physicist
Behunin explores the physics of fluctuation-induced
phenomena, optomechanics, and quantum systems.
He is co-principal investigator on a major study leveraging
transformative laser physics technologies to enable
terabit, light-based data transmission inside data
centers—with the potential to drastically reduce power
consumption. He is also growing a new research direction
investigating quantum states of sound.
nau.edu/research

Medical Research
Achieving healthier
outcomes

Medical breakthroughs
and novel therapies
Northern Arizona University researchers are
working across disciplines to invent new
technologies and develop novel therapies that
address some of the most challenging health
problems of our time. Our scientists combine a
wide range of expertise, from molecular biology
and microbiology to mechanical engineering
and biomaterials, to improve the quality of life
for those who suffer from chronic diseases and
serious health conditions.
NAU has
formed partnerships with
some of the most prominent
bioscience research institutes,
healthcare systems, and medical
device manufacturers in Arizona and
beyond, including Mayo Clinic, the
Translational Genomics Research
Institute, and the National
Cancer Institute.

Wound healer
Associate professor of practice Robert Kellar
Biomedical engineer
Kellar (right) co-invented a patented clinical dermal wound
treatment that accelerates healing and reduces the risk
of infection. This novel biomaterial incorporates antimicrobial
materials known as ionic liquids into skin wound-healing
scaffolds, which sterilize and enable the scaffold to resist
colonization by a wide variety of microbial pathogens.
Kellar directs NAU’s Tissue Engineering and Regenerative
Medicine Laboratory, where current research includes
projects in biomaterial development, biocompatibility
assessment, and stem cell biology.

Hearing
rehabilitator
Associate professor O’neil Guthrie
Audiologist and molecular biologist
Guthrie studies hearing loss, employing a range of genetic,
epigenetic, molecular, and pharmacologic strategies to
regulate cellular DNA repair capacity. In collaboration with
an industry partner, Guthrie is conducting a pre-clinical
investigation of a novel therapy to prevent and treat noiseinduced
hearing loss, with the goal of developing a single oral
drug with the potential to repair cells damaged by noise.

Airway disease
detective
Assistant professor Emily Cope
Microbiologist
An assistant director of NAU’s Pathogen and Microbiome
Institute, Cope’s research focuses on the role of bacteria,
fungi, and viruses in chronic airway diseases such as asthma,
chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), and cystic fibrosis. Working with
Mayo Clinic, Cope is conducting a clinical study of asthma
patients to determine the effects of fiber supplements
on their symptoms. In partnership with the University of
California, San Francisco, she is seeking a microbial link
between CRS and asthma.

Stroke device
developer
Associate professor of practice Timothy Becker
Neurovascular engineer
In collaboration with an industry partner funded through a
$1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, Becker
is developing a polypropylene glycol-based biomaterial, similar
to body tissue, to treat cerebral aneurysms and improve
outcomes for stroke and potential stroke patients. Becker (left)
and his team are providing neurovascular engineering and
materials testing capabilities to the project, with the goal of
obtaining FDA approval for commercialization.
Exoskeleton
enabler
Assistant professor Zachary Lerner
Biomedical engineer
Lerner (center) pioneers advances in robotic exoskeletons
to improve mobility and restore neuromuscular function for
individuals with disabilities. Funded through grants from the
National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation,
and the Arizona Biomedical Research Commission, Lerner’s
current research is focused on using wearable robots
to improve posture and walking ability in children with
movement disorders.
nau.edu/research

Native American Partnerships
Strengthening
Native America

Culturally relevant
partnerships, education,
and services
Arizona is home to 21 Native tribes, each with a
distinct history, culture, and language. But because
these Native American communities have been left
out of many urgent conversations and important
opportunities, NAU is working in partnership with
tribes across Indian Country to create a stronger
future for all. We are engaging tribal leadership in
the process of nation-building through executive
education, offering environmental training and
technical assistance to tribes, and providing degree
programs that give Native American/Indigenous
students the tools to make substantive contributions
to their home communities.
2,000+
Native American, Alaska Native,
and Native Hawaiian students
are enrolled at NAU
NAU’s goal is to become
the nation’s leading
university serving Native
Americans.
Northern Arizona University sits at the base of the San Francisco
Peaks, on homelands sacred to Native Americans.
We honor their past, present, and future generations, who have lived
here for millennia and will forever call this place home.

Nation builder
Professor Manley Begay, Jr.
Social policy leader
Director of NAU’s Tribal Leadership Initiative, Begay specializes
in issues pertaining to Indigenous nation-building, including
sovereignty, governance, culture, leadership, education,
and economic development. His current work focuses on
developing executive education sessions and conducting
research with and relevant to Native nations in the United
States and First Nations in Canada. Begay also pursues research
interests related to the Navajo Nation, Aborigines in Australia,
and Maoris in Aotearoa (New Zealand). He was the first Navajo
to graduate from Harvard University with a doctorate.

Justice seeker
Professor Raymond D. Austin
Indian law expert
Austin is an expert in the areas of federal Indian law:
criminal jurisdiction in Indian Country; American Indian
customary law; American Indian governments, courts, and
constitutions; and Indigenous peoples and international
law. He authored Navajo Courts and Navajo Common Law:
A Tradition of Tribal Self-Governance, the only book
available on the use of American Indian customary law
in American Indian courts.

Network architect
Assistant professor Morgan Vigil-Hayes
Computer scientist
Director of NAU’s Community Aware Networks and
Information Systems Lab, Vigil-Hayes combines network
analysis techniques with social science to design networked
systems that can operate in remote rural communities with
limited access to broadband services—with the goal of
increasing tribal participation in digital Indigenous culture.
As co-principal investigator collaborating on a major project
with the University of California, Santa Barbara, she is working
with tribes to deploy and empirically evaluate last-mile
network connectivity.

Cultural defender
Professor Jon Allan Reyhner
Indigenous education policy expert
Reyhner’s work focuses on American Indian education and
Indigenous language revitalization. His long-term goal is to
prepare the next generation of teachers to be more sensitive to
the cultural distinctions that influence how minority students
learn, especially American Indian students. He was recognized
as “one of the most influential professors” in “For Our Children:
A Study and Critical Discussion of the Influences of the
American Indian and Alaska Native Education Policy.”
Tribal forester
Director Jonathan Martin
Natural resources manager
Director of Native American Forest and Rangeland Management
Programming for NAU’s Ecological Restoration Institute,
Martin pursues the restoration and maintenance of ecosystem
resiliency for the benefit of tribal communities. He has spent
the last 30 years in the natural resources management field,
primarily on tribal lands throughout the Southwest. Martin has
served on numerous inter-agency teams advocating on behalf
of tribal resources.
nau.edu/research