6 students receive REX/TEX awards in 2018-19

June 21, 2019

Five Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology students and a Department of Statistics student received Graduate College Research Excellence (REX) Awards and Teaching Excellence (TEX) Awards during academic year 2018-19.

Zebulun Arendsee, Najiba Mammadova and Trevor Nolan received REX awards, while Natalia Acevedo-Luna, Ryan Arndorfer and Bhavika Patel received TEX awards.

Arendsee is a spring 2019 REX recipient as well as a spring 2019 Ph.D. graduate. Nominated by GDCB Professor Eve Wurtele, his major professor, Arendsee majored in bioinformatics and computational biology. He currently is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Zebulun Arendsee and Eve Wurtele — GDCB Professor Eve Wurtele (right) congratulates Zebulun Arendsee (left) on his spring 2019 Research Excellence Award.

Trevor Nolan and Yanhai Yin — GDCB Chair and Professor Yanhai Yin (right) congratulates Trevor Nolan (left) on his fall 2018 Research Excellence Award.

Nominated by Department of Biomedical Sciences Professor Heather Greenlee and Morrill Professor Don Sakaguchi (GDCB professor), Mammadova is a fall 2018 REX Award recipient. A spring 2019 graduate, she majored in immunobiology and neuroscience. She is currently working as a postdoctoral research associate with Greenlee.

Nolan received a REX award from the

Interdepartmental Genetics and Genomics program in fall 2018 after being nominated by GDCB Chair and Professor Yanhai Yin, Nolan’s major professor. He earned his Ph.D. in genetics in fall 2018, and he currently is working as a postdoctoral research associate in the Yin Lab.

Don Sakaguchi, Najiba Mammadova and Heather Greenlee — Morrill Professor Don Sakaguchi (left) and Department of Biomedical Sciences Professor Heather Greenlee (right) congratulate Najiba Mammadova (center) on her fall 2018 Research Excellence Award.

Natalia Acevedo-Luna, Bhavika Patel and Chris Myers — Teaching Lab Coordinator Chris Myers (right) congratulates Natalia Acevedo-Luna (left) and Bhavika Patel (center) as recipients of Teaching Excellence Awards. Patel received her award in spring 2019, while Acevedo-Luna received hers in fall 2018.

Acevedo-Luna received a TEX award after being nominated by Senior Teaching Lab Coordinator Linda Westgate and Teaching Lab Coordinator Chris Myers for her work in Biology 211 Lab. She is a student in the Department of Statistics whose comajor professor is GDCB Assistant Professor Geetu Tuteja.

Karri Haen-Whitmer and Ryan Arndorfer — GDCB Associate Teaching Professor Karri Haen-Whitmer (left) congratulates Ryan Arndorfer (right) on his spring 2019 Teaching Excellence Award.

Nominated by Karri Haen Whitmer for his work in Biology 256 Lab, Arndorfer received a TEX award in spring 2019. His major professor is GDCB Professor Erik Vollbrecht. He is majoring in genetics and genomics.

After being nominated by Westgate and Myers, Patel received a TEX award for her work in Biology 211 Lab. Her major professor is Morrill Professor Don Sakaguchi, and she graduated in spring 2019. She is currently employed with the Sakaguchi Lab.

TEX/REX award nominations are accepted by the Graduate College during the spring, summer and fall.