Milda Vaitkus, project manager for the Center for Advanced Land Management Information Technologies at the School of Natural Resources, earned the fall 2017 SNR Staff Recognition Award. She was presented with the award at the SNR Get Together on Dec. 13.
“Never in my history with SNR have so many nominated the same individual for this award,” said John Carroll, SNR director.
Vaitkus, who has been with the university since 1996, develops and pursues internal and external projects for CALMIT; serves as the physical geography lab manager; prepares and creates educational materials for courses and public interactions; and serves on the Safety and Facilities Committee. She also helps secure grant funding for CALMIT, and since 2011, has served as co-principal investigator on grants totaling about $162,000.
“Milda is incredibly resourceful, and is invaluable to SNR in terms of the depth of her knowledge and experience,” wrote one nominator. “She has an incredible capacity to study issues and challenges and always has valuable contributions to make.”
“It was a pleasure to work with Milda,” wrote another. “Her mindset has always been to benefit the team, and she is a loyal and dedicated employee.”
The SNR Staff Advisory and Professional Development Committee (SAPDC) is charged with coordinating the SNR Staff Recognition Award. The awards are presented once in the fall and once in the spring.
The purpose of this award is to recognize the positive contributions of SNR/NRBC staff. Selection is based entirely on nominations received. The committee does not seek additional information or use personal experience in evaluating nominees to prevent selection bias. Nominations forms are based upon the following criteria:
- Exceptional service and dedication to SNR
- Creativity and innovation on the job
- Ability to interact with faculty, staff, students and clientele
The recipient(s) receive a plaque and $350 stipend.
— Natural Resources