Every year, the Office of Graduate Studies awards the Outstanding Postdoc Award and Outstanding Postdoc Mentor Award to exceptional members of the postdoctoral community on campus.
The winners for 2021 join a line of outstanding scholars and mentors who both meet the criteria for each award and were nominated by faculty, staff, and other post-doctoral community members.
Dr. Lise Pingault, postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Entomology, received was the 2021 Outstanding Postdoc Award winner. Dr. Pingault has contributed to four research papers, two as first author, since joining the department two years ago. She often volunteers for outreach activities, mentors undergraduate students, and regularly helps train new graduate students entering the lab. Dr. Pingault has also served as president of the Collective Research Organization of Plant Scientists (CROPS) and as president of the Postdoc Association at UNL. This award included a $1,500 honorarium and honoring her comprehensive efforts in research, teaching, mentoring, innovation, and university or community service.
Dr. Katie Edwards, associate professor of counseling psychology and director for the Interpersonal Violence Research Laboratory, was the 2021 Outstanding Postdoc Mentor Award winner. Dr. Edwards's lab has published 38 papers; she's published 93 articles, co-authored with students and postdocs, delivered 26 peer-reviewed conference presentations, and has had three federally funded grants in the last five years.
A postdoc in this lab described how the mentor prepares their mentees to work in reducing inequities experienced by marginalized communities “by demonstrating the importance of engaging in ethical, collaborative work which elevates the voices of community members and assists them in attaining necessary resources.” This award included a $2,000 honorarium and honoring her sustained commitment and exceptional ability in mentoring postdoctoral scholars' professional and career development.