As usual, our students have been involved in many wonderful things in recent weeks and months. Here is just a sampling of the great news we have to share.

Academic Excellence Symposium
The following students presented research sponsored by Human Development or Psychology faculty members at the Academic Excellence Symposium this spring: Carleen Horner, Heather Flick, Stephanie Freis, Krystal VanHoff, Amy Weise, Brittaney Molina, Caitlin Gurlt, Stephanie Lynch, Kristin Nick, Kayla Worchel, Maria Foth, Erin Ehlers, Jessica Hopp, Rebecca McCabe, Alyssa Zingler, Craig Van Pay and Tonya Filz. Congratulations, everyone!

University Leadership Awards
Please accept our apologies if we are missing anyone, but the following HUM DEV and/or PSYCH majors are receiving Chancellor’s Medallions: Heather Close, Jessica Hopp and Samuel Seefeld. Even more will receive University Leadership Awards. They include: Casey Calhoun, Tonya Filz, Kaitlyn Florer, Ashley Herrell, Andrea Kindschuh and Angela Thomsen. We look forward to celebrating your achievements this Friday, May 13!

Fergus & Bonnie Hughes Scholarship
Congratulations also go to Stephanie Freis, recipient of the 2011-12 Fergus and Bonnie Hughes Scholarship that honors the Human Development or Psychology major who best exemplifies interdisciplinary academic achievements in and out of the classroom. We want to recognize Stephanie for her many accomplishments, and also thank the other students who took the time to apply. We had an excellent pool of candidates and a truly difficult time making a decision.

Memorial Garden
Thank you and congratulations on a job well done to the Students of AMF at UWGB for the outstanding work they did continuing the tradition of the campus memorial garden. The event on May 4^th was well-attended and wonderfully done.

Commencement
Although there are too many names to list here, the ultimate good student news is that we get to celebrate the graduation of so many of our wonderful Human Development and Psychology majors and minors this week. Congratulations, good luck, and know that we will miss you–so keep in touch!

We always like to do a shout out to the many students we have who are out there doing great things. In this case, congratulations to Jessica Hopp and Rebecca McCabe, who presented with Dr. Bartell at the National Conference for the First Year Experience.  We have been told that their paper, Do Relationships Matter in the Effects of a First Year Seminar Program, was very well-received.

You’re basking in the excitement of the Packers’ Super Bowl win. Why not receive some reflected glory from some of your peers, as well? Psi Chi member Matthew Micolichek was the successful applicant for the second annual Yale University clinical psychology internship. He gets to work at Yale with Dr. Chris Cutter for three months of the summer. Travel, room, and board is paid by Yale and Psi Chi. He follows in the footsteps of Caitlin Gurlt, who worked at Yale last summer.

Tonya Filz, Stephanie Freis, Krystal Vanhoff, Amy Weise, and alum Tiffany Wilhelm all each got posters accepted for presentation at the 2011 APA symposium to be held this August in Washington, D.C. The team will collectively be presenting six posters: four at the Society for Teaching sessions (Div. 2), and two at the Social/Personality sessions (Div. 8). Work presented represents Honors projects, independent studies, and research from Dr. Gurung’s research lab.

Some of you may have noticed the flower garden between the University Union and MAC Hall last spring or when you returned to campus this fall. The garden was organized by a student group (“Together We Cope: Support for UW-Green Bay Grieving Students”) that is advised by Dr. Illene Noppe. The beautiful flowers are actually a memorial garden where individuals were able to place a plant to recognize a deceased loved one during a moving ceremony that took place last April 28th. Students Amanda Broadhagen and Nicole Hoagland made a presentation about the garden this summer to a conference for the National Students of AMF, the national grief-support organization of which our local student group is a chapter. The students plan to hold a ceremony at the garden every year, and students, staff, and alums will be welcome to plant a flower in someone’s honor at that time.

We are overwhelmed by all the great things our students are doing! Here’s a sampling of the fabulous news we’ve received just since our last issue. Congratulations to everyone, and we’re very sorry if we missed anyone!

• Caitlin Gurlt has been selected to be the 2010 Yale University Summer Intern! This is a great honor for her, our department and university, and Psi Chi at UWGB. She will receive travel funding, room and board, and a stipend.
• Katie Kordus is the 2010-2011 winner of the Fergus and Bonnie Hughes Scholarship. She will receive $1000 to support her studies here at UW-Green Bay.
• Kristin Nick recently presented her research at the prestigious “Posters in the Rotunda” event at the State Capitol Building in Madison.
• Katie Von Holzen, a December graduate, has been awarded a $7500 Phi Eta Sigma Scholarship to support her graduate studies.
• Finally, we want to congratulate all of our May and August graduates, as well as though who will be receiving Leadership Awards this Friday!

Every semester, students enrolled in Experimental Psychology present their work at the campus-wide, Experimental Psychology Poster Session.  It’s an opportunity for them to showcase their hard work from the semester and a chance for other students and faculty to learn more about the great research being conducted in these classes. This semester’s session featured more than 25 impressive research projects from more than 100 researchers and, though we are proud of and congratulate all of the students for their hard work, three groups walked away with outstanding research awards. 

• 1^st Prize: Effects of Cell Phones on Learning and Memory Recall. Emma Bretl, Aaron Creamer, Kaitlyn Florer, and Rebecca Granger
• 2^nd Prize: The Effects of Color on Mood. John Chritton, Eric Effert, Heather Flick, and Brittany Zimmermann
• 3^rd Prize: Social Perceptions of Moral Character in Gothic Dressing versus Traditional Dressing Women. Shastel Baker, Aaron Menzer, Caitlin Neumann, and RoseMary Prem

We’d like to congratulate all of the Psychology and Human Development students who recently presented their work at the Academic Excellence Symposium.  Here is a list of their names and project titles:

• Andrew Johnson: “Insights on Psychiatric Rehabilitation”
• Kristie Kaczmarek: “Perceived Infidelity: Does Body Image Accentuate Women’s Jealousy?”
• Amanda Luedtke: “Counseling Center Websites as Potential Suicide Prevention Tools”
• Kristin Nick: “Midlife and Older Adults’ Perceptions of Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia Symptoms”
• Joshua VandenBusch and Kelly Schroeder: “Transforming College Students through Design: A Review of the Literature”

We’ve been neglecting our duties of late, and it’s been awhile since we included a story celebrating all of the wonderful things our students have done. Here’s a sampling of just some of those amazing accomplishments. Congratulations to all!

• The top 3 Experimental Psychology posters were awarded during the December poster session.  First place went to Diana Delbecchi, Amanda Emberson, Rebecca McCabe, and Jazmin Thomas for their project on the effects of chewing gum on memory.  Second place went to Panhia Lor, Andrew Palmbach, and Greg Weiland for their project on the effects of an audience on performance.  Third place went to Casey Calhoun, Laura Hamer, Amanda Hart, and Emily Kunze for their project on the effects of cell phone distractions on learning. 
• Amanda Brodhagen and recent graduates Katie Von Holzen and Kirstin Thompson were awarded scholarships to attend the Annual Conference of the Association for Death Education and Counseling in Kansas City, MO, April 7 – 10, 2010. Katie will be presenting a poster on her research on humor and death. 
• Several students will be making presentations in August at the national convention of the American Psychological Association in San Diego, CA. Amanda Luedtke and Andrew Blonigen are co-authors with Dr. Kris Vespia on a presentation about education and cultural competence.  Kristie Kaczmarek and Mandy Degeneffe are co-authors with Dr. Regan Gurung on presentations about body image.  Finally, recent alums Janet Weidert and Angie Roethal-Wendorf will be presenting at a symposium with Dr. Gurung on the benefits of being an undergraduate TA. 
• Last, but not least, recent alum Katie Von Holzen and Dr. Jennifer Zapf will have a poster on the use of grammatical markers in the German language at the 2010 Annual Convention of the American Psychological Society in May in Boston, MA.

The UW-Green Bay National Students of AMF Support Network, a support and service organization for students who have loved ones who are suffering from life threatening illnesses or who have died, is planning a number of activities for the Spring semester, including the formation of a “Relay for Life” team to support the American Cancer Society.  That event takes place March 27 2010, and interested students should contact Dr. Illene Noppe. Please stay tuned for more announcements from the co-presidents, Ashley Durand and Nicole Hoagland, both Human Development majors. You can learn more about the organization at the national website: http://www.studentsofamf.com/