College of Natural Sciences - CSU, Chico

Honored Colleagues

Every year California State University, Chico honors faculty and administrators for their excellence and achievements in teaching, scholarly, creative, and research activities and in their contributions to the university community. Below are the recent winners in the College of Natural Sciences.

Academic Year 2007-2008

University's Outstanding Professor Award
Gordon Wolfe

Professor Gordon Wolfe, Department of Biological Sciences, has been selected by the Faculty Recognition and Support Committee for the 2007-2008 Outstanding Professor Award at California State University, Chico. Wolfe earned a BA in physics at Harvard University and received a PhD in biogeochemistry from University of Washington. He joined the CSU, Chico faculty in 2000.

Read the full news release here.

Academic Year 2005-2006

University's Outstanding Advisor
Larry Hanne

University's Outstanding Teacher
Bob Thomas

University's Outstanding Project Director
Jennifer Rotnem

University's Professional Achievement Honors
Bill Murphy
Xueli Zou

Fulbright Senior Specialist
Jim Pushnik

Dr. Larry Hanne
Professor, Department of Biological Sciences
Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology,
... University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, 1981
M.S., Microbiology, University of Montana, 1977
B.S., University of California at Davis, 1973

Microbiologist Larry Hanne Named
Outstanding Advisor

Larry Hanne has been an adviser and student advocate for his entire career at CSUC. He has advised students in general biology, microbiology, and those interested in clinical laboratory science. He has established a liaison with local professionals that has resulted in opportunities for students to explore various laboratory careers with Enloe Hospital, Butte County Health Department, CSUC Student Health Center, California State Forensic Lab, etc.

Upon hearing that Larry was this year's Outstanding Advisor, College Dean Jim Houpis asked Larry's colleagues to congratulate him, stating that it was "a well-deserved and long overdue honor."

Read more about Larry Hanne.

Published: January 12, 2006

[top]

Dr. Robert Thomas
Professor Emeritus, Department of Biological Sciences
Ph.D., Kent State University

Biologist Robert Thomas Named
Outstanding Teacher

A 40-year veteran of teaching at California State University, Chico, Robert E. Thomas, Department of Biological Sciences, has been chosen as the Outstanding Teacher of 2005–2006 by the Faculty Recognition and Support Committee.

"Bob has had an outstanding career with us," Dean Jim Houpis said in an e-mail to the College. "His continued excellence over the years will serve as a role model for our younger faculty. I hope our younger faculty will adopt Bob's tenacity in maintaining teaching excellence."

Thomas, who came to CSU, Chico in 1966 after receiving a Ph.D. from Kent State University, received two Outstanding Professor Awards, one in 1983 and another in 1984, and three different Professional Achievement Honors in 1981, 1986 and 1994.

Thomas entered the Faculty Early Retirement Program in 2001. Before that, he taught vertebrate physiology, cell physiology, general biology for non-majors, as well as graduate courses. He served as a pre-med advisor and faculty advisor for the Pre-Med Association for 13 out of the last 18 years.

To read the complete news release, got to: Web Site

Published: January 18, 2006

[top]

Jennifer Rotnem
Director of Environmental Programs

Jennifer Rotnem Named
Outstanding Project Director

Jennifer Rotnem is passionate about her work as the director of environmental programs for the College of Natural Sciences, and it shows.

Named the University's Outstanding Project Director for 2005, Jennifer takes command of many projects and collaborates with both state and federal agencies to obtain environmental grants and contracts for the College.

“This is a well-deserved honor,” said College Dean James Houpis, “as Jennifer continues to obtain and manage a significant number of environmental grants and contracts for the College.”

Jennifer is also assisting the College with the development of the Center for Ecology and Environmental Sciences for facilitating collaboration among faculty and competitive research in ecology and environmental science. The Center's mission and its success is supported by Jennifer's work for the Bidwell Environmental Institute to promote and support campus-wide environmental initiatives.

Students, typically students majoring in biology and environmental sciences, are involved in all of her projects. The Bioassessment Lab employs 10-15 students. Restoration projects employ about five student interns and two student employees. Salmon and Steelhead projects employ three to five student biologists.

“ I feel passionate about actively contributing to Chico State's vision of being a leader of education for sustainable development and a model educational institution, guided by sustainable campus practices, training environmentally literate and engaged citizens, educating environmental professionals, and participating in sustainable development in the Northstate,” she wrote in an e-mail.

Jennifer explains that in 2005 the United Nations declared this the “Decade of Education for Sustainable Development” and described that "education enables us to understand ourselves and others and our links with the wider natural and social environments, and this understanding serves as a durable basis for building respect for present and future generations, for differences and diversity, for the environment, and for the resources of the planet we inhabit.”

She is directing riparian (along the riverbank) and grassland restoration in partnership with the Department of Fish and Game at Butler Slough Ecological Reserve, and Oak woodland and grassland restoration at the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's Sacramento River Bend Area of Critical Environmental Concern. She is co-directing projects for Chico 's Aquatic Bioassessment Lab and on-going surveys of Chinook Salmon and Steelhead in Butte and Big Chico Creeks with the Department of Fish and Game.

She has directed a variety of projects including K-12 watershed education, and fish, wildlife, and invertebrate studies throughout the Northstate.

As mentioned, many of her projects include collaboration with one or more of these agencies: The Nature Conservancy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, River Partners, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Water Resources, Sacramento River Conservation Area Forum, U.S. Geological Service, California Energy Commission, CA Department of Pesticide Regulation, UC Davis, Bishop Paiute Tribe, California State Parks, U.S. Forest Service, State Water Resources Control Board, and Agricultural Research Initiative.

Published: January 24, 2006

[top]

Dr. William Murphy
Associate Professor, Department of Geological
and Environmental Sciences
Ph.D., U.C. Berkeley

William Murphy Receives University's
Professional Achievement Honors

William M. Murphy, Geological and Environmental Sciences, conducts international research with leading scientists in geochemistry. He teaches across the curriculum in his department and works with undergraduate and graduate students.

Murphy has published or submitted for publication numerous articles and abstracts, many of the abstracts involving students or other faculty as co-authors.

Murphy's speaking engagements include session chair and invited speaker at the Symposium on the Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management in 2004 and keynote speaker at the V.M. Goldschmidt Conference in 2005. He has also been visiting professor at Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris and was instrumental in creating an exchange of graduate students from ENS to visit and work with students and faculty at CSU, Chico.

In recognition of his expertise in the field of nuclear waste disposal, Murphy serves as an administrative judge for the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.