Congratulations to Dr. Wendy Dustman, Dr. Anna Karls, and graduate student Caran Cagle!

The University of Georgia honored Dr. Wendy Dustman with the Outstanding Undergraduate Academic Advising Award. This award is presented each spring to faculty and staff members who excel in helping students select classes and courses of study and assisting them with academic problems. The award also recognizes advisers for offering guidance on related matters such as decisions about graduate school and careers, and for helping students deal with non-academic issues.

Dustman, an assistant professor of microbiology, has been an adviser for five years and advises about 60 students each semester. She said one of her goals in advising is to help students find “formative experiences” outside the classroom such as internships and research opportunities.

Another congratulations goes to Associate Professor and Graduate Coordinator of Microbiology, Dr. Anna Karls, for being the recipient of the CURO Excellence in Mentoring Undergraduate Research Award.

Since arriving on campus in 2000, Dr. Karls has mentored the research projects of twenty UGA students and seven undergraduates from other institutions in summer undergraduate research programs. She has been instrumental in promoting diversity on the UGA campus as many of the students she has mentored have been from groups that are underrepresented in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) disciplines.  The effectiveness of Dr. Karls’ mentoring is reflected in the accomplishments of her undergraduates, which include co-authorship on peer-reviewed papers, presentation their research at national and local conferences, and recognition with national and local awards for their research.

Thus, it is no surprise that Dr. Karls is also this year’s recipient of the Sandy Beaver Excellence in Teaching Award. This annual award for excellence in teaching honors outstanding faculty in the Franklin College who have shown a sustained commitment to high-quality instruction. The criteria for this award include development of new courses, direction of Honors theses, accomplishments of former students, and teaching evaluations from students and colleagues.  The nomination letter summed up Dr. Karls’ qualifications for this award in this way: “Dr. Karls is a truly exceptional teacher, mentor and colleague. Students are a top priority on her list and she has all of the attributes of an outstanding teacher. She is enthusiastic, energetic, patient, sympathetic, knowledgeable, articulate, entertaining, engaging, giving, and selfless in her teaching. Dr. Karls is a valuable asset to the Microbiology Department and the University of Georgia…”

Yet another congratulations are due to Microbiology graduate student Caran Cagle who has been recognized with an Excellence in Teaching Award! This honor is bestowed on only 5 Teaching Assistants in the whole Graduate School in which there are hundreds of TAs. Only candidates who have demonstrated superior teaching skills and who have contributed to teaching beyond their own classroom responsibilities were nominated, so this is a tremendous credit for Caran!