December 2020 Highlight- Year in Review
December 31, 2020With as strange of a year as 2020 has been, the AOS department would like to take a peek at the year’s highlights and awards ceremonies. We recognize that neither the spring, summer, or fall looked as any of us were expecting with no rooftop parties, no Sundog performances at Memorial Union, and no classes taking place within the AOSS building, but we thought it was important to remember the good things that happened in this stressful year apart.
January and February welcomed two new professors to the department, Dr. Elizabeth Maroon and Dr. Angela Rowe. March highlighted the new AOS mentorship program between our graduate and undergraduate students, something that has been invaluable with the remote nature of the spring and fall semesters. In April, we featured stories of transition as Wisconsin went into lockdown and both instruction and work moved online.
May brought the virtual graduation and awards ceremony, where Dr. Elizabeth Maroon was presented with the Graduate Student Association Teaching Award for the 2019-2020 school year. June featured two new research assistants within Dr. Rowe’s research group, Ian Cornejo and Benjamin Rodenkirch. July returned to a faculty interview with Dr. Grant Petty on how COVID-19 has impacted his research.
The fall semester did not bring much news from within the department, but September saw both Dr. Tracey Holloway and Dr. Tristan L’Ecuyer awarded the AGU Atmospheric Sciences Ascent Award. Other highlights produced this year are less departmental focused, with August’s welcome back to campuss message, and a forecast for Halloween and Thanksgiving weekend.
Thank you for a wonderful year. Here’s to a more hopeful 2021, and we wish all of you a good winter break.
-Megan Caldwell