Awards and Honors

2011-2012 Outstanding Graduating Graduate Student Award

Adam Shultz - Exercise Science

Adam has maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA throughout his graduate studies at NMU.   He is a consistent and active participant in class discussions and problem-solving endeavors and has set “the standard” for students in the program. 

In addition to his academic work, Adam has served as a graduate teaching assistant for the Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation for two years.  His students have rated him very highly in course evaluations.  Adam has also served as a volunteer tutor and study session facilitator for undergraduate exercise physiology students.  He has exemplified professionalism and a keen interest in the material that helps students engage in the course and apply it to their lives.  He has been an asset in maintaining quality of undergraduate course offerings of the Department. 

Adam Shultz has been outstanding in applying his knowledge of exercise science to the practicalities of adult fitness and cardiac rehabilitation through internship work and exercise leadership with the NMU GETFIT exercise program.  He has worked with people of a wide range of abilities and conditions, guiding them through functional exercises to help make the activities inherent in their daily lives not only possible but more enjoyable due to less fatigue.   He has an exemplary work ethic and is someone whose value to our programs has been extraordinary. 

Adam also holds several professional certifications including:  Health and Fitness Specialist (American College of Sports Medicine), Certified  Strength and Conditioning Specialist (National Strength and Conditioning Association), and Level I Performance Coach Certification (USA Weight lifting).  He has also completed an internship at Marquette General Hospital with cardiac, pulmonary and diabetic patients.

2010-2011 Outstanding Graduating Graduate Student Award

Erich Petushek - Exercise Science

• Erich is a native of Oconomowoc, Wisc. and will graduate this spring with a Master's Degree in Exercise Science.  He is also the recipient of a 2010 Excellent in Education Research Grant for his thesis titled "Validation of Various Instruments Used to Assess Jumping Performance and Intensity."  Erich is a member of USA Weightlifting, International Society of Exercise Physiologists, American College of Sports Medicine, and the National Strength and Conditioning Association.  Currently, Erich has a grant proposal under review by the National Science Foundation to fund his planned doctoral research.  Finally, Erich has served as a mentor to undergraduate students on their research projects, helping them to understand complicated instrumentation and improve their writing.
• Erich was recently inducted into the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society.  Sigma Xi was founded in 1886 to honor excellence in scientific investigation and encourage a sense of companionship and cooperation among researchers in all fields of science and engineering.
• Erich has also been selected as a recipient of a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship for his proposed doctoral project titled: “Effect of pediatric obesity on lower extremity biomechanics: Implications for injury risk assessment and screening”.  The award is a $90,000 stipend over 3 years and half of school funding paid for (the school normally pays the other half).  He is planning to attend Michigan Technological University in their Biomedical Engineering or Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors programs.

2011-2012 Outstanding Senior Award

Sarah K. Lessring - Sport Science

Sarah K. Leissring of Juneau, WI graduated in Sport Science in May 2012.  She has made the Dean’s list every term at NMU and was selected the University 2012 Outstanding Student of Any Class. In addition to her academic work, Sarah is a recipient of a Freshman Fellowship and two University Scholar Research Awards.

Sarah has been the lead author of four papers and coauthor on six additional papers presented at meetings for the International Congress on Science in Skiing, the International Society of Biomechanics in Sports, and the American College of Sports Medicine annual meetings. She is currently analyzing the data to submit “Knee joint angle and muscle activation in running on level and inclined surfaces” to the journal Clinical Biomechanics. Her research has sought to find the causes of the great disparity between women and men suffering non-contact knee injuries.

Sarah has taken a leadership role in the HPER Exercise Science Lab, by tutoring new lab workers, including graduate students, in how to use kinematic analysis equipment on three different software systems. She is adept at using all types of Biomechanical research equipment and is sought out by her fellow students for help in running their projects.

Sarah has also sought to improve the lives of her fellows in society. During the summer of 2010 she worked at Bay Cliff Health Camp with six 10-12 year old physically disabled girls. During this time she helped with their physical therapy program and in recreational activities. Her work was recognized by her being selected to be the Teen Coordinator/Assistant Program Director for 2011. She has also been a two year volunteer at Bay Cliff’s Snow Days and Family Camp for Spina Bifida.

Sarah is a graduate of NMU’s Superior Edge and Student Leader Fellow Programs and currently President of Northern Arts and Entertainment. She will start her Doctorate in Physical Therapy program at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse in June.

2010-2011 Outstanding Senior Award

Daniel Stam - Athletic Training

Daniel is from Negaunee, Mich. and will be sitting for his athletic training Board of Certification exam in June.  He is anxious to become a part of this growing medical profession.  In August, he will be a Doctor of Physical Therapy student in Berrien Springs, Mich. and will pursue a clinical doctorate for the next three years.  His ultimate educational goal is a Doctor of Philosophy, preferably in the rehabilitation sciences.

"I firmly believe that your education and overall experience is what you make it. The education I’ve received as an athletic training student and HPER student at NMU has been second-to-none in my humble opinion. I’ve had the opportunity to travel to national professional conferences in San Antonio, Texas and Fort Lauderdale, Flor. I’ve had the opportunity to work as a student athletic trainer for the University of Notre Dame, and also the Arizona Cardinals NFL franchise, having full coverage of NFL training camp and pre-season, with games in Nashville, Tenn. and Chicago, Ill. Currently I am completing my last undergraduate clinical assignment at the United States Olympic Education Center. This has been a great program, a great faculty and staff, and I thank everyone who has supported me along the way." states Daniel about his experiences at NMU.

Daniel served as President of the Mortar Board National College Senior Honor Society chapter while at NMU. "It has been an honor to serve as part of this organization, and I am proud to say that the “torch” will be passed along to 32 new members for the 2011-2012 academic year, 6 of which being HPER students.  This department will be well represented, and I look forward to seeing what the next group of student-leaders will accomplish, both within their campus and community, and also within their respective fields." states Daniel about his experience with Mortor Board.

Athletic Training Education Program Student Honors

The following students were honored at the Athletic Training Awards Banquet on April 1:

• Theodore Vandermeuse - John L. Lehtinen Most Valuable Athletic Training Student Award
• Tiffany Strobel - John L. Lehtinen Most Valuable Athletic Training Student Award
• Jonathan Slattery - Barbara J. Patrick Athletic Training Student Newcomber Award
• Stephanie Ridolphi - Barbara J. Patrick Athletic Training Student Newcomber Award
• Zak Christie - Athletic Training Student Unsung Hero Award
• Emma Budros - Athletic Training Student Unsung Hero Award
• Jonathan Bauers - Athletic Training Student Most Improved Award
• Samantha Stevens - Athletic Training Student Most Improved Award
• Keenan Quinlevan - Athletic Training Student Program Director Award
• Sarah Hellmann - Athletic Training Student Program Director Award
• Daniel Stam - Athletic Training Student Outstanding Graduating Senior Award
• Stephanie Felton - Athletic Training Student Outstanding Graduating Senior Award

Michigan Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (MAHPERD)

• Ashley Pryor (Community Health Education) has been awarded the 2010-2011 MAHPERD Outstanding Michigan Major of the Year Award.

American Association for Health Education (AAHE)

• Amanda Altobelli (Management of Health and Fitness) has been awarded the 2010-2011 AAHE Outstanding National Major of the Year Award.

Technology Innovation Award for Students

Mitch Stephenson and Erich Petushek won a Student Technology Innovation Award for their project titled “Validation of various instruments used to assess lower body injury risk”. The program recognizes exemplary student use of innovative technology, including but not limited to the TLC laptops, in applications associated with their academic studies. The award is designed to recognize essential uses of the laptop in the academic environment.

Mitch is a sophomore Sports Science major and Erich a second year Graduate student in Exercise Science. Their project incorporated five hardware and three software systems into one NMU laptop to compare different ways of assessing jump landing impacts. Body position at the time of impact has been used to predict risk of non-contact knee injuries.

Erich and Mitch’s project compared inexpensive devices (an electrogoniometer and contact pad) that can assess knee joint angle at impact with the ground to more expensive lab oriented data collection devices (video digitizer and force platform). Typically this would require a large amount of post processing of video data that would need to be synchronized with force assessment devices. In addition the data would have to be combined from several data collection devices and systems and then equalized to the same length and frequency. Their solution allowed them to minimize the post processing time by having one system collect all data (except the video) simultaneously. To do this they custom wired the four data devices into a Biopac system on one laptop and were able analyze all the non-video data at one time. They used a different program to analyze the video data and then wrote a Matlab routine to equalize that data to the non-video data at the same length and frequency.

They made use of software owned by NMU that is routinely used in the Sport and Exercise Science programs and available via the NMU network (Matlab, MaxTraq) or the Exercise Science Lab (Acknowledge). Their results have expanded how others can collect data in our lab and will be part of an ongoing research project that will be submitted to a professional conference for presentation. It also achieved the goal of providing a low cost, valid means of obtaining data to examine knee injury risk factors.

Erich and Mitch will be recognized at the Celebration of Student Research, Creative Works, and Academic Service Learning in April.