Celebration of Excellence in Research and Innovation - 01-22-26
On January 22, 2026, the University of Wyoming’s Research and Economic Development Division recognized the achievements of UW’s outstanding faculty and departments with its third annual Celebration of Excellence in Research and Innovation. To celebrate the culture of research and innovation at UW, five university-wide awards for outstanding research contributions, 12 college/schools outstanding researchers, and two CAREER Awardees were recognized.
Left to Right: UW Board of Trustees Vice Chair - Michelle Sullivan, UW Distinguished Researcher Awardee - Thomas Boothby, and UW President Ed Seidel
UW Distinguished Researcher Award -- for a researcher with the highest annual research
expenditures averaged over the last three years
Thomas Boothby - Associate Professor, Molecular Biology
Associate Professor, Molecular Biology His research focuses on how organisms survive
extreme environments and how we can make practical use of this knowledge for elevating
some of society's most pressing problems, such as increasing access to medicine and
food security especially in rural and underserved communities. Outside of this academic
research, Dr. Boothby is an officer of the Biophysical Society, a founder of the Water
and Life Interface Institute, and the founder of LifeGlass, LLC.
UW Distinguished Innovator Award -- for a researcher with the most prolific innovation
portfolio:
Mohammad Piri - Professor, Petroleum Engineering
Dr. Mohammad Piri is the Founder and Director of the Center of Innovation for Flow
Through Porous Media. He holds the Wyoming Excellence Chair in Petroleum Engineering
and the Thomas and Shelley Botts Endowed Chair in Unconventional Reservoirs. He earned
his PhD in Petroleum Engineering from Imperial College London in 2004 and served as
a postdoctoral research associate at Princeton. His research advances the understanding
of the atomic-, nano-, micro-, and macro-scale physics of flow and transport in man-made
and naturally-occurring porous media with applications in energy and the environment,
including unconventional reservoirs. He has secured more than $150 million in external
research funding and leads major initiatives such as the WGI Initiative and a strategic
partnership with Thermo Fisher Scientific. He has commercialized research innovations
through two spinoff companies, Piri Technologies, LLC and Digital Pore Solution, LLC,
contributing to economic diversification and workforce development for the University
and Wyoming at-large. He currently holds 10 US patents.
UW Exemplary Research Culture Award -- for a department with highest per-faculty research
expenditures and innovation portfolio:
Wyoming Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit
The Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit led by Director Matt Kauffman
is currently one of 43 USGS Cooperative Research Units nationwide. Their offices,
programs, and personnel are embedded within the Dept. of Zoology and Physiology. They
collaborate with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, federal land and wildlife managers,
the Wind River Indian Reservation, private entities, and nonprofit partners to provide
actionable scientific information for wildlife and fisheries management.
UW Distinguished Research Service Award -- for a faculty or staff member who has made
major contributions to UW’s research services and infrastructure:
Shawna McBride - Senior Director of the Research Development & Wyoming EPSCoR-IDeA Office and Co-Director
of the Wyoming NASA Space Grant Consortium and NASA EPSCoR Program
Dr. Shawna McBride leads research development and STEM capacity-building initiatives
as Senior Director of the Research Development & Wyoming EPSCoR-IDeA Office and Co-Director of the Wyoming NASA Space Grant Consortium and NASA EPSCoR Program.
Qian-Quan Sun - Professor, Zoology & Physiology and Director, WY Sensory Biology Center
Director, WY Sensory Biology Center Over the past 24 years at the University of Wyoming
, Dr Sun's lab has received continuous NIH funding. He led the establishment of a
COBRE Phase I center and its successful competitive renewal for Phase II.
Left to Right: UW Board of Trustees Vice Chair - Michelle Sullivan, UW, Distinguished Innovator Awardee - Mohammad Piri, UW President Ed Seidel
College Honorees -- the university honored faculty members recognized by their respective
colleges for their contributions to UW’s research and innovation landscape:
Melissa Alexander - Carl M. Williams Professor of Law & Ethics - College of Law
Davin Bagdonas - Senior Research Professional in the Center for Economic Geology - School of Energy
Resources.
Bledar Bisha - Associate Professor in Food Microbiology and Department head of Animal Sciences
in the College of Agriculture, Life Sciences, & Natural Resources.
Jonathan Brant - Civil & Architectural Engineering & Construction Management - College of Engineering
& Physical Sciences.
Jeffrey Covin - Wyoming Excellence Chair and Pat Rile Chair of Entrepreneurship in the Department
of Management and Marketing - College of Business
Joe Holbrook - Associate Professor, Carnivore and Habitat Ecology - Haub School of Environment
& Natural Resources.
Meridith Joyce - Assistant Professor - School of Computing.
Christine McKibbin - Professor, Department of Psychology - College of Arts & Sciences
Eric Moody - Associate Director, WIND - College of Health Sciences
Shane Murphy - Professor, Atmospheric Science - College of Engineering & Physical Sciences
Grace Shearrer - Assistant Professor - College of Agriculture, Life Sciences, & Natural Resources.
Ling Zhang - Assistant Professor, Special Education - College of Education.
CAREER Award
The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is a Foundation-wide activity
that offers the National Science Foundation's most prestigious awards in support of
early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research
and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.
Activities pursued by early-career faculty build a firm foundation for a lifetime
of leadership in integrating education and research. NSF encourages submission of
CAREER proposals from early-career faculty at all CAREER-eligible organizations.
Lauren Shoemaker - Associate Professor, Botany
Dr. Shoemaker is an Associate Professor in the Botany Department, and is also affiliated
with the Program in Ecology and Evolution and School of Computing. Lauren Shoemaker
received a five-year, $875,000 grant for her project, titled "Impacts of Environmental
Filtering vs Species Interactions on Persistence and Coexistence in a Warming World."
Ryan Webb - Assistant Professor, Civil and Architectural Engineering
Dr. Webb is an Assistant Professor in Civil and Architectural Engineering and Construction
Management. He leads the UW Mountain Hydrology group. Ryan Webb received a five-year
$738,196 grant for his project, titled "CAREER: Defining the Role of Snow in Storing
and Transmitting Liquid Water to Generate Streamflow."
