Accomplishments - January, 2026
“First Records of the Endangered Pallid Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) in the Des Moines River, Iowa: A Significant Potential Range Expansion,” co-authored by Edward Heist, professor, zoology, and researcher and zoology graduate student Amy Buhman was published in December in the Journal of Applied Ichthyology. The article highlights the discovery and expansion of pallid sturgeons — which are on the federally endangered species list — to the Des Moines River in Iowa.
Neuroscientist Nafisa M. Jadavji, an assistant professor in biomedical sciences in the SIU School of Medicine-Carbondale, has received new funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to continue exploring how vitamin B12 and other nutrients play a role in how the brain responds after an injury.
Father Joseph Brown, professor and coordinator of SIU Carbondale’s Africana studies program and director of the School of Africana and Multicultural Studies, will present the keynote address at the Alexander/Pulaski County NAACP Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast on Monday, Jan. 19. The breakfast begins at 9 a.m. in the Meridian High School gymnasium.
An opening reception featuring artwork by Shelly Taylor Page, associate professor, SIU Simmons Law School, is from 1-3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 11, at the Branch Café and Market, 100 E. Jackson St., Carbondale. The exhibition, “Gathered in Light: A Celebration of African Strength, Humanity and Spirit,” runs through March 1. It features “stylized African figures rendered in bold fabrics, elongated silhouettes, and textured black forms that rise with quiet dignity.” The figures are Page’s “own artistic interpretation — a celebration of unity, ancestry, and the resilience of the African spirit.”
Work by Jeff Sutker, an assistant lecturer in broadcast and media journalism, Charlotte Thompson Suhler School of Journalism and Advertising, was highlighted recently in “SIU grad returns to start student newscast” by the Illinois News Broadcasters Association.
U.S. Army Capt. Cheria L. Chiglo, assistant professor of military science, SIU Army ROTC Battalion, spoke on “Breaking Barriers, Building Leaders: Women in Uniform” in November at the American Association of University Women luncheon.
