Kudos

GREG THOMPSON TO RECEIVE SNOWSPORTS BUILDER AWARD

Greg Thompson

Greg Thompson, associate dean for special collections at the J. Willard Marriott Library will receive the Snowsports Builder Award for 2012 from the Far West Ski Association. The awards event was held at the Ogden Eccles Conference Center on Saturday, June 9, 2012. The award recognizes Thompson’s tireless efforts in developing the Utah Ski Archives, one of the largest ski and winter sports collections in the United States. Thompson’s work has resulted in a remarkable collection of ski history, preserved in perpetuity. Oral histories, rapidly vanishing snowsports records, photos, and memorabilia span the very beginning of the region’s ski industry to the present day.

Nalini Nadkarni

NALINI NADKARNI HONORED FOR TREE CONSERVATION WORK

Nalini Nadkarni, biology professor and director of the Center for Science and Mathematics Education, has been honored by an Italian foundation for her work in tree conservation. Every two years, the Bardini and Peyron Monumental Parks Foundation gives awards to several individuals who distinguish themselves for “safeguarding of the Earth’s environmental balance and creating a mass ecological culture.” Nadkarni was cited for her “basic research on rainforest ecosystem ecology in her study sites in Costa Rica and Washington state; for conceiving and developing the ‘Big Canopy Database’ to share and collaboratively manage canopy data from researchers around the world; and for her teaching with deep love and enthusiasm to her students and readers how important trees are in the life of western society, and in what ways they have an influence on the market and life styles.” Famed primatologist-conservationist Jane Goodall also was among this year’s awardees.