College of Human Ecology recognizing 21 outstanding seniors
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
MANHATTAN — The College of Human Ecology at Kansas State University will honor 21 graduating seniors for excellence in engagement, leadership or research and creative activities at the college's annual awards ceremony Friday, May 13.
The following students are recipients of an outstanding senior award from the college:
• Trenton Colburn, senior in nutrition and kinesiology, Belleville, is receiving the Outstanding Student Research and Creative Scholarship Award. Colburn was the winner of the 2015 biological sciences poster session at the K-State Research Forum. He worked in the Clarenburg Cardiorespiratory Physiology Research Lab where he conducted research introducing dietary nitrate supplementation therapy in rats to learn more about exercise intolerance due to chronic heart failure and as a way to enhance exercise tolerance.
• Miranda McMahon, senior in personal financial planning with a minor in business administration, Burrton, is receiving the Outstanding Student Engagement Award. McMahon was a member of the Financial Planning Association and the Professional Advantage Program, which is offered through the College of Business Administration. She is a peer counselor and a member of the Student Advisory Council for Powercat Financial Counseling. McMahon volunteers her financial expertise at Shepard's Crossing, a nonprofit agency in Manhattan.
• Anne Pitts, senior in family and consumer sciences, Cheney, is receiving the Outstanding Student Leadership Award. Pitts was a College of Human Ecology Ambassador and was secretary of the university's Transfer Ambassadors. For the Family and Consumer Sciences Education Group, she has been president and open house chair. Pitts is a member of the American Association for Family and Consumer Sciences and its Kansas affiliate.
• Dryden Baumfalk, senior in nutrition and kinesiology, Colby, is receiving the Outstanding Student Leadership Award. Baumfalk was on the executive board of Kappa Omicron Nu, the College of Human Ecology honorary, serving as initiation ceremony chair. He was a College of Human Ecology Ambassador, serving as new members selection chair for two years. Baumfalk was chosen as an inaugural Snyder Leadership Legacy Fellow in 2015.
• Mary Estes, senior in hospitality management with minors in business and leadership, Derby, is receiving the Outstanding Student Engagement Award. Estes was president and vice president of the Hospitality Management Society and was a member of Eta Sigma Delta international honor society. She has volunteered with Flint Hills Breadbasket, Community Common Tables, Cats for Cans and more.
• Emily Betthauser, senior in senior in family studies and human services, Gardner, is receiving the Outstanding Student Leadership Award. A Johnson County Ambassador for the university, Betthauser was active in Alpha Delta Pi sorority, worked her way up to head lifeguard at the natatorium complex and was a member of the leadership team for Christian Challenge. She served as an AmeriCorps VISTA on the Joining Community Forces initiative and has developed an emergency relief fund for military service members, veterans and their families.
• Kortney Foley, senior in dietetics, Lecompton, is receiving the Outstanding Student Research and Creative Scholarship Award. Foley is the recipient of a grant from the Office of Undergraduate Research & Creative Inquiry to study the effects of physical activity and fish oil consumption on those suffering from symptoms related to Raynaud's disease. She presented her findings at the Experimental Biology Conference in San Diego this spring.
• Katelyn Turner, senior in apparel marketing with a minor in business, Lenexa, is receiving the Outstanding Student Leadership Award. Turner has been an Apparel and Textiles Ambassador for the last two years. She was a co-chair of the recent ATID Student Symposium and was the producer and event director for the 2015 Showcase of Excellence. Turner also was a teaching assistant for an apparel and textiles professional development course.
• Jacy Lucas, senior in dietetics, Osawatomie, is receiving the Outstanding Student Leadership Award. Lucas served as president of the Student Dietetic Association her senior year, previously serving as vice president and open house chair. She was the marketing chair for the Kansas Dietetic Association and volunteered with the Boys and Girls Club, the university's sports nutrition program and the American Diabetes Association Camp Planet-D. Lucas also served as personal and community enrichment chair for her Gamma Phi Beta sorority.
• Katie Ahern, senior in communication sciences and disorders with a secondary major in gerontology and minor in leadership studies, Overland Park, is receiving the Outstanding Student Leadership Award. Ahern was vice president of the Silver Key Sophomore Honor Society, membership chair of the Gerontology Club and vice president of communications and president of the Kansas State University Student Foundation. She has found ways to lead in the classroom as well, serving as a lab instructor for CSD 360 and a class leader for LEAD 212 in the Staley School of Leadership Studies.
• Sophia Bachman, senior in nutrition and health with a minor in Spanish, Overland Park, is receiving the Outstanding Student Engagement Award. Bachman served as an undergraduate teaching assistant, corresponding secretary for Alpha Xi Delta sorority, and a life group leader for Christian Challenge. She completed an internship with the chamber of commerce in Salamanca, Spain, which focused on child nutrition, and she spent two summers at Camp War Eagle as a counselor for underserved youth.
• Erin Kimberling, senior in dietetics, Overland Park, is receiving the Outstanding Student Leadership Award. Kimberling has served as president of the Pre-Physician Assistant Club and president of the Tennis Club for two years. She was a member of the leadership team for Christian Challenge and assistant vice president of finance for Sigma Kappa sorority. She organized a blood drive on campus and was a teaching assistant for Human Nutrition.
• Dylan Bassett, senior in kinesiology, Salina, is receiving the Outstanding Student Leadership Award. Bassett was scholarship chair, philanthropy chair and community service chair with Theta Xi fraternity and served as vice president of the Kinesiology Student Association. He was the director of university projects for Mortar Board, the senior honorary, and was a leader on the cadaver dissection team. He serves as a youth umpire, encouraging safety and sportsmanship from his players.
• Brittany Beneke, senior in family studies and human services with a minor in conflict analysis and trauma studies, Salina, is receiving the Outstanding Student Engagement Award. Beneke served as an undergraduate research assistant, volunteer and counselor for Operation Military Kids. She interned for the Institute for the Health and Security of Military Families and is a VISTA member with AmeriCorps. She plans to pursue a master's degree in social work.
• Lien Hecker, senior in family studies and human services, Salina, is receiving the Outstanding Student Engagement Award. Hecker was a member of the Newman Club, the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and Sigma Alpha Lambda. She has volunteered at Ashby House, a family shelter, and with the Violence Association of Central Kansas, where she also earned an internship. Hecker plans to become a certified family life educator and join the National Council on Family Relationships.
• Cole Foster, senior in personal financial planning with a minor in business, Tecumseh, is receiving the Outstanding Student Leadership Award. Foster was co-president of the university's Financial Planning Association and developed two special fundraisers to benefit the local community. He was a member of the university's Financial Planning Association team that won the national financial planning competition in 2015. Foster also spent two years as a life group leader with Christian Challenge.
• Hannah Rice, senior in personal financial planning with a minor in business, Peyton, Colorado, is receiving the Outstanding Student Research and Creative Scholarship Award. Rice has conducted research with faculty and a doctoral candidate regarding the integration of physical and mental wellness with money and finances. With this research, Rice co-authored a chapter in a health and wellness book, "WholeFIT: Wellness for Life." She also was a member of the university's team that won the Financial Planning Association's national financial planning competition in 2015.
• Mary O'Brien, senior in nutritional sciences, Omaha, Nebraska, is receiving the Outstanding Student Leadership Award. O'Brien participated in K-State Proud, serving on the executive committee for the Student Foundation as student opportunity award allocation chair and vice president of student opportunity awards. She was involved with the cadaver dissection team and became a team leader. O'Brien was a member of Mortar Board Senior Honor Society and served on the centennial campaign committee.
• Kyla Dunn, senior in hospitality management with a minor in business, De Smet, South Dakota, is receiving the Outstanding Student Leadership Award. As a team leader for the Central Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education, or CHRIE, event in Kansas City, Dunn guided her team of six in organizing the event. She served as the operations team leader for the Oasis Conference and was asked to join the board of directors of the nonprofit organization. Dunn also has served as yearbook editor and programming council officer.
• Kara Evans, senior in kinesiology, The Woodlands, Texas, is receiving the Outstanding Student Research and Creative Scholarship Award. Evans worked in the Human Exercise Research Lab researching maximal oxygen consumption during intense physical activity and the variances between male and female lung capacities. She received an Office of Undergraduate Research & Creative Inquiry research grant to further her research on the effects of vitamin C on an exercise-induced asthmatic.
• Yi Cao, senior in hospitality management, Huanshang, China, is receiving the Outstanding Student Research and Creative Scholarship Award. Cao has participated in internships with the Huangshan Tourism Development Co. and Disney Resorts. Through these internships, she developed a passion for research and began working with big data analytics as applied to the hospitality industry. Cao has developed her own study related to a Chinese New Year event utilizing Twitter analytics.
