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Ami Ahern-Rindell awarded the Council on Undergraduate Research Biology Division Mentor Award

College of Arts and Sciences

Biology

June 10, 2019

University of Portland biology professor Ami Ahern-Rindell has been awarded the Council on Undergraduate Research Biology Division Mentor Award (Advanced Career), a national award that honors biology mentors for their long-term efforts in supervising undergraduate research students.

“Professor Ahern-Rindell’s work mentoring undergraduate research at UP has been outstanding and consistent,” says College of Arts and Sciences dean Herbert Medina. “So many students doing top-notch science research. It’s wonderful and so well-deserved that her stellar work is being recognized nationally.”

The award committee recognized Ahern-Rindell’s extraordinary accomplishments and dedication to engaging undergraduate students in the creation of new biological knowledge. She has mentored more than 100 student collaborators during her 27-year career, resulting in a large, academically sound body of senior and honors theses, presentations at research conferences, and peer-reviewed publications with student co-authors. She was an early developer of student-centered, inquiry-based approaches in the teaching lab and classroom, with NSF-funded initiatives to her credit as early as 1994. As a result of many years of service on the Council on Undergraduate Research, Ahern-Rindell also made significant contributions to the national growth of undergraduate research. Student evaluations and recommendations demonstrate that she has thoughtfully created a highly effective mentoring process that focuses on the whole person.

Watch Kai Seely '17 talk about undergraduate research in Pollentia, Spain, under the direction of Ahern-Rindell: 

For more information, please contact the biology department at 503.943.7123 or bio@up.edu.