Congratulations to HDFS major Mar Amador, HDFS minor (and Public Health major) Sarah Soucy, and fellow teammate Julianne Longman (Marketing major). Their team, Sunshine Initiative, was one of three finalists in the UConn Wellness Case Competition. There were 90 student entries to the competition. This team based their concept on the belief that UConn should provide more outdoor spaces for studying.
“My idea is for UConn to provide spaces outdoors ideal for studying or recreation, whether they be picnic tables by the lakes or more benches near our greens,” the idea said. “I think this will do a great deal for student’s mental health, community engagement and academic performance.” They also discussed the desire to have swings on campus and the joy that swinging gives anyone, not just children.
It was such a pleasure to see these students present at the AOD (Alcohol and Other Drugs) Stakeholders Call to Action Conference. You can read more about the competition in the UConn Daily Campus.
Assistant Professor Ryan Watson received a K-01 award from National Institute on Drug Abuse. His project, PrEP and substance use among sexual minority young adults, is a 5-year research career development award. These are very prestigious awards from NIH designed to provide mentorship and research support to relatively junior scholars.
A memorial event for Professor Michael Ego will take place at the Stamford Campus on Saturday, February 2, 2019, from 11-1pm. 
Professor Rebecca Puhl was interviewed by the Huffington Post for an article entitled, “Employers Are Discriminating Against Overweight Women — And It’s Totally Legal”. 
Congratulations to Associate Professor Beth Russell and student Kasey Macedo, who received a SHARE award for their project The PRISM Project: A Mindfulness Intervention for Substance Abuse.
Assistant Professor Laura Mauldin was recently quoted in the NY Times in an article on cochlear implants. This reference to her work in the NY Times is a great example of the impact her book (Made to Hear: Cochlear Implants and Raising Deaf Children) has made on the field and on the general public.