Postdoctoral Awards
Postdoctoral Award for Exceptional Mentoring
Ashley Cale, Ph.D., 2026 Postdoc Mentoring Awardee
Ash Cale is a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science working with Erin Hanan. Her research aims to understand how climate change and management practices may drive wildfires across Western ecosystems. In the department, Ash has mentored graduate and undergraduate students and focuses on the long-term success of her mentees. To Dr. Cale, kind and empathetic mentoring is a critical aspect of postdoctoral work which benefits the lab, the mentees, and her own scholarly endeavors.
Congratulations Ashley on this outstanding award!
2025 Postdoc Poster Symposium Awardees
1st place: Emily Burt, Ph.D.
- Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences
- Poster title: Tahoe Environmental Observatory Network: real-time environmental science for the public
- Award: $1,500
2nd place: Yongcheng Li, Ph.D.
- Public Health
- Poster title: How Much Dust and Soil Does Your Child Ingest Daily? A Novel Method for Estimating Children’s Soil and Dust Ingestion Rates
- Award:$1,000
About the Postdoctoral Award for Exceptional Mentoring
The Graduate School’s Office of Postdoctoral Affairs is pleased to announce the University of Nevada, Reno’s Mentoring Award for Postdoctoral Scholars. Postdocs play a vital role in our research, teaching, and outreach missions at the University, and exceptional postdocs can play a transformative role in developing the next generation of researchers.
Nominations for 2027 will open January 2027
The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs currently seeks nominations for exceptional postdocs who dedicate time, energy, and effort to mentoring undergraduate and graduate students. The Postdoctoral Award for Exceptional Mentoring recipient receives a one-time honorarium of $1,000 and a certificate of achievement presented at the “Honor the Best” ceremony in the spring.
Nominations are evaluated on the quality and impact of the postdoc’s mentoring contributions, so specific examples are encouraged with particular attention to the following attributes:
- Demonstrated record of mentoring and serving as a role model for students.
- Ability to balance excellence in mentoring with excellence in research and scholarship, including strengths in collaborative efforts, publication, and presentation records.
- Contribution toward supporting traditionally underrepresented groups within the postdoc’s discipline.
Nominations are due March 1, 2027 by 11:59 p.m.
Questions? Contact Loren Pietsch, Director of Postdoctoral Affairs, Graduate Recruitment and Diversity Initiatives at lpietsch@unr.edu.