The Committee on Teaching and Scholarship is pleased to announce that the 2022 Scholarship Award winner is Christine Weilhoefer, Associate Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies. “Dr. W,” as her students call her, has built a reputation for scholarship that is recognized at the local, state, and international levels. Known for transdisciplinary work in field methodology and design, microscopy, taxonomy, water and soil chemistry, GIS, statistical analyses and modeling, and computer programming, she has amassed six peer-reviewed publications in the past three years alone, two of which are co-authored by UP undergraduate researchers. She was twice awarded the highly competitive fellowship from Kyoto University Center for Ecological Research to conduct research in Japan. The Impact Factors of her research consistently eclipse the median of Impact Factors from all types of institutions. As one of her colleagues’ notes, “Dr. W is playing an R1 game at a T1 school.”
As an example of the impact Christine Weilhoefer is having, since 2019 she has been retained by the Earthrise Law Center as an aquatic biology expert on their case “Northwest Environmental Advocates vs. The City of Medford.” Thanks in large part to her work, a Federal judge ruled in the Center’s favor, meaning that the City of Medford must reduce its wastewater discharge to the Rogue River. In real and tangible ways, she is providing data-driven solutions to actual environmental problems.
Please join us in congratulating Christine Weilhoefer for her exemplary scholarship.