President Awardees Speak at Brown Bag Lunch

Three USD faculty were selected to present for USD’s third annual Brown Bag Lunch Research Presentations. The Brown Bag Lunch Presentations is to showcase research done by the USD faculty on campus. 

The three presenters at the event were Dr. Elizabeth Hanson (associate professor of communication sciences & disorders), Dr. Meghann Jarchow (chair and associate professor in the Department Sustainability & Environment) and Todd Mechling (instructor of media & journalism).

Ginna O’Conner, a grant specialist in the office of Research and Sponsored programs, said the reason behind the presentations was to reach out to community members. 

“We call it the Brown Bag Lunch Research Presentations because the intention behind it was to reach out to faculty, staff and community members while eating their lunch and  learning something new,” O’Conner said. 

This year, the research department wanted to have a different approach to the presentations. 

“We invite a different group of faculty members each semester to be presenters and talk about their research. We typically pick researchers who are doing something interesting. That’s what we’ve done in the past,” O’Conner said, “ This year, we decided to have a theme… we decided to showcase the President’s 2022 Research Award recipients.” 

In November of 2022, USD presented four staff members the President’s Research Award in their own field of study. Nearly all recipients presented in the research presentations. 

 Jarchow said she was happy to be included in the presentations. 

“I was delighted to be a part of the [Brown Bag Lunch Research Presentation]. I would like to help educate others about sustainability,” Jarchow said. “My idea is that I need to help get information out to others about different ways you can think about sustainability.” 

In the past, they have experimented with different ways to reach out to the community. This year it was over Zoom, although in the past they have tried to have it in person. O’Conner said they will continue to experiment until they can have the most effective way to reach community members. 

More information on the recipients of the president’s award can be found at usd.edu/news.