Category: Employee Recognition

Carolina Diaz-Garcia, a postdoctoral research associate with ISTC, has been accepted into the Soil and Water Conservation Society’s (SWCS) Emerging Leaders Class of 2025.

The program is an immersive, interdisciplinary leadership experience designed to nurture the next generation of conservation leaders. The initiative blends learning modules, mentorship, and hands-on projects to foster resilient professionals. Through experiential learning and skill development, participants will gain the expertise, networks, and passion needed to drive positive change in their communities. 

Sebastiano Giardinella, a project engineer with ISTC, has been selected to participate in the 2024 Faculty Entrepreneurial Leadership Program (FELP).

The University of Illinois Faculty Entrepreneurial Leadership Program (FELP) is a professional development program for faculty interested in entrepreneurship as a path to maximize the socio-economic impact of their research and scholarship. The specific goals of the program are:

• Support entrepreneurship-oriented faculty in their development as entrepreneurs
• Seed new venture creation from the “bench-up” and early-on in faculty research
• Create and nurture a community of entrepreneurial faculty colleagues
• Enhance diversity and inclusion among faculty entrepreneurs

Through these goals, FELP seeks to enhance the University of Illinois’ entrepreneurial ecosystem and nurture a vibrant entrepreneurial community across its campuses. The program is built to be an entry portal into faculty entrepreneurship, and its design is explicitly complementary to NSF I-Corps and other entrepreneurship resources available to faculty.

The Prairie Research Institute recognition program honors employees for their outstanding achievements and excellent work. Selection committees composed of staff from across the organization review nominated candidates.

This year, three ISTC staff members have been recognized for their work. They are:

• Lee Green, Distinguished Research Specialist/Technician
• Elizabeth Lynn Meschewski, Distinguished Support Staff
• Shantanu Pai, ISTC, Early Career Investigator

The three were honored at the Institute’s Annual Celebration of Excellence on April 10.