Natural Science department students receive 2025 awards

Concordia University, Nebraska’s natural sciences department recently held its annual banquet, recognizing graduating seniors and students who have displayed outstanding service and scholarship during their time at the university. 

Students and faculty enjoyed each other’s company, fellowship, prayer and the game, “Are you smarter than a middle schooler?” The banquet featured a presentation from Josiah Rensner ‘19, who majored in education, chemistry and biology during his time at Concordia. Resner is currently completing his Ph.D. in chemistry at Iowa State University. 

“Choose a school where there are multiple people doing research that you’re interested in,” he informed current students. “Talk to current graduate students. They’ll really tell you what it’s all about.”  

Resner is the fifth of six Ph.D. students who have gone to Iowa State University to pursue graduate work in chemistry or material science in recent years. He has recently accepted a faculty position as Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Concordia University Irvine, one of Concordia Nebraska’s sister schools. He will start his ministry there this summer.  

Concordia Nebraska’s Department of Science 2024 awards and scholarships include:  

The Faculty Science Scholarship is the department’s highest honor and is awarded to the most outstanding science student – both in the classroom and in terms of service to the department and the university – going into their final academic year. This scholarship is funded entirely by donations from current and past faculty members in the department. This year the scholarship was awarded to two students, Autumn Deterding of Cambridge, Nebraska, and Haley Miles of North Platte, Nebraska.  

The Daenzer Scholarship is awarded to students who will be graduating in the coming year and who are outstanding students, helpful to the department and the university, and reflect the love and awe for creation exhibited by the scholarship’s namesake Gil Daenzer, who was a long-time physics faculty member at Concordia University, Nebraska. This year’s winners were Nora Fingerlin of Parker, Colorado, Teagan Meyer of Alta, Iowa, and Mayson Ostermeyer of Crofton, Nebraska.  

Outstanding Lab Assistants included Athalie Dorner of Lincoln, Nebraska (biology), Rebecca Gebhardt of Norfolk, Nebraska (biology), Jennifer Katz of Springfield, Nebraska (biology), Bradley Bennett of Omaha, Nebraska (chemistry), Bethany Thomas of Libby, Montana (chemistry) and Teya Badger of Brandon, South Dakota (physics).  

The Golden Scalpel is awarded to the most outstanding student in BIO 450 Advanced Human Dissection. This year’s winner was Hannah Callahan of York, Nebraska.  

The “Disposable Blue Inoculating Loop Award” is a just-for-fun award created by Dr. Connie Callahan to commemorate the unique frustrations inherent to microbiology lab. This award was bestowed on her lab assistants who, on a weekly basis, survived the outcome of this question, “What could possibly go wrong in micro lab today?”. Honorees included Hannah Callahan, Athalie Dorner, Rebecca Gebhardt, and Jennifer Katz with an honorable mention for Luke Hammang of Arlington, Nebraska. 

This year saw the introduction of a new award, the “Golden Goat Award” given to a student in the agricultural sciences who exhibited excellent academic performance and outstanding leadership both inside and outside the classroom. The inaugural award was given to Teagan Meyer. 

The natural science department at Concordia University, Nebraska provides students with strong foundations in research, discovery and critical thinking to equip them for their future careers, as well as vocations serving the community, church and world. Concordia Nebraska is committed to providing experiences that promote scientific inquiry and intellectual growth. Learn more about science and math programs here.