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Five members of the College of Education received honors at Auburn University’s Graduate School spring awards ceremony held Friday, April 26. Each year, the Graduate School and the Graduate Student Council recognize Auburn’s 20 most outstanding graduate students, 10 of whom are in master’s and education specialist programs and 10 in doctoral programs.

From the College of Education, Chloe Jones and Teanna Moore were named Outstanding Doctoral Students, and Lisa Ross was presented with the Rebecca Roden Award. Evelyn Hunter and Mike Roberts were recognized as Outstanding Graduate Mentors.

A fourth-year doctoral student in the School of Kinesiology, Jones’ research focuses on finding culturally tailored methods to increase knowledge about and motivation to exercise in young Black women with the goal of increasing the chances of exercise adherence. She is committed to developing research to inform health policies regarding physical activity in underrepresented populations.

Moore is currently working towards her doctoral degree in educational psychology. Her research interests include exploring how self-regulated learning methods may help at-risk youth and students with disabilities develop interpersonal skills necessary for engaging in postsecondary opportunities and pragmatic approaches to foster self-advocacy and self-determination in students with disabilities, particularly those with significant cognitive disabilities.

Ross, graduate student services coordinator in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching, is the recipient of the Rebecca Roden Award, which was established in May 2021 to recognize an Auburn staff member for their excellence in service to graduate education. The award is named in honor of the 41-year service of Roden, the Associate Dean of the Auburn University Graduate School.

The Outstanding Graduate Mentor honor is given to six graduate faculty members who go above and beyond their duty as teachers, advisers and mentors. They are chosen by a committee of graduate students who review nominees’ letters of support. From the College of Education, Evelyn Hunter and Mike Roberts were given this recognition. 

Hunter is an associate professor in counseling psychology in the Department of Educational Foundations, Technology, and Leadership, and her research investigates the impact of multicultural and diversity characteristics on mental health and behavioral constructs, including health disparities in mental and physical wellness and the development of psychology trainee competencies.

Roberts is a professor in the School of Kinesiology and the director of the Nutrabolt Applied and Molecular Physiology Lab. Roberts’ work utilizes cell culture, rodent and basic as well as applied human models to examine how nutrition and exercise affects cellular biomarkers and whole-body physiology.