Students recognized for 2026 achievements
Congratulations to the following students who received awards from off-campus organizations or presented at off-campus conferences/events in 2026.
Note: This page will be updated as more students are recognized.
Paige Kern '26
Augustana Noyce Grant Scholar Paige Kern ’26 of Davenport, Iowa, received first place in the STEM Education Division for her poster "Comparison of Floating Treatment Wetland (FTW) models for secondary classroom use," at the 2026 Illinois State Academy of Science Annual Meeting on April 18.
An FTW is a “raft” of wetland plants that can be added to a body of water to increase the uptake of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous that can cause damage to an aquatic ecosystem, often seen as fishkills when agricultural runoff pollutes a pond or stream.
Fishkills, the localized, often sudden, mass death of fish populations, sometimes affect other aquatic life. These events are typically triggered by environmental stressors — most commonly, rapid drops in dissolved oxygen, pollution, contaminants, temperature changes or pathogens.
Kern's project was supported by the National Science Foundation-funded Noyce Grant and also by an Augustana Student Research Grant.
Morin Windle was a panelist for “Knowledge is Power: The War on Gender Studies and Academic Freedom.”
Morin Windle ’27 of North Aurora, Ill., participated in the National Young Feminists in Leadership Conference, hosted by the Feminist Majority Foundation, from March 28-30 in Arlington, Va. The conference offered a schedule of speakers, panels and networking opportunities, culminating in a Congressional Visit Day where Windle met with the staff of state representatives to discuss policies such as the SAVE Act.
For Windle, two of the most impactful speakers were Loretta Ross, a leading voice in reproductive justice, and Sima Samar, former Minister for Women’s Affairs of Afghanistan. Conversations continued within the Midwest Regional Caucus, where Windle connected with students navigating challenges to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives on their campuses. Accounts of restrictions on student expression, including arrests tied to peaceful protest, underscored the urgency of these issues.
Windle also served as a speaker on the panel “Knowledge is Power: The War on Gender Studies and Academic Freedom,” alongside representatives from PEN America and a gendered violence policy initiative. The panel explored political pressures on academic programs and how students can combat the increasing number of attacks by the federal and state government on higher education.
“It was truly amazing to get to be among so many women, both professionals and fellow students, as we discussed very present issues and navigated how to work with legal systems to enforce or stop policy,” said Windle, a psychology; creative writing; and women, gender, and sexuality studies major.
Hoang Trieu '26 and Minh Phan '27
Two Augustana students — Hoang Trieu '26 of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and Minh Phan '27 of Hanoi, Vietnam — received Outstanding Undergraduate Research Awards at this year's Illinois Section of the Mathematics Association of America (IMAA) conference March 27-28.
Held this year at the University of Illinois, Springfield, the IMAA meets each spring to promote mathematics research at the undergraduate level. Students and faculty from across Illinois gather to present their research in various mathematical fields.
Trieu received an Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award (with distinction) for his presentation and research related to the roots of unity, under the direction of Dr. Brooke Randazzo '13, assistant professor of mathematics.
Phan also received an Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award for his research on combinatorial group theory, under the direction of Dr. Andrew Sward, associate professor of mathematics.