Using a gift of diverse native plants from the Native Plant Garden in the Koch Center for Engineering and Science Courtyard, professor of biology Cris Hochwender has collaborated with Gena Garrett, education program coordinator for Wesselman Nature Society on her Serve Indiana grant.

Together with Harper Elementary School, Garrett is establishing several plots of native plants to help elementary students engage in outdoor ecological experiences. By establishing gardens in the school’s yard, children will be able to see the wildlife that utilizes a diverse array of native asters, mints, legumes, and milkweeds, thereby allowing students to experience nature and learn about native species in parallel with their established curriculum.

If you are interested in helping with this project or other educational opportunities associated with Wesselman Nature Society, please contact Garrett at ggarrett@wesselmannaturesociety.org.

If you are interested in organizing an educational tour for a UE group, please contact Hochwender at ch81@evansville.edu.

Plants donated from the UE native garden will help fulfill the required $500 local in-kind portion of the grant.

Traveling this summer on UE business with a return date after May 31? Paying membership dues for next fiscal year prior to May 31? If you pay for any of these expense before May 31, you will need to contact Lori Harriss (lh177@evansville.edu) in the Office of Accounting and Audit.

If you use WebAdvisor to create a web voucher, you will need to ask for the prepaid account number to be added to your choices.

If you use your Pcard prior to May 31 to pay for next year’s travel or membership dues, you will need to email the following information:

• Vendor name
• Date of purchase on Pcard
• Dollar amount charged to Pcard
• Description and purpose of purchase
• Account number charged for purchase

These expenses will be charged to your 2016-17 budget funds.

Congratulations to the Doctor of Physical Therapy 2016 graduates! A hooding and pinning ceremony to honor 45 Doctoral candidates was held on Friday, May 6 in Eykamp Hall with over 300 family and friends in attendance. The Department of Physical Therapy faculty presented awards for outstanding achievements to the following graduates:

• The Outstanding Physical Therapist Award was presented to Emily Schultz in recognition of her outstanding academic achievement, clinical performance and leadership.
• The Outstanding Clinical Performance Award was presented to Camille Pfetzer.
• Matthew Kremer received the Mary Kessler Leadership Award.

The Class of 2016 presented Dr. Phil Plisky with the Mary Bennett Award of Excellence-Outstanding Physical Therapy Professor of the Year.

Tom Whitehurst, ABC, CPO, was recognized with the Friend of Physical Therapy Award for his dedicated service to students, graduates and faculty. Tom is the owner of Riverside Orthotics & Prosthetics.   

The best season in nine years for the University of Evansville softball team came to a close on Thursday night as the Purple Aces fell to Illinois State by a 2-0 final in the Missouri Valley Conference Championship at Charlotte West Stadium.

Pitching was the name of the game as Illinois State starter Regan Romshek held the Aces to two hits. Romshek also got the job done at the plate, hitting a home run to give her squad some insurance. Courtney Land and Michal Luckett had the hits for UE.

A great season comes to a close for the Aces, who had their best MVC season since 2007, earning 12 league triumphs. Head coach Mat Mundell and his staff earned MVC Coaching Staff of the Year while Morgan Florey nabbed MVC Freshman of the Year honors. Florey, Chandra Parr and Susan Norris also earned conference recognition.

A scoreless tie was broken up in the top of the fourth inning when Illinois State plated the first run of the game. With two outs, Allison Spencer singled down the right field line to bring home Riley Strandgard to give ISU a 1-0 lead.

Michal Luckett recorded the first hit of the night for the Aces in the bottom of the 4th, singling to center field, but Redbird starter Regan Romshek was able to keep the Aces off the board following her hit. Evansville had another chance in the fifth frame, getting two runners on base, but Romshek was able to take care of business once again.

Romshek was able to help her own cause in the sixth as she hit a home run over the left field wall to give ISU a 2-0 advantage. Illinois State put two more runners on with no outs, but UE starter Morgan Florey was able to get out of the jam and limit the damage. Unfortunately for UE, the bats were not able to get going as the Redbirds finished off the 2-0 win.

Evansville finishes its 2016 campaign with a 24-26 record.

With just six games remaining in the regular season and the Missouri Valley Conference tournament inching ever closer, the University of Evansville baseball team will be looking to improve its league positioning this weekend as Southern Illinois is slated to pay a visit to Charles H. Braun Stadium.

The Aces, who were swept in conference play for the first time this season a week ago at Dallas Baptist, enter the weekend with a 7-8 league mark and a 25-21 overall record. The three losses saw UE drop from second in the standings down into a tie with Wichita State for fifth.

However, the Aces do have a number of things working in their favor, beginning with holding a tiebreaker over both Wichita State (18-31, 7-8 MVC) and fourth-place Bradley (23-17, 7-7 MVC). The two teams currently tied for second, Indiana State (30-17, 9-6 MVC) and Southern Illinois (28-19, 9-6 MVC), represent the final two opponents on UE’s schedule this season.

Dallas Baptist (32-15, 11-3 MVC) currently holds a 2.5 game lead at the top of the standings.

If Evansville is to make a push up the standings, chances are that its hot-hitting line-up will play a major role. With six players hitting better than .280 and 46 home runs on the year, the team is enjoying one of its best offensive seasons. Trey Hair and Boomer Synek lead the group with .361 and .344 averages, respectively, combining for 74 scores and 72 runs batted in to go along with 30 doubles and 13 round-trippers.

Josh Jyawook and his .306 average as well as Korbin Williams and his team-leading 10 homers have also impressed, and UE has really depended on contributions from all over the line-up as 12 different players have left the park this season.

Synek, who has played behind the plate virtually all season, also help leads a defensive effort that ranks among the top of the MVC. The senior, who is playing in his first-ever collegiate campaign at catcher, has picked off 13 runners this season, which is a total better than every other MVC team. He’s also caught another 16 stealing.

As a team, the Aces have really helped out their pitching staff, committing the second-fewest errors in the league and posting a .974 fielding percentage.

On the mound, UE will once again turn to Patrick Schnieders tonight. The junior out of Westphailia, Mo., will be looking for his first win since April 22, and he enters the weekend with a 4-4 record with a 4.50 earned run average.

Starters for Saturday and Sunday have yet to be determined.

First pitch tonight is slated for 6:00 p.m., and Sunday’s 1:00 p.m. contest will represent the final home game of the year for the Aces. A special pregame ceremony will take place to honor the UE senior class.