NAU News — Carrying on the Cobell legacy: Cobell Scholars commit to education, progressing health care for their Native communities and more news

	Stay up-to-date on the Rafael Fire NAU continues to coordinate with local partners who are working to mitigate the Rafael Fire, burning southwest of Flagstaff.
	Carrying on the Cobell legacy: Cobell Scholars commit to education, progressing health care for their Native communities Matthew Greyeyes and Beyonce Bahe both have plans for medical school after graduating with long-term goals of improving healthcare for their Native communities, all while carrying on Elouise Cobell’s legacy and challenging societal norms.
	NAU mechanical engineer receives NSF CAREER award to pioneer robot-assisted rehabilitation while integrating education, research Zach Lerner leads the Biomechatronics Lab at NAU, where he studies the use of robotics to help improve the gait of people with walking disabilities. The outcomes for this project have the potential to transform treatment of walking disabilities across a wide range of conditions.
	NAU geochemist on new study confirming cause of greatest mass extinction event Associate professor Laura Wasylenki co-authored a new paper in Nature Communications that presents the results of nickel isotope analyses on Late Permian sedimentary rocks. The results demonstrate the power of nickel isotope analyses, which are relatively new, to solve long-standing problems in the geosciences.
	Creating a post-COVID playbook for northern Arizona’s economic recovery Diane Scherpereel, a research associate at the Economic Policy Institute, is leading a regional research project spearheaded by CAG that creates a plan to help the region, particularly the harder-hit rural areas, rebound in the coming years.
	Drought affects aspen survival decades later, new NAU study finds Research specialist Melissa Boyd and Regents’ professor Michelle Mack led the study, which demonstrated the long-term effects of climate change on this vegetation.
	Awarding artistry: At 2021 Viola Awards, Lumberjacks recognized for art, science and education Longtime School of Music director Edith Copley won a Legacy award, while art exhibits, performances and educators earned awards at the 13th annual event. Several NAU community members also received nominations for this year’s awards.
	Pivot to virtual helped PMI team create a more accessible, user-friendly training for flagship software If they were at all concerned about the need for virtual training, the team behind QIIME 2 saw those concerns evaporate when registration for bioinformatics software sold out in less than five minutes. Researchers from more than 20 countries participated in the adapted sessions.