For the Record provides information about recent professional activities and honors of University of Delaware faculty, staff, students and alumni.

Recent appointments, publications, presentations and honors include the following:

Appointments

James M. Brophy, Francis H. Squire Professor of History, has been appointed a fellow of the Center of Advanced Studies and of the Center for Book Science at the Ludwig-Maximilian University, Munich, for the winter semester of 2024-25.

Publications

Margaret Stetz, Mae and Robert Carter Professor of Women's Studies and professor of humanities, continues her project of publishing poetry that reflects and expands her scholarly interests with "Les Voyages avec Jean" and its accompanying explanatory "Note." Both appeared in Vol. 21:1 (pp. 131-134) of the Steinbeck Review, a publication of Pennsylvania State University Press that is dedicated to exploring the legacy of John Steinbeck. Her work is a response to Steinbeck's Travels with Charley (1962) and critiques its anthropomorphic assumptions. Another one of her poems, "Breaths," which honors the achievements of the feminist writer Sonia Sanchez, has just been published in Happy 90th: A Tribute to Sonia Sanchez,  edited by Larry Robin and issued by the Moonstone Arts Press (Moonstone Arts Center, Philadelphia: 2024). A third poem, "Stole" was published in the online journal Heart on Our Sleeves (in its special issue titled Blood Pressure), edited by Abigail Mandlin, and also in the print version (Heart on Our Sleeves Press, September 2024, pp. 9-10). An additional poem, "Popstar," appeared online in The City Key Journal: Exploring the City Through the Arts (September 4, 2024).

Presentations

On Sept. 25–27, 2024, the Institute for Public Administration’s (IPA) Water Resources Center (UDWRC) participated in the 12th annual Delaware River Watershed Forum, held at Wind Creek in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The Watershed Forum hosted by the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed (CDRW), features engaging sessions, keynote speakers, networking with watershed advocates, a reception dinner and field trip excursions. This annual event serves as a fun and impactful opportunity for all coalition members, legislators, agencies, community organizations and more to collaborate on protecting the Delaware River Watershed. UDWRC’s director Jerry Kauffman Jr. and associate director Martha Narvaez attended this year’s CDRW. During the forum, Kauffman led a presentation titled “Hurricane Ida: An Interstate Floor Resilience Plan for the Brandywine in Delaware and Pennsylvania,” and Narvaez moderated. 

On Sept. 29–Oct. 2, 2024, representatives of the UD Water Resources Center (UDWRC) attended and presented at the American Water Resources Association (AWRA), the Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR) and the National Institutes for Water Resources (NIWR) 60th Anniversary joint conference in St. Louis, Missouri. All three organizations collaborated in celebration of the water resources community’s accomplishments over the past 60 years. The celebration included higher-level networking, engagement and learning through the theme "Celebrating the Past and Planning for the Future of Water." In attendance were Jerry Kauffman Jr., UDWRC director; Martha Narvaez, UDWRC associate director; Andrew Homsey, IPA associate policy scientist; Cooper Feeny, UDWRC student; and Rushabh Dhoke, UD graduate student. Presenters included Narvaez (City of Wilmington Green Jobs Program) and Kauffman (Water Resources Management Policy: 60-Year History of Water Resources Management in the United States, 1964–2024). Other presenters included Feeny (City of Wilmington Lead and Copper Rule Inventories—An Insight in Local and Federal Policy Implementation), Dhoke (Poster—Dynamic Assessment of Saltwater Intrusion in Rivers and Estuaries Using Aquatic Drones). IPA is a research and public service center in the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration.

Honors

UD alumna Kat Locke-Jones has been named the 2025 Maryland Teacher of the Year. Locke-Jones, who teaches 7th grade English at Hampstead Hill Academy was previously named the Baltimore City Public Schools’ Teacher of the Year. She is co-founder of SL24 and Sean’s House, a mental health foundation focused on educating, assisting and supporting students. Locke-Jones earned an English education degree from the University of Delaware and a master’s degree in education from Johns Hopkins University.

UD alumna Shelby Borst has been named the 2025 Delaware Teacher of the Year. Borst graduated from UD with a bachelor of arts degree in social studies education and earned her graduate degree in curriculum and instruction from Western Governors University. Borst teaches social studies at William Penn High School in the Colonial School District, where she has worked to make Advanced Placement and dual-enrollment classes more accessible to Black, Hispanic and multilanguage learners in the school.

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