Distinguished Teacher, Researcher, And Service Winners Chosen

Dr. Tyler Burch has been honored with the 2023 Distinguished Teacher award. Dr. Shannon Kobs Nawotniak is the 2023 Distinguished Researcher, and the 2023 Distinguished Service honor was awarded to Dr. Dani Moffit. 

Burch (Ph.D. University of Washington) is an associate professor of .anagement. He is passionate about teaching courses related to organizational behavior, loves the outdoors, and is enamored with his wife Erin and their three children. He finds immense purpose and joy in teaching students at Idaho State University about leadership, team functioning and organizational behavior-related topics. Burch's primary research interests include individual psychological withdrawal and embeddedness in organizations, management pedagogy, the work-family interface, and employee voice. His research has been published in such outlets as the Journal of Business and Psychology, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Business Ethics, Management Teaching Review, Human Resource Management Review, Journal of Small Business Strategy, Journal of Developmental entrepreneurship, Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, and Journal of Leadership Studies.

Kobs Nawotniak is a physical volcanologist in the Department of Geosciences, where she has been since 2011. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in geology from Michigan Technological University and her PhD in geology from the University at Buffalo. She is particularly interested in the connections between volcanic processes and the resulting geologic products, allowing us to interpret the past on Earth and other planets. Kobs Nawotniak has been involved with analog research in support of space exploration for nearly a decade, becoming a specialist in operationalizing scientific exploration for robotic and human missions. She has served as an astronaut for simulated missions to Mars, worked in the Mission Control science backroom team for NASA's rehearsals for the Artemis 3 return to the Moon, and discovered a new hydrothermal vent system in the Pacific Ocean.

Moffit is the program director of the Master of Science in Athletic Training program in the College of Health. Prior to her time at Idaho State University, Moffit taught and was an athletic trainer for the Meridian School District in Meridian, Idaho for 10 years, as well as was the undergraduate athletic training program director at Temple University in Philadelphia. She is the national chair of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Connection and Engagement Committee, a CAATE Site Visitor, and has been involved with the BOC Exam Committee for thirteen years. She received the NWATA Service Award in 2016, the NATA Service Award in 2017, the NATA Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award in 2018, the District Director’s Award in 2019, the ElevATe Award, and the CAATE President’s Award in 2021. She was inducted into the Northwest Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame in April 2022. Moffit volunteers at the Pocatello Free Clinic and is joined by her students to provide medical care at the Pocatello Marathon, the Simplot Games, and the Scout Mountain Ultra.