About the Candidates

Dr. Angela K. Pannier

Dr. Angela Pannier is the Swarts Family Chair of Biological Systems Engineering and Professor of Biological Systems Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). Dr. Pannier’s research focuses on engineering biomaterials and systems for gene/cell therapies and tissue engineering, with projects that range from biomedical engineering to agricultural applications. Her research program has been/is supported by the NIH, American Heart Association, NSF, USDA, and industry contracts. Dr. Pannier has authored 55 articles, five book chapters, two patents, over 125 meeting abstracts, presented over 60 invited talks, serves as an Associate Editor for Science Advances, serves on the Editorial Board for Experimental Biology and Medicine and Regenerative Medicine Frontiers, and serves as a reviewer for multiple journals and funding agencies. She is an active member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), and the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy. Herr research innovation was acknowledged with a 2017 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, a 2019 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) from the White House Office of Technology and Science Policy, and in 2020 she was named a Fellow in BMES. She was also named a 2022 Fellow in the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineers. Within her lab, Dr. Pannier has mentored three postdoctoral fellows, 18 graduate students, and 42 undergraduate students to degree completion; she is currently mentoring five graduate students and two undergraduate students. For her advising she was awarded the UNL College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Darrell W. Nelson Excellence in Graduate Student Advising Award and the UNL Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Award. Dr. Pannier’s teaching program has focused on developing courses for the biomedical engineering emphasis within her department, including undergraduate and graduate level courses. In addition, she also served as an instructor in the year-long senior engineering capstone course sequence. For her teaching accomplishments, Dr. Pannier was awarded the Tau Beta Pi Distinguished Teaching Award, a UNL Parent’s Association Teaching Award, and a UNL College of Engineering Distinguished Teaching Award. Dr. Pannier has held various leadership roles within her department, institute, university, and profession. She chaired her department’s ABET Continuous Improvement and Program Assessment Committee for 6 years, served as chair of the IANR Liaison Committee, and currently serves as chair of her department’s external relations committee and promotion and tenure committee. In 2019 Dr. Pannier was one selected as one of four co-chairs to develop UNL’s N2025 Strategic Plan. She currently serves as a campus steering committee member for the statewide NIH INBRE program, is a co-chair of the newly formed IANR Women Supporting Women (WSW) Network for Success, and serves as a member of the Executive Committee for Nebraska Women in STEM Statewide Initiative. Between 2020 and 2021, Dr. Pannier co-led an outreach campaign on COVID-19 vaccines and for her service work on and off campus, she was awarded the College of Engineering Faculty Service award. Dr. Pannier completed the Big Ten Academic Alliance Academic Leadership (ALP) program in 2020. She holds a BS and MS in Biological Systems Engineering from UNL and a PhD from Northwestern University.

Dr. Mark Stone

Mark Stone is the acting Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Community Engagement in the School of Engineering and Professor of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering (CCEE) at the University of New Mexico (UNM). He is also co-founder and Director of the UNM Resilience Institute. Before becoming the acting Associate Dean, Dr. Stone served as the Associate Chair of Undergraduate Programs for CCEE from 2020 to 2021 and Associate Chair for Graduate Programs from 2013 to 2016. Dr. Stone is a proud alumnus of the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at UNL, where he earned his BS degree in 1998. He also holds MS and PhD degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Washington State University. Dr. Stone’s research interests include integrated water resources management and socio-ecological systems resilience. He serves as the lead-PI and Director of the Intermountain West Transformation Network, which is $15 million research network supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF). He has served as lead-PI or co-PI on 15 NSF awards including an NSF CAREER award on building community resilience to floods and droughts. At UNM, Dr. Stone has contributed to the institutional culture of inclusive excellence by integrating inclusive practices in his research, teaching, and leadership. His efforts have been recognized through multiple teaching excellence awards, the New Mexico Alliance for Minority Participation outstanding mentor award, and the Harrison Excellence Award for community engagement. In 2020, Dr. Stone was awarded the Paul Bartlett Re Peace Prize Career Achievement Award for his leadership of student organizations in completing humanitarian work in Nepal and Bolivia.

Dr. Debasmita Misra

Debasmita (Debu) Misra is currently a Professor of Geological Engineering in the College of Engineering and Mines, University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). He joined UAF in 2002. His area of expertise is Environmental Hydrogeology/Water Resources Engineering and he has taught a suite of courses in both undergraduate and graduate levels, including Subsurface Hydrology, Unsaturated Flow and Transport in Porous Media, Remote Sensing for Engineering, Dam Design, Soil and Water Conservation Engineering and Senior Capstone Design. His research interests are in Non-isothermal Multiphase Fluid Flow and Transport in Porous Media, Characterization Subsurface Hydraulic Properties, Numerical Methods and Machine Learning Applications, Remote Sensing and Geophysical Methods. His current research/outreach are focused on developing a network of networks (ALSNet), an NSF project, to build an international partnership for agricultural soil management to mitigate climate change and a USDA project on Agrability to facilitate agriculture for disabled agriculturists. He is also investigating the use of biochar in cold soils for nutrient management and water quality. He has engaged both undergraduates and graduates in quality research projects at UAF. He has served as a Visiting Professor at the Henan University of Science and Technology, China, Zhengzhou University of Aeronautics, China and African University of Science and Technology, Nigeria. Prior to joining UAF, he was a Senior Engineer at the Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant in Wisconsin, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Mechanics and the Department of Geological Engineering & Sciences at Michigan Technological University, and a Staff Petroleum Engineer in the National Institute of Petroleum and Energy Research as an employee of the BDM/TRW Petroleum Technology.

Debu Misra has served as the UAF Faculty Senate President and also as the Organizational Vice-President of United Academics of UAF, amongst many other academic leadership roles. He had served as the Faculty Advisor of the Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists student club in UAF. He serves as the faculty advisor to the UAF Chapter of the Golden Key International Honor Society and the Namaste India Student Club of UAF. He had served as the Chair of the Erosion Control Committee and the Hydrology Committee of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ASABE). He organized and chaired the International Conference titled, “International Symposium on Erosion and Landscape Evolution” (ASABE) in Anchorage, Alaska in 2011. He had served as the Chair of the Hydrogeology Technical Working Group and the Co-Chair of the Geologic Resource Management Technical Working Group of the Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists (AEG). He was the Co-Chair of the 2015 APCOM Conference Organizing Committee in Fairbanks, AK. He serves as a mentor to the “Rural Livelihood, Innovation and Enterprise Foundation”, an NGO involved in reducing material poverty in India. He serves as a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens Advisory Council of Alaska. He is currently a Guest Editor of Water for a special issue on “Cold Regions Hydrology”. He is member of the Editorial Board of several journals. He is serving as the Associate Editor of Natural Resources and Environmental Systems division of the Journal of ASABE. He has served as a reviewer for several funding agencies. Besides, he had served as the President of the student union in Asian Institute of Technology where he obtained his MS degree and as the President of student union in the College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, India where he obtained his BS degree. He was also the founder President of the Rotaract Club of OUAT, Bhubaneswar, India.

Dr. Terry Howell

Terry is a food engineer serving as the Executive Director of The Food Processing Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and has been in that role since July, 2018.

The Center is a consultancy to the food industry in the state, region and beyond, assisting companies as small as entrepreneurial food startups and as large as multi-national corporations with process and product development needs. The Center has >18,000 ft2 of laboratory and pilot plant processing space, including a microbiology lab, analytical and physical chemistry labs, sensory lab, and food-grade product development lab. The plants include the UNL Dairy Plant, an extrusion plant, an all-purpose plant, and a high pressure processing/fermentation plant among other facilities. In March, 2021, the FPC created a co-working space for food-tech entrepreneurs at the Food Innovation Center. The FPC pilot plant team received the Omtvedt Team Innovation Award from the IANR in 2020 for pivoting to produce hand-sanitizer during the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dr. Howell spent 16 years in research and development roles at McKee Foods Corporation (a privately owned company with >$1.5B in annual sales) in Collegedale, TN. He managed the Research and New Technology Department for nearly 5 years and then managed the Product Development department for 7 years. In that role, he oversaw the launch of nearly 300 new products across the company’s brands.

He is a licensed engineer and a past-President and Fellow of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. He has served on numerous leadership groups within that professional society. His degrees are in Agricultural Engineering from Texas A&M University (B.S., M.S.) and Biological Systems Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (Ph.D.).