Laura Enzor, assistant professor of biology in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been named recipient of the 2024 Belle K. Ribicoff Junior Faculty Prize. This honor is awarded annually to recognize an outstanding junior faculty member in a tenure-track position who demonstrates combined excellence in teaching, scholarly or creative activity, and service.Enzor has forged an outstanding career at the University of Hartford that effectively combines teaching, research, and enduring efforts to improve overall instruction and student performance throughout the college’s scientific community. Through her research, which centers around ecological physiology, she endeavors to discover how organisms use their physiology to adapt to their environments, and what impact global climate change has on marine life.
“Laura is an extraordinarily thoughtful, reflective, and hardworking teacher. Her success as a biology instructor is notable, but so is the broader impact her teaching has on gateway biology courses and in STEM disciplines,” says Mark Blackwell, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “Since joining the biology department in the fall of 2019, she has been an important force for improving teaching and
learning in the crucial biology sequences.”
Colleagues note how one of Enzor’s decisive strengths is in creating a welcoming classroom atmosphere for all students. That, they say, ably demonstrates her strong commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging.
Enzor assists other instructors, helps develop various programs, participates in the admission process, and serves on several curriculum, honors, and environmental studies committees. She also continues her important scientific research, one portion of which was recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with a scientific and technological achievement award. Enzor was a postdoctoral researcher at the EPA between 2014 and 2019.
“Laura is one of the hardest working and most dedicated faculty members on our campus,” notes Adam Silver, A&S honors coordinator and associate professor in the biology department. “She’s the most resourceful researcher I have ever met.”
Colleagues note how one of Enzor’s decisive strengths is in creating a welcoming classroom atmosphere for all students. That, they say, ably demonstrates her strong commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging.
Enzor assists other instructors, helps develop various programs, participates in the admission process, and serves on several curriculum, honors, and environmental studies committees. She also continues her important scientific research, one portion of which was recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with a scientific and technological achievement award. Enzor was a postdoctoral researcher at the EPA between 2014 and 2019.
“Laura is one of the hardest working and most dedicated faculty members on our campus,” notes Adam Silver, A&S honors coordinator and associate professor in the biology department. “She’s the most resourceful researcher I have ever met.”