Abigail Adams Named ISU Student Employee of the Year

Abigail (Abby) Adams, an honors student, double majoring in Health Science and Spanish for Health Professionals has won the Idaho State University Student Employee of the Year award.

The runners-up were: Laura Alicke, Civil Engineering, Rachel Brownell, Civil Engineering and Meesha Iqbal, Public Health.

Adams is currently a student chemical technician in the Chemistry stockroom. Her duties include meeting the teaching laboratory demands for both Pocatello and Idaho Falls. Adams has been very efficient in meeting the safety, hygiene, receiving, inventory, and input/control demands of the job and she has assumed a leadership role in the stockroom by performing functions of a lead technician. She is the point of contact for both student and customer concerns in the stockroom and has demonstrated leadership and concern for others by attempting to lift students’ spirits through interaction and creative displays. Adams showed initiative by suggesting more efficient ways to meet the students’ needs in the general chemistry labs and her efforts reduced traffic flow. This made the transition to COVID-19 social distancing requirements that much easier.

In addition to her academic and professional pursuits, Adams is very active in the community and in humanitarian efforts. She volunteers weekly as a certified nursing assistant for the Pocatello Free Clinic and regularly helps at the Pocatello Food Bank and ISU’s Benny’s Pantry. Adams is both the vice president and secretary of the ISU Pre-PA (Physician Assistant) Association. Adams organized the first Autism Speaks Walk in Boise, Idaho last year.

Adams was recently selected to participate in the national CommuniVax Research project which is centered at Johns Hopkins University. Her work entails talking to members of underrepresented communities in Idaho in order to improve the delivery of COVID-19 information and vaccines.