UNO Faculty Earn Top Corrections and Sentencing Research Awards

Two University of Nebraska at Omaha faculty members will be recognized this fall for their contributions to corrections and sentencing research, highlighting the national impact of scholarship emerging from UNO’s Advancing Research in Corrections Lab.

Dr. Zachary Hamilton will receive the Distinguished Scholar Award, while Dr. Jenn Tostlebe will receive the Distinguished New Scholar Award from the American Society of Criminology’s Division on Corrections and Sentencing.

Recognizing research and service

The Division on Corrections and Sentencing, a constituent unit of the American Society of Criminology, recognizes researchers whose work advances understanding of corrections and sentencing while also contributing service to the field.

Hamilton, a professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, will receive the Distinguished Scholar Award, which recognizes a sustained scholarly career marked by groundbreaking contributions to the field. The award also recognizes service to the division and honors established scholars with significant post-doctoral experience.

Hamilton’s research has focused on identifying evidence-based approaches that can reduce reliance on incarceration and support rehabilitation for adults and juveniles involved in the justice system. His recent scholarship includes work on correctional assessment systems and research associated with the federal First Step Act, as well as a study published in Criminology with Tostlebe and other co-authors examining how the predictive value of prior criminal events declines over time.

“This award is meaningful recognition of my career-long effort to identify effective, evidence-based solutions that reduce reliance on incarceration and support rehabilitation for adults and juveniles involved in the justice system,” Hamilton said.

Tostlebe, an assistant professor and co-director of the Advancing Research in Corrections Lab, will receive the Distinguished New Scholar Award, which recognizes outstanding early-career achievement in corrections and sentencing research. The award considers both research and service to the division and honors emerging scholars early in their post-doctoral careers.

Having received her Ph.D. in 2023, Tostlebe is relatively early in her eligibility for the award. She said the recognition is especially meaningful because corrections and sentencing have become central to her scholarly career.

“Corrections and sentencing is really my scholarly home, so to be recognized by colleagues in this area for the work I've been building over the past years is incredibly meaningful,” Tostlebe said.

Her research agenda includes both theoretically driven scholarship and applied projects conducted in partnership with correctional agencies and community organizations.

“I've tried to build a research agenda that bridges different kinds of scholarship,” Tostlebe said. “I really love being able to do both.”

A recognition of collaboration

For both faculty members, the awards also reflect the importance of professional relationships built throughout their careers.

Hamilton’s nomination was led by Dr. David Pyrooz of the University of Colorado Boulder, with whom Hamilton has collaborated on several research projects and continues to work on efforts to help reduce prison crowding in Iowa. Pyrooz also brought together professors, researchers and practitioners who have worked with Hamilton throughout his career.

Tostlebe was nominated by Hamilton, her colleague and co-director of the ARC Lab, and Pyrooz, her doctoral advisor at the University of Colorado Boulder and a continued mentor and collaborator.

The support behind the nominations was particularly meaningful to Tostlebe.

“Awards are exciting, but knowing that people whose work I respect were willing to take the time to nominate and support me has been one of the best parts of the whole experience,” she said.

The Division has also been an important professional community for Tostlebe since she was a graduate student, making the recognition meaningful beyond the research itself.

A standout year for the ARC Lab

The awards are part of an especially significant year for UNO’s Advancing Research in Corrections Lab.

In addition to Hamilton and Tostlebe, three UNO doctoral students connected to the lab will receive Division on Corrections and Sentencing awards. Caitlyn Jordon and Taylor Gonzales received the Ben Steiner Excellence in Corrections Student Paper Award, while Abigail Hayes received the Dr. Kimchi Memorial Graduate Travel Award.

Hamilton said the recognition of so many members of the lab reflects the collaborative nature of their work.

“This year represents a remarkable showing for our Advancing Research in Corrections (ARC) Lab,” Hamilton said. “Having five members of our lab recognized by the division in the same year makes the experience particularly special.”

Tostlebe, who serves as a dissertation chair for Gonzales and Hayes, and as primary advisor to Jordan, said mentoring graduate students has become one of the most rewarding parts of her work.

“Mentoring and collaborating with graduate students has become one of the parts of the job that I love the most,” Tostlebe said. “I'm especially happy that this is a year when I get to celebrate their accomplishments, too.”

Looking ahead

Hamilton and Tostlebe will be recognized at the Division on Corrections and Sentencing awards ceremony in Chicago in November.

Tostlebe said she is looking forward to the American Society of Criminology meeting not only because of her own recognition, but because it will bring together so many colleagues and students whose work she admires.

“The ASC meeting is one of my favorite opportunities each year to reconnect with friends and colleagues from across the country and to meet new people,” Tostlebe said. “This year will be more fun than normal because there is just so much to celebrate.”

For Hamilton, the ceremony will be an opportunity to celebrate with family, friends, colleagues and students, particularly members of the ARC Lab.

“While I still feel like I have much more I want to accomplish, this recognition feels like a checkpoint of sorts,” Hamilton said. “I love my job and dedicate a great deal of my time to serving my discipline, the field of corrections, our school, and our students. It is nice to take a moment to appreciate that work and feel recognized for it…and then get back to work!”