Briana Nelson Goff recognized as outstanding alum of Texas Tech

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Source: Briana Nelson Goff, 785-532-1490
News release prepared by: Cheryl May, 785-532-6415, may@k-state.edu

Thursday, March 8, 2007

BRIANA NELSON GOFF RECOGNIZED AS OUTSTANDING ALUM OF TEXAS TECH

MANHATTAN -- Briana S. Nelson Goff was honored earlier this week by Texas Tech University's College of Human Sciences with an alumni award as a "New Achiever."

Nelson Goff, interim assistant dean for academic affairs in the College of Human Ecology at Kansas State University, was among five Texas Tech alums recognized for outstanding success in their careers.

Nelson Goff, who also is an associate professor in K-State's School of Family Studies and Human Services, earned her Ph.D. from Texas Tech. Her master of science degree in marriage and family therapy is from K-State.

Nelson Goff’s clinical experience and research specialization is with traumatic stress symptoms in trauma survivor couples, families and children. In 2000, as part of team funded by the National Research Council, she traveled to Bosnia-Herzegovina to assess physical and mental heath issues and postwar reconstruction five years after the genocide that claimed tens of thousands.

"My particular area of interest was understanding the impact of the war on its youngest victims -- the children," Nelson Goff said. "I found the experiences I had in the children’s homes in my follow-up trips extremely rewarding because of the resilience in these children so profoundly affected by the war."

At K-State, she developed the Trauma Research, Education and Consultation at K-State -- TRECK -- program. The TRECK Team is comprised of students and faculty who research and study various aspects of human trauma. In 2005, the TRECK Team conducted surveys and interviews with 50 military couples from Fort Riley and Fort Leavenworth. In each case, the male member of the couple had returned from conflict in Iraq or in Afghanistan. This research project has provided increased awareness of both the stress faced by soldiers and their partners, but also the strengths and resilience the couple relationship provides for dealing with traumatic stressor events. Additional projects are under way, and more than 90 students have been TRECK members since its inception in 1998.

Nelson Goff is a member of American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. In addition, she serves on the Human Subjects Institutional Review Board as well as the President's Commission on Multicultural Affairs at K-State.

In 2003, she received the K-State College of Human Ecology Dawley-Scholer Award for Faculty Excellence in Student Development. In 2005, she was named interim assistant dean for academic affairs in the College of Human Ecology.

She was recently selected to be project coordinator in charge of developing a state plan for disaster behavioral health in Kansas. This project, the Kansas All-Hazards Behavioral Health Program, is funded by a

contract between K-State and the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, Mental Health Services, and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The project plan will address preparedness activities, response coordination, and recovery services in the event of a disaster or other public health emergency.