For the second consecutive year, a team of University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Doctor of Physical Therapy students has won a national title.
Third-year DPT students Alondra Lopez, Anna Broyles, Kara Lucchesi and Gretchen Morris captured the championship at the American Physical Therapy Association’s Combined Sections Meeting Knowledge Bowl in Anaheim, California, edging out competitors from programs across the country.
Organized by NPTE Final Frontier, a national exam-preparation company, the Knowledge Bowl is a fast-paced, quiz-style competition that tests students across core areas of physical therapy, including clinical decision-making, biomechanics, pathology and patient care.
The victory follows UTC’s first-ever Knowledge Bowl win last year.
Broyles, Lopez, Lucchesi and Morris took the National Physical Therapy Exam in late April and are scheduled to graduate from UTC on May 8. They completed full-time clinical education assignments across the Southeast while preparing for the exam.
Lopez is from Dalton, Georgia, while Broyles, Lucchesi and Morris are from Knoxville, Johnson City and Athens, respectively.
Joint-venture food drive benefits Salvation Army
PORCH Chattanooga and the International Student Leadership Council at UTC partnered to host a three-day food drive last week to benefit The Salvation Army of Chattanooga.
The drive, held April 14-16 on UTC’s campus, included donation sites at Lupton Hall, the UTC Library and the University Center, allowing students and faculty to contribute nonperishable food items.
Organizers said the effort was launched in response to an urgent need for supplies at the Salvation Army’s food pantry. Donations collected during the drive will be delivered directly to the organization.
PORCH Chattanooga is part of PORCH Communities, a grassroots organization that coordinates neighborhood-based food collection efforts to support local pantries and community groups.
Mapping project wins innovation award
A mapping project at UTC is drawing international attention for the way it explains a local issue.
UTC’s Center for Applied Geospatial Data Science earned the Storytelling with Maps Innovation Award in the 2025 ArcGIS StoryMaps Competition for its project, “Mapping Chattanooga’s Urban Forests.” The project was also named a finalist in the competition’s Environment category, placing it among the top entries worldwide.
Created by GIS Director Charlie Mix, the StoryMap centers on the Chattanooga Tree Project, a citywide effort to address tree canopy loss and rising urban heat. Working with the city of Chattanooga and local partners, UTC researchers are using geospatial data and artificial intelligence to identify where trees are needed most.
The work behind the StoryMap relies on aerial imagery, satellite data and machine learning to map existing tree canopy and measure heat patterns across the city. That information is used to create a heat risk index, helping guide where new trees should be planted.
Part of what sets the project apart is its presentation. The StoryMap walks users through the data step by step, pairing maps with plain-language explanations so people outside the field can follow along.
The project grew out of early partnership work supported by the Lyndhurst Foundation, which helped UTC begin collaborating with the city on urban forestry efforts. That groundwork led to a $6 million U.S. Forest Service-supported initiative to expand tree planting across Chattanooga.
Mix says the recognition reflects a group effort. Assistant GIS Director Nyssa Hunt, graduate student Michelle “Mimi” White and partners across the city and nonprofit community all contributed.
UTC wins national advertising honors
UTC has earned recognition for creative excellence in the 2025 Collegiate Advertising Awards, one of the nation’s leading competitions for higher education marketing and communications.
The awards program drew entries from colleges and universities across the United States and Canada, ranging from community colleges to large university systems. A national panel of industry professionals evaluated submissions based on creativity, design, functionality, message effectiveness, production quality and overall appeal.
UTC received two honors, placing its work among the top tier of collegiate advertising nationwide.
The WUTC Alan Broadbent Jazz Concert Video earned a Gold Award, placing it in the top 5% of entries in the Special Video Production – Single category. Created by Mike Andrews and Sam Blevins, the video captures a benefit performance with an emphasis on emotional storytelling, highlighting both the artistry of the music and WUTC’s connection to the community.
The WUTC Alternate Brand Expression Package received a Silver Award, ranking in the top 12% of entries in the Logos, Trademarks and Mascots category. Designed by Amy Devan-Barker, the package presents a vibrant visual identity that reflects WUTC’s mix of music and talk programming.
The campaign extended across multiple platforms, including posters, apparel, mugs and other promotional items, using bold colors and music-inspired graphics to convey energy, innovation and community engagement.
Both entries were submitted in the division for institutions with 10,001 to 20,000 students.
Awards in the Collegiate Advertising Awards are reserved for the highest-scoring entries nationwide, with Gold Awards representing the top 5% and Silver Awards the top 12%. Overall, only the top 16% of submissions receive recognition.
Recent graduate Fiste joins JET Program
Bailee Fiste, a recent graduate of UTC, will return to Japan this summer as part of the Japanese Exchange and Teaching Program.
Fiste, who earned a bachelor’s degree in humanities: international studies in December 2025, has been selected as an assistant language teacher. She will work in Japanese classrooms supporting English instruction and cultural exchange.
A native of Sparta, Fiste first traveled abroad through a study experience in Japan supported by the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship. The experience sparked her interest in living and working overseas and set her on a path toward international education.
With guidance from UTC’s Office of National Scholarships, she completed the application process for the JET Program, a Japanese government-supported initiative that places participants in schools across the country to assist with English instruction and promote cross-cultural understanding.
Fiste will depart Aug. 1 and is expected to learn her placement location in late May or early June. Assignments range from rural communities to major cities.
Her time at UTC, including study abroad and interactions with international students, helped shape her interest in teaching English as a second language and prepared her for the opportunity.
Source: University of Tennessee at Chattanooga