Excellence in Outreach Award

Lindsay Benes

Lindsay Benes, associate professor at the Mark and Robyn Jones College of Nursing’sMissoula campus, is the recipient of the Excellence in Outreach Award, which recognizes a faculty member with significant achievements in outreach, an established body of engagement-related scholarship and a record of collaboration outside the academic community to address challenges or opportunities that align with MSU’s land-grant mission. Sponsored by the Office of Academic Affairs, the Outreach and Engagement Council and MSU Extension, the award includes a $2,000 honorarium.

Benes has demonstrated excellence in outreach in her work with Open Aid Alliance, an organization specializing in harm reduction, to support people with substance use disorders and those living unhoused, said Tracey Koch, the Missoula campus director of the nursing college. In nominating Benes for the award, Koch said Benes facilitates the student experience and fosters student interactions with vulnerable populations. Benes’ research focuses on syringe services and nurse-led treatment programs for individuals with substance use disorders, with the goal of enhancing access to medications for opioid use disorder for Montana’s unhoused population.

“Dr. Lindsay Benes is the epitome of excellence in outreach,” Koch said. “She collaborates with OAA, community agencies and other health care disciplines as part of the triad of teaching, scholarship and service. Her compassion, empathy and commitment to the houseless population in Montana is unmatched.”