AMU Edge

By Drew Maffett Current Master’s Degree Student, Sports and Health Sciences The Fourth of July is right around the corner, which means everyone will be spending more time outside in the heat. Whether you’re grilling a meal, hiking, spending the day at the beach, or watching fireworks, it’s a good time to refresh your memory on dehydration symptoms and heat-related illnesses.

Brian’s ultimate destination: Mount Katahdin in Maine. By John Robert Morton, Student and Alumni Affairs Liaison, and Brian Fisher, AMU Graduate Some individual goals are small and involve simple tasks. Other goals are much, much larger and potentially life-changing. Alumnus Brian Fisher. Image courtesy of author. American Military University (AMU) alumnus Brian Fisher has set out to achieve a major lifetime goal: hiking the entire Appalachian Trail.

By Dr. Kristin Drexler Faculty Member,School of STEM This fall, five University graduate students will join an interdisciplinary team of five professors to participate in the first-ever faculty-student collaborative field research experience in Costa Rica entitled “Sustainability Impacts on Natural Areas in Costa Rica: An Interdisciplinary Assessment.” We will travel to Costa Rica and remain from November 13-20, 2026.

By Dr. Kristin Drexler Faculty Member,School of STEM and Dr. Michelle Watts Associate Dean, School of Security and Global Studies In late May, Dr. Kristin Drexler, Dr. Michelle Watts and Dr. Andreea Mosila presented their COVID-19 research in Paris, France for the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) conference.

The team gathered for a group photo after the University of North Dakota (UND) space studies department tour. Image courtesy of Santiago Arceneaux. Living inside a space analog habitat is easy to imagine from the outside. There are structured schedules, research objectives, simulations, and carefully designed procedures meant to mirror future missions to the Moon or Mars.

By Dr. Jarrod Sadulski Faculty Member, Criminal Justice Recently, an intelligence lieutenant from an all-women’s prison in northwest Pennsylvania contacted me, due to my experience with helping inmates at Belize Central Prison and testifying to Congress about human trafficking. Start a Public Safety degree at American Military University. The intelligence lieutenant said that at his correctional facility, they had detected sex trafficking recruitment occurring both inside and outside the prison.

ByDr. Samer Koutoubi, M.D., Ph.D. Department Chair, Public Health On May 15, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda reported a new Ebola outbreak, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Just one day later, WHO declared this outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), due to its rapid spread and cross‑border implications. Testing revealed that this Ebola outbreak was caused by the Bundibugyo virus.

When you go through a job layoff, it can feel like the ground beneath you disappeared without warning. One day, you have a routine, a role and a sense of direction. But the next day, you face uncertainty, financial pressure and difficult decisions you did not plan to make. Feeling unsettled after a job loss is normal. A layoff affects you more than your income. It can disrupt your confidence, identity and clarity about what comes next in your career journey.

By Lisa Kochevar Faculty Member, School of Security and Global Studies and Valerie Davis, Ph.D. Faculty Member, School of Security and Global Studies The higher education environment has become significantly different since 2020 and the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) software. Artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT®, Grok®, Claude®, and Gemini® are now commonplace. Many students utilize these tools for AI-assisted analysis instead of researching and reasoning independently.

By John Robert Morton, Student and Alumni Affairs Liaison, and Todd W. DeVoe, AMU Graduate Higher education does more than award degrees. It equips people with the tools to solve complex problems from multiple perspectives. For American Military University (AMU) alumnus Todd DeVoe, education became the foundation for a career path dedicated to training future professionals. “I have a lot of knowledge to share.