On October 11, 2016, at the College of Arts and Sciences fall faculty meeting, AMEC professor David Hoffman was named an Eminent Scholar by Interim Dean, Dr. Rick Travis. Dr. Hoffman picked up the Wallace Eminent Scholars Award for distinguished research in the Social Sciences. The award, which comes with a cash prize, recognizes scholarly achievements. Dr. Hoffman is a Fulbirght Fellow, who conducts field work in Costa Rica, studying the reasons people move towards national parks. His work in Costa Rica was funded by a Senior Research grant from the National Science Foundation. Dr. Hoffman also studies fishing, in New Orleans, for example, amongst Vietnamese-Americans.