 During her tenure at GSU, she has been recognized for outstanding teaching and has received numerous individual artist research grants from the Welch School of Art and Design and the College of Arts and Sciences of Georgia State University, the Georgia Council for the Arts, the Dekalb Council for the Arts, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, and the Hartsfield Jackson Airport Art Program.Thalken's work has received honors from several organizations including the Atlanta Photography Gallery, the Alice and William Jenkins Gallery, Georgia Commission on Women, Professional Women Photographers, New York Center for Photographic Art International, American Art Today