northland college magazine

Northland College

In the FieldBy giving students hands-on experience working in real-world research, Northland faculty are changing the way our graduates learn. Find out more. Pg. 9

Magazine Home of the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute

FALL 2013

Also in this issue: News • Class Notes • Athletics

Big Water Coffee Roasters in Bayfield, Wisconsin, and Northland College have teamed up to bring you Fenega Fuel, Northland’s new signature coffee, just in time for the holidays. It’s the perfect gift. Or be a Scrooge and keep it all to yourself. Order today and drink up.

northland.edu/coffeeOn the Cover

Northland College student Sara Woodie records information during an avian count, part of a research project led by assistant professor of biology Katie Stumpf. Learn more about how students are getting involved in faculty research at Northland College. Pg. 9

Northland College MagazineFALL 2013

MissionNorthland College integrates liberal arts

studies with an environmental emphasis, enabling those it serves to address the

challenges of the future.

VisionNorthland College will be the nation’s

preeminent liberal arts college focused on the environment, preparing students and

other stakeholders to lead us toward a more sustainable, just, and prosperous future.

PresidentDr. Michael A. Miller

President’s CabinetCheryl Contant

Vice President of Academic Affairs & Dean of Faculty

Robert Jackson Vice President of Finance & Administration

Michele Meyer Vice President for Student Affairs and

Institutional Sustainability

Mark Peterson Executive Director, Sigurd Olson

Environmental Institute

Scott Shrode Vice President of Institutional Advancement

Rick J. Smith Vice President of Institutional Marketing and

Enrollment Management

Magazine ContributorsJulie Buckles, Public and Media

Relations Specialist

Bob Gross, Associate Director of Institutional Marketing

Demeri Mullikin, Executive Director of Institutional Marketing

Vicki Nafey ’96, Director of Advancement Services

© 2013, Northland College

SubmissionsTo submit comments and ideas

for the Northland College magazine, please write to :

Office of Institutional Marketing Northland College 1411 Ellis Avenue Ashland, WI 54806

You can also call (715) 682-1307 or email [email protected].

Class NotesTo submit class notes or alumni

photos, please write to:

Office of Alumni Relations Northland College 1411 Ellis Avenue Ashland, WI 54806

You can also call (715) 682-1811 or email [email protected].

rink coffee.Support Northland.

D

CONTENTS

FROM THE PRESIDENT PG. 1

NEWS PG. 2

FACULTY NOTES PG. 8

IN THE FIELD PG. 9

ALUMNI NEWS PG. 15

ATHLETICS PG. 17

CLASS NOTES PG. 19

SPONSORED RESEARCH PG. 239

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1 NORTHLAND COLLEGE MAGAZINE

A Journey AheadAutumn at Northland College is

the beginning of new journeys. For students, it is a time of academic discovery and learning the responsibility that accompanies newfound independence. It is also a time when students are forging friendships that will last a lifetime and collaborating with faculty on academic projects that serve as a catalyst for career choices down the road.

The journey that the College as a whole begins this fall is along a path laid down by our new strategic plan. Approved by the Board of Trustees in July, the strategic plan will inform and guide our future decisions as an institution and as a community. At the core of the plan are commitments that address important opportunities and challenges while also establishing priorities and directions for the College’s future. I am proud to report that many strategic initiatives are already being developed in response to this plan and launched to effectively accomplish our commitments as quickly as we’re able to do so.

Over the past year, we’ve also been working with the Northland community to develop a comprehensive Campus Facilities Master Plan. The guiding principles in that plan promise to: 1) improve the Northland campus for the benefit of all people and ecosystems, 2) respect and manage both the financial and physical environment of the campus, 3) design buildings and open spaces for safe and easy navigation, and,

FROM THE PRESIDENT4) provide a sense of place and ensure the special character of the College. In the next few months we will refine and adopt a new, long-range facility initiative that will transform a current space on campus and significantly enhance the experience of our students while they are attending Northland. I will share more on that exciting prospect soon.

Of greatest importance, of course, is our continuing commitment to the excellence of our faculty, instruction, and current academic program. Our faculty are also working to initiate additional distinctive undergraduate majors that are mission-consistent, high quality, and aligned with demand and need. This spring we hope to begin introducing new majors that will broaden our academic scope, strengthen current offerings, and enhance our appeal to a larger number of prospective students.

As we grow our student enrollment, we also continue to focus on ensuring higher education access to students from the broadest possible range of socioeconomic circumstances. The financial burden of attending college has become more and more challenging for families especially since the economic collapse of 2008. In response, Northland College, with the support from our generous benefactors, continues to offer significant financial support to our students based on their academic achievements and talents. The College also continues to work hard to control its costs of operations. I am also very pleased to share that, beginning next fall, Northland will

Michael A. Miller President, Northland College

launch a new pricing initiative to help students and families more effectively plan for and afford the cost of attending and graduating from Northland. In addition we will be launching a new set of services after degree completion to provide a career bridge for graduates who can be advantaged by additional experience, support, and preparation to reach their goals.

Our aspiration to serve as an incubator for innovation is coupled with our mission to prepare our students for a global world as they transition from college to careers. In the pages that follow, you will learn more about our dedicated faculty who provide transformative educational experiences for our students, preparing them for service, leadership roles, global citizenship, and fulfilling lives and careers. As you do so, you’ll also see that there are many reasons to continue to be proud of what Northland College has been about for more than one hundred years and will continue to be about for many years ahead.

2 NORTHLAND COLLEGE MAGAZINE FALL 2013 2

NEWSMills Takes First Place for Excellence

As a recent graduate, Allison Mills covered the flood response story in Ashland and Bayfield Counties in 2012 as a volunteer news reporter for Northland College radio station WRNC-LPFM (97.7).

The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association last summer awarded Mills first place award of excellence for small market radio.

Mills is now pursuing a master’s degree in environmental science and natural resource journalism at the University of Montana.

And she is still on the beat.

As a fellow at the Science Source, a multimedia news desk that delivers environmental science reporting to rural and Native American communities in Montana, she’s worked on stories from climate change to vigilante gold, and for her master’s thesis is working on a larger piece about a superfund site.

She volunteers for a radio show called, In Other Words, and is producing an hour-long show based on interviews with two female students about their field work.

The Communications Department contacted Mills and asked her a few questions.

Q. How did your education at NC prepare you for graduate school?

A. Grad school leaves behind the paint-by-numbers approach of many undergrad programs—and that’s something Northland and its professors never bought into. The integrated, hands-on approach

of my Northland education encouraged critical thinking and seeing beyond the basic linear connections. Of course, grad school is still kicking my butt, but my mind has been honed for the challenge.

Q. How did your WRNC internship prepare you for journalism school?

A. I consider my WRNC internship to be my first grad school experience. I switched from the geosciences to journalism because I saw the need for effective science communication. The WRNC internship spiked that interest and started carving those abstract, academic ideals into tangible stories, a process that melded perfectly with my first semester as a grad student. [WRNC Station Manager] Dani [Kaeding] is such an inspiring radio mentor for me. I learned as much from her as I have from many faculty members. Because of her and that internship, I am now working on a

full-length radio documentary about Montana superfund sites for my master’s project.

Q. Why did you choose to report on the floods?

A. At first, the floods story started as “Well, it’s happening and somebody’s gotta cover this” as is the way with disaster stories. Dani and I quickly realized that the Wisconsin side of the flood damage was being swept under the media rug—even though some of our local communities were greatly impacted.

Q. What’s the biggest thing you took away from that story?

A. I like to think the series represents community radio at its best: invested reporters talking to local people, covering an angle ignored by the mainstream, and making a difference in the community. That’s what I hope to continue doing in my work.


NEWS

U.S. News & World Report in its 2014 Best College rankings released in September recognized Northland College among the first tier schools in their category of the “Best National Liberal Arts Colleges.”

That category includes public and private liberal arts schools that offer undergraduate programs that award half their degrees or more in the arts and sciences. Besides Northland, only five other Wisconsin colleges were included in the first tier listing.

“National nods like this validate the value of the liberal arts education we provide to our

Northland College Leads Eco League

Northland College student Tim Koski will forever remember one August evening during a seminar taught by a Northland professor in the Apostle Islands. The natural resources and forestry student stood on the shore of Stockton Island watching a storm roll across Lake Superior. In a sudden flash, four streaks of lightning hit one spot on an island in the distance. “It was awesome to be out there,” Koski said. “I’ll never forget seeing that.”

For two weeks, Koski along with five other college students, paddled two twenty-four-foot voyageur canoes as part of a four-credit Natural and Cultural History Interpretation of the Apostle Islands course organized by the Eco League, a consortium of small liberal arts colleges dedicated to teaching sustainability through experiential learning.

Northland College recently took over the leadership of the Eco League, founded in 2003. “Northland’s opportunity to lead this consortium will bring great

students,” said Rick J. Smith, Vice President of Institutional Marketing and Enrollment Management at Northland. “We’re very pleased to learn that U.S. News & World Report and our peers who rank institutions in that listing continue to recognize Northland as among the first tier of liberal arts colleges nationally.”

Northland College performed well in several categories, including its selectivity and small class sizes. Sixty two percent of Northland College classes have fewer than twenty students and no classes are larger than fifty.

U.S. News & World Report Ranks Northland First Tier

benefits to our students, the region, and to developing new models for educating about sustainability,” said Northland College President Michael A. Miller

The Eco League includes Northland College along with the College of the Atlantic in Maine, Green Mountain College in Vermont, Prescott College in Arizona, and Alaska Pacific University. These diverse locations give students access to three oceans, the Sonoran desert, northern hardwood forests, glaciers, coastal islands, international opportunities, organic


Aztec Dancers Perform, Teach at Northland

KetzalCoatlicue, an Aztec dance group based in South Minneapolis, Minnesota, performed at Northland in September. The event, part of Hispanic Heritage/Awareness Month on campus, was sponsored by the Multicultural Office and the Native American and Indigenous Culture Center. KetzalCoatlicue is a Kalpulli (learning community) of Indigenous people joined by the desire to learn, share, and live in the Mexican Aztec dance tradition. The group pursues this spiritual, mental, and physical vocation with music from the sacred drum, conch shells, seeds, and other instruments gifted by the natural environment. The group consists of dancers of differing ages and with varying years of experience.

farms in four different growing regions, and the largest body of fresh water on the planet—Lake Superior.

The Eco League has offered three joint courses across campuses—marine biology, business and the environment, and natural and cultural history interpretation of the Apostle Islands offered here at Northland College. Assistant Professor of Outdoor Education Elizabeth Andre worked out the complex logistics and secured the hand-built cedar strip voyageur canoes from a Northland partner

organization, Wilderness Inquiry, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

On the last day of the class, the six students presented natural and cultural interpretation at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center on topics of lighthouses, medicinal plants, agriculture, Ojibwe stories, wilderness, and invasive species.

Koski, a Nothland student, said he focused on medicinal plants because it fell in line with what he’s passionate about — plants and trees. The course forced his attention to medicinal plants, something he’s

always wanted to learn more about. “This might just be the kick in the pants I needed to learn more about the small plants,” he said.

Nelson Vila-Santana, a Green Mountain College student who spent his summer interning in a laboratory, couldn’t get over the feeling of looking out from the canoes into a huge body of water “that was so clear and freshwater.” He also couldn’t believe the view —particularly during the memorable lightning storm. “In the East you can’t see much more than ten miles away and here we could watch the storm from fifty miles away.”


NEWS

Permanent Photo Exhibit Honors Indigenous Alumni

New alumnus Noel Cockney (bottom center right), a First Nation member from Inuvik in the Northwest Territories, chose Northland College for its outdoor education program. With a minor in Native American studies he taught northern games—a lost cultural component for fitness so his ancestors could keep traveling, camping, and hunting. For his senior capstone project he created a northern games program for Arctic youth.

Cockney, who graduated in 2012, will not soon be forgotten for many

Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award Winners Announced

The Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute (SOEI) announced the winners of its 2013 Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Awards (SONWA). This is the tenth year a book has been selected for the Children’s Literature category and the twentieth year for the Adult award.

Eliot Schrefer (pictured at left) accepted his award in Children’s Literature for his young adult novel, Endangered, and spoke to students on campus in early November. Craig Childs was awarded the SONWA for his adult nonfiction book, Apocalyptic Planet: A Field Guide to the Future of the Earth. Childs is scheduled to accept his award in January.

“Our award committees hold these two books up as the finest examples from last year that have the qualities

reasons — his caribou fur winter outer gear, for one. Another is his portrait that now hangs outside the Native American and Indigenous Culture Center (NAICC), located on the first floor of Mead Hall.

“I feel honored because my time at Northland has been great, with all the people I have interacted with and learned from,” Cockney said.

Cockney is one of many Native American alumni portraits along with detail shots of significant tribal places and items—like sweet grass and wild rice. Northland College photographer Bob Gross has been conceptualizing the exhibit and shooting photos since the fall of 2012.

“I feel like we have a great start on this project but it will be a project

that continues,” Gross said, noting Native American alumni live all over the world.

“The idea formulated as a way to recognize alumni and inspire current students,” said James Pete, director of NAICC.

The faces whose portraits hang here are inspirational, to be sure. To name a few: Mic Isham (bottom right), a 1994 graduate, is tribal chairman of the Lac Courtes Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa; Joe Rose (top left) is a professor emeritus, and Pete, himself, is a 1997 graduate of the College.

“When we bring in and host events here, visitors will see that recognition of people who are Native American alumni. They might be one of their relatives,” Pete said.


to inspire, teach, and generate conversation,” said SOEI Executive Director Mark Peterson. “They also capture the spirit of the ongoing and evolving human relationship with our natural world in fresh and insightful ways.”

The SONWA for Children’s Literature Committee agreed that Endangered best represented the spirit of Sigurd F. Olson’s writing. Chosen from forty submissions, this young adult novel has no illustrations, the content is weighty and the material is aimed at middle school and high school aged students.

Based on current events, Endangered is the fictional story of fourteen-year-old Sophie, who spends her summers in the Congo

with her mother. In the Congo, Sophie and her mother live in a sanctuary for bonobos (pygmy chimpanzees).

Sophie raises a young bonobo orphan and is tested when a rogue militia attacks the sanctuary. With her own mother gone, Sophie must save herself and a group of bonobos from the violent onslaught.

“Endangered captures the spirit of humanity’s relationship with nature through the eyes of a young girl and promote the importance of preserving nature worldwide for future generations,” said Lisa Williamson who served on the committee.

Chosen from fifty-six submissions, Apocalyptic Planet, recounts Childs’ field trips to nine different global

locations currently experiencing the same major environmental disruptions that occurred during periods of mass extinctions—places that Childs describes as “the most desolate, phenomenal, and downright strange parts of the world.”

“Childs’ uninhibited stories about how the earth has died and been reborn thousands of times during its evolution was so innovative and unpredictable that it opened our eyes to the natural world in ways we never imagined,” said Lissa Radke, who served on the SONWA Committee.

This is Childs’ second SONWA. In 2008, he took the adult nonfiction prize for his book, The Animal Dialogues: Uncommon Encounters in the Wild.


NEWS

Binational Forum Presents Stewardship Awards

Three Minnesota and Wisconsin businesses in July were awarded the Lake Superior Binational Forum’s Environmental Stewardship Award in U.S. Industry and Business categories.

The Forum, a twenty-two year-old program at the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute (SOEI) at Northland College, recognized fourteen individuals, business,

municipalities, organizations, and youth groups this year around Lake Superior for exemplary acts of stewardship in Canada and the United States. This was the tenth year the Forum has given environmental stewardship awards.

Three of the awards went to Upper Midwest businesses: Upper Lakes Foods, Inc. in Cloquet, Minnesota, Bodin Fisheries in Bayfield, Wisconsin, and the Washburn Marina in Washburn, Wisconsin.

“These three businesses represent the best in industry sustainable

practices in stewarding the health of Lake Superior this past year,” said Lissa Radke, coordinator of SOEI’s Lake Superior Binational Forum.

The Forum judges chose recipients that have demonstrated successful or innovative actions that minimize or eliminate negative impacts on natural environments in the Lake Superior basin, Radke said.

ConvocationDrummer Steve Matier and student

orientation leader Ian Cockrill (right) led the 2013 freshmen class across the Fenenga Bridge during the Convocation Ceremony in September.


FACULTY NOTESReleased June 2013: North Star

Press of St. Cloud, Minnesota released Wannabe, by Joseph Damrell, professor of sociology, social justice, Native American studies.

Released September 2013: Raven Productions of Ely, Minnesota released Paddling to Winter: A Couple’s Wilderness Journey from Lake Superior to the Canadian North by Julie Buckles, public and media relations specialist and adjunct professor.

Released December 2013: University of Pennsylvania Press will release Empire of Vines: Wine Culture in America (Nature and Culture in America) by Erica Hannickel, assistant professor of environmental history.

Assistant Professor of Outdoor Education Elizabeth Andre published, “It’s Time for a Global Ethic; Not Just Local Etiquette,” in Human Kinetics, published in Champaign, Illinois.

Assistant Professor of Natural Resources Sarah Johnson attended the Botanical Society of America conference in July in New Orleans, Louisiana, and presented her research, “Dieback in Juniperus communis as a possible indicator of climate change impacts to Lake Superior sandscapes.”

Professor of Outdoor Education Cindy Dillenschneider presented and exhibited in August at the No Barriers Summit in Telluride, Colorado.

Assistant Professor of Sociology and Social Justice Angela Stroud presented a paper in August that she co-authored “Economic Insecurity and the Proliferation of Concealed Handgun Licenses in Texas,” at the American Sociological Association, in New York, New York.

Assistant Professor of Biology Katie Stumpf attended the American Ornithologist Union/Cooper Ornithological Society Conference, in Chicago, Illinois. She presented the results of a portion of her dissertation work, “Movement Patterns and Genetic Analyses Reveal Different Patterns of Population Structuring of Southwestern Willow Flycatchers.”

Associate Professor of Environmental Education and Outdoor Education Clayton Russell presented “Knowing the Outdoor Experience: A Field Guide for Discovering the Literature and Landscape of Home,” at the fortieth annual International Association for Experiential Education Conference.

Assistant Professor of Philosophy Tim Doyle presented in October his paper, “Narrative Reconstruction and Parametric Analysis in Environmental Ethics,” at the thirty-fifth annual Society for Description Psychology Conference in Golden, Colorado.


“Excuse me, what was the question?” asked Northland College student Sara Woodie. “I’m in bird mode.”

With that the biology major raised her binoculars for a closer look at a chipping sparrow. This was part of Woodie’s summer college employment. Instead of flipping burgers or mowing lawns, she assisted Katie Stumpf, assistant professor of biology at Northland College, with avian counts and nesting bird surveys.

HoW faCulTy rESEarCH IS TraININg THE NExT gENEraTIoNIN THE FIELD

FALL 2013 10

on an early morning in July, Woodie worked alone counting birdcalls. Silent and attentive, she stood next to rows of young aspen trees, listening for the chirps and tweets of song sparrows, ovenbirds, robins, bobolinks, and more.

There are nine different woody biomass experimental stands, planted with different tree varieties and/or in different styles to measure how fast the trees will grow. researchers of this type of biomass want to know which trees will grow fastest so they can be used for bioenergy fuel. Stumpf ’s study looks at how much avian biodiversity and deer abundance each stand supports.

“The avian study uses bird diversity as a measure of the biodiversity of the different planting regimes, specifically looking at which regimes are the best balance for both the animal life and the purpose that the plants were meant for,” Woodie said.

In its second year, the data will be used in reports and presentations to the public through a uW-Extension research Bulletin. Eventually, the information will help determine which varieties will be planted on a larger scale.

“The atmosphere of Northland allows students and professors to really connect and get fired up about research opportunities,” Woodie said.

opportunities for students to engage in research with extraordinary faculty mentorship has grown over

the last five years and continues to grow, said Patti fenner-leino, director of career education and retention at Northland College.

a campus culture is emerging around the importance of these types of applied learning opportunities, with further collaboration with off-campus entities like federal, state, local, and tribal governments and agencies that expand the mix and networking opportunities for students, she said.

More than a dozen faculty are leading and facilitating original and dynamic research that could have real-world impacts—for the region and for the world. and they are involving students in their research. “The first thing you do when you want to start a research project,” said Paula anich, assistant professor of biology and natural resources, “is grab four or five Northland students.”

SurVEyINg ClIMaTE INDICaTorS

on lake Superior, Northland College Professor of Natural resources Sarah Johnson and students have been conducting research in the apostle Islands during the last two summers.

Students conducted a one-month study in august 2012 on common juniper and a summer-long study on Canada yew in 2013. Their purpose: to gather clues that might help illuminate reasons for recent decline of the common juniper (Juniperus communis) that grows on sandy dunes and rock outcrops here and in most of North america. They also assessed changes in the distribution of Canada yew growing in the forest understories on the islands

Opposite page: Northland College biology student Sara Woodie makes note of the number of birds she heard in the midst of an aspen stand, located near Ashland. At right: Northland College students Jordan Mead and Emily Moravec surveyed juniper bushes on Michigan Island around the Apostle Islands last summer as part of a study looking at the juniper’s decline.


Junior Matt Widen and recent graduate Jordan Mead spent weeks at a time on the islands this past summer, relying on Park Service staff to pick them up and drop them off. Widen said he learned a lot about Canada yew, of course, but he also honed his navigation, organization, and problem solving skills. “The Park Service would drop us off on a beach or a landing and then it was up to us to get stuff done,” he said.

Widen and Mead would spend one day on the mainland each week, entering data, buying groceries, and packing for their next week. “I had no social life,” Widen said and then said he hoped to do it all again next summer.

While Johnson and students continue to analyze this summer’s data on Canada yew, they have had more time to assess the information collected on the conditions and state of 1,156 juniper bushes and have developed a few ideas about what is causing the common juniper problem.

“What we’ve seen match alongside climate patterns in this region suggest

climate-induced stress, which may be interacting with a non-native moth, fungal infection, and shrub age,” Johnson said.

lower lake levels, precipitation declines, increased evaporation associated with rising temperatures are all conditions of climate change that may be causing hard times for even a hardy species like juniper, Johnson continued.

Johnson recently received a grant that will allow her to work with students during summer 2014 to continue collecting data on the common juniper and to conduct extensive surveys of sandscape vegetation on fourteen sandscapes in the National lakeshore.

Johnson, who conducted research as a Northland College student, returned with the intention of getting students engaged in research. She said the research and experiences as a student at Northland shaped and focused her graduate and doctoral work.

MoNITorINg NorTHErN laKES

The Sigurd olson Environmental Institute (SoEI) has been developing a water program called the Ecological Solutions Initiative with the mission of addressing local concerns that make a difference on a global scale. In May, SoEI opened the applied research and Environmental laboratory, a commercial lab to serve the region in water analysis.

The sharper focus of the program is to provide experiential research applications for all students to address lake management and water quality issues. SoEI employed ten students last summer and trained them in both field and laboratory procedures.

SoEI lake Program Coordinator MaryJo gingras was hired in May to oversee the lakes portion of the program and this summer kicked-off research on six northern Wisconsin lakes with four students.

gingras is collaborating with four lake associations interested in understanding their lake’s health and resource management. The program is collecting data on nutrient concentrations in each of six northern lakes, and researching the relationship between the lake’s biological and chemical processes. Nutrients come from applications on the land—sediment, fertilizers, and pesticides, and can remain stored in the lake bottom for years.

gingras is also looking at lake use and watershed activities. Her task is to document existing water quality and develop a lake management plan for each of the lakes to improve or preserve lake health.

To implement the project, students underwent weeks of training on

Above: Parker Matzinger and Ally Lee conduct an aquatic plant survey.

FALL 2013 12

field equipment, research protocols, aquatic plant identification, snorkeling, habitat assessment, and motorboat certification.

They then began collecting weekly water samples to test phosphorus, chlorophyll-a, and total nitrogen. In addition, they collected weekly data on pH, temperature, and the percentage of dissolved oxygen at one-meter increments down a vertical profile in the deepest hole of the lake.

Students interacted with the Department of Natural resources, with the public—providing information on invasive species at boat landings—and with other researchers.

“Students learned innumerable skills,” gingras said.

They learned about how lake use and land activities influence a lake’s ecosystem and developed skills for shoreland and lake best management practices. They also honed soft skills such as working on a team collaborating with peers, and time management.

“We were working on lakes that at minimum are an hour away from the office so they had to manage time efficiently to prep their field equipment, travel to the lake, do the research, and get back in a work day,” gingras said.

Sophomore Parker Matzinger thought he hit the jackpot when he was hired because of his young age. Matzinger said the experience helped confirm his interest. “My end goal is not with aquatic plants but I know I want to do research when I get older,” he said.

In fact, gingras said that hiring freshmen is exactly what she wants to do. The intention is to have them stay with the program throughout their college careers, increase their research

NC Alumnae Return to TeachSarah Johnson

As a Northland College student, Sarah Johnson (pictured above) held an internship at the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, involving restoration of sandscapes. After graduating in 2002, she went on to research a rare dune plant species as a graduate student in North Carolina and later did her PhD research at UW-Madison on floodplain forests in Wisconsin. She returned to Northland College as a professor of Natural Resources in 2011 and now collaborates with students on sandscape research in the Apostle Islands. “I’ve come full circle,” she said.

MaryJo Gingras

Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute (SOEI) Lake Program Coordinator MaryJo (Otterbein) Gingras graduated from Northland College in 2000 with a degree in environmental studies and water resources. As a student, she earned an SOEI fellowship and conducted studies on Bay City Creek and at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center. She then directed soil and water conservation projects for the Iron County Land and Water Conservation Department before returning to SOEI in May. “I’m thrilled to be back on campus and working with students as part of Northland’s team,” she said. “This is an opportunity to give back and use my passion for lakes to empower Northland students.”


skills and their pay scales, and take on leadership roles in training younger students.

“The greatest reward of this project—besides spending the summer on six incredible lakes—is that these are Northland students conducting the scientific research that will be used by resource managers in Wisconsin to address local and regional resource concerns,” gingras said. “and that their work will ultimately result in long term protection of these amazing ecosystems.”

aSSESSINg QualITy of lIfE

Where SoEI provides the science on northern lakes, Northland College assistant Professor of Sustainable Community Development Brandon Hofstedt is working on the social science—in short, assessing the attitudes of landowners.

He and four students have been working on lake management surveys that dovetail with gingras’ project. This survey documents how people living within a mile of shoreline value the lake. “We’re incorporating social science with science,” he said. “If we understand who we are talking to then we can create a message that will be heard.”

When Hofstedt started at Northland College four years ago he knew he wanted to create undergraduate research experiences for students. “I want to open up as many opportunities as I can for students and give them real life, original research in the classroom and outside,” he said.

But he needed somewhere to start

and the Town of Kelly provided the opportunity.

The Town needed a quality of life survey done as part of their comprehensive plan and asked if Hofstedt could help. Instead of taking the project on himself, Hofstedt turned to three seniors in the sustainable community development program.

all three jumped on board.

as part of the project, students interacted with membership of the Town—including the Town Chairman at his home—developed a survey, analyzed the data, and wrote a summary report. They then had to present findings to the Town board.

With the Town comprehensive survey, Hofstedt had a model for incorporating students into his research. Since then he and students have taken on other projects, including the lake management surveys, all of them ongoing.

Currently, students are compiling an amenities Inventory Study, a comprehensive survey of all lakes, rivers, recreational opportunities, cultural buildings, public and private spaces, and assets of the communities of the northern third of Wisconsin.

“The last twenty-five years of amenities research indicates that with an investment, rural communities tend to have happier community members who display greater community pride and connection to place, experience greater population growth, and experience greater economic growth,” Hofstedt said.

an even broader amenities Study is a review of census data and demographic changes. a separate but related study that will go even further in depth on social capital—exploring community trust, norms of reciprocity, and social connections.

And finally, Hofstedt is using students on a research project on rural small

FALL 2013 14

business successes. Students are interviewing fifteen to twenty small businesses owners in ashland and Washburn to better understand the business community.

“Social science research can provide important information for making decisions,” Hofstedt said. for instance, the common narrative about the city of ashland is that the city is losing people when in fact, according to Hofstedt’s research, ashland’s population is changing.

His research with students reveals a double-digit growth in the number of post-high school degrees in the region—eighty-six percent increase in associate’s degrees, sixty-four percent increase in bachelor’s degrees, and thirteen percent increase in graduate degrees.

“Knowing this should influence how businesses do business—I can’t recommend change but I can provide information,” he said.

Northland student Evan flom presented research findings in october from this project survey at the applied and Clinical Sociology Conference in Portland, oregon, where he spoke about the project and led a larger discussion on amenity research and development in rural communities.

“This project has been my first opportunity to engage in official research within the field I have been studying—Sustainable Community Development—and the opportunity to develop skills like data collection, entry, analysis, and now presentation experience at a national conference,” he said.

“The further we move along with the project the more connections I begin to make with all of my studies over the past few years at Northland,” flom said.

“I’m also studying sociology and social justice and as we’ve continued

to work on the amenities project the question of ‘for whom do communities develop?’ has been pretty prevalent,” he said.

Students like flom are planning early in their undergraduate careers to seek out research experiences to best leverage themselves for competitive internships and jobs, as well as future graduate and professional school applications and employment after graduation, said Patti fenner-leino, director of career education and retention.

In the last five years, Hofstedt has had fifteen students graduate with community development degrees. Eleven graduates that he has tracked have gone on to get jobs in their professions. “So we know we are doing something right,” he said.


ALUMNI NEWS

John Maier (’79) was a student on campus in 1975 when the November storm that sunk the Lake Superior freighter the Edmund Fitzgerald blew through. This was his first experience with serious winter weather.

He went onto become the environmental scientist contractor for the U.S. Antarctica Program that helps to examine and mitigate the ecological impacts of research in Antarctica.

John Maier met Ann (Hartman) Maier at Northland College. She attended the College as an environmental science major from 1977 to 1979 and went on to earn her bachelor of arts degree in art history from Trinity University in

Washington D.C. and a master of organization development and knowledge management from George Mason University. The Maiers raised two children together.

Ann Maier is now vice president of development communications and operations at National Geographic Society. She and John Maier returned to campus in October as part of the campus Alumni Career Speaker Series.

The Maiers visited with students in classes, held small group discussions around the lunch table, and presented a lecture to the entire campus.

Ann Maier joined the development team at National Geographic Society (NGS) in 2010.

Maiers share career advice with students

Alumni Volunteer Networks

Over the next twelve to eighteen months, alumni relations staff will be making contacts and visits in Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin where forty-one percent of our alumni base reside. Staff would like to establish regional Alumni Volunteer Networks for hosting a variety of events—family friendly, social, and lectures—while encouraging fellow alumni to attend and reconnect with Northland.

The alumni staff is already working with the Duluth-Superior Twin Ports area, followed by Minneapolis-St. Paul, Madison, Chicago, and the Milwaukee area into the next calendar year. Ideally, each network will be served by a diverse representation of our alumni with a core of ten-to-fifteen key volunteers. For more information or to become a core network volunteer for your area, please contact Michelle Chase at (715) 682-1811 or email at [email protected].

FALL 2013 16

As one of the world’s largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations, National Geographic seeks to inspire others to care about the planet.

Collaboration with the Society’s media divisions, including its channels, digital and print media, and public programs is a key component of integrating messaging across all platforms.

Before joining NGS, she worked for the American Red Cross post-Katrina and through the Haiti disaster. Prior to that, Ann Maier was director of advancement systems of the Corcoran Gallery of Art/College of Art for more than twelve years. “I wanted to share with students my path of combining the sciences and humanities—my interests in both helped lead me to where I am today,” she said.

John Maier’s Antarctica adventure began when he was hired by Antarctica Support Associates to manage waste cleanup for an open disposal area. Since then, he’s supported the Antarctica Program in a variety of environmental tasks.

John Maier says his work and all of the research in Antarctica is important because conditions on the continent create opportunities to study things that cannot be studied elsewhere.

“It’s the windiest, driest, coldest, emptiest place on the earth but it is also the last pristine environment on the planet,” he said. “Antarctica really is isolated from the man-made world and part of my job is to make sure our presence there doesn’t change that.”

Three Alumni Work the Rim Fire Together

A hunter’s illegal campfire ignited California’s third-largest fire in history August 17 in Stanislaus National Forest, burning across the forest and scorching canyon walls in twenty-five watersheds before spreading into Yosemite National Park.

In all 257,000 acres burned, and at least three thousand firefighters and specialists were brought in to fight and manage the Rim Fire, named for its location near Yosemite’s Tuolumne Canyon, otherwise called the Rim of the World.

In the fire camp established for firefighters and managers, three

Northland College alumni— Kelly Martin (’86) and Gus Smith (’84), pictured right, and Chris Holbeck (’92)—discovered that all three had attended Northland College.

Martin, fire management officer, managed the suppression of the wildfire. Smith, fire ecologist and former Northland College professor of biology, implemented post-fire recovery efforts. And Holbeck led a Burned Area Emergency Response team that evaluated the ecological effects of the fire and made recommendations on post-fire measures.

“When I was at Northland I knew I wanted to work for the National Park Service but I didn’t know exactly what that meant—it all started at Northland,” Holbeck said.


As a child, Colin Moberly refused to name his favorite sport, said his mother Laura. “I think he may have thought ‘if I admit I like one over the other, my parents will make me quit one,’” she laughed. “He manages to be passionate about all of them.”

That passion has played out for three years at Northland College—through winter and spring, and most recently, fall. Called “Mobes” by nearly everyone, he plays hockey, baseball, and this fall, participated on the revitalized golf team—all while maintaining a B-average.

It has been a lesson in scheduling for sure. Take the last week of September. Monday, he had a golf meet in Minnesota. Tuesday,

ATHLETICS

baseball fall practices started. Hockey skate time and practices were in full swing six mornings and six nights a week. And he was prepping for the final conference golf match.

“I just need another week then things will smooth out,” he said, taking time to meet for an interview.

As a young child, Moberly hounded his mother for a pair of ice skates. He had moved to Ely, Minnesota in kindergarten and already lagged behind his peers in skate time.

By age five, he had taught himself to rollerblade. And in second grade, his mother caved in and put skates

under the Christmas tree. Moberly didn’t look at another gift—instead he headed for the lake. “Eventually we ran power cords down so he could skate in the dark,” his mother said.

This became a theme for his sports practices. “I was always the last parent waiting at the ice arena, the ball field, the golf course, and the gym—many a night they’d shut the lights off and I would wait in the dark,” Laura Moberly said.

Colin played junior hockey right out of high school, attended three semesters of college, and transferred to Northland College in January, 2011.

A business student, he’s taking a variety of classes.

Northland College has been a good fit, he said. He has developed lifelong friendships and opened his mind to new perspectives. “I’ve had more of a . . . spiritual experience—and I’ve seen both sides to capitalism and environmentalism,” he said.

As a 24-year-old, Moberly still has passion for all of his sports. He said baseball has always come easily to him, that golf in a formal collegiate setting was a bit frustrating—for instance, if he lost the ball, he couldn’t just grab another.

Committed on and off the ice, the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association named him to the All-Academic Team in 2011-12.

“Colin is a student-athlete that personifies what a Division III student-athlete should be,” said

The Love of the Game(s)

FALL 2013 18

northland.edu/giving

Invest in Northland’s future...

...with a gift in your will. Just a few sentences in your will or trust today will make a big difference. Contact Lois Albrecht ’85, director of gift planning, at (715) 682-1394 or via email at [email protected]. For more information about planned giving you can also visit:

Northland Names Head Baseball Coach

Ernie May was named as the new head coach of the LumberJacks baseball team. He started September 1.

May brings twenty years of college coaching experience to Northland having coached at the NCAA Division I, II, and III levels. Most recently May served as an assistant coach at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.

During May’s two seasons at Trinity College, the team won a division and conference championship and in 2012 they competed in the NCAA Division III

Tournament.

Prior to coaching at Trinity, May served as an assistant coach for eleven years at the University of Massachusetts, where the team competed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament and in 1995 were ranked in the top twenty-five in the nation.

From 1995 to 1999, May also served as a college head coach at Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C. He was instrumental in aiding Wofford’s transition from NCAA Division II to Division I. May’s coaching career began as a graduate assistant coach at Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts.

“We are very pleased to have Ernie join our Northland College family and lead our baseball program,” said Northland College Athletic Director Bill Wilson. “Ernie has a wealth of experience coaching at various levels of college baseball. We are confident he will continue to build our baseball program into a consistent contender in the UMAC.”

Athletic Director Bill Wilson. “

“He is always willing to help out on campus or in the athletic department—you can find him shagging balls at a soccer game or doing the laundry for his golf teammates.”

So, what is Moberly’s favorite sport? With his mother nowhere near, he hesitates for a split second and then admits that hockey is indeed his favorite. After graduation, he might try out for the pros. It would be an experience versus a career choice, he admits. “The option is there anyway.”


CLASS NOTESCLASS OF 1951

Leroy Forslund retired from employment with the State of Wisconsin after thirty-five years as district director, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, and twenty years as a hearing officer.

CLASS OF 1964Jim Brown was inducted into the

Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame in September 2013. He coached the Wausau West High School hockey team (1972-74) and Wausau Youth Hockey teams (1965-1986). He was the North Central High School Hockey Conference Commissioner (1980-1992), WIAA Rule Interpreter (1980-2004), WIAA Hockey Consultant (1980-2008), charter member of the Board of Directors for Wausau Youth Hockey (1967), and president of the Central Wisconsin Hockey Officials Association (1999-2008). He has fifty-six years of experience as a referee. In 1998 he was presented the Award of Excellence, High School Hockey Unlimited Hall of Fame, in Wausau, Wisconsin.

CLASS OF 1970Jim Miller retired from the University

of Wisconsin-Superior in January 2013. Jim finished his term as president of the National Association for College Admission Counseling in October 2012. He continues to serve as an enrollment management consultant for private colleges, currently at Augsburg College in Minneapolis. Jim and his wife Kathy live in Washburn, Wisconsin.

CLASS OF 1971Robert Mattucci has published

a book on vocational education. He teaches in jails and works with homeless youth, teaching plumbing and solar energy. He is also working on a new book on youth in America.

CLASS OF 1978Russ Hagen received his captain’s

license and will be doing fishing charters for bluefish, cod, stripers, and tuna out of Salisbury, Massachusetts.

CLASS OF 1980Lisa (Kennedy) and Mark McGinley

’83 are heading out on (at least) one more adventure, moving to Texas, working in the family custom home building business and enjoying nearby family. They plan to be back in the Chequamegon Bay area as much as possible and visiting daughter, Krista, and her fiancé, in Madison, Wisconsin.

CLASS OF 1981Laura (Achter) Burkholder is

director of consumer marketing for the Minneapolis Star Tribune in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

CLASS OF 1982George Gatlin works for Covance

as a user acceptance test manager, business process and solutions, in Princeton, New Jersey.

Kevin and Teresa (Small) Searock are celebrating the publication of Kevin’s book Troutsmith – An Angler’s Tales and Travels by the University of Wisconsin Press. Kevin’s writing and photography have appeared in several outdoor magazines, including Gray’s Sporting Journal and Fly Fisherman. Kevin and Teresa are living near the top of Durward’s Glen, deep in the Baraboo Hills of Sauk County, Wisconsin. Kevin teaches AP biology and chemistry at Portage High School, and Teresa works for The Aldo Leopold Foundation in Baraboo.

CLASS OF 1984Roger Clark and Jackie Scharfenberg

are always welcoming friends for a visit at the Raptor Ridge Inn (their homestead). They live in the Kettle Moraine area south of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

CLASS OF 1985Dan Esler is a research wildlife

biologist with USGS Alaska Science Center in Anchorage.

CLASS OF 1986John Rich is a child/family therapist

in Abiquiu, New Mexico. He and his wife Trish have lived sixty miles north of Santa Fe for the past twelve years. They are raising their daughter Emma in the high desert frontier.

CLASS OF 1988Joe Bagby is retired as a wilderness

instructor after twenty years with Nokomis Challenge Center, and now coordinates an independent living program with foster youth in Traverse City, Michigan.

CLASS OF 1992Diane Defoe was awarded the

Wisconsin Indian Educator of the Year and Outstanding Indian Elder of the Year awards for 2013. She is the first person to win in both categories. She teaches Native American studies, culture, language, and history to grades K-12 in the School District of Bayfield in Wisconsin.

Joe Foss is teaching adult English as a Second Language with Metro North in Columbia Heights, Minnesota. His wife Lien Tran arrived from Vietnam in February. They live in Fridley and Joe continues his environmental and peace activism.

FALL 2013 20

CLASS OF 1997Lucy (Sorrells) Chapman and her

husband Bill ’95 reside near Dayton, Ohio with their two daughters, Cora, 11, and Rose, 9, a flock of chickens, a herd of ducks, and a pack of dogs. Bill works as a program manager with the United States Air Force, while Lucy owns her own functional fiber arts business, Rosy Toes Designs. She specializes in creating bags, fashion accessories, and blankets from wool, alpaca, recycled silk, and up-cycled sweaters. She attends art fairs in the area and has an online shop. She’s proud to announce that her work has recently appeared in Urban Farm Magazine, InStyle UK , and Vogue UK. You can find a selection of her work at www.RosyToesDesigns.com. She’d like to let everyone know that custom work is always welcome.

CLASS OF 1998Ethan Jankowski is an operations

supervisor for CH2M Hill in Chapmanville, West Virginia.

CLASS OF 2000Jennifer Wood is a weatherization

director at Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity in Hinesburg, Vermont. She earned a master’s degree in urban and environmental policy and planning from Tufts University in 2007. She is engaged to John Burke.

CLASS OF 2001Fletcher Smith is a research biologist

with the Center for Conservation Biology in Virginia.

CLASS OF 2002David and Lani (Sander) Brannum

celebrated their daughter Grace Emree’s first birthday on September 2, 2013, with family and friends in Ohio.

Alumni Career Speaker Series

The Alumni Career Speaker series started formally in 2011 as an initiative to provide students with more professional networking and career exploration opportunities with successful alumni of the College.

In that time, the series has brought fourteen notable alumni to campus including USGS Conservation Genetics Lab and Professor of Wildlife Ecology Susan Haig (’79), Owner/Founder of Catalyst Institute and Executive Director of the Western Climate Initiative Inc. Anita Burke (‘83), Homeland Security’s Biowatch program manager Michael Walter (‘78), NASA senior scientist Shannon Franks (‘01), and author and journalist Rocky Barker (‘75).

The program has positive impacts throughout the college.

Students have reported in surveys that meeting alumni provides inspiration to continue studying and exceling at Northland College. Faculty have networked with speakers to discuss the challenges and opportunities in their fields, and

how these may relate to the topics they cover in the classroom or field.

“At a time when career preparation and exploration is paramount on campuses, the Alumni Career Speaker Series is a win-win for everyone,” said Stacy Craig, coordinator of the program.

The College is engaging alumni in other career enhancement activities, as well. “We have an Alumni Conversations program, where alumni present, in person or via Skype, on job searching and networking skills and other important topics related to career preparation,” she said.

Alumni also have participated in the College’s alternative spring break program. Pam Gerwe (‘86) of Purple Frog Gardens hosted a group of students in 2012 for an alternative spring break exploring social justice and food security on her farm in Whitefish, Montana.

Alumni interested in being involved with these programs, should contact the Director of Alumni Relations, Michelle Chase, at (715) 682-1811 or email at [email protected].

Northland alumnus Brad Gingras ’01 speaks to students about career opportunities.


CLASS NOTESCLASS OF 2003

Brittany Barski is a landscape and urban agriculture specialist. She and her husband Kenny, a production engineer, are expecting boy/girl twins in November 2013.

Mary Hammerbeck and Scott Colehour were married in August 2013. They live in Bellingham, Washington where Scott works as a remodeling carpenter and Mary teaches writing at Whatcom Community College.

Jena (Green) Huntington is a hydrogeologist with U.S. Geological Survey in Carson City, Nevada.

CLASS OF 2004Stephanie (Bue) McKnight is a

quality control specialist with Nestle in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. She and her husband Lawrence were married in 2006, and they have a daughter, Sabrina Paige Cady McKnight, born on July 8, 2013.

CLASS OF 2005Kevin and Pamela (Peterson) Huyck

moved back to Duluth, Minnesota after nine years away from the Lake Superior area. They moved back for Kevin to start his new job at the National Weather Service. Pamela works as a veterinary technician for the Pet Poison Helpline.

CLASS OF 2006Peter Werts is working as a specialty

crops integrated pest management coordinator at the IPM Institute of North America in Madison, Wisconsin.

CLASS OF 2007Jessi Anderson is a licensed

veterinary technician at Lone Mountain Animal Hospital in Las Vegas. She received her AAS degree in veterinary technology from Minnesota School of Business/Globe College in 2010.

Mitchell Oetken earned his doctor of osteopathic medicine in 2013 from Lincoln Memorial University, DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine. He is employed with the Community Memorial Health System in Ventura, California. He and his wife Ashley were married in 2011.

CLASS OF 2008Amanda Bresciani received her

master of divinity from Southern Methodist University in May 2013.

Alex Johnson and Peter Mueller ’06 were married on February 16, 2013. They are working for the National Park Service in Yosemite National Park, Peter as a wilderness ranger and Alex as a restoration worker.

CLASS OF 2009April BeBault is a biologist at

Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in Bushkill, Pennsylvania. She has been accepted into graduate school at Virginia Tech, and will be pursuing a master’s degree in natural resource management next spring.

Sarah Bhimani is living in Burlington, Vermont and working as the media coordinator for City Market. She is also pursuing her master’s degree in sustainable food systems through Green Mountain College’s online program.

CLASS OF 2010Jennifer Courtwright graduated

from James Madison University with an MS in Biology in May 2012. She is working as an aquatic ecologist/program manager at the National Aquatic Monitoring Center at Utah State University.

Tiffany Kersten is employed with Quinta Mazatlan World Birding Center in Texas as supervisor of environmental education. She was a forest service student temporary employee at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center during her time at Northland College.

Sara Miranti is a community organizer for Illinois Coalition for Community Services in Carbondale, Illinois.

Rebekah Vrabel graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a master’s degree in library and information science and accepted the position of reference and instruction librarian in Forest City, Iowa.

CLASS OF 2011Terah Cleveland teaches middle

school science in the Bayfield School District in Wisconsin.

CLASS OF 2012Kleighton Kutz accepted a position

as a field geologist in October 2012 for the Walnut Creek, California branch of Haley & Aldrich, Inc., an engineering and environmental consulting firm based out of Boston, Massachusetts.

CLASS OF 2013Elizabeth Kahn is a graduate student

at Vermont Law School in South Royalton.

FALL 2013 22

REFER ASTUDENT

northland.edu/refer

Do you know a student who might be a good fit for Northland College? Let us know. You can refer a student using our online form. Just give us as much information as you wish, and we’ll reach out to this potential Northland student with more information.

SYMPATHY TO THE FAMILIES OF:

Alfred Beck ’42 (1920-2013)

June Emerson ’47 (1925-2013)

Beverley Prentice Walker ’49 (1922-2013)

Sheila (Douglass) Jackson ’53, (1931-2013)

Kathryn (Aho) Lehto ’56 (1935- 2013)

Dr. Gerald Arndt ’57 (1936-2013)

John “Jack” Katon ’60 (1926-2013)

Joel Hochstein ’62 (1938-2013)

Donald Kinney ’65 (1930-2013)

Jack Povaser ’66 (1937-2012)

Art Besse ’68 (1946-2013)

Philip Cleversey ’69 (1945-2013)

William C. “Wilbur” Suemnicht ’71 (1950-2012)

Robert McCracken ’74 (1946-2013)

Patricia (Hagen) Williams ’75 (1953-2013)

Kylie Sage ’12 (1989-2013)

Want to see your news in Class Notes?To submit notes, please contact:

Phone: (715) 682-1811 Email: [email protected]

Mail:

Office of Alumni Relations 1411 Ellis Avenue Ashland, WI 54806

Director of Alumni Relations: Michelle Chase ’98

Alumni News Editor: Vicki Nafey ’96

Alumni Association Board of Directors: Jim Quinn ’73, President, Melanie Goble ’01, Richard Ackley ’71, Sam Berkman ’08, Roberta Blazkowski ’71, Mark Charles ’80, Dan Crawford ’76, Melissa Damaschke ’03, Laurel Fisher ’72, Stu Goldman ’69, Mark Gross ’83, Charles Guthrie ’69, Rachel Hahn ’12, Beverly Harris ’72, Roland Hicks ’65, Tam Hofman ’80, Max Metz ’10, Peter Millett ’69, Craig Mullenbrock ’77, Ori-Anne Pagel ’69, Erika Palmer-Wilson ’02, Sam Polonetzky ’70, Wendy Shields ’05, Patti Skoraczewski ’74, Kelly Zacharda ’05, Erika Zocher ’14.

To submit a note go to: northland.edu/alumni


SPONSORED RESEARCH

Forest ManagementJohn C. Bock Foundation in

October awarded the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute (SOEI) a $25,000 grant to develop climate change adaptation recommendations for forest management in the Lake Superior region. Research under this grant will assess the relationship between forest age and stream health in order to better understand how forest structure, stream hydrology, and climate change are related. These funds will support staff time to coordinate the project, research stipends for at least two Northland College students, stream sampling equipment, travel costs, and laboratory analysis expenses. Dr. Randy Lehr, Bro professor of regional sustainable development, and Matt Hudson, watershed program coordinator, will oversee the project. This project is a component of a larger SOEI effort to assess potential climate change impacts to the Chequamegon Bay and its surrounding communities.

Lake ManagementIn partnership with the Cisco

Chain Riparian Owners Association, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in August awarded the SOEI two additional lake management grants totaling $39,615.38. This is in addition to three other lake management grants awarded to the SOEI late last year for Lake Owen, Lake Nebagamon, and the Namakagon Chain of Lakes. Over the next two years, this funding will support SOEI staff time to develop the management plan, several student research positions to collect and analyze data from the lake, and elements of a student-faculty research project in the sustainable community development program conducted by Drs. Kevin Schanning and Brandon Hofstedt to assess the values and behaviors of lake users.

Vegetation SurveysNorthland College entered

into an agreement in May with the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians for Dr. Sarah Johnson, assistant professor of natural resources, and two field assistants to conduct vegetation surveys in the Kakagon and Bad River Sloughs system. In collaboration with former Northland professor James Meeker, she and students re-surveyed plots Meeker established in 1998 and re-surveyed in 2005 to assess the rate of invasion by non-native cattails and concomitant impacts to native wetland vegetation over this fifteen-year period. The invasion of cattails in the Great Lakes region is likely linked with changes in water levels and nutrient inputs, so this study is important for documenting and interpreting longitudinal changes in the Kakagon-Bad River Sloughs, a high quality freshwater estuary system recognized internationally by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

The following is a short list of recent grant awards to Northland College sponsoring undergraduate research.

FALL 2013 24 • 1411 Ellis Avenue • Ashland, WI 54806 • (715) 682-1234

Your support of scholarships makes a Northland College education possible for our students. And now there’s a new, easier way to give online. Make a sustained gift to Northland that automatically provides support every month. To learn more go to northland.edu/give or call (715) 682-1234.

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Professor of Biology Wendy Gorman engages students in a class discussion in the Larson-Juhl Center for Science and the Environment at Northland College.

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