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Alumni News Conservation biology degree helps alumna monitor brown bears in Southeast Alaska.
ALUMNI NEWS
President Kandra (Kerridge) Robbins, ’90, Jena, Louisiana Vice president Scott Nadeau, ’89, Dexter, Michigan Past president Nathan Tallman, ’07, M.A. ’09, Macomb, Michigan Directors Brooke Adams, ’11, Detroit, Michigan Carrie Baumgardner, ’99, M.A. ’02, Davison, Michigan Lester Booker Jr., ’08, MSA ’10, Canton, Michigan Lisa (Laitinen) Bottomley, ’97, Kentwood, Michigan Catherine (Bomber) Claes, ’90, Gladstone, Michigan Megan Doyle, ’03, Chicago, Illinois Jonathan Eadie, ’93, Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan Norma Eppinger, ’91, Lansing, Michigan Matthew Franklin, ’04, Grand Blanc, Michigan Chris Gautz, ’04, Adrian, Michigan Jacalyn (Beckers) Goforth, ’82, Beverly Hills, Michigan Spencer Haworth, ’12, Kalamazoo, Michigan Sean Hickey, ’88, M.A. ’90, Traverse City, Michigan Bret Hyble, ’82, M.A. ’86, Mount Pleasant, Michigan Erica Lagos, ’13, Carmel, Indiana Anthony Lazzaro, ’15, Newport Beach, California Linda (Scharich) Leahy, ’82, Midland, Michigan J.J. Lewis, ’06, Simi Valley, California John Reineke, ’09, Oxford, Ohio Caroline (Powers) Rizzo, ’15, Traverse City, Michigan Darryl Shelton, ’85, Fennville, Michigan Christine Simon, ’13, Lansing, Michigan
For a full listing including emeritus board members please see https://www. cmich.edu/alumni/ AboutUs/AlumniBoard/ Pages/default.aspx
Central Michigan University Board of Trustees
Todd J. Anson, ’77 Regine Beauboeuf Sharon Heath, ’96 Isaiah M. Oliver, ’07 Edward J. Plawecki Jr., ’75 Michael A. Sandler Richard K. Studley, ’93 Robert F. Wardrop II, ’72, ’76
For a full listing of Board of Trustees meeting schedules please see https://www.cmich. edu/bot/Pages/default.aspx
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Photos by Anthony Crupi, Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Alumna tracks brown bears in Alaska
Conservation biology master’s degree fuels CMU grad’s rugged research For Women’s History Month in March, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game featured narratives from women working in fish and game, including Stephanie Sell, M.S. ’08, a wildlife biologist in Juneau, the state’s capital. Sell is a wildlife biologist conducting a six-year research to estimate the population and density abundance of brown bears in northern Southeast Alaska, around Haines. To understand the spatial relationships of the bears regarding their seasonal homes and habitat selections, they equip the bears with GPS collars to follow their movements and landscape use over time. The collars are programmed to automatically release after one to two years. This is an abridged version of Sell’s narrative that originally appeared on the department’s website, adfg.alaska.gov, as part of Alaska Fish and Wildlife News. I was born and raised in Anchorage but am now living in Juneau. I started working with ringed seals in the Arctic as an undergraduate at University of Alaska Southeast and continued my research through to a master’s degree in conservation biology at Central Michigan University. I knew I wanted to be a biologist from a very young age, being inspired by elementary school teachers, like my mom, who promoted educational science programs like “Voyage of the Mimi” and brought me along on her outdoor school field trips to places like Seward and Homer as a kindergartner. I was fortunate growing up to have parents who exposed me and my siblings to the outdoors through travel, camping, exploring and fishing at our cabin on the Kenai. I’ve been lucky in my career to have worked with several species of wildlife, but I am constantly amazed by all the beautiful and rural places they have taken me throughout Alaska. As a woman working in a male-dominated field, I feel very fortunate to have had all these opportunities and hope to inspire the younger generation of women. Follow your dreams. •
ALUMNI NEWS
Capt. Morgan (no, not that one!) lands his dream job mixing boating and science
CMU alum takes to the water at the helm of Wisconsin research vessel Last October, Max Morgan, ’07, landed his dream job: captain of the Neeskay, the research vessel for the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences. He talked with the university about how he’s combined his passions for boating and science into the job he’s always wanted. A longer version of this Q&A appeared on the school’s website, https://bit.ly/CMU_CaptMorgan. What was your path to working at the School of Freshwater Sciences? I love the water and I always loved boats. I grew up on Lake St. Claire (near Detroit). If you look back at pictures, there’s pictures of me driving boats when I was very young while sitting on my dad’s lap. I’ve always dreamed of being a captain. I did my undergrad at Central Michigan University in natural conservation and biology with a concentration in freshwater sciences. Then I worked on the East Coast for several years as a NOAA fisheries observer. I worked on the Lake Guardian (the EPA’s Great Lakes research vessel) for eight years, so I’ve seen every single nook and cranny on the Great Lakes. What do you like most about your job? The two most exciting things for me are that I like teaching the next generation and I like helping scientists realize their goals. I like working with the researchers because they come up with great ideas. Then I have to come up with ways to make what they want to do work in real life. It’s problem solving. Because I have a master’s degree in freshwater science, I understand what the data means and what they are looking for — and I know how to manipulate the ship and do a survey plan to get the best quality data. What’s the most interesting or challenging experience you’ve had on the Neeskay? One of the coolest things we do is we service the buoys. We put out a buoy at Atwater Beach and one in Green Bay. You can go online and get real time data, like water temperature up to 60 feet deep. If I want to take my boat out today, I can send a text to the buoy, and it will text me back all the information I need. If that buoy didn’t go out in spring, people would want to know why. •
Photo courtesy of UWM School of Freshwater Sciences.
A pair of CMU Chippewas are on the move in the NFL
Washington Commanders tap Todd Storm to work with tight ends The Washington Commanders promoted Todd Storm, M.S.A. ’16, from offensive quality control coach to assistant tight ends coach. Storm is entering his fifth season coaching in the NFL and his third with Washington. He spent the 2018-19 seasons with the Carolina Panthers assisting on the offensive side of the ball, specifically working with tight ends. From 2014-16, Storm was a graduate assistant at CMU. In 2014, he worked with the defensive line and transitioned to the offensive line during the 2015-16 seasons. Prior to his work at CMU, Storm played defensive end for the Cleveland Gladiators in the Arena Football League in the 2013. Houston Texans hire Joe Danna as safeties coach Joe Danna, ’00, is a former New York Jets, Miami Dolphins and Atlanta Falcons defensive backs coach. He was hired by the Jacksonville Jaguars initially as an assistant secondary coach before being named safeties coach and then nickels coach last season. Danna was with the Jaguars from 2017 to 2021 and has extensive experience in the AFC South division. His first NFL coaching position was with the Falcons in 2008 as a defensive assistant before being hired by the Dolphins as assistant secondary coach in 2010 and then returning to the Falcons as secondary coach in 2012 and then being hired by the Jets in 2015 prior to joining the Jaguars. Danna has also coached at Georgia Southern and James Madison. Danna, a Midland, Texas native, was a wide receiver and punt returner at Central Michigan and later a graduate assistant for the CMU Chippewas and the University of Georgia. He caught 43 career passes for 567 yards and two touchdowns and averaged 6.7 yards per punt return for his career. He completed one pass for 50 yards as a senior in 1998. •
CMU alum discusses ‘golden ticket’ award, public health research
Presidential fellowship will allow veterinarian, movie producer to explore Guinea worm parasite Inside CMU’s College of Medicine is a maze of science labs and lecture halls that have trained generations of health professionals, one of whom was Stephanie Baiyasi. Baiyasi, ’20, a veterinarian, movie producer, public health advocate and CMU alumnus, has seen her research published in respected journals and the Library of Congress. Most recently, she became a finalist for the Presidential Management Fellowship. The highly competitive award is given to academics to jump-start a career in the federal government. More than 8,000 candidates competed for a fast track into highly specialized federal positions. “I’ve been told by a number of different people that (being a finalist) is a golden ticket,” said Baiyasi. “This opportunity allows you to apply to jobs that are specifically just for presidential management fellowship finalists.” Examining where animal and human health intersect Baiyasi hopes to obtain a fellowship in public health, with an emphasis on the intersection of animal and human health. One such disease she would like to focus on is Guinea worm, a parasitic infection affecting parts of Africa. “There’s not many diseases that we’ve completely eliminated,” Baiyasi said. “Guinea worm is close to being one.” Guinea worm is a zoonotic disease — one that can be transferred from animals to humans. Baiyasi said zoonotic diseases are her passion. While completing her Master of Public Health at CMU in 2020, she did a final project about them. Interviewing other veterinarians, Baiyasi wanted to find out how clinicians were preventing the transmission of zoonotic diseases. “As a veterinarian, my interest has always been animal-related, but I have a strong desire to help people out in the long run,” she said. Baiyasi has pursued other projects, like videos, to increase her knowledge of public health. “(Film productions) have been an outlet to try and share,” she said. “I feel I’m an educator, but I’ve been doing it for such a long time, and I feel that there’s so much that people should be aware of.” Baiyasi has created several educational films spanning topics like water quality, unions, motor vehicle safety and city violence. “(I want to say) how much I appreciate CMU as an entity, and the opportunities that they give people, students and other community members,” she said. A longer version of this story, written by Zach Kortge, appeared in Central Michigan Life: https://bit.ly/CMU_GoldenTicket •
Mount Pleasant Area Community Foundation welcomes four CMU alumni to its board
The Mount Pleasant Area Community Foundation elected five new directors to its board, four of whom are CMU Chippewas: Karmen Fox, Sherry Knight, Ryan Longoria and Terrie Zitzelsberger.
Fox, ’08, is the executive health director for
Nimkee Memorial Wellness Center on the
Isabella Indian Reservation, and she is a member of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian
Tribe.
Knight, ’86, and her husband, Jim, lead
Paladin Communications, a marketing and communications firm. Knight formerly was the associate vice president of university communications for CMU.
Longoria, M.S.A. ’15, is the director of recreation and sports for the city of Mount
Pleasant and teaches in CMU’s sports management program.
Zitzelsberger, ’76, is a certified financial planner and co-owner of Total Investment
Planners, Inc. with her husband, Mark, and son Chad. The fifth new board member is Bart Blystone, a partner at Blystone & Bailey, CPAs. They join 19 other directors leading the Mount Pleasant Area Community Foundation, which was founded in 1990 to enhance the quality of life for all citizens of Isabella County. Additionally, CMU Executive Director of Alumni Relations Marcie Otteman, ’87, is the foundation board’s vice president. •
Top row, from left: Blystone, Fox, Knight; bottom row, from left: Longoria, Zitzelsberger.
