Northland College MAGAZINE
SUMMER 2016
Bridging the TheoryCircumnavigating Practice Lake Superior— On Foot pg. 23 Divide The Next Generation
Faculty,to students, (Graduates Watch community, in 2016) pg.and 10
agencies work A Research together Model for to the Great Lakes pg. 6 investigate queries, deepen knowledge, and find solutions. Pg. 7.
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Northland College Magazine SUMMER 2016 Mission
Northland College integrates liberal arts studies with an environmental emphasis, enabling those it serves to address the challenges of the future.
CONTENTS 2
SIGN OF THE TIMES
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CLIMATE CHANGE AND CLOUDS
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A RESEARCH MODEL FOR THE GREAT LAKES
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STENCIL PROJECT TEACHES CARE FOR ENVIRONMENT
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THE NEXT GENERATION (GRADS TO WATCH IN 2016)
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FROM ORNITHOLOGY TO LOONSHINE
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IN A NEW LIGHT
President Dr. Michael A. Miller
President’s Cabinet Dr. Leslie Alldritt, Dean of Faculty, Vice President of Academic Affairs Robert Jackson Vice President of Finance and Administration Mark Peterson, Executive Director, Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute Margot Carroll Zelenz Vice President of Institutional Advancement
Faculty Council President
Clayton Russell, Associate Professor of Environmental Education and Outdoor Education
Staff Council President
Heather Atherton, Gift Coordinator © 2016, Northland College
On the Cover Allisa Stutte ’14 bounds over a gap on the breakwall surrounding the Ashland Marina the day before departing with two other recent alumni on circumnavigation of Lake Superior on foot. Learn more on page 23.
Join us for a celebration of local food with a farmto-table dinner on campus. Find more information and register by going to:
FRIDAY SEPT. 23
northland.edu/harvesttrail
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From the President On June 3, with students away from campus, Northland College hosted a region-wide, active-shooter simulation that tested local and regional personnel and systems from all relevant law enforcement, EMT, fire, and hospital agencies. The college was also tested, and provided instruction and coaching for other educational entities in the area regarding our communication systems and institutional emergency response protocols. The operation succeeded in every category that matters. We are, as a campus and a community, safer and more prepared for calamity because of our capable and dutiful effort. That said, the activity was both eerie and frightening in its realism. While I was thoroughly impressed by all involved and resoundingly proud of our College and community, I cannot get beyond the painful feeling of watching the enactment of a mass shooting and the ensuing emergency response to simultaneously “take out” all shooters and care for injured victims under fire. I found it tough to square having this type of training in a place of learning, hope, empowerment, and optimism. Then on Sunday, June 12, like the rest of America, I woke up to the news that a twenty-nine-year-old man had walked into a gay night club in Orlando, Florida, and shot forty-nine people and injured fifty-three. Seven of the dead included students from Valencia College. To say this hits close to home is an understatement. My first thoughts went to our students, faculty, and staff. I hoped everyone was safe—and they were—and that no one was alone. Like many of you, I have been doing a lot of grieving, processing, and listening to knowledgeable people like our own Assistant Professor of Sociology and Social Justice Angela Stroud, who has been researching this topic for eight years. I attended the launch for her book, Good Guys with Guns, not even a week after the Orlando shootings. President Obama so clearly identified the particular horror of an attack on a presumed safe place, “a place of solidarity and empowerment where people have come together to raise awareness, to
speak their minds, and to advocate for their civil rights.” The Orlando massacre, alongside the mass shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, a church in Charleston, and a Christmas work party in San Bernardino, feels like an attack on all of us. Northland has uniquely and bravely stood for the right things since its beginning. Our world is filled with what seems to be overwhelming challenges— escalating climate chaos and change, interfaith conflict present everywhere, political polarization and resulting inaction, unsustainable and unhealthy food and waste systems, and the list goes on. Now, more than ever, Northland’s mission is not only relevant, it is critical. Who we are as a College community,
what we learn and what we teach, how we treat and how we listen to one another must continue to be the model of a sustained approach to make the world better—healthier, cleaner, safer, and more just. This is the higher way, most especially in the face of fear and those who attempt to create the fear in order to bring about our calamity.
Michael A. Miller President, Northland College
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Sign of the Times 2
As our newest alumni left campus with their diplomas in hand, one of our oldest alumni, Bernard Burzynski ’38 of Neenah, Wisconsin (pictured at left), turned one-hundred. It got us thinking of how every generation from Bernard’s to our most recent grads are bonded by a common Northland experience but that every generation brings its own flavor to campus. We’ve charted a few items that distinguish the generational bridges and divides.
Generation
Millennials
Procrastination Technique
Scroll through social media
Grad Years Age Today
Favorite Scientist
Hang Out Spot
Environmental Hero
Asking Your Parents for Money
Environmental Issue
Trusted News Anchor
News Source
On-campus Living
2001-present 16-36 years old
W o n
Bill Nye
Black Cat Coffeehouse
Vandana Shiva
A twenty-character text
Climate Change
Jon Stewart
Co-ed Dorms (Seriously, not until 2005!)
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What was the sign of your time on campus? Tells us at: facebook.com/northlandalumni
Generation X 1986-2000 37-51 years old
Watch Cheers on Thursday nights at 7 CST
Stephen Hawking
Railyard Pub
Edward Abbey
Phone call (a collect call, obviously)
Recycling
Dan Rather
TV
Stick with the theme (houses)
The Baby Boomers 1967-1985 52-70 years old
Protest!
Jane Goodall
The Boar’s Head
Rachel Carson
Brief postcard
DDT
Walter Cronkite
An actual newspaper
Alpha Sigma and Gamma Nu (Greek Life)
The Greatest Generation Pre-1967 71 or older
Carve knick-knacks out of wood
Albert Einstein
Cabbie’s
Sigurd F. Olson
A well-crafted, hand-written letter
Roadside trash
Edward R. Murrow
Radio
Ladies, be home before curfew!
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Marvin Pertzik World Water Day Lecture Series Matt Cooper presented the inaugural Marvin Pertzik World Water Day Lecture Wednesday, May 4 at Northland College. Marvin Pertzik, a St. Paul attorney, was key in assisting the Mary Livingston Griggs & Mary Griggs Burke Foundation in making a $10 million endowment gift to Northland College in 2015. The endowment supports the staff and work of the Mary Griggs Burke Center for Freshwater Innovation, now in its first year. “We are thrilled to name this annual lecture after Marvin—he has dedicated his career to helping others achieve their philanthropic vision,” said Northland College President Michael Miller. “Marvin is an ardent supporter of conservation and preservation of the unique natural resources in the north woods of Wisconsin.”
SOEI to Host Children and Young Adult Literature Conference
The Northland College Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute will host its first Children and Young Adult Literature Conference Friday, November 4, with an opening talk Thursday evening. Bev Bauer, former owner of Redbery Bookstore in Cable, Wisconsin, and a committee member of the Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Awards (SONWA), previously organized the conference. She and former children’s librarian Chris Lindsey are working with SOEI Executive Director Mark Peterson to organize, plan, and bring back the conference under the umbrella of the SOEI. “This is a perfect fit for us with our literature awards— it’s a way to celebrate the
authors while providing a service for educators,” Peterson said. SONWA young adult winner Nancy Bo Flood will talk and receive her award for Water Runs Through This Book (Fulcrum Publishing, Golden, Colorado) in a program Thursday, November 3. SONWA children’s winner Aimee Bissonette will give the keynote and receive her award for North Woods Girl (Minnesota Historical Society Press, St. Paul, Minnesota) Friday morning of the conference. North Woods Girl Illustrator Claudia McGehee will also be presenting. Register online at northland.edu/soei.
Adult Book Winner Fausch on Campus in October The Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute awarded Kurt D. Fausch the Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award for his book, For the Love of Rivers: A Scientist’s Journey (Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, Oregon). Fausch will be on campus Thursday, October 13, to speak and to accept his award.
Local Foods, Alumni Growers The Northland College local foods initiative was highlighted in the Summer 2016 Lake Superior Magazine. The College has a goal of having eighty percent of food served on campus supplied from local sources by 2020, and is currently at thirtyeight percent, sourcing food from about twenty local farms and businesses. Many of these producers are alumni of the College including Kelsey ’06 and Todd ’10 Rothe, Chris Duke ’99 and Autumn Kelly ’98, Brian Clements ’08, Sean Godfrey ’02, and Andrew Sauter Sargent ’04.
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Chris Duke ’99
Andrew Sauter Sargent ’04
NORTHLAND COLLEGE MAGAZINE with his family.
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Climate Change and Clouds Climatologists consider the role of clouds to be the largest single uncertainty in climate prediction. In fact, the United National Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, charged with evaluating climate change science, has made it a top priority. The Fulbright Scholarship has awarded Northland College Visiting Professor Andrew Jensen a grant to research climate change, aerosols, and clouds. Jensen will focus on research, conducting mathematical modeling in France at the Atmospheric Optics Laboratory at the University of Lille in Villeneuve d’Ascq from January through April 2017. Overall, clouds cool the Earth’s surface by shading about sixty percent of the planet at any one time and by increasing the reflectivity of the atmosphere. Given that, just a five percent increase or decrease in cloud reflectivity could have a huge impact.
Survey Says, Chequamegon Bay Residents Love Where They Live Chequamegon Bay residents love where they live—and that’s good for business, according to the Northland College Center for Rural Communities. The Center released results in April from their study, “Roots in Chequamegon Bay: Opportunities for Strengthening Community Attachment,” showing that close to seventy percent of residents are highly attached to the Chequamegon Bay Area. “This strong attachment bodes well for the region, indicating personal investment and emotional connections, essential ingredients for community and economic growth,” said Brandon Hofstedt, faculty director of the CRC, noting only 2.9 percent of residents feel unattached. The report uses survey data collected from a representative sample of 496 residents in the region to examine how
community values, attitudes, and social ties relate to attachment to the Chequamegon Bay area in northern Wisconsin. The report also identifies opportunities for investment in social infrastructure that have the potential to attract and retain residents and, in turn, spur community and economic growth. “Recent research suggests that communities that have residents who feel strongly connected also have high rates of economic growth,” Hofstedt said. “The Chequamegon Bay area has a large number of people who are strongly attached to this place, and this is fuel for sustainable, economic growth in the region.” “When residents are connected to the place they live in, they are less likely to move away, and are more likely to invest locally and contribute to the community,” Hofstedt said. Findings show that the three most important social attributes connecting residents to where they live are their views on how invested in the community other residents are, their level of trust in different groups, and if they experience the community as open and welcoming of others. “These data suggest that we should invest in strategies that increase opportunities for connections, engagement in community life, and other social aspects of community that can strengthen attachment and promote development in the Chequamegon Bay area,” Hofstedt said.
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A Research Model for the Great Lakes The White House Council on Environmental Quality last year identified seven important landscapes for conservation and restoration, naming among others the Hawaiian Islands, Washington’s Puget Sound, the Florida Everglades, and a section of the Great Lakes—a 6.3 million-acre stretch of coastal wetlands from Saginaw Bay on southern Lake Huron to western Lake Erie. Research Scientist Matt Cooper at the Northland College Burke Center for Freshwater Innovation has been researching this region that spans Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, and Lake Erie. “The hope is that the work on Lake Erie and Lake Huron will act as a prototype for estuary systems in all the Great Lakes,” Cooper said. Historically much of the shoreline in the Lake Huron-Erie region was coastal wetland but a “perfect storm” of degradation has dramatically altered the ecosystem. “These ecosystems have been hit hard by residential development and expansion of harbors, by intense pressure from metropolitan areas and high intensity row crop agriculture,” Cooper said. Cooper and collaborators at the Natural Resources Research Institute at the University of Minnesota-Duluth and Central Michigan University’s Institute for Great Lakes Research have focused on this region in an effort to build a better system for restoration and protection. “The idea is to protect what we have and restore what we can—and keep in mind that wetland restoration has an economic side,” Cooper said. The annual economic value of Great Lakes fisheries is estimated at $7 billion and a majority of Great Lakes fish species use coastal wetlands at some point in their life cycle, Cooper said, “If you consider other benefits such as improving
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water quality and providing flood protection, the value of coastal wetlands adds up very quickly.” The White House Resilient Lands and Waters Initiative highlights southern Lake Huron and western Lake Erie as a region facing a range of climate impacts and other ecological stressors related to climate change, such as extreme water level fluctuations, drought, wildfire, and invasive species. The purpose of the initiative is to create and enhance tools for coastal wetland and marine conservation, protection of drinking water for urban areas, and providing habitat for wildlife. In the Great Lakes, Cooper and his collaborators have collected and analyzed data on land use practices, water quality, aquatic life, and the people who use, recreate, and rely on the lake and what they value. From this, they will develop a coastal wetland prioritization tool to determine where restoration efforts are most needed. The $200,000 project is funded by the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Landscape Conservation Cooperative—a collective of agencies, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service coastal program. “This project will help our organization and other conservation practitioners make critical decisions on where to invest in wetland restoration and protection,” said Brad Potter, science coordinator for the cooperative, who is with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The finished product, scheduled for October, will be a web-based interface that will provide information on fish and wildlife, water quality, human population density, and recreation. “So many coastal communities are struggling to make decisions about how to protect and restore their water, and how to deal with public health issues like the dangerous algae blooms that shut Toledo’s water supply down for two days,” Cooper said. “If we can help them make science-based decisions, we will have succeeded.”
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One Campus, One Read Following the lead of One City, One Book initiatives, President Michael A. Miller and Mary Trettin have invited the larger campus community to participate in a global read of philosopher and nature writer Kathleen Dean Moore’s Great Tide Rising: Towards Clarity and Moral Courage in a Time of Planetary Change. Moore was the featured speaker at the 105th Commencement in May—though she was unable to attend due to a family emergency (Professor Cynthia Belmont read Moore’s speech, instead). In addition, the Northland College Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute awarded Moore the Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award in 2000 for Holdfast, a collection of essays in which Moore seeks to understand what holds her firmly to family and place. Great Tide Rising has been chosen as a “global read” by The Charter for Compassion Global Book Club, to be discussed virtually October 22, 2016. “This is an ideal opportunity to bring together students, staff, faculty, and the broader community to read one book in the same timeframe on a subject we’re all interested in, and to participate in a global discussion in October,” Miller said.
Saetre Delivers Last Lecture As campus minister at Northland College, David Saetre delivered the baccalaureate address to graduating seniors for twenty years. Last year, he retired as campus minister and returned to teaching—and so delivered his last address. But students voted him back to the stage one more time for the last lecture before graduation, an event sponsored by the Northland College Student Association in cooperation with the College’s commencement committee. “Seeing as this is the first year in a while that David won’t be giving an address to the senior class, I (very selfishly) would love to hear whatever he wants to contribute in the form of a last lecture,” wrote one student. Saetre did not disappoint, delivering poignant last words on love and the wonder of being, before a packed crowd of students, faculty, family members, and staff.
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Stencil Project Wisconsin Loon Teaches Care for Population Environment Looks Good The Chequamegon Water Collaborative (CWC), a Northland College student initiative, worked with Ashland, Bayfield, and Washburn students in May, stenciling “Keep Our Bay Clean” artwork near storm drains in the city. The collaborative has been working with regional schools to raise awareness about storm drains—that everything that flows into the drain, ends up in Lake Superior. As part of the longer initiative, students created the artwork, and CWC organizers have spent time in the classroom talking to students about storm drains and the Chequamegon Bay. “Working with young people is crucial to building awareness around water quality and to protecting Chequamegon Bay,” said Northland College senior Julia Fair, co-director of the CWC.
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The Northland College Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute LoonWatch program announced that Wisconsin loons are doing surprisingly well, according to the results of the 2015 oneday Wisconsin Loon Population Survey. According to the most recent results, the adult loon population is estimated at 4,350, an increase of 9.1 percent from 2010, and the chick population is estimated at 834, an increase of 37.8 percent.
“I’m surprised and pleased,” said LoonWatch Coordinator Erica LeMoine. “Between the 2010 Gulf oil spill and 2012 botulism outbreak, they’ve faced extraordinary challenges over the last five years, so this is good news.” The survey has been conducted every five years since 1985. Some 210 volunteers collected data July 18, 2015, surveying 204 lakes in twenty-seven northern Wisconsin counties. The Wisconsin Loon Population Survey is the longest running and only statewide survey of loons. “The survey is vital to collecting baseline data and assessing the effectiveness of current conservation efforts with the loon population,” LeMoine said.
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Admissions Implements Optional Test Policy A test-optional admissions policy means that freshmen applicants with a 3.0 GPA, and some transfer students, can choose not to submit SAT or ACT scores. More than 850 colleges and universities in the United States have moved to a test-optional policy. “This decision reflects the College’s commitment to a holistic review process,” said Teege Mettille, executive director of admissions. “We believe, like many colleges, the best way to gauge college readiness is how a student performs over four years of high school, not how she or he performs over four hours on a Saturday morning.”
Students Ready Handcycle for Ashland Boy By Zeke Roth-Reynolds ‘16 Like any other six-year-old boy, Roy Cook of Ashland wanted to learn to ride a bike. But Roy was born with a condition called spina bifida, meaning that Roy’s spinal cord and meninges didn’t form properly, Because of this condition Roy relied solely on a wheelchair for mobility. Roy’s father, Jake, says he would take Roy to Wal-Mart and Roy would see the bikes—and Jake would have to tell him that he couldn’t get one. “He’d ask ‘why?’ and I’d tell him, ‘’‘Cause your legs don’t work, Roy.’” That all changed in April when Northland College faculty and students presented a handcycle to Roy and his family, and Roy was able to ride it around the parking lot at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor’s Center for the first time. “The project truly was a community effort, made possible only through the contributions of many different people,
organizations, and businesses,” said Cindy Dillenschneider, recently retired outdoor education professor at Northland College. Seniors Lynn Dohrmann and Zeke RothReynolds, junior Stuart Schmidt, and sophomore Olivia Garceau comprised the “Adaptive Bike Team.” The team struck gold at the start of the process when Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute in Duluth donated an older, adult-sized handcycle. The team then met with the physical and occupational therapists from Roy’s school to figure out what kind of modifications would have to be made in order to accommodate Roy. The primary goal was to provide Roy with a handcycle, but the larger objective was to build relationships and foster community connection. “We hoped to give Roy a greater sense of independence and to build on a blueprint for effective community engagement on behalf of the College,” Schmidt said. The adaptive bike succeeded on all accounts. “Roy was quick to tell everyone about his ambitious plans to ride it home,” said Schmidt.
See more news from Northland College by going to :
northland.edu/news SUMMER 2016
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THE ) NEXT ( GENERATION GRADUATES TO WATCH IN 2016
Making it Happen By Amber Mullen ’12 A love of learning and Lake Superior is what lured graduating senior Megan McPeak to Northland College—and may someday bring her back. “I knew this was my time to be here—in my favorite place in the world—and to really focus on learning,” McPeak explained. Focus indeed. She doublemajored in math and meteorology, and doubleminored in chemistry and physics. Young Kim, professor of mathematics and computer science, said McPeak’s motivation is an inspiration to other students. “As Megan commenced her study
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four years ago, she knew exactly what she wanted to accomplish with her time at Northland College—she planned, worked hard, and made it,” Kim said. After graduation, McPeak will be headed to the University of Alabama doctoral program in atmospheric science with a specialized interest in atmospheric chemistry, with a full scholarship, research position, and monthly stipend. “I will be working with Dr. [Shanhu] Lee who is looking at rates of reactions in the atmosphere, particulate size distribution, and she does a lot of field campaigns to look at polluted versus clean air,” McPeak said. “I’ll essentially be helping in her research, while taking classes.”
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The Indelible Parker Matzinger
Path to Immigration Law Graduating senior Adrian Diaz says he has witnessed the struggles of immigrants in the United States and it has shaped his career goals. “My parents’ and my experience with American xenophobia and racism has pushed me to pursue a career in immigration law.” Diaz, who is originally from Waukegan, Illinois, studied sociology and sustainable community development at Northland College, while working at three law firms—a public defender, a general law firm, and for immigration lawyer and adjunct professor Charlene D’Cruz. As part of his internship with D’Cruz, Diaz studied and analyzed immigration law policies, built cases for clients, translated forms from English to Spanish, and filled out and organized paperwork for immigration cases. “I have attended many large protests in Chicago and
Waukegan that fight for the rights of immigrants and these experiences have stuck with me,” he said. “My work with Charlene has reinforced my passion for human rights law,” he said. On campus, he also took on issues around human and student rights. He sat on the Northland College Diversity Work Group, was elected as a senator to the Northland College Student Association, and participated in soccer. His proudest accomplishment, he says, was helping to establish the Northland College Multicultural Center and Club. “I am proud to say that I helped start a center and club that celebrates ethnic and racial diversity,” he said. “I have gained tremendous experience in marketing, public relations, group organization, public speaking, and leadership—this center will help Northland attract more students of color and create a more inclusive environment.”
Parker Matzinger has tracked wildlife in Costa Rica with Assistant Professor of Natural Resources Erik Olson. He founded and performed in the Northland College Percussion Ensemble, interned at the Mary Griggs Burke Center for Freshwater Innovation, and attended a week-long workshop combining biology and acoustics with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Matzinger, who doublemajored in biology and natural resources with an emphasis in fisheries and wildlife ecology, has also served as director of sustainability for the Northland College Student Association, with oversight of the Environmental Council and the REFund, and is a founding member of the newest student group, Student Voices. In other words, there’s no moss gathering on this graduating senior.
So, it’s no surprise that he’s been hired by the National Park Service Great Lakes Inventory and Monitoring Network in partnership with Northland College to coordinate an acoustic bat survey in regional national parks—including the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Isle Royale, Grand Portage, St. Croix, Sleeping Bear Dunes, and Voyageurs National Park. Matzinger is the 2016 recipient of the Student Life Indelible Mark Award, along with Liz White. The award recognizes students who best exemplify the spirit and values of Northland College by leaving a positive and lasting impression on the campus community. “Parker is an articulate and extremely devoted leader in whatever work he is engaged in, and this commitment has endured and grown throughout his time at Northland,” stated the awards committee. “His leadership style is inclusive, relational, and he is especially adept at accomplishing diverse goals that are identified.”
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Passion for Strong Communities By Amber Mullen ’12 Growing up in Spooner, Wisconsin, allowed graduating senior Kaylee Thornley to experience firsthand the social and economic struggles small communities face today. Understanding that rural communities struggle to keep wealth in the region, Thornley knew she wanted to study methods that would allow her to influence policy and help to remedy these issues. Thornley found the answer at Northland College, declaring her major in sustainable community development and by participating in research opportunities with the College’s Center for Rural Communities. Thornley has delved into research with the Center for Rural Communities over the past four years, and was recently awarded first place
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in the Midwest Sociological Society’s student paper competition for a paper she wrote on social capital and community attachment in the Chequamegon Bay. “Kaylee is one of the strongest, most committed students I have ever taught and worked with. She is exceptional inside and outside of the classroom,” said Brandon Hofstedt, associate professor of sustainable community development and faculty director of the Center for Rural Communities. This summer, Thornley will be wrapping up projects with the Center for Rural Communities and applying for jobs in the Midwest with nonprofit agencies and small municipalities. Eventually, she would like to get her PhD in sociology with the ultimate goal of becoming a college professor someday. “The research experience is going to give me a lot of help in applying for grad schools,” Thornley said. “That’s exactly what those programs are looking for.”
Fun Runs Among a field of seventeen talented Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) senior student athletes recognized as finalists for the Scholar-Athlete Leadership Award, Louis Corcoran of Northland College was selected as the winner. The award recognizes the role athletics plays in developing leaders by rewarding athletes’ excellence in the classroom as well as service to the community. The honor is awarded annually to one male and one female graduating senior. During his four years as a student athlete at Northland, Corcoran has balanced rigorous research-based academic opportunities with athletics as well as heavy involvement in the campus community. For Corcoran though, athletics has served as a driver for his success during his time at Northland. “I’ve always prided myself in academics, and I’ve always had athletics as a secondary thing that was a driver for me,” he said. “So, to balance the two has never really been hard. It’s taken a lot of focus for me to make sure I don’t neglect
either one of them, and in that case, I’ve ended up succeeding in both.” Corcoran was a four-year standout for the cross country team at Northland. He has twice finished in the top twenty at the UMAC Championships and placed tenth in 2014 to earn AllUMAC honors—a goal he set early in his career. During his senior season, Corcoran served as team captain and earned the UMAC Sportsmanship Award. As a chemistry and math double major, Corcoran earned respect in the chemistry field through his research (see Plastics Research p. 14). Corcoran has worked as a teaching assistant in the Chemistry Department and an academic tutor in the areas of chemistry, physics, and statistics. Though Corcoran has enjoyed success in all areas of life during his time at Northland, he said his time as a student athlete was a highlight. “Obviously, competing is good… but I will never forget the conversations I have had on long runs or the fun days at practice where we did our workouts and still had fun doing them.”
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Science in the Back Country By Amber Mullen ’12
Never About the Money By Amber Mullen ’12 Choosing a career path was “never about the money” for graduating senior Lynn Dohrmann, who has spent the last four years being of service and providing inclusive opportunities in the outdoors. “I would so much rather be enjoying what I’m doing, than have a lot of money and be miserable,” Dohrmann explained. Growing up in DeWitt, Iowa, Dohrmann felt inspired by the natural world and found she learned much better in wilderness settings. When she discovered she could major in outdoor education at Northland, she was sold on the College. She will graduate with a double major in outdoor education, with an emphasis in therapeutic universal design and wilderness leadership, and natural resources with an emphasis in restoration ecology. For the last four years, Lynn has pursued her passion for the natural world and for making sure underrepresented populations
have access to that world. Along the way, she has impacted countless programs and individuals in the Chequamegon Bay region. “When she gets an idea, she really takes hold of it and pursues it, which is a valuable character trait,” said recently retired outdoor education professor Cindy Dillenschneider, who believes Dohrmann stands out because of her ability to lead and collaborate on projects that benefit others. After graduation, Dohrmann will head east to Boston, Massachusetts, to guide sea kayaking trips in the Boston Harbor with Thompson Island Outward Bound. Although her contract is up in August, she may decide to continue working with the company until December. In the future, Dohrmann says she may continue her work with Outward Bound or move back to the shores of Lake Superior. “Looking back, I see that Northland has really allowed me to become a leader in my field,” Dohrmann explained. “And it really doesn’t matter how much money I make, as long as what I’m doing makes me, and others, happy.”
For some, being stranded on Lake Superior in a boat with two broken motors is reasonable cause for alarm. However, for graduating senior Jordan Welnetz it was “just another day at the office” and a prime opportunity to enjoy the lake she loves. “We didn’t know what we were going to do,” Welnetz laughed. “It was a gorgeous day on the lake. First, one motor died, then another.” Having spent the morning collecting water samples for the Mary Griggs Burke Center for Freshwater Innovation, Welnetz said she was in her element and enjoying every second of it. The boat was eventually towed to shore, and her work with the Center continued the very next day. Originally from Conover, Wisconsin, Welnetz was attracted to Northland College
for the Superior Connections program. She continued for the remainder of her college career to immerse herself in Lake Superior research. “Learning about the area was super important to me,” said Welnetz, who majored in natural resources and minored in outdoor education. “And in my research with the Burke Center, so many things would go wrong—like the boat example—that I had to start thinking about all situations in a new way.” Welnetz has already started working for the Colorado Outward Bound School as a Rocky Mountain field intern. For the first half of the summer she will work in logistics, and expects to spend at least twenty-two days in the field as an assistant guide. “I want to work with scientific research in a backcountry setting,” Welnetz explained. “It would be pretty incredible to work for an organization like Round River. So, grad school might be in my future, but we will see.”
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Quiet Strength Liz White’s quiet strength has not gone unnoticed. As a sophomore, she was selected by her peers to serve on the Northland College Board of Trustees. Since then she has served as president of the Northland College Student Association, was awarded the Student Life Indelible Mark Award for her “thoughtful leadership and strong passion for Northland College and for those she serves,” and was selected to speak at the 2016 commencement. Majoring in business and sustainable community
Plastics Research for the Greater Good By Amber Mullen ’12 Dylan Hudson, Leah Jaynes, Louis Corcoran, and Tyler Klein have all spent a number of years working together on one of the Chemistry Department’s ongoing projects, which aims to lessen the impact of plastic products throughout their chemical lifecycle. “They’re working on things like trying to make plastics from renewable sources, and trying to take commodity type plastics—such as soda bottles—and making more use of them,” explained Nick Robertson, associate professor of chemistry. “The ultimate goal is to inch the field of sustainable
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plastics forward. We’ve managed to do way more than I thought was ever possible when I first started and a big part of that is having such effective students that get a lot done in a very short period of time,” he said. As freshmen, these students stepped into the chemistry lab bewildered. Four years later, they have all accepted offers to pursue graduate studies in chemistry. Jaynes and Klein will attend Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Corcoran will attend the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Hudson is headed to Colorado State University. “These four have worked really well together, they are a great research team,” Robertson said. “They’re a lot of fun, incredibly sharp, but humble and personable. It was always a huge privilege and pleasure to be able to spend time with them.”
development, “she has worked tirelessly to represent students and the College in positive and meaningful ways. Liz quietly inspires those she associates with and those she works on behalf of, to seek justice and to work in service to others,” said the Indelible Mark Award committee. Liz is planning to move to Madison, Wisconsin, after graduation where she will be looking for professional development opportunities related to public service. Liz has considered graduate school but for now, says her interests are too broad to choose one area of study.
YOUR SUPPORT MAKES THESE
STUDENT EXPERIENCES
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COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS: DEFINING COMMUNITY By Liz White ’16 I’d like to start by saying how honored and humbled I am to be part of the class of 2016 and to also have the opportunity to speak before you today. So when I was trying to decide what to share in my talk, I thought back to when I first came to Northland as a freshman four years ago. And to be truthful, when I first came here I didn’t like it. I didn’t know anyone. It was uncomfortable. I started to doubt my decision to come to Northland and I even thought about leaving. But over time things got better. Obviously, I did not leave. And here I am now as a senior, and I can say that I truly love Northland College. I love the setting here in the north woods, the mission of the institution, and most significantly, I love the people here. And so I went from a freshman thinking about transferring to a senior who, although is excited for the future, is also saddened by the thought of leaving. So what was it that created this change in how I felt about Northland? As I look back, I’ve realized that the thing that made all the difference was community. Community is a word we hear a lot, I think especially at Northland. But what exactly is community? Well I think community probably is better felt and experienced than described in words. But just to give some examples of what community at Northland has looked like, at least to many of us graduating, is that community is walking around campus and smiling and waving as people pass by, it is spending hours participating in crazy weird events at this thing called Snofest, it is going to the campus store and having the staff know your name and also know which sandwich you are about to order. I could go on for a long time about examples of community at Northland but I think we get the idea. So I think many of us have finally found a place of connectedness, comfort, and acceptance here at Northland, and now it’s time to leave. I think we wonder if we will ever find this type of belonging again. And this uncertainty is unsettling, at least for me, and I started to doubt if I could truly find another community where I felt at home. But then I remembered back to being a freshman. I remembered how uncomfortable and how alone I felt, and that this feeling of belonging and community that I feel now didn’t happen overnight. I think once we experience a type of community like that at Northland we are compelled to find it again, and as much as we may want to have this sense of belonging right away again, we can’t force community and that feeling of connection. As we move into this next chapter of our lives, I think we may again have to be patient as we grow into our new communities. It takes time. But also, I think as many of us know, we don’t just find
community. It isn’t just sitting there waiting to be discovered. Community is an active process. It is built and shaped by its members. All of us here at Northland, whether we would identify ourselves this way or not, are in fact community builders. Community building does not have to be a big elaborate act. It’s really the simple things. For example, one day I was leaving the student center and right outside the door there was a vole, or a shrew, I apologize to all of the natural resource majors out there who are probably embarrassed by my lack of mammal identification skills, but anyway, there was some type of rodent that couldn’t see and kept running into the wall. And there was a student there who was trying to usher the rodent to safety in the nearby grass. After I saw what was going on, I started to help. A few minutes later another student joined in the rescue efforts, and I am pleased to report that we were eventually able to get the rodent to safety. And for me, this story really illustrates what community building is. None of the students involved in the rescue really knew each other that well, and we didn’t get involved because there would be some kind of direct benefit for ourselves. But we recognized the situation as fellow students in need, and I suppose also as a rodent in need, and so we contributed what we could to improve the situation. That’s community. It’s these types of acts of giving, be they big or small, that we can continue to apply in our lives after Northland to create communities that we want to be part of. And finally, I think many of us chose to come to Northland because we have some vision of change for the future. It might be change in our own lives or change in the entire world. And regardless of scale, Northland has prepared us to be changemakers. We know how to gather information, how to think critically, and we have had amazing hands-on experiences. However, Northland has prepared us in another, more subtle way that doesn’t fit neatly on a resume. And that is at Northland we learned how to live in community. We have learned to live and work with others who are different than ourselves, who we may not always agree with, and who we might not even like. And in a world with conflicts and challenges, knowing how to live within community will serve us all well no matter what kind of change we want to make. Northland has shown us that we can do more and be more when we act as a community rather than just as individuals. And that is powerful. As I wrap up here, I also want to take this time to say thank you to my peers because I owe my Northland experience to all of you. Like I said earlier, it was community that kept me at Northland and each of you contributed to making that community what is was. It has been such a pleasure and honor to have shared this journey with you all, and I am so very excited for and confident in our futures. When I look out at our class for this last time, I see scholars, I see researchers, professionals, activists. But what I see most is close friends, good neighbors, and caring community members. Together we have already made a huge difference in this community and I can’t wait to see what impact we will make in the future.
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From Ornithology to Loonshine: A Story of Modern Entrepreneurship By Julie Buckles In college, Simeon Rossi ’09 brewed beer and experimented with coffee liqueur but he never expected to make a career of it. He studied natural resources and pursued a profession in conservation biology. He reintroduced pine marten in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, studied freshwater mussels in the Boundary Waters, restored prairies in southern Minnesota, and studied birds in Austin, Texas. But, before he left for that Austin job in January 2011, he brewed ten gallons of coffee liqueur—a refined recipe from his college years—for his own going away party. Why? “It’s like the difference between store bought cookies and the ones that your grandmother makes,” he said. His friends thought it was so good, they encouraged him to consider changing careers. His best friend from high school, Mark Schiller, had just graduated from the Carlson School at the University of Minnesota with a degree in business and was interested in entrepreneurship. Rossi moved to Austin and while he tracked birds, his conversation with Schiller continued. Then he was sitting on a hillside, looking out at the landscape when he received a two-word text from Northland buddy Katie Lancaster ’09 that would take him over the edge. “Loon Liquors?,” she asked. Lancaster, who owns her own business in Marquette, Michigan, would later design the Loon Liquors artwork. “I loved Austin but Texas was going through a terrible drought and I started feeling nostalgic for Minnesota,” he said. “And I had to think hard about my future. Should I go forward and work with birds? Do I take this opportunity to create a business? It’s not something I was expecting to do by any means.” He returned home for Christmas—and stayed. “Mark is really tenacious,” he said. “I had confidence in him. He would make his best effort.” They opened a craft distillery in Northfield, Minnesota, and released their first spirit in 2014, a young whiskey they named
Loonshine. Whiskey allowed them to incorporate character and their own unique brand from the start. “This whiskey is wholly ours,” he said. Loonshine is made from locally-raised organic wheat and barley grains—instead of the traditional corn—and filtered through a charcoal filter, a tradition borrowed from the Russians. The unused grain parts are then turned over to farmers to feed to their livestock. The livestock is then sold to the local college. Rossi and Schiller have since added Metropoligin that took a year of testing to get the formula right, Rossi said. “I’m a gin drinker—and as a distiller, gin gives you the most opportunity to be creative,” he said. Metropoligin recently took silver medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, the largest in the world, and a bronze medal from the American Distilleries Institute. Loon Liquors opened a cocktail room in 2015, a speakeasysort of bar, connected to the distillery, with gin and whiskey concoctions on the menu. Rossi and Schiller have hosted a handful of local foods dinners, pairing the courses with their cocktails. The cocktail room also allows them to try new liquors in smaller batches and to educate consumers on how, what, and why their liquor is different—and why that matters. In June, Loon Liquors added vodka to their list of spirits. Consumers can now find Loon Liquors at two hundred locations—all major liquor stores in the Twin Cities and in most larger cities in Minnesota. In six years, the company has gone from an idea to a distillery (a two-year process), to a distillery with a cocktail room, from one liquor to three, and from two employees—Rossi and Schiller—to four, with more about to be hired. “It’s been an MBA mixed with a gym membership,” Rossi laughed. “My advice to new graduates: there’s a lot of opportunities out there. I’ve seen a lot of people my age and younger going into professions that were once looked down upon.” For instance, he said, bartenders are now considered artists, in part because of the economic downturn—“we had to get creative”—and in part, because millennials question everything. “I can thank my Northland education for this,” he said. “I don’t fear adversity—we’re all given the opportunity to create our own way and find our own future and I did that.”
Photos by billkelleyphotography.com SUMMER 2016
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Healing Through a Lens By Felicia Schneiderhan Give a teen a camera, lead her or him into nature, and you could change a life—and maybe help save the planet at the same time. At least that’s been the experience of Northland College alumnus Ian Karl ’04, experiential programming coordinator at Northwest Passage. Karl oversees outdoor and experiential program design and execution—from gardening to canoeing to nature photography. Northwest Passage is a northern Wisconsin residential mental health treatment program for youth ages twelve-to-seventeen. The organization offers a diverse set of programs and comprehensive treatment led by a full team of professionals from direct care counselors to pediatric neuropsychologists. Two of these therapeutic programs—In a New Light
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and Under the Surface—have had great success combining photography, nature, and the principles of positive psychology.
Beginnings One could follow the career path of Karl back to the fall of 1999, when he sat with classmates Jenny Ulbricht ’01 and Jesse Beightol ’99, atop Palisade Head on the north shore looking out at Lake Superior. One of them wondered aloud about what Lake Superior looked like on the other side. “We weren’t satisfied with letting curiosities remain curiosities,” Karl said. The next spring, the three shoved off in kayaks from the shores of Ashland, paddled to Waverly Beach, and continued on to paddle the entire shoreline for the next two months. “It was an adventure, like none other,” Karl laughed. They had days of seven-foot following seas, harrowing waves at Pictured Rocks, and a forty-eight-mile day on Pukaskwa shoreline looking for viable campsites.
“The trip cemented my passion for, and bond with Lake Superior and fresh water,” Karl said. “It will always be my home.” Soon after, he was offered a job guiding on the Sognefjord in Norway for fellow alumnus, David Parmentier ’90. For the next nine years, he split his time between western Norway and the Apostle Islands, guiding kayaking, mountain trips, and whitewater rafting, teaching environmental education, and spending the winters as a carpenter, ski instructor, and ski patroller. In 2010, he started his job at Northwest Passage.
In a New Light Northwest Passage Program Development Coordinator Ben Thwaits started In a New Light as a classroom project. He put cameras in the hands of the kids as a means of therapy, then led them out into dramatic natural landscapes to capture powerful images. Mostly, he wanted to share his passion for photography with his young clients.
Karl worked with Thwaits to expand the program to Northwest Passage’s girls’ program and eventually to all of their residential treatment programs and group homes. Northwest Passage’s mission—rooted in the concept that time spent in nature is inherently therapeutic—resonated with Karl’s personal philosophy. “My years of guiding and instructing for the public had taught me many things,” Karl said, “but chief among them was the realization that transformative wilderness experiences are something that should be accessible to everyone—not just those with the personal skills or resources to do so.” Millions of people have seen the kids’ photographs on display in galleries, stadiums, national parks, and state capitols. The program evolved with a strong connection to, and support from, the National Park Service, and the team began using the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway as their studio. (continued on page 20)
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Under the Surface Dr. Toben Lafrancois, adjunct assistant professor of natural resources and philosophy at Northland College, reached out to Thwaits after seeing the photographs. “I want to sink your program, let’s take it underwater,” he told Thwaits. So they did—as Under the Surface. The National Park Service provided seed money for a pilot study and the program is now funded by a series of grants through Northwest Passage, and by a Wisconsin Sea Grant through Northland College.
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Under the Surface fits well with Northland College’s mission, according to Lafrancois. “This program is the apogee of connecting physical health, mental health, arts, and sciences with wild experiences in nature.” Under the Surface began just as they did with the original program, in the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway, but this time they trained the kids to snorkel and take photos underwater. “We have since produced arguably the most definitive collection of underwater photographs of the St. Croix and Namekagon rivers, as
well as explored the lakes of northwestern Wisconsin and the Apostle Islands,” Lafrancois said. Running the core aspects of the program can be tricky: there’s water safety, camera operation, and the artistic elements of nature photography. “Ian is so adept at coaxing the kids into being openminded explorers, overcoming their anxieties, and opening their minds to scientific and artistic curiosity,” Lafrancois said. Gently awakening young minds is a core part of the program. “When a kid or adult
has a life changing moment in nature, they develop a bond and a desire to protect that place and other places like it. Stewardship and environmentalism begin with a love of the land and water,” Karl said. Connecting kids to water achieves even larger goals. “When kids see themselves as a part of the ecosystem, they realize they are an integral part of something bigger than themselves,” Karl said. “That fosters stewardship— stewardship of the water and of their own spirits.”
Felicia Scheiderhan is a writer living in Duluth.
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New Light Gallery
Under the Surface at Bayfield High School
Artistic work produced by the Northwest Passage clients is showcased at the In a New Light Gallery, located in Webster, Wisconsin. According to Ian Karl ’04, the gallery serves many purposes. “It’s a venue for kids to have public art receptions and experience the transformative powers of public praise and celebration of their works,” he said. The gallery also “helps break down stereotypes of kids with mental health issues by showing the public what they are capable of.” Ian describes standing room only receptions in the gallery. “When a group of kids see sixty people packed into a room to see their photographs, they take with them a confidence that can help them persevere through the hard times.”
A group of students from Bayfield High School will get a chance to participate in Under the Surface this summer and fall in a student-driven exploration, in which program staff provide the tools and support, including water safety, photography lessons, trip logistics, and artistic work with the final products. “The places we explore, photographs produced, the subjects, and the interpretation will be student driven,” says Dr. Toben Lafrancois, co-director for the program. The stories and photographs will later be shared at several local and state-wide venues, including a national conference on water conservation. The program extension is funded by the Wisconsin Sea Grant to involve more communities that don’t always have the chance to express their relationship to the Great Lakes. In 2017, the program will be repeated with kids from the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe near Hayward.
Ian Karl ’04
Rewilding Hearts Urbanization has resulted in a disconnect between children and the land in which they live. I believe Northland College can bridge these gaps, rewild hearts, and make earthly connections for students who have the courage and drive to succeed. As you’ve just read, students who live and learn at Northland come away changed by their experiences and become strong advocates for environmental sustainability. With that in mind, we’ve created a scholarship for urban youth. We’re currently raising funds to cover tuition, plus room and board, for up to forty urban students with financial need. If you’re interested in contributing to or in learning more about this, please contact me at mmiller@northland.edu. —Michael A. Miller, President
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CLASS NOTES 2010’s Abby Lattanzio ’13 accepted a position with Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin, as an administrative assistant for the Office of Institutional Advancement. William Mokry Jr. ’12 married Melissa Wygant on January 16, 2016, in Colorado. It was a wonderful day filled with dancing and catching up with family and friends. Jessica Brown ’11 will graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Superior this spring with her MSEd in professional school counseling. She anticipates securing a school counseling position, hopefully in a middle school, and relocating this summer.
sister, Tessa (7) welcomed Maria (3) into her forever home on November 30, 2015. Maria was born in the Philippines and is adjusting well to the Minnesota winters.
1990’s Susan M. Napolitano ’98 recently joined Williams Group as general counsel and vice president of Williams Group Transitions. She is a member of the Nebraska Bar Association and earned her juris doctor from the University of Nebraska. While in law school, she was involved in the Women’s Law Caucus and was a member of the Nebraska Law Review.
Julie Bednarski ’98 and her partner welcomed a son August Duncan Kajdan into their lives. He was born in May 2015. He is already enjoying outdoor adventures, which makes his parents proud. Cathy (Walters) Meilak ’97 welcomed a baby boy with husband Michael Meilak. Micah John Meilak was born March 17, 2016, in Tampa, Florida. Following maternity leave she will be starting her fifteenth year with GLE Associates, Inc., where she works as an environmental/ hazardous materials consultant project manager.
Natasha (Ingvoldstad) ’95 and Seth O’Neal ’94 are living in Portland, Oregon. Happy and busy with two kids. Finn was born in 2003 and Eliza in 2008. Katherine (Turner) Studey ’95 was just accepted to a masters program through Miami University (Oxford, Ohio), Project Dragonfly, and the Phoenix Zoo. In addition to continuing to teach fourth grade in Phoenix, she will be taking online classes with Miami University, and inperson courses at the zoo in order to earn a masters of arts degree in teaching science.
2000’s
Adam Andis ’08 is beginning a PhD program at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies this fall and is graduating with a masters of science degree in environmental studies from the University of Montana this spring. Andis also has recently become engaged to Bayla Arietta. They will marry in fall 2017 in the northeast. Allison (Hansen) Gurney ’05 and Matti Gurney ’03 are excited to announce the adoption of their second child, Maria Corazon Iris Gurney. Allison, Matti, and, now big
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E D U C AT I O N
Eco Hero Mohlman
SHAN BURSON
Acoustic ecologist, National Park Service
B.A. in human ecology, College of the Atlantic, 1983 M.S. in ecology and behavioral biology, University of Minnesota, 1989
JESSICA MOHLMAN
Research and collections assistant, The Field Museum
B.S. in both biology and natural resources (emphasis in wildlife and fisheries ecology), Northland College, 2015
Mohlman, 23, still remembers childhood trips from her home in McHenry, Ill., to The Field Museum in Chicago, specifically an exhibit called “Evolving Planet,” about the evolution of life on Earth. “The thing that resonated with me was at the end of the exhibit they talk about the mass extinction we’re in currently, and it had a clock counting how many species have gone. ... Little me was like, ‘I need to save the planet.’ ” After three college internships in various departments in the museum, she returned full-time in 2015 to assist the museum’s curator of mammals with a project mapping and identifying many species of bats in Kenya, a first step toward protecting the vulnerable mammals. “I knew nothing about bats prior to getting this job, so I’m learning a lot,” she says. “That’s the great thing about working in a museum. ... I always leave here every day learning something I didn’t know beforehand.”
Burson, 55, spends his days recording animal and human sounds in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks in Wyoming. “Soundscapes are a resource, just like wildlife, or plants, or air quality,” he says. His work started when the National Park Service wanted to measure the noise impact of the 80,000 snowmobiles that zipped through Yellowstone each winter. “When I first collected data in the winter of 2002-03, you could hear snowmobiles 90 percent of the time,” he says. “But since the park service in 2013 released new rules governing snowmobile use, you hear snowmobiles less than half of the time in the busiest corridor. I’m happy that some of the data I collected went toward that.” With that success under his belt, Burson can turn to other projects: monitoring bats with ultrasonic microphones, discovering some “ear-ringing” quiet places in the parks and creating a soundscape guide for both parks so that visitors who want to have the best chance of hearing a wolf howling or an elk bugling will be guided to the best place. “I think a lot of people don’t come to national parks for the natural sounds, but ... it has an importance to people that they don’t realize,” he says.
COURTESY OF JESSICA MOHLMAN; NEAL HERBERT/NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Jessica Dobrin ’09 has been living in Kuwait teaching IBDP chemistry for the past two years. In the fall, she will be moving to England to start her PhD at the University of Cambridge.
Jessica Mohlman ’15 was featured in Spring/Summer 2016 USA Today Green Living magazine’s “A Sustainable Career” feature on college students who became ecoheroes. Mohlman is a research and collections assistant at the Field Museum in Chicago. After three full-time internships, she returned full time after graduation to assist the museum’s curator of mammals with a project mapping and identifying many species of bats in Kenya, a first step to protection.
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1980’s Paul Ritter ’85 graduated from Northland with a biology degree. He took this degree and turned it into a thirty-year career with the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife where he retired as a supervising biologist. During this career he started a hobby of making wine that has now grown into his second career. He is currently the owner and winemaker of Brook Hollow Winery in Columbia, New Jersey. The winery is a small-farm, family winery overlooking the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. They specialize in making dry wines to be paired with great
meals. For more information on the winery check out brookhollowwinery.com. Students and alumni will receive a free wine tasting when they visit. Stuart Jamieson ’81 is now working as the development director for the Oak Park Regional Housing Center (oprhc.org). He is still living in Oak Park, Illinois, and is becoming very active in Northland alumni events in the Chicago area. Daniel H. Presby ’82 is living and working in Brunswick, Maine. He is writing a lot of poetry again and in a wonderful long-term relationship.
1960’s Jack Stark ’61 has recently published an article in The Legislative Lawyer. It is the 101st article that he has published. He also has published seven books, three Wisconsin Blue Book feature articles, and eleven book reviews. His early writing was mainly on literature as John Stark. His later writing was mainly on law and statutory drafting as Jack Stark. Harriet Dexter would have been pleased to learn that three of his articles and one of his book reviews were on Dante.
PLAN YOUR GIFT TODAY.
Establishing your planned gift to Northland now can help the College plan for the future. Learn more by contacting Margot Carroll Zelenz, vice president of institutional advancement, at 715-682-1328. Or learn more at: northland.edu/planned-giving
Circumnavigating Lake Superior—On Foot Three Northland buddies packed their baby Burley buggy and departed from Ashland Friday, May 20, on a quest to run 1,300 miles around Lake Superior. Evan Flom ’13, Allisa Stutte ’14, and Andy Butter ’15, are running roughly twenty miles per day as they collect and share stories and conduct a citizen science project. You can learn more or follow them around the lake at ourshoresrun.org. SUMMER 2016 23
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Graff 1 & 2 Jim Graff ’78 continues to work and enjoy his position with Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, Inc. located in Itasca, Illinois. Jim has been married for thirty-three years to Louise and they have three adult children. Two of them married and their youngest daughter, Molly, is now attending Northland College. Molly is in her second year at Northland and is involved with the Native American studies program. She is even living in Fenenga Hall near the room where Jim lived his freshman year. Molly selected Northland for many of the same reasons Jim did. It’s a small, liberal arts college with strong ties
to the local community, the region, and the environment. Jim enjoys driving back into the area to visit Molly, see Ashland, and enjoy the surrounding area with all it has to offer. He is reminded that time at Northland cemented his love for Nordic skiing. Last winter he trained for his tenth Birkie ski race. Rock climbing is also something near to his heart. But above all the outdoor activities still enjoyed, Jim’s priority and love continues to be his family, community, and church. “If you find yourself walking across one of the ravine bridges leading from Fenenga to Wheeler Hall watch out for that young Molly Graff now on campus at Northland College getting ready for her life,” he said.
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SYMPATHY TO THE FAMILIES OF: Edith (Winn) LaPoint ’51: Palatine, IL; died 05.21.14 Susan (Johnson) Yolton ’61: Holmen, WI; died 09.17.14 Edward L. Chaput ’59: Rockwood, MI; died 12.07.14 Melani Sunarti ’72: Bloomington, MN; died 01.28.15 Jean (Lehnard) Gustafson ’53: Mesa, AZ; died 07.27.15 James Kumbera ’73: Superior, WI; died 09.16.15 Geoffrey M. Watson ’54: Salem, WI; died 11.04.15 Virginia (Darling) Wahlstrom ’50: Alpharetta, GA; died 01.01.16 Kathryn (Koebensky) Lundsten ’63: South Saint Paul, MN; died 01.08.16 Rose Marie (Hindes) Brekke-Johnson ’47: Rice Lake, WI; died 01.24.16 John C. Engstrom ’58: Fort Pierce, FL; died 01.24.16 James R. Belsky ’73: Ashland, WI; died 01.28.16 Keith A. Olson ’69: Northfield, MA; died 02.23.16 Rachel R. Hamblin ’60: Hayward, WI; died 02.25.16 Hazel (Worden) Ognie ’43: Elizabeth, CO; died 03.13.16 Roberta (Wells) Strandlund ’58: Rice Lake, WI; died 04.03.16 Richard A. Scamfer ’53: Mequon, WI; died 04.16.16 Roxanne (Pieper) Butterfield ’97: Ashland, WI; died 04.27.16 Florine (Flesia) Klatt ’47: Plymouth, WI; died 04.27.16 Irenaeus Kamantauskas II ’85: Columbus, MD; died 05.17.16
For additional class notes and stories, go to: northland.edu/alumni-news
Want to see your news in Class Notes? To submit notes, please contact Jackie Moore ’05, Director of Alumni Relations Phone: 715-682-1811 Email: alumni@northland.edu Mail: Office of Alumni Relations 1411 Ellis Avenue Ashland, WI 54806 Alumni Association Board of Directors: Craig Mullenbrock ’77-President Beverly Harris ’72-Vice President Gail Fridlund ’15-Secretary K. Scott Abrams ’77 Richard L. Ackley ’71 Laurel Fischer ’72 MaryJo Gingras ’00 Stuart Goldman ’69 Mark Gross ’83 Tam Hofman ’80 Max Metz ’10 Peter B. Millett ’69 Jaime Moquin ’98 Sam Polonetzky ’70 Jim Quinn ’73 Patti Skoraczewski ’74 Kelly Westlund ’07 Leanne Wilkie Shamszad ’04 Kelly Zacharda ’05
YOUR INTERNAL COMPASS IS WHAT LED YOU TO NORTHLAND. IT POINTED YOU ON YOUR PATH. LET IT GUIDE YOU BACK THIS FALL.
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Students learn about proper paddling technique at Long Lake outside of Washburn, Wisconsin, during a May-term course in basic canoeing. Watch for more about the long history of red canoes at Northland College in our next issue. Photo by Bob Gross.
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