Northland College Magazine

Northland College

Breaking New Ground

A team of student researchers led by Assistant Professor of Chemistry Nick Robertson are breaking new ground on

plastics recycling. Learn more on page 11.

Magazine Home of the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute

SUMMER 2014

Also in this issue: News • Class Notes • Athletics

On the CoverNorthland student Dylan Hudson

(’16) is one of several students working with Assistant Professor of Chemistry Nick Robertson on a research project that could have global reach. Learn more on pg. 11.

Northland College MagazineSUMMER 2014

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 CabinetAndy Goyke

Faculty Council President and Professor of Biology

Robert Jackson Vice President of Finance and Administration

Michele Meyer Vice President for Student Affairs and

Institutional Sustainability

Mark Peterson Executive Director, Sigurd Olson

Environmental Institute

Rick J. Smith Vice President of Institutional Marketing and

Enrollment Management

Margot Carroll Zelenz Vice President of Institutional Advancement

Magazine ContributorsJulie Buckles, Public and Media

Relations Specialist

Bob Gross, Associate Director of Institutional Marketing

Demeri Mullikin, Executive Director of Institutional Marketing

Jill O’Neill, Graphic Design Communications Specialist

Students Bailey Davis and Ryan Quinn

© 2014, Northland College

SubmissionsTo submit comments and ideas

for the Northland College magazine, please write to :

Office of Marketing Communications 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].

September 26-28, 2014

FestivalFALL

northland.edu/fallfestival

Summer Reunion is now

a fabulously fun campus-wide celebration of alumni, families, friends, staff, students,

faculty and maybe a moose.

See full schedule inside back cover

CONTENTSFROM THE PRESIDENT PG. 1

NEWS PG. 2

POE aND THE PENalTy BOx PG. 8

BREakING NEW GROUND PG. 11

THE laST lECTURE PG. 15

aTHlETICS PG. 17

alUMNI NEWS PG. 19

ClaSS NOTES PG. 2011

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1 NORTHLAND COLLEGE MAGAZINE

Flipping midnight eggs for late night studiers during finals week is one of the smallest yet most enjoyable tasks I perform to get students out the door and on their way into the world. After commencement, students barely took a breath before beginning summer internships, work-study, and research projects. Faculty and staff didn’t bother with the breath, jumping into dreaming, planning, and implementing programming.

As summer is in full swing, so were the golf clubs of our alumni and friends during the ninth annual Scholarship Golf Classic this month. The Advancement Office also lined up faculty and staff to talk at the Madeline Island Speaker Series, an opportunity for them to share the unique experiences and expertise with the broader community. We’ve also expanded our partnership with the North Lakeland Discovery Center, offering four lectures in Manitowish Waters this summer. This September, join us for the Fall Festival, a robust weekend of family-friendly events to include a Fenenga Fun Run, faculty talks, s’mores around the bonfire, Saturday night bands under the stars, and much more.

While it doesn’t seem possible, the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute gets even busier in the summer than the rest of the year. The Institute employs nearly a dozen students to participate in important research and fieldwork concerning the region’s watersheds. Students gain life-changing experiences in the laboratory, on the docks of inland lakes, on the lakes, and in the streams. The Institute’s emphasis on water has certainly led to a robust set of programs, initiatives, and grants.

SOEI is also hosting three summer workshops for the general public on local foods, Sigurd Olson’s life, and the geology of the Penokees. We’re bringing Minneapolis food writer and cookbook author Beth Dooley to lead the first. Faculty Alan Brew and Tom Fitz will be teaching and coordinating the other two.

In addition, the Institute is planning two important events for fall, a September Wilderness Conference in Duluth to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the historic Wilderness Act and a North American Loon Symposium on campus in October. These two events

FROM THE PRESIDENT

signal the build-out of SOEI’s emphases on wildness and its importance to humanity and wildlife. Stay tuned for exciting developments.

As I finish this letter, I can hear the final construction of the remodeled fitness center due to be completed by the time students return. All of this is to say that we’re working at all levels to create dynamic programming for students and for the community. Please check out what we’re up to at northland.edu/community.

Michael A. Miller President, Northland College

President Miller and Mary Trettin prepare fried eggs for students during the Midnight Breakfast, a special event during final exam week.

SUMMER 2014 2

NEWS

New Fitness and Recreation Center

In March, Northland College began a renovation project for a new fitness and recreation center expected to open this summer. The facility will accommodate students, faculty, and staff.

The new 8,000-square-foot fitness center replaces the former pool, closed last summer. Northland

College administration explored ways to reopen the pool but in the end determined it was too costly to do so, and that gifts for that purpose would not be forthcoming, said President Michael A. Miller.

“Thanks to the generosity of a group of dedicated donors, the fitness and recreation center will be

available to our campus community to enjoy without user fees,” Miller said.

The refurbished fitness center will provide an open floor plan for recreation, conditioning, physical training, and wellness programs.

Northland has partnered with Life Time Fitness, headquartered in Minnesota, for both cardio and weight equipment including strength machines, spin bikes, treadmills, elliptical trainers, free weights, and core equipment.

The fitness center includes a bouldering wall to build power, endurance, and agility, and an exercise studio for yoga, dance, and group fitness classes. The center will also have Wi-Fi and TV monitors as well as a facility-wide sound system.

Windows will stretch from floor to ceiling letting in the natural light for workouts. The original cedar ceiling and beams in the facility will be refinished. New exterior brickwork will mirror the neighboring buildings on campus.

“The repurposing of this building into a fitness and recreation center fits our environmental mission and our focus on student health and wellness,” Miller said. “This new facility is an important addition to our campus and we anticipate it will be well received and extensively used by our students, faculty, and staff.

For more information about the fitness and recreation center and to see photos of the project in progress, go to: northland.edu/renovation

A mason with Nasi Construction lays stone work for the entrance to the new fitness and recreation center on the Northland College campus.


The Great Lakes Commission recently awarded the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute (SOEI) at Northland College $227,318 to reduce sedimentation into the Chequamegon Bay of Lake Superior over a three-year period.

“Excess sedimentation is our number one nonpoint pollution concern in the Chequamegon Bay area,” said SOEI Watershed Program Coordinator Matt Hudson, who will be overseeing the project. “This project will implement researched solutions to reduce this problem.”

Hudson will be working with natural resource management agencies and private contractors to

carry out the project on behalf of the Chequamegon Bay Area Partnership (CBAP)—a coalition of sixteen local natural resource management partners for which Northland College is the coordinating partner and fiscal agent.

CBAP has identified sediment reduction as the top natural resource priority to improve the region’s water resources. “Fish Creek is the largest contributor of sediment to Chequamegon Bay, and we have an incredible dataset that shows us where and how we should focus restoration efforts. This project is about a lot of partners rolling up our sleeves and putting some of

SOEI Awarded $227,318 to Reduce Sediment

NEWS

these recommendations to work,” Hudson said.

Elements of the project will include developing and implementing bluff stabilization measures, restoring wetlands, and other practices to reduce surface runoff to Fish Creek, he said.

Excess sedimentation increases harbor maintenance and drinking water costs for communities such as the City of Ashland, reduces recreational fishing, swimming and boating opportunities in the Bay, and negatively impacts fish habitat in the Bay and its tributaries.

Spring run-off turns the branches of Fish Creek brown with sediment.

SUMMER 2014 4

The Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award (SONWA) was established in 1991 to both honor the memory and literary legacy of Sigurd F. Olson and help support and encourage the work of writers who seek to carry on his tradition of quality nature writing.

The award has grown to include a category for children’s literature and the competition has attracted entries from the best nature writers in the nation. The awards are presented annually to two authors whose books capture the spirit of the human relationship with the natural world and promote Olson’s values.

SOEI announced the following 2014 book awards:

• The 2014 Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award goes to Robin Wall Kimmerer for Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants.

• The 2014 Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award for Children goes to author Melissa Stewart and illustrator Higgins Bond for A Place for Turtles.

SOEI Announces Book Awards

northland

.edu/b

ooklist

SOEI Receives Federal Funding for Lake Superior

The Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute’s Lake Superior Binational Forum recently received one of only twenty-one U.S. EPA Great Lakes Restoration Initiative awards for 2013. The one-year, $100,000 grant will promote the outreach goals of the Lake Superior Lakewide Action and Management Plan.

To learn more about the Lake Superior Binational Forum, go to: superiorforum.org


NEWS

Boettcher, Cline Receive Educator Awards

Two Northland College alumni who teach in the Lake Superior region have been named as recipients of the inaugural statewide educator awards.

Nicole Boettcher (’10) a teacher at Washburn Middle School, received the Early Career Educator Award, an award presented to an outstanding educator within the first three years of her or his professional career.

Ron Cline (’82), a teacher at Ashland Middle School, received the Pre-Service Educator Mentor Award, presented to an outstanding educator who has demonstrated a sustained pattern of mentoring pre-service educators for at least five years.

Students Produce Food for Cafeteria, Orientation Trips

Northland student Katie Drozd plants onions in one of the community garden spaces on the Northland College campus. Grown by students working for the sustainability program, produce harvested from the gardens will be served in the cafeteria or go into the field with the outdoor orientation trips at the beginning of the fall semester.

SUMMER 2014 6

Northland College presented its two local recipients with engraved plaques at the annual Honors Day celebration Thursday, April 3.

Boettcher was one of twenty-four to receive the Early Education Award in Wisconsin and Cline was one of twenty-five to receive the Pre-Service Education Award in the state of Wisconsin. Both were given their awards at the Wisconsin Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (WACTE) March meeting in Madison.

Washburn Elementary and Middle School Principal Al Krause nominated Boettcher, naming a few examples to explain: In collaboration with other teachers, Boettcher led a group of students on a field trip to a Lake Superior beach for clean-up day, and taught fifth graders

how to test water quality, examine sediments, check PH balance, as well as bacteria and dissolved oxygen levels in the water.

“Nicole has developed into a true professional in her first few years of teaching,” Krause said. “She willingly accepts new challenges and has emerged as a ‘teacher-leader’ in our district.”

Associate Professor Dr. Annette Nelson, who is director of the Northland College educator preparation program, also noted Boettcher’s commitment to excellence.

“She works tirelessly on behalf of her students, and she has earned the respect of her colleagues and the larger community,” Nelson said. “Her training from Northland College has

enabled her to integrate her science topics with other academic areas, and her students are successful as a result.”

The same can be said for Cline, who has taught science in Ashland for fifteen years. “Mr. Cline has continually modeled the attributes of a true professional educator,” said Principal Paul Gilbertson, who nominated Cline. “Mr. Cline is a true professional who is willing to share his experience and expertise with aspiring educators.”

Nelson added, “The educator preparation program at Northland College has been fortunate in having Ron Cline serve as a cooperating teacher for our pre-service teacher candidates—he is an outstanding role model.”

Margot Carroll Zelenz Margot Carroll Zelenz has been

hired as the Vice President for Institutional Advancement. Zelenz has enhanced a major gifts program and revitalized planned giving while continuing to promote a very strong annual giving program.

Zelenz holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Duke University, and is an experienced advancement professional. Her employment experiences in higher education

include time at St. Scholastica, Minnesota State University-Mankato, Gustavus Adolphus, Carleton, and Gettysburg College. Zelenz has led successful fundraising and alumni initiatives, and is delighted to be helping the advancement staff achieve continued success for Northland students, faculty, and programs.


NEWS

WBA Recognizes Northland College Radio Station

The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association recently recognized Northland College radio station WRNC-LPFM (97.7) for student radio coverage of the proposed mine in northern Wisconsin.

Senior Andy Butter and junior Celeste Lourigan (above) were awarded third place for their broadcast on the impacts of the proposed iron mine in northwestern Wisconsin. Butter and Lourigan reported on issues regarding the Bad River Watershed, tribal perspectives, and the geology of the proposed iron mine.

Northland College was one of three private schools in Wisconsin that received WBA student awards of excellence.

Lourigan was also a finalist for all radio stations—not just college—in the category “Best Use of Audio,” for a two-minute piece about the production of an Ashland High School play, “Terror Tour” at Prentice Park.

Butter, a 2010 graduate of Cook County High School in Minnesota, interned last semester at Yes! Magazine, located at Bainbridge Island in Washington. He graduated this spring with degrees in writing and sociology with a social justice emphasis.

Lourigan, a 2011 graduate of Edgewood High School in Oregon, Wisconsin, has covered

the proposed mine since 2011 for Northland College’s student newspaper, Drifts.

“This is an exciting story because there is always more information coming out about new laws, scientific and social studies about the Penokee Hills and the people who live there, updates in the stages of permitting process for Gogebic Taconite, how the community and tribes feel about the proposed mine—the list just keeps going,” Lourigan said. “It’s important for people to stay informed and I can do that by helping to provide the best and most accurate information I have.”

The student news coverage on mining can be found on the WRNC website at www.wrnclp.org under “Student Mining Coverage” on the home page.

SUMMER 2014 8

Sean Devlin is a writing major who has just been hired as the student director of CommComm and for his senior year will be overseeing the three student publications — Drifts, the monthly newspaper; Mosaic, the biannual literary and visual arts magazine; and The Wedge , Northland’s annual yearbook. This summer he’s working in an editorial internship with Aqueous, a regional literary arts magazine, and tending bar at The Spot, a bar and fitness center in Ashland. Oh yeah, and he plays hockey, too.

How did you get involved in hockey?

I’ve been ice skating since I was three years old. My dad played hockey. I grew up in Philadelphia and that’s what you do. My whole neighborhood played street hockey.

I started playing competitively at five years old, coached by my dad until I was eighteen. In Philly, there’s a rink every couple of miles.

You discovered writing at a young age as well, correct?

I’ve been interested in writing for as long as I can remember. I had a composition black and white notebook when I was a kid—the kind with the black tape for the binding. I would write poem after poem after poem. About crushes, about being on top of the world. The kinds of things nine-year-old boys think about. In Philly, I kind of had to hide that I liked to write. I was always a bookworm too. People eventually found out. But by then I was the tallest kid in the school.

And as you got older?

The coach of my team in Philly, Pat Crocie, gave me a leather bound journal with a map of medieval Europe on it and I kept writing. My sisters Sherrie and Shayna had a slight interest in Edgar Allan Poe. And because they were older and cool, I went looking for Poe. I got my first Poe book at twelve and fell in love with his words.

So much so that you had him tattooed on your arm?

The summer before I came to Northland, I had a line of his tattooed on my arm—“I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity.” Poe wrote that in one of his many memoirs—that he would rather be in a state of his own (continued on following page)

Poe and the Penalty Box

(continued from previous page) writing, his own world. I feel the same way about writing fiction. I love to create new worlds.

You moved to Cincinnati about the same time you were discovering Poe—you can read and write anywhere, but hockey?

Cincinnati is not a hockey town. There are four sheets of ice in all of Cincinnati. But the hockey people in Ohio are a tight group. My dad found those people so I could continue playing.

Join us to mark the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act signing with a wilderness celebration in Duluth, Minnesota. Wilderness managers, recreationalists, and advocates will come together to discuss wilderness issues in the Lake Superior region.

SOEI’s LoonWatch will convene its first North American Loon Symposium at Northland College. Researchers, experts, agencies, non-profits, and loon enthusiasts are all welcome.

Why did you choose Northland?

I always wanted to go to a liberal arts school. A friend of mine heard about Northland College and gave the hockey coach my number and that’s how I found out. Ice hockey will always be my first love, but I also know that I have a passion for reading and writing and so I am glad I ended up at a school where I can enjoy all of my interests. And here was one that was also an NCAA III school.

How have you balanced the academics with the athletics?

It’s hard to come into college and balance the two. It’s like having two full-time jobs—I’m just figuring this out. A lot of athletes struggle with doing well at both. I’m a student-athlete, not the other way around. I’m not alone in that. Guys on the team are studying chemistry, biology, and sustainability. Hockey was everything to me at one point in my life, but writing and learning about literature have taken equal space in my head. I’m cradling hockey but I’m ready to set it aside and give as much to the learning.


SUMMER 2014 10

Tom Doolittle: From Northland to the Yukon and Back

By Bailey Davis, Student Intern

Alumnus Tom Doolittle (’80) has worked as a warden supervisor, adjunct professor, biological technician, pilot, and natural resource specialist. Most recently he took a position as a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Forest Service in Washburn.

Doolittle recently returned from a seven year position in the Yukon Territory as the wildlife refuge manager for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Alaska. He talked to students twice in February about job careers and living in Alaska as part of the Alumni Career Speaker Series.

“I have come home to the nearest and dearest place of my heart. I have a lot of loyalty to Northland,” he said. “It is where I socially developed. I want to give academic advice from personal and wildlife experience.”

Doolittle led a workshop on how to navigate federal jobs and interviews while sharing information from his travels and hands-on experience. Doolittle visited with current Northland students in classes and on-campus to aid with the concerns and challenges for undergraduate students.

Doolittle’s work in the Yukon dealt with one of the most complex marine environments in North America. In this position it was

crucial for Doolittle to develop and assist with direct problem solving for environmental issues and media relations. He managed and worked on legal issues involving controversial fisheries management.

Doolittle’s responsibilities included supervising aviation, law enforcement, and management. Among other duties, Doolittle positioned himself in a successful job where he could make a difference and his passion could

fuel him to enforce change with integrity.

Doolittle studied biology and outdoor education as a student at Northland College. This was the beginning of Doolittle’s passion for the outdoors.

“It begins with graduate work, getting that first job after Northland graduation, and pursuing your direction,” he told students. “These building blocks are essential to getting started.”

Join us to mark the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act signing with a wilderness celebration in Duluth, Minnesota. Wilderness managers, recreationalists, and advocates will come together to discuss wilderness issues in the Lake Superior region.

SOEI’s LoonWatch will convene its first North American Loon Symposium at Northland College. Researchers, experts, agencies, non-profits, and loon enthusiasts are all welcome.

photo: Rick Olivo/Ashland D

aily Press


An undergraduate team at Northland has discovered one important lesson: even research completed at a small, remote

campus can yield global results.

Two vials containing the chemical components of a plastic bottle separated using a new process developed at Northland College.

SUMMER 2014 12

Assistant Professor of Chemistry Nick Robertson, from Northland College, and Professor Michael Carney, from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and their undergraduate team have developed a method for turning plastic soda bottles and cups into useful small molecules. These molecules have potential applications in the fine and commodity chemicals sectors, such as pharmaceuticals and bulk chemicals.

In March, Chemistry World announced the research team’s results and Chemical Communications, a journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry in

London, published their paper.

“It’s a unique finding,” said Robertson, who was project leader and corresponding author of the paper. “It’s not commercially feasible yet but I hope it sparks interest in more research for creating useful chemicals from waste.”

Funded by a grant from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement, the project took eighteen months and involved Robertson and his seven Northland College students and Carney and his three UW-Eau Claire students.

Plastic bottles are derived from petroleum, or oil—a cheap source. Petroleum based polymers such as polyesters and polycarbonates make

up a significant proportion of the one hundred million tons of plastic waste generated globally every year, of which only between five to thirty percent is recycled, depending on the type of plastic.

Traditional melt-process recycling commonly leads to new plastics with inferior properties—referred to as “downcycling”—that frequently find use in lower grade applications, such as carpeting.

In contrast to downcycling, the significance of the Northland College-UW-Eau Claire findings is that their system of depolymerized molecules can be purified and used in high-value applications, Robertson said.

Northland student researcher Dylan Hudson (’16) records data on the glass door to the fume hood.


“If you want to make a big difference environmentally—petroleum is in virtually everything our society uses,” Robertson said. “This is an area where we can make a significant impact, finding ways to turn waste into something useful.”

In fact, the undergraduate research spurred Eric Krall (’13), lead author on the paper, toward graduate school at North Dakota State University.

“The problems with plastics are very apparent in our environment, but the ways to solve those problems are not,” Krall said. “My research experience at Northland has inspired me to try to find new innovative ways to solve those issues.”

The Robertson research is significant in other ways. For one thing, it underscores the importance of undergraduate research as a highly effective way to educate and motivate the next generation of researchers.

Robertson, who did his undergraduate work at UW-Eau Claire—Carney was his undergraduate advisor—said he teaches his students exactly as he was taught. He provides intensive instruction up front and then he stays out of the way.

Krall said the experience grounded him in lab skills and safety and taught him perseverance.

“For about the first year we had a lot of trouble getting some of our reactions to work. It was incredibly frustrating to put so much effort into

trying to get these reactions to work and only see results that weren’t what we wanted,” Krall said. “Dr. Robertson was incredibly helpful in keeping us focused on the end goal.”

In fact, Robertson rarely performs any lab work. On this project, he and Carney supervised the research and wrote much of the paper, with feedback from their team, but they did not do any of the lab work.

“Undergraduates are so capable of doing this kind of research and become self-sufficient pretty quickly,” he said.

Senior Ryan J. Andersen, who contributed his share to the thousands of lab hours, is still taking it all in.

“To know that I am able to make a difference—to know that no matter where you are, if you’re onto something, you can have an impact on the world is pretty amazing,” he said.

Andersen paused then concluded looking over at the lab equipment, “I love this so much.”

Asst. Professor of Chemistry Nick Robertson gives directions to Northland students Ryan Andersen (right) and Tyler Klein (left).

SUMMER 2014 14

Eric Krall (’13) is lead author of the research paper published in Chemical Communications, a journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry in London. He is now a graduate student studying in coatings and polymeric materials at North Dakota State University.

What did you learn from this project?

The most important lesson that I learned is perseverance. For about the first year we had a lot of trouble getting some of our reactions to work. It was frustrating to put so much effort into trying to get these reactions to work and only see results that weren’t what we wanted. Dr. Robertson was helpful in keeping us focused on the end goal. The perseverance that I learned as an undergrad has been incredibly helpful as a graduate student. I am experiencing many similar issues with my work now. I know that if I just keep working at it I will find a way to make it all work.

Now that you are in graduate school, what do you see as the importance of undergraduate research?

My undergraduate research experience was incredibly important in my decision to attend graduate school. I was able to walk into the lab on day one and be totally comfortable setting up my own experiments. Being comfortable in the lab is incredibly helpful when you need to find new creative ways to get a reaction to work. Undergraduate research has also been very important to understanding what safe lab practices are. Dr. Robertson made certain that our safety came first when working in the lab. When working with hazardous chemicals safety has to be the top priority and my undergraduate research experience instilled safe lab practices in me.

What is the importance of research and the Northland experience?

Many of my friends attended Northland because they wanted to receive an education that was environmentally focused. I was no different. When I graduated college I wanted to find a career where I could make a difference and make life a little bit better for those that come after me. I wanted to do this all with as little damage to the environment as possible. I understand that the career path that I have chosen [chemical industry] is not a very environmentally conscious one, however, the goals of my research focus on producing polymers from bio-based sources instead of petrochemical sources. In many of my classes at Northland we talked about a ton of environmental issues and ways to try to solve them. The research experience inspired me to try to find more environmentally friendly ways to solve the issues that face our society today. The problems with plastics are very apparent in our environment, but the ways to solve those problems are not. My research experience at Northland has inspired me to try to find new innovative ways to solve those issues.

An interview with lead researcher Eric Krall


Angela Stroud, assistant professor of sociology and social justice

SUMMER 2014 16

Northland College students chose Angela Stroud, assistant professor of sociology and social justice, to provide the last lecture of the school year and the last lecture seniors hear before graduation.

Sponsored by the Northland College Student Association (NCSA) in cooperation with the College’s commencement committee, Stroud presented “Learning and Liberation: The Power of a Sociological Imagination” the afternoon before commencement.

The ‘last lecture’ tradition at Northland College began in 2006 with the leadership of Adam Yates, the NCSA president at that time, said campus minister and historian David Saetre.

“Yates was familiar with other colleges that held these annual events where a faculty member is asked to deliver a ‘last lecture’ to the college or to the graduating class,” Saetre said.

The tradition at other campuses, according to Saetre, dates back to 1955 and in 2007 Professor Randy Pausch delivered the most famous last lecture at Carnegie Mellon University.

“His lecture became a best-selling book and YouTube sensation because of the passion and humility Pausch expressed in what was, indeed, his last lecture,” Saetre said. “Pausch was afflicted with cancer and would soon take leave of his chair at that university.”

Northland College’s last lecture follows the same idea: a favorite

professor is asked to deliver a lecture that would provide a summary of his or her life philosophy, discerned through a lifetime of scholarship and experience, as if it were the last lecture he or she would ever deliver, and as if it was the last lecture students will ever hear at Northland College.

Stroud, who joined the Northland College faculty in 2012, said, “Given that one of the goals of the last lecture is to inspire students, I felt up for the task, because that is how I approach every class I teach,” she said. “Learning is so important, and I try to convey that to students every chance that I get.”

Stroud grew up in Texas near the border with Mexico where she experienced and observed great inequalities because of race and income. In college, she said sociology helped her make sense of those inequalities.

She hoped students left her lecture feeling more empowered about their place in the world, how they got there, and how they can control their destiny.

“When we understand that we live within constraints but they are not determinative we start to see the power we have to make a world we would want to live in,” Stroud said.

“Though it can be disconcerting to question one’s basic assumptions—why does society operate as it does? How does it impact the way I think of myself and others?—this line of thinking opens us up to new ways of imagining the world and our place in it,” she said.

the last lecture


ATHLETICSNorthland Names New Women’s Basketball Coach

Northland College has named Daryle Tucker as the new LumberJills head women’s basketball coach. Tucker began in early June.

“Once I drove into Ashland and onto the Northland College campus, I was sold on this hidden treasure,” Tucker said. “The campus is beautiful and the faculty and staff are amazing and passionate about Northland College.”

Tucker coached men’s basketball at Green Mountain College. In his three years there, he took Green Mountain basketball to a full roster through active recruitment practices.

Prior to Green Mountain he coached women’s basketball at Southeastern University. During his tenure, Tucker led the program to a second place finish in the NAIA II South Region Conference while maintaining a team GPA of 3.34.

“It is an honor to be made head women’s basketball coach,” Tucker said. “The women’s basketball team has had great success in the past. I hope to bring those days back with an infusion of fun and up-tempo basketball.”

May Named Coach of the Year

In his first year as Head Baseball Coach, Ernie May (left) was able to lead the Jacks to their second straight winning season (22-17), and their third consecutive UMAC Tournament.

Seven Jacks Named All-Conference

Four Jacks were named to first team All-Conference with another two named honorable mention.

1st Team All-Conference:

Peter Aerts (’14). The senior catcher was named 1st team All-Conference for the third straight season. Aerts hit .315 on the season, was third on the team in hits (45), and led the team in runs scored (42).

Jensen Doyle. In his freshman campaign, the utility infielder hit .338 with 44 hits and an on base percentage of .446.

Daniel Kollauf. Junior Dan Kollauf was able to earn all-conference honors for the first time for his clutch power hitting this season. Kollauf had a team high .380 batting average, while also leading the team in hits (52), doubles (13), triples (7), and runs batted in (46).

Colin Moberly (’14). In his final season, Colin Moberly was able to earn all-conference for the first time

on the mound. Moberly went 7-3 on the season and had an earned run average of 3.82 in his 73 innings of work with a team high 65 strikeouts.

Honorable Mention All-Conference:

Mitchell Howard. For the second season in a row, sophomore Mitch Howard was able to earn All-Conference Honorable Mention. Howard hit in the clean up spot for most of the season hitting .347, with 51 hits, 62 total bases and 39 runs batted in.

Matt Lennon. For the third consecutive season, Matt Lennon has been named All-Conference. Lennon had 13 sacrifices on the season, which helped him get 25 runs batted in. He also only struck out seven times on the year.

Individual Sportsmanship Award:

Shane Ellias (’14). The senior was able to earn the sportsmanship award for the second time in his career. Ellias was able to end his career with a victory over Finlandia on Senior Day.

SUMMER 2014 18

Lumberjills’ Loy Named to All-Region Team

Northland College senior Jayna Loy (’14) was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches’ Association (NFCA) all-Midwest Region first team in May.

Loy led Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) hitters this season with a .495 batting average and nine home runs, and she was also fourth in the league with 36 runs batted in.

She also posted a (7-15) record in the pitcher’s circle for the Lumberjills, finishing the year with a 5.94 earned run average and 65 strikeouts across 114.1 innings pitched.

Loy, who graduated in May with a degree in environmental geoscience: water and geology science, helped Northland finish the season with an overall record of (13-23) and advance to the UMAC postseason championship game.

More 2014 Sporting Highlights

Men’s Soccer: Colton Schreyer named 2nd Team All UMAC

Women’s Soccer: Jessica Jaeckel and Sarah Hudson named 1st Team All UMAC, Jessie Swider named Honorable Mention All UMAC

Men’s Basketball: Zach Ringhouse named Honorable Mention All UMAC

Softball: Jayna Loy named 1st Team All Region, Jayna Loy and Kaitlyn Witthun named 1st Team All UMAC, Cassie Baumgarten named Honorable Mention All UMAC

Northland College Adds Varsity Reserve

Northland College has added varsity reserve to its athletic program with a goal to have full rosters within three years.

The hope is to strengthen the sports program and provide more opportunities for young athletes, said Steve Wammer, co-director of athletics.

So far, the plan appears to be working. In the first months of the announcement, Head Baseball Coach Ernie May recruited an additional eleven baseball players and will likely field a varsity reserve team in the fall.

“We’re finding there are a lot of students out there who are interested in Northland College for the academics—and they’re even more interested when they discover they can continue playing their sport,” Wammer said.


ALUMNI NEWS

Jackie Moore Named Alumni Relations Director

Jackie Moore (’05) has been hired as the new director of alumni relations at Northland College. Jackie was most recently employed as the activities coordinator at the City of Ashland’s Parks and Recreation Department. Prior to that she worked as the executive director of the Mashkisibi Boys & Girls Club in Odanah.

Jackie’s experience includes working with diverse audiences, organizing events, building programs, and leading teams and boards. Her high energy level, sense of humor, communications skills, and very strong belief in Northland College made her the top choice for this position. As director of alumni relations she will have the exciting opportunity to create and lead an innovative alumni relations program to serve Northland at a time of growth and change as we advance to meet our mission and reach our vision.

Northland College Peace Corps Volunteers in ActionWho: Lorraine and Max Metz (’10)

Where: Panama

Started: March 2013

What: Community environmental conservation

Follow at: loraxinpanama.blogspot.com

Who: Courtney Ramacle (’13)

Where: South Africa

Started: April 2014

What: Her primary focus is working with populations affected by HIV.

Follow at: courtneyquixote.wordpress.com

Who: Chara K. Bouma-Prediger (’14)

Where: Paraguay

Starts: mid-September

What: Working on environmental education curriculum in local schools and doing educational projects within her community.

SUMMER 2014 20

CLASS NOTESCLASS OF 1971

John and Sheila (Dale ’70) Urling are both happily retired and enjoy living in Ashland, Wisconsin.

CLASS OF 1972Tom Reed is retired after forty-

one years with Headwaters State Bank in Land O’Lakes, Wisconsin. He and Karen (Morsey) live in Sayner, Wisconsin.

CLASS OF 1974Khris Olsen is a staff scientist with

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington.

CLASS OF 1975Jacqueline Dickson Coghlan was

recognized as the 2013 Wisconsin Middle School Principal of the Year. She is retiring on July 1, 2014 after thirty-nine years in education as a teacher and principal in the Northland Pines School District in Wisconsin.

CLASS OF 1979Timothy Kelly is retired from

Lockheed Martin and living in Florida with his wife, Linda.

CLASS OF 1981Nancy Franz retired in April

after thirty-three years with the Cooperative Extension System, serving in Wisconsin, New York, New Hampshire, Virginia, and Iowa. She will continue as a professor emeritus in the School of Education at Iowa State University, supporting graduate students and creating and disseminating engaged scholarship. She also plans to consult, travel,

volunteer, and spend even more time outdoors. She and Bill always look forward to seeing Northlanders.

CLASS OF 1986Bill Dufresne is employed as a

distinguished systems engineer for Cisco in Jacksonville, Florida. He and his wife, Jill, have a twenty-five-year-old son, William.

CLASS OF 1987Julie Miller is working with a small

church and a hospital as a chaplain in Santa Rosa, California.

Doug Stoves earned his doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi in 2014. In January he became the dean of students at the University of Texas at Brownsville.

CLASS OF 1988Sarah Black has been living in

Anchorage, Alaska since 1990, and has completed the Iditarod, the world’s foremost trail sled dog race.

CLASS OF 1990Lee-Anne (Davis) White invites

anyone planning to be in the Atlanta, Georgia area to give her a call.

John Wirt is working for the U.S. Geological Service in Boise, Idaho. He recently traveled to Iraqi Kurdistan to teach snow survey and water supply forecasting techniques.

CLASS OF 1951Henry J. Fitzgibbon, still travels

every year, and has visited the Northland campus twice in recent years. Although many of his friends have died, he wants others to know that he at eighty-eight is still alive—and continues to enjoy good health even while having some minor health issues. He continues to live in Fort Myers, Florida and would enjoy hearing from fellow classmates who may remember him. You may obtain his address from the Alumni Office at Northland College.

CLASS OF 1962Dale and Barb Hofmann are

enjoying retirement, fishing north Idaho lakes in the summer, and central California beaches in the winter.

CLASS OF 1969Doug Coerper is now fully retired,

after twenty-three years of banking and twenty-one years with Robert W. Baird & Co. He and his wife Shirley reside in Lodi, Wisconsin and plan to spend more time traveling and wintering in Florida, playing golf, fishing, and riding horses. They have two married daughters and six grandchildren, all of which also live in Wisconsin.

CLASS OF 1970Barry Dollinger is still selling

insurance in Florida, and is planning on attending his oldest daughter’s wedding in July.


CLASS OF 1991Tammy (Lindquist) Benabides is

an English teacher at Lamar High School in Colorado. She received her doctorate in education from Argosy University in Phoenix in 2010. She and her husband, Gabriel, were married on February 16, 2008.

Jacob Madrid is a systems engineer with Western Federal Credit Union in Torrance, California. He and his partner, Patrick Joyce, were married on September 14, 2013.

CLASS OF 1993Lisa Carlin is an education

coordinator for Mass Audubon in Worcester, Massachusetts. Steve Carlin (’95) is a park supervisor for the State of Massachusetts. They have a son, Daniel, who will be starting kindergarten this year.

CLASS OF 1994Dale Likens is employed by

Cummins Inc. with the Catalyst Technology and Integration Engineering Team. He lives in Columbus, Indiana with wife Alison and sons Neal and Jerry. Please feel free to contact Dale on Facebook. He would love to hear from you.

CLASS OF 1995Tobias Glaza lives in coastal

Connecticut where he grows garlic, splits firewood, and spends time with his wife, Brandi, two teenage children, and extended family. For the past four years he has served as an editor of the Indian Papers Project, a scholarly editing and collaborative research initiative at Yale University. Tobias welcomes contact from any Northlanders who find themselves in southern New England.

CLASS OF 2001Jon McGann is a horticulturist with

Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina.

Danielle Neuhauser passed the California State Licensing requirements for Marriage and Family Therapist Certification. She earned her master of marriage and family therapy from Pacifica University in 2009.

CLASS OF 2003Kristina (Disharoon) Miclean and

her family welcomed their third child, Simeon Mihai, in March. He has a sister, Ana, 3, and brother, Jacob, 1.

CLASS OF 2004Alyssa Core is a water management

specialist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Melissa Morrow recently earned her doctorate in English (creative writing) from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, having earned her master of creative writing from the University of Texas at Austin in 2006. She is a bookseller and the marketing specialist for Boswell Book Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is a proud founding member of the Midwest Roller Derby Collective.

CLASS OF 2005Heather Harris started a new job as

a learning coach for online middle and high school students. In addition, she is putting her Northland education from plant biology and greenhouse management to good use with making her first garden this year as she settles down with her partner and their children in Pennsylvania. This year she will be seeking employment with the state in the

field of environmental science and/or education as she finishes her second bachelor of science in environmental science.

CLASS OF 2006Ashley (Swearingen) Boykin is a

medical lab assistant and has an associate’s degree in applied science from Kankakee Community College in Illinois. Willeum Boykin is a district sales manager for the Daily Journal in Kankakee.

CLASS OF 2009Cori (Stanek) Mattke is the

membership and administrative coordinator for Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Brittany Parrish is a caseworker with the Department of Human Services in Waukegan, Illinois.

CLASS OF 2011Dalen Butler is pursuing a degree

in cultural sustainability at Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland. He expects to graduate in December 2014.

Samantha (Adams) Echols and her husband, Robert, announce the birth of a son, Maxwell Elliott Echols, on December 23, 2013.

CLASS OF 2012Lincoln Cruz and Elise Niemeyer

were married in Ashland in May 2013, the day after graduation.

Rob Warner is a field instructor for Voyageur Outward Bound School and Thistledew Programs.

CLASS NOTES

SUMMER 2014 22

Large cat conservationist Tina M. Ramme (’92) spoke at Northland College as part of the Alumni Career Speaker Series in April.

The Northland College alumna is currently the director of the Center for Lion Conservation and Research in Kenya and is the president of the Lion Conservation Fund.

Ramme works in wildlife restoration, ecological restoration, and large cat conservation in East and Southern Africa.

She spoke several times on campus at a women’s leadership breakfast, in several classrooms, and at the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute—an event that drew family and friends from her hometown of

CLASS OF 2013Sandy Gokee is the tribal mining

resource specialist for Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

Kaitlan Mahoney is partaking in a work-exchange program in Berkeley, volunteering with the Tibetan Aid Program and living at the Nyingima Institute. The Tibetan Aid project rebuilds, preserves, strengthens, and perpetuates Tibet’s cultural and spiritual heritage. Their primary program is funding the production, shipment, and distribution of sacred texts, art, and prayer wheels for donations to institutions and individuals in the Himalayan region.

Ironwood. Throughout her days on campus, Ramme spoke passionately about lions, crucial resources, internships, and provided advice for students looking for experience in this conservation field.

Ramme has sixteen years of experience working with large cat conservation and biological research that has led her to work in Australia, the Pacific Islands, New Zealand, Central America, the Galapagos, and in the Amazon Basin.

Ramme worked as an intern at the Cedar Creek Natural History Area. She also was employed at the Mammal Department of Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology, and Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.

From Northland to Kenya and Back Again: Large Cat Conservationist on Campus

She earned her masters degree from University of Minnesota, Minneapolis and graduated from Northland with a degree in Education and Biology in 1992.

Audubon Center of the North Woods 40th Anniversary Reunion

October 10-12, 2014Join us for this gathering of Northland College alumni who

attended courses at ACNW. Enjoy a truly special weekend of workshops, field sessions, wonderful meals, and camaraderie with fellow Northland alumni and former ACNW instructors Mike Link and Craig Prudhomme. Open to all past Northland College students who participated in Audubon Center of the North Woods-Northland College classes. Families and friends welcome. To register call 888-404-7743, register online ataudubon-center.org/event/northland-reunion/, or email [email protected].


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: Jackie Moore ’05

Alumni News Editor: Vicki Nafey ’96

Alumni Association Board of Directors: Jim Quinn ‘73, president, K. Scott Abrams ‘77, Richard L. Ackley ‘71, Sam Berkman ‘08, Bobbi Blazkowski ‘71, Mark D. Charles ‘80, Daniel R. Crawford ‘76, Melissa Damaschke ‘03, Louis Figueroa ‘13, Laurel J. Fisher ‘72, Gail M Fridlund ‘14, Melanie E. Goble ‘01, Stuart Goldman ‘69, Mark Gross ‘83, Charles Guthrie ‘69, Beverly J. Harris ‘72, Tam Hofman ‘80, Max Metz ‘10, Peter B. Millett ‘69, Craig Mullenbrock ‘77, Erika Palmer-Wilson ‘02, Samuel D. Polonetzky ‘70, Wendy Shields ‘05, Patti Skoraczewski ‘74, Marguerite Waters ‘49, Kelly Zacharda ‘05.

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

SYMPATHY TO THE FAMILIES OF:Georgiana (Szarkowski) Childs (’41), Houston, Texas, died 4-4-2014

Polly (Canfield) Raven (’43), Monmouth Junction, New Jersey, died 4-29-14

Alice (Rohow) Cummings (’44), Walnut Creek, California, died 12-12-2013

Emanuel A. Huun (’48), Stockton, California, died 3-5-2011

Richard W. Delap (’50), Weston, Wisconsin, died 12-19-2013

Edward “Jack” Oldenburg (’50), Woodruff, Wisconsin, died 1-24-2014

James E. Zar (’50), Aurora, Colorado, died 1-19-2014

Arthur E. Feinauer (’51), Greenfield, Wisconsin, died 3-3-2014

Kay (Mathews) Howard (’52), West Bend, Wisconsin, died 11-1-2010

Nancy (Stemm) Dishinger (’54), Franklin, Indiana, died 5-14-2013

Mel Johnson (’64), Edgerton, Wisconsin, died 3-4-2014

Terrence A. Hicks (’66), New Glarus, Wisconsin, died 2-20-2014

Joyce (Field) Lenzner (’67), Wausau, Wisconsin, died 8-12-2012

Ruby (Edwards) Scott (’73), Rochester, New York, died 1-25-2013

Cynthia (Wallin) Brand (’76), Oshkosh, Wisconsin, died 3-6-2014

Gail Reed (’79), Ashland, Wisconsin, died 1-16-2014

Eugene W. Bigboy (’82), Odanah, Wisconsin, died 2-26-2014

Lucia Patritto (’82), Ironwood, Michigan, died 3-18-2014

Jessica E. Victoria (’01), Beaumont, Texas, died 3-6-2014

Casey Pings (’12), Milwaukee, Wisconsin, died 3-24-2014

SUMMER 2014 24

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

FALL

September 26-28, 2014

Join us on campus for a weekend of class gatherings and family-friendly events september 26-28, 2014! this fall festival includes a number of events that will bring back some of those sweet Northland memories ranging from your first class in Wheeler Hall to the true meaning of 10:28.

Friday, Sept. 26 • Outpost Gear swap • Campus tour & Moose scavenger Hunt • Faculty talk: David saetre • Friday Night Fish Fry • Northland soccer vs. Martin luther • Northland volleyball vs.

Northwestern University • s’mores around the Bonfire • Ojibway Dancers • alumni Memorial

Saturday, Sept. 27 • Fenenga Fun Run: 3 & 6K • Outpost Gear swap • Family activities on the

Campus Mall • shuttle to Houghton Falls • Northland soccer vs. Bethany

lutheran • varsity Club Halftime Kickoff • Northland volleyball

vs. North Central • Campus sustainability

Walking tour • Faculty talk: tom Fitz • Brat & Burger Fry • s’mores around the

Bonfire • Kids Movie Night • Bands Under the stars

Sunday, Sept. 28 • Festival Bike Ride: 10 & 21-mile ride • Packers vs. Bears viewing • President’s Brunch Class of 1974 and

Previous

northland.edu/fallfestival

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New Northland College alumnus Evan Flom (left) and other 2014 graduates travel by long board and bicycle to the Baccalaureate Service, part of the 103rd Commencement ceremony on May 24, 2014. Photo by Bob Gross.

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