Jennifer Atteberry, assistant professor of nursing, took 12 students from the Bemidji School of Nursing — seven from Bemidji State University and five from Northwest Technical College — to a service-learning trip in Belize over spring break. The students worked with children in the village of Santa Elena, teaching dietary and health lessons, providing them with new shoes and helping to repair and paint the village’s community center.  BSU and NTC nursing students have traveled to Belize for service-learning trips each of the past three years.

Erika Bailey-Johnson, BSU sustainability coordinator, and Sara Dennison, adjunct instructor in English and a former Minnesota GreenCorps member who worked in the Sustainability Office, presented at the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education conference in October in Portland, Ore.

Dennison presented a briefing titled “MN GreenCorps: Building Sustainable Communities with AmeriCorps,” and Bailey-Johnson presented a study entitled “Including Wellness in the Sustainability Model: A Five-Year Case Study.”

Prairie Business Magazine in November named Bailey-Johnson one of the top 40 business professionals under the age of 40 who exemplify a high level of talent in the Upper Midwest. Since helping found one of Minnesota’s first campus sustainability offices at Bemidji State in 2008, Bailey-Johnson has helped guide a culture shift toward sustainability and conservation, not only on campus but also throughout the Bemidji region.

Dr. Vivian Delgado, assistant professor of languages and ethnic studies, has begun writing a monthly column for the Bemidji Pioneer newspaper on Native American issues and topics. Her first column, published Feb. 21, focused on recent Truth-and-Reconciliation efforts
in Bemidji.

Dr. Valica Boudry, associate professor of mass communication, has received Quality Matters certification for her course, MASC3500 Media Design. Quality Matters is a faculty-centered peer review process designed to certify the quality of online and blended-delivery courses.

Professor Alan Chapman of the University of Oxford, lead lecturer for BSU’s Eurospring Program, has received the 2015 Jackson-Gwilt medal from the Royal Astronomical Society. The medal recognizes outstanding merit in astronomical instrumentation or techniques and achievement in observational astronomy or the history of astronomy. Chapman has brought astronomy to new audiences through his extensive public lecturing, publications and television appearances.

Dr. Sheila Paul, associate professor of nursing, has earned Quality Matters certification for her NRSG3920 Directed Group Study course. Quality Matters is a faculty-centered peer review process designed to certify the quality of online and blended-delivery courses.

Dr. Jeanine Gangeness, founding dean of the Bemidji School of Nursing, published “Better Together: The ‘M’ Word” in a recent issue of Nurse Education Today. She wrote about the unique bridge that connects the nursing education programs at BSU and NTC and how alignment as the Bemidji School of Nursing has benefitted students at both institutions. Gangeness has accepted the position of associate provost for academic affairs for Winona State University’s Rochester campus. She begins July 1.

Dr. Anton Treuer, executive director of Bemidji State University’s American Indian Resource Center, will step away from his position and return to the BSU faculty in July. He plans to remain extensively involved in the center’s primary projects, including exploration of an Ojibwe teacher training program and continuation of truth-and-reconciliation efforts both at BSU and in the Bemidji community.

Dr. Treuer is a member of the state of Minnesota’s Capitol Preservation Commission Subcommittee on Art. The group is charged with managing the Minnesota Capitol’s hundreds of millions of dollars worth of art during the building’s ongoing renovation and restoration project. The subcommittee’s work was featured in a recent story at MinnPost.

Dr. John Gonzalez, associate professor of psychology, was recently featured in Anishinaabeg Today, the monthly newspaper of the White Earth Nation, for his work leading the tribe’s strategic planning efforts.