Dr. Jan Doebbert has joined the Executive Leadership Team as vice president for Northwest Technical College (interim), effective March 9.

Faculty and Staff Achievements

• Erika Bailey-Johnson, sustainability coordinator, will be one of four featured panelists at the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy’s April 27 Women’s Breakfast on the campus of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. The panel presentation, “Be Your Own Environmental Hero:  Fresh Strategies Without The Politics”, will focus on ways women can affect social change for the better outside of the political process.

• Dr. Kit Christensen, professor emeritus of philosophy, presented “General Themes on Revenge and Social Conflict” March 21 as part of Bemidji’s “Adventures in Lifelong Learning” continuing education lecture series. The presentation, which took its title from his recent book, “Revenge and Social Conflict,” explored the nature of revenge and the causes and consequences of the human desire for retaliatory violence.

• Dr. Andrew Hafs, associate professor of biology, published an article on the use of side-scan sonar to collect data on walleye spawning habitats, along with Anthony Kennedy and BSU alum Jake Graham, in The North American Journal of Fisheries Management.The article demonstrated the results of a study that showed a relatively inexpensive sonar unit can be used to efficiently map an aquatic habitat.

• Dr. Janice Haworth, professor of music, recently returned from a one-month trip to China as a participant in the Overseas Teaching Program. During her stay, March 3–April 8, she visited the Music and Dance School at Huaihua University where she delivered lectures to more than 150 students, led an academic forum on music education and the music of different cultures and gathered folk music from neighboring communities; Shaoyang University, where she hosted an academic forum on folk music field trips; and Hunan University of Humanities, Science and Technology, where she hosted an academic forum on world ethnic music and participated in rehearsals for an African djembe drum performance. During her trip, Haworth sent a series of three updates to members of Bemidji’s “Adventures in Lifelong Learning” continuing education group, which she’s agreed to share with BSU Insider readers: March 12 | March 28 | April 3

• Dr. Anton Treuer, professor of Ojibwe, will pilot an Elementry Ojibwe I course this fall at Central Lakes College in Brainerd, Minn., using the teleconferencing room in the American Indian Resource Center. The pilot, along with a current criminal justice course being taught to students at Red Lake Nation College using the same technology, is part of an effort to expand access to BSU’s course offerings.

New Hires

• Kenyon Miller has joined the university as a general maintenance worker, effective March 27.