Chelsea DeVille, head women’s basketball coach, in May spent two weeks in Kenya as part of a Simba Educational Ministries trip. She and 12 others, mostly coaches and athletes representing universities in Minnesota, Nebraska and the Dakotas, ran sports clinics at St. Jacob’s Primary School in Eldoret, Kenya.
Erika Bailey-Johnson, sustainability director (pictured, left), was the keynote speaker for the Student Summit at the Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability conference Sept. 20-30 at Central College in Pella, Iowa. At the 2017 AASHE Conference & Expo, held Oct. 15–18 in San Antonio, Bailey-Johnson and Dr. Anna Carlson, assistant sustainability director (right), helped deliver a half-day workshop entitled “Sustainability, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Across the Curriculum,” a presentation titled “Ten Years of Including Wellness in the Sustainability Model” and a presentation with BSU graduate student Jordan Lutz called “Working in the Ivory Tower: Breaking Down the Walls of Academia.”
Dr. Tim Brockman, an associate professor in the School of Technology, Art & Design, was recognized in July as a “Minnesota-Based Online Engineering Professor to Know” by the website Online Engineering Programs. BSU’s Talley Gallery in November featured his artwork in an exhibition titled “Textures, Slabs and Thrown Pieces: Ceramic Art by Tim Brockman.”
Dr. Stephen Carlson, chair of the Department of Music, was joined by Miriam Weber, associate professor of music, adjunct instructors Dr. Benjamin Cold, Heather Guidry, Dr. Lauren McNee and Dr. Lisa Perry, and former adjunct instructor Jacqueline Schaffer in an Oct. 19 interview and on-air performance in St. Paul for Classical Minnesota Public Radio. The appearance promoted the group’s Oct. 21 faculty chamber music recital, which concluded BSU’s Woodwind and Piano Day.
Pianist Dr. Benjamin Cold and flutist Dr. Lauren McNee, adjunct music instructors, were featured in Classical Minnesota Public Radio’s “Regional Spotlight” on Nov. 13 along with pianist Seulgee Lee Nelson.
Dr. Jessica Durgan, assistant professor of English, contributed the article “Up-tops and Sooties: Neo-Victorian Representations of Race and Class in Gail Carrier’s Finishing School Books” to the forthcoming collection “The Victorian Period in Twenty-First Century Children’s and Adolescent Literature and Culture,” published by Routledge Press.
Dr. Mary Fairbanks, associate professor of nursing, presented a poster, “American Indian Health Issues & Nursing — Undergraduate Course,” on June 16 at the National Alaska Native American Indian Nurses Association Conference in St. Paul. The poster covered a new elective course on American Indian health and nursing Fairbanks taught in the Spring 2017 semester. She also presented “What is Community Health? What is Public Health” on Sept. 26 as part of Bemidji’s Adventures in Lifelong Learning series.
Dr. Eric Forsyth, professor of human performance, sport & health, has traveled several times to Louisiana and been invited to serve on the foundation and advisory boards for the Honey Brake Confluence Group, which consults on branding with the Honey Brake Lodge in Janesville, La. He attended a Louisiana State 4-H Council meeting, was a guest speaker in a pair of undergraduate sports marketing courses and an Orientation to Graduate Studies course at Louisiana State University, and attended a meeting of the National 4-H Shooting Sports Council at Honey Brake Lodge.
Dr. John Gonzalez, professor of psychology, was named Post-Secondary Teacher of the Year at the 2017 Minnesota Indian Education Association Annual Conference on Nov. 16 in Welch.
Dr. Debbie Guelda, professor of biology, completed Higher Education Resource Services (HERS) Institute training at the University of Denver June 19-July 1. She also participated in the institute’s LUCE Program for Women in STEM Leadership.
Scott Guidry, assistant professor of music, is the new director of BSU’s jazz bands. He has been a member of the BSU music faculty as director of bands since 2013. Guidry spent 20 years in the U.S. Air Force, most recently as director of operations for The Air Force Band in Washington. He also served as officer in charge of the Ceremonial Brass and Airmen of Note.
Dr. Andy Hafs,, associate professor of biology, has published manuscripts in three peer-reviewed journals: “The effects of riparian disturbance on the condition and summer diets of age-O brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) in three central Appalachian streams,” Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences; “Quantification of walleye spawning substrate in a northern Minnesota river using side-scan sonar,” North American Journal of Fisheries Management; and “Seasonal changes in condition of Appalachian brook trout,” North American Journal of Fisheries Management.
Dr. Heidi Hansen, associate professor of mathematics, spent last year on sabbatical in Europe and Wisconsin. With side trips to Germany and Spain, she spent two months in Norway at Hogskulen på Vestlandet, a university-college in Sogndal, examining their elementary mathematics instruction. In the spring, she taught math education classes at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis. Hansen also attended the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators Conference, Feb. 9-11 in Orlando, and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Annual Conference, April 5-8 in San Antonio.
Dr. Dwight Jilek, assistant professor of music, presented “The Estonian Singing Revolution” Oct. 3 as part of Bemidji’s Adventures in Lifelong Learning series.
Dennis Lunt, assistant professor of humanities, and Veronica Veaux, assistant professor of business administration, have agreed to serve as co-directors of BSU’s leadership studies program for the 2017-18 academic year.
Dr. Del Lyren, professor of music, had an opportunity to rehearse with the Army Blues, the U.S. Army’s top jazz band, in June in Washington. On July 22, he conducted the Twins and Brass event, which brings together trumpet and brass players to perform the National Anthem at a Minnesota Twins home game. Lyren also performed and conducted at the International Trumpet Guild annual conference, held May 29-June 2 in Hershey, Pa.
Brenda Mack, assistant professor of social work, was one of three recipients of the 2017 Outstanding Service Award from the Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health. The association recognized Mack for her work as director of the Northwestern Mental Health Center in Crookston, where she led an effort to create a school-based mental health program that serves 21 school districts, including an American Indian reservation.
Dr. Sherry Shindelar, adjunct instructor of English, in August completed her doctorate in literature and criticism from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Her dissertation was entitled “‘Will you…?’ ‘I will…’ ‘I do’: Re-envisioning Matrimony in Civil War-Era Literature.”
Dr. Anton Treuer, professor of Ojibwe, had his latest book, “The Indian Wars,” published by National Geographic this fall. The book includes more than 225 archival photos, illustrations and paintings and 11 National Geographic maps showing shifting territories and battle sites. In addition, Treuer presented at the Fourth Annual Rural Arts and Culture Summit, June 6-8 at the University of Minnesota, Morris; was the opening speaker at the “Let’s Talk!” dinner conversation Oct. 25 in Walker; and participated in an Oct. 5 program called “Racism in Cook County” on North Shore Community Radio. The broadcast was in response to reports of racially motivated bullying in Grand Marais schools.
Dr. James White, professor of human performance, sport & health, published “How to Plant a Food Plot the Happy, Healthy Way” in the April 2017 issue of MidWest Outdoors.
Dr. Misty Wilkie, associate professor of nursing, is leading an effort to revitalize a national organization for indigenous nurses and students. Membership in the National Alaska Native American Indian Nurses Association has declined to around 40 from a previous high of several hundred. As the association’s president, Wilkie is calling for the thousands of the nation’s 3.6 million nurses who identify as American Indian and Alaska Native to renew their memberships in the organization. She has been involved with the organization for nearly 20 years, beginning as a student member.
Michelle Willman, assistant professor of English, has had a short story titled “Drowning” accepted for publication in the journal MidAmerica later this year.
Carrie Yavarow, assistant professor of nursing, and Amy Weiher, lab services specialist in the Department of Nursing, attended the Simulation User Network Conference, held April 18-20 in San Diego.