casnewsfall19

NORTHERN STATE UNIVERSITY | FALL 2019

THE HARVEY C. JEWETT IV REGIONAL SCIENCE EDUCATION CENTER To explain the significance of the recent opening of the Harvey C. Jewett IV Regional Science Education Center at NSU, I would like to outline the history of its conception.

DEAN Joshua Hagen

THE COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES continued to make great strides this fall! The Jewett Regional Science Education Center was inaugurated as a new gateway to campus. Faculty are moving forward with proposals for new undergraduate and graduate programs in communications, English, languages, science and social science, for example, while continuing to maintain the quality of existing programs. To support those efforts, new instructor and assistant professor positions have been created and existing vacancies filled in biology, communications and sociology, as well as a new position of STEM Outreach Coordinator. Suffice to say, it is an exciting time for the college and an exciting time to be at Northern! Dear Friends of NSU’s College of Arts and Sciences, NEW PROGRAMS The S.D. Board of Regents recently approved new programs for NSU, including minors in creative writing and social work and certificates in quantitative analytics and Germans from Russia. Proposals for several other undergraduate and graduate programs are currently under consideration, including biochemistry, English and English education, film studies, global languages and culture, public relations, science and science education, and social science education.

outreach activities and other related activities we offer. New courses, such as histology and human biology, and new certificates, such as quantitative analytics, are now a part of the biology repertoire. We are establishing new collaborations with other institutions, e.g., in engineering, and new degrees, e.g., a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry and a graduate certificate in the sciences. Now, the science programs are housed in the new, two-story Jewett Regional Science Education Center. The state-of-the-art facility will enhance research and science education for the entire region, and will also support community outreach. We will offer three summer camps for middle school students and three teacher workshops at the science facility. We hope to generate interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields by providing exciting experiential opportunities for these groups. Northern invited dignitaries, including Harvey Jewett IV, to the Jewett Regional Science Education Center ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sept. 12. On that date, we celebrated the opening of the first standalone academic building constructed on campus in 40 years. The public got a chance to tour the building at an open house on Oct. 17. There is a buzz of excitement on campus as a result of all these changes. An anatomy student, Rachel Guthmiller, said, “The new biomedical laboratory has truly enhanced

SLIGHTLY OVER 10 YEARS AGO, a small group of science faculty generated an “action plan” to serve as a working document for the department, but also to provide objectives and goals tied to a National Science Foundation (NSF) Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) grant. This action plan, called the “Center for Environmental Studies,” outlined strategic efforts that the department planned in order to build curricula, increase student numbers, generate faculty lines and establish rapport/outreach within the community. Campus leadership received this document, and were very receptive and appreciative of our efforts; it was a guide they could follow to facilitate growth on campus by working with leadership in Pierre. We suggested curricular changes and staffing needs in the sciences, but also discussed infrastructure to help build these capacities, including a new greenhouse and science building. We built a greenhouse at our old facility several years ago, and now we have a new science building that opened in August 2019. Our “action plan” was widely successful, to say the least, but could not have been achieved without the leadership and guidance of NSU administration and community partners. Our measure of success is the number of students majoring in the sciences. When I started in 2007, we had 78 biology majors. Today, we have two to three times this number, in just biology. Another measure of success is the number of degree programs,

my science learning experience. Before coming to college here, I saw Northern as more of a teaching and musical kind of school. However, this new building has changed that view completely. The rooms, equipment and faculty have all made this a wonderful environment to learn and develop as a biology student here. I suggest that anyone interested in any kind of science consider Northern, as it is a very good university choice in South Dakota, and even the whole country.” Students in developmental biology and freshman seminar have said that they feel they can learn better in the new science building. The Jewett Regional Science Education Center is a catalyst for change, and students, faculty and staff are eager for changes to come. During the ribbon- cutting ceremony, President Downs

underscored the importance of this development: “This facility has already begun attracting more students to Northern and will foster more cutting- edge research among our students and faculty. With tremendous educational possibilities and countless outreach opportunities, our new science center is enhancing the experience of our campus community and our entire region.” New programs, increased enrollments and community engagement in STEM are a start, and it is likely more is to come with the campus revitalization and improvements. I am thrilled to be a part of it.

ASSOCIATE DEAN Alyssa Kiesow

ASSOCIATE DEAN NAMED Dr. Alyssa Kiesow was named associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in July, after serving in that capacity on an interim basis since December. As associate dean, Dr. Kiesow will be responsible for coordinating strategic planning and implementation and program assessment across the college. Dr. Kiesow will simultaneously continue her duties as professor of biology and chair of the Department of Science and Mathematics.

ASSOCIATE DEAN Alyssa Kiesow

CAS ALUM AN ACCOMPLISHED PHYSICIAN, MUSICIAN

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT Bill Hampton

Barnett Center.” NSU an Affordable, High Quality Choice When it came to choosing Northern, Hampton said both quality and affordability were factors. “First, I thought the educational and musical opportunities there were the best in the state,” he said. “The facilities continue to be cutting edge, particularly with the recent remodeling and expansion of the Johnson Fine Arts Center.” Also, NSU awarded him a Presidential Merit Scholarship and an Excellence in Music Scholarship. Saving money on his undergraduate education meant a significantly lower financial burden in his further education, including medical school. Hampton graduated from Northern with a bachelor’s degree in music and an associate degree in pre- medicine. He received his master’s degree from Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., and his doctorate from Midwestern University’s Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine. Numerous Professional Accomplishments Originally from Sturgis, Hampton now lives in Manitowoc, Wis. He and his wife, Shay, have four children: Casey, 23; Audra, 15; and 5-year-old twins Brynn and Greyson. He said he’s been blessed with many opportunities since graduating from NSU, including numerous memorable accomplishments: • Acceptance for publication, two piccolo trumpet etude books, fall 2019 • Trumpet soloist with the Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra, spring 2019 • General assembly speaker for the National Emergency Nurses Association Fall Conference, fall 2018

MUSIC AND MEDICINE are both major parts of Hampton’s life, and thanks to an educational start at Northern State University, he got to pursue both. Hampton, a 1996 NSU grad, works as an emergency physician at Wisconsin’s Holy Family Memorial Hospital and ThedaCare Shawano Medical Center. He also works as an adjunct trumpet faculty member for Holy Family College and continues to perform, including with his local symphony orchestra, in church, and putting on a faculty recital at least once a year. They’re very different careers, but for Hampton, the common thread was his educational experience at NSU. He said Northern helped him succeed by, first, modeling what it means to be a great educator. “So much of what I do now is teaching, and I feel like I learned from the best of the best,” he said. Music Provided Best Memories Another way Northern helped with his success was giving him the opportunity to perform in a breadth of musical ensembles, from symphonic wind ensemble to chamber choir to orchestra to brass ensemble. “It was such a confidence builder to leave NSU and to be so well prepared to take on any musical challenge because I had experienced it before,” Hampton said. Some of his best memories at NSU come from those musical opportunities, including his work with the Marching Wolves, Wind Ensemble, Brass Choir, Concert Choir, Chamber Singers and NSU Orchestra. “I have so many great memories of playing incredible music in all of them,” Hampton said. “I also was privileged to be part of the theater department, primarily performing in the pit orchestra. I also have fond memories of delivering The Exponent on campus and playing in the pep band for basketball games in the

During medical school, Dr. William Hampton was known as “the trumpet player guy”—he would often set up in the lobby of the student center and play his horn during breaks from studying.

STUDENTS SWEEP AWARDS All three winners in this year’s Brown County Historical Society annual Historical Research and Writing Awards contest are students from the College of Arts and Sciences. First place went to ETHAN DELVO, a history education major from Watertown, for “A Recipe for Disaster: How Politics and the Greater Good Killed the Oahe Irrigation Project.” HANNAH HIGDON, a history, communications and political science major from Dupree, received second place for “The Indian Reorganization Act: John Collier = Unsuccessful.” LAUREN PAATELA, a history and psychology major from Buffalo, Minn., received third place for her paper titled “How Sisu Shaped the Iron Range: The Northern Minnesota Iron Ore Industry and Finnish Immigrants, 1890-1930.” “If your heart is really in both things, then do both things,” he said. “People talk about choices, yes, but it doesn’t also mean that you have to narrow yourself. You can be more than one. You can have more than one identity and have that be a big part of who you are and what you do. Northern gives a person that flexibility because there are so many offerings.” • Keynote speaker for American Association of Critical Care Nurses Regional Trauma Conference, spring 2018 • Named Director of Medical Education at Holy Family Memorial, fall 2017 • Guest lecturer for Mayo Clinic Grand Rounds, spring 2017 • Lecturer for Advanced Critical Care and Emergency Nursing in Las Vegas, Neva., and Advanced ICU and ED RN Pediatric Conference, San Diego, Calif., in fall 2016 • Presenter at National Association of State EMS Officials, fall 2016 • Named a Fellow in the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians, spring 2016 • Received RYT 200 certificate upon completion of White Lotus Foundation Yoga Teacher Training Course, fall 2012 Advice for Current Students Hampton’s advice for current Northern students: Get involved on campus beyond the classroom. “While I learned a great deal in my classes, it was the involvement in everything else that campus had to offer that has really shaped who I am today,” he said. “From serving as the editor of ‘Shelterbelt,’ NSU’s literary and art anthology, to performing in various musical ensembles to celebrating during Gypsy Days to serving in student government, those experiences have contributed substantially to who I am today. If you aren’t a part of something that excites or moves you, I think you’re leaving at lot of what makes NSU special on the table.” He also encourages students who have a passion for more than one field to go for it.

FACULTY Achievements

via student summer camps with teacher workshops in the new Harvey C. Jewett IV Regional Science Education Center. Camps and workshops will take place during summer 2020. Each camp will include laboratory experiments; integration of project design and statistics; use of technology and applicable coding techniques; and hands-on activities focused on STEM theories, principles and standards. The corresponding teacher workshops will include project development and statistical training, with emphasis on project submissions for the annual science fair. DR. JON D. SCHAFF, professor of political science, has authored a book examining the Lincoln presidency and democracy in the United States. “Abraham Lincoln’s Statesmanship and the Limits of Liberal Democracy” is published by Southern Illinois University Press. of why and how laws are enforced – specifically, what are the safest methods of handling the variety of situations law enforcement officers face on a daily basis. The experience clarified my career goal of securing a position in policing, and it reiterated my desire to work in law enforcement and serve the community I live in.” College of Arts and Sciences students VICTORIA BIACH and ZACHARY FLEMING were recipients of a 10-week summer internship funded by the National Science Foundation REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) Sites Program in the Chemistry Division and the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). The program was focused on environmental and green materials chemistry and provided the students with multi- disciplinary research experiences. The goal was to provide cutting-edge research experiences, mentoring and

INTERNSHIPS DR. KRISTI BROWNFIELD, assistant professor of sociology, published an article titled “We Are Not Different: We Just Sit: A Case Study of the Lived Experiences of Five College Students in Wheelchairs.” The article was co-authored with Cindy Aamlid, and was published in the Journal of Ethnographic and Qualitative Research. DRS. ERIN BROWNLEE, AMY DOLAN, ALYSSA KIESOW and JODIE RAMSAY and MS. MELANIE JACOBSON have received a grant from 3M for STEM outreach, titled “Crazy Excited for STEM in NE South Dakota.” Research shows that achievement and interest in science and math fields falter after fourth grade and significantly drop after eighth grade. To address this problem and fulfill the need in South Dakota in all STEM fields, the grant was awarded to build an outreach program that integrates STEM topical training CHRIS EZEKISOE, a senior majoring in criminal justice, originally from Utica, N.Y., completed an internship with the Aberdeen Police Department (APD) during summer 2019. Over the years, the college has seen a number of criminal justice majors intern with the APD. Several former student interns have been successfully hired as APD officers upon their graduation from Northern. That is why Captain Eric Duven’s praise of Ezekisoe is so noteworthy. Captain Duven said: “I’ve been running the internship program for five years now, and Chris was most definitely our most interested and engaged intern during that time period.” Ezekisoe felt his internship experience with the APD was very comprehensive, and he was able to relate various tasks to his completed coursework in the criminal justice program, as well as utilize the experience to solidify his career plans. “Interning with the APD allowed me a deeper understanding

The College of Arts and Sciences takes pride in promoting active and experiential learning for students across all its programs. Examples include field trips, study abroad, service learning and undergraduate research. Internships also play an important role in providing practical, hands-on opportunities for learning. Internships also help build connections between campus and the community. Here are a few examples of recent internships completed by CAS students.

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INTERNSHIPS continued…

DR. PAMELA MONAGHAN- GEERNAERT, assistant professor of sociology, grew up in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where she earned a B.A. in sociology at the University of Calgary. She earned an M.A. at Idaho State University and a Ph.D. in medical sociology and gerontology from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Her research has focused on cultural factors in aging and health. Through the Geriatric Education Center at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., she completed work in ethnogeriatrics, which led to her research site in New Mexico. Her Ph.D. work was conducted on the Pueblo of Laguna, west of Albuquerque, N.M. She lived in New Mexico for 12 years conducting research with local tribes and rural communities. She NEW FACULTY and STAFF

research-themed professional development to increase the students’ preparedness to pursue graduate school or careers in environmental chemistry. Biach, a chemistry major, was awarded the internship in 2015. She shared the results of her work in a poster presentation titled “Structural Identification of Natural Organic Matter” presented during the State EPSCoR Symposium in Pierre in July 2015. Fleming, a biology major, was awarded the internship in 2016. His poster presentation was titled “Spectroscopic Characterization of Natural Organic Matter” and was given during the State EPSCoR Symposium in Pierre in August 2016. Both students were mentored by NSU Professor of Chemistry Dr. Guangwei Ding, and conducted much of their research work at the NSU chemistry labs. Both Biach and Fleming were subsequently accepted by the Medical School at the University of South Dakota.

comes to NSU from Maryland where she has been teaching for the past nine years. KELLY PULIS, biology lab manager, grew up between North Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa, and graduated high school from Vinton, Iowa. She attended the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, and graduated with a B.S. in biology and minor in psychology. She then went on to receive an A.A. in exotic animal training and management from Moorpark College in Moorpark, Calif. Before joining NSU, Pulis spent 10 years training dolphins, sea lions and parrots as well as participating in marine animal rescue and rehabilitation for a nonprofit organization on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Pulis and her husband, Eric, are glad to be back on the Northern Plains. They have two children, Evelyn and Alice.

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Visit northern.edu , click on “ Give Now” and select “College of Arts and Sciences” to support the College of Arts and Sciences. Update your contact information with the NSU Foundation to hear about alumni events in your area or contact the NSU Foundation to learn more, 605-626-2550.