EMPLOYEE N EWS L E TTE R
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The newly renovated Geology Museum is located on the first floor of the Romney.
Renovations completed in BYU-Idaho’s Geology Museum After years of renovations, the Romney Building’s Geology Museum is now finished, with hallway displays that will allow students and visitors to have a more interactive experience. Renovations began when Forest Gahn, faculty member in the Department of Geology, first came to Brigham Young University-Idaho. Gahn worked at the Smithsonian Institution from 2004-2006 where he worked as an exhibit designer. After coming to BYU-Idaho in 2006 and seeing the high number of visitors for the Geology Museum, he initiated plans to renovate. “We get a lot of visitors from the community,” Gahn said. “A lot of school groups come in each year to visit, so we wanted to try and make that experience better for them and the campus community as a whole. We wanted to make our exhibits more educational and beneficial for our courses as well.”
Gahn was able to bring his expertise from his work at the Smithsonian, and brought many ideas of how to make the museum more interactive for all who come. One of those ideas was to start outside of the museum in the hallways. Many of the improvements in the hallways were for seating areas to be placed in recessed areas underneath display cases that the Geology and Physics Departments worked on together. “What we ultimately decided to do with it was to tell the story of the universe and the formation of the earth and the history of life on earth,” Gahn said. “Basically from the origin of the universe through the rise of human civilizations.” A majority of community members who come to the Romney Building come for the planetarium show that takes place every Thursday night. Tickets sell out
“We wanted to make our exhibits more educational and beneficial for our courses.” —FOREST GAHN, FACULT Y MEMBER
quickly, so most of the attendees arrive between 45 minutes to an hour early. With the renovations to the hallway, visitors are now able to enjoy all the displays that will eventually lead them to the museum. Students and faculty can also enjoy taking the time to walk through the halls between classes and look at the displays or study in the seating areas offered.
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BYU-Idaho wildlife exhibit moves to Museum of Rexburg An exhibit created by the Departments of Biology and Geology has found a new home, moving from the Teton Geotourism Center in Driggs to the Museum of Rexburg. The exhibit features local wildlife and geology, and will be one of the first exhibits displayed in the newly renovated museum. It was previously housed at the Teton Geotourism Center for six months. “We’re excited about what they’re doing at the museum,” said University Public Affairs Director Brett Sampson. “BYU-Idaho has always had a relationship with the city of Rexburg, so it just makes sense that we loan this educational exhibit locally and allow even more people to enjoy some of these pieces.” The exhibit, which includes animals such as a Gray Wolf, Cougar, Porcupine, American Bison, North American Moose, and Rocky Mountain goat, will allow visitors
to experience the wild in a unique way. The exhibit also shows collections of fossils and minerals donated to the Departments of Geology and Biology. “Some things have been purchased or acquired, but a majority of what we’re going to show has been donated,” Sampson said. The exhibit is one way BYU-Idaho is seeking to reach out to the community and expand its mission. “We have school children and other visitors who come and will be able to see the exhibit. It’s an extension of the university’s goal of lifelong learning that we hope our students and most people engage in. The exhibit is an educational piece, and will offer people an opportunity to learn about the animals, the wildlife, and the geology that is
representative of this region,” Sampson said. “We are excited for the opportunity to have BYU-Idaho be our partner in our first traveling exhibit,” said Rexburg’s Cultural Arts Director and Museum Curator Jackie Rawlins. “Traveling exhibits are one the new changes we are making at the Museum of Rexburg and we hope the opportunity to work with BYU-Idaho arises again.” For more information about hours, prices, and volunteer opportunities, visit rexburg.org/arts.
Teton Geotourism Center features BYU-Idaho student designed exhibit The Teton Geotourism Center (TGC) has opened a new exhibit designed by BYU-Idaho students about the history of Yellowstone National Park. The exhibit commemorates the 100 year anniversary of the National Park Service. Five teams of BYU-Idaho students from the Project Graphic Design class taught by Department
of Art faculty member Shawn Randall took on the challenge of researching, writing a concept for, and designing a model of the exhibit as their final project. After seven weeks of work, the students pitched their ideas to members of the TGC executive board. One team’s design concept was selected and fully developed into the new exhibit.
The exhibit highlights the changes within the park over the past 100 years.
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“When students are able to work with an actual client and have real world experience, it’s really valuable. It also helps them think through what the client needs and what the challenges are that are associated with a project like this,” Sampson said. The exhibit includes information about tourism in Yellowstone,
BYU-Idaho and TGC representatives come together for the ribbon cutting of the new exhibit.
MarComm offers marketing assistance to university departments BYU-Idaho’s Marketing and Communication Team, commonly referred to as MarComm, provides services to strengthen messages coming from various offices and departments at BYU-Idaho that are delivered to students and off-campus audiences. “The main mission is to provide marketing and communication guidance and approval of communication pieces,” said MarComm Manager Arnold Thiebaud. “There are three main areas we focus on: increasing the consistency of the messages and brand implementation coming from the university, improving the quality of messages with a focus on online communication, and finding efficiencies in collaboration.” MarComm was created by President’s Executive Group as a way for departments to come together, give feedback, share resources, and get approvals before
promoting items off-campus. The MarComm Team is comprised of employees from various departments who specialize in marketing and communication.
Without coordinating their messages through MarComm, Thiebaud says some marketing can be less effective or even counterproductive.
“We review their plans and provide them feedback in order to help them produce something better,” said Jason Reeder, the alumni marketing coordinator who also serves on the MarComm Team.
“I think a particular problem can be duplication of messages,” Thiebaud said. “Sometimes very similar groups can be doing the very same thing at the same time, and sometimes they might be delivering slightly different messages to the same audience.”
That collaboration, Thiebaud says, is helpful to anyone wanting to create any publicized communications. “We’re all trying to communicate to basically the same audiences, but if we can find better ways of doing that together, and letting our audiences know key information points and when they need to know them, then we can all be more successful with a stronger unified voice,” Thiebaud said.
popular spots to visit, and even the types of cameras tourists have used during the history of Yellowstone.
in putting together exhibits that would educate people and involve students,” Sampson said.
Within the last year, BYU-Idaho and the TGC have created a relationship based upon mutual goals of education.
“The new exhibit will enhance our basic draw and service to the visitors of the area,” said Deb Hinkley, executive director of the Teton Geotourism Center.
“It was exciting to discover that we have neighbors with a shared educational mission; it just made sense for us to partner with them
By working with other campus departments through MarComm, costs can be cut, messages are clearer, and marketing strategies are stronger . “It’s easy to come up with a marketing piece, but maybe there is something in the advertisment that conflicts with copyright laws or with university honor code. Maybe there is something that will affect another department but they haven’t been notified yet,” Thiebaud said. “The MarComm Team helps departments find and correct issues before these messages go out.” One of the missions of MarComm is to help messaging represent the distinct culture of BYU-Idaho. “Because BYU-Idaho is affiliated with the Church, we have an obligation to have a distinct brand, something that we are proud of,” said Jerrod Guddat, online community coordinator and member of the MarComm Team. “MarComm is the opportunity we have to make sure that all of our messaging is appropriate, exciting, engaging, and yet reflective of our culture here at BYU-Idaho.” Departments can contact MarComm and hire a student employee with specialized skills for a temporary amount of time. For example, a department needing help with their website can hire web developers, analysts, or graphic designers for as long as the project takes.
The public tours the new exhibit during its open house on June 8.
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QUOTES FROM DEVOTIONAL
BYU-Idaho geology students outplace graduate students Four BYU-Idaho students in the Department of Geology recently placed second in the regional Yearly Imperial Board Competition—a competition where they were the only undergraduates competing. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists invited BYU-Idaho students to compete in their annual competition three years ago without knowing BYU-Idaho did not have a graduate program. Although they were the only undergraduates competing, BYU-Idaho students are invited back each year because they place so well. The students who represented BYU-Idaho this year were Alex George, Brad Crandall, Corey Brazelle, Chris Baker, and Chelsea Jolley. For the competition, students were given seismic and well data of an area in Australia and had to correlate data to get an idea of the subsurface. With this information students had to create a professional proposal of whether or not the land should be drilled for oil. The students had two industry consultants help them through the research: Mark Millard of SM Energy and Robert Holman of Chesapeake. These professional advisors
questioned each of the competitors on their claims and taught them different ways to present their research. “It gives the students who compete a flavor of the petroleum industry,” said Department Chair Julie Willis. “It helps them see what it would be like to be a petroleum scientist. It also sets them apart as someone who is able to take a project from start to finish, and pull all their understanding of the science of geology together.” At the competition, the students presented their research and gave their proposal to a group of judges who are petroleum industry professionals. The students were judged on their professionalism, calculations, applications of scientific principles and ability to display their findings. BYU-Idaho scored very well in all categories. “This year the judges were just in awe with how well this team had done,” Willis said. “And they didn’t know that they were undergraduates at the time they are presenting, so they were not given any preferential scoring. At the end they were very surprised to find out they were undergraduates.”
From left to right: Alex George, Brad Crandall, Chelsea Jolley, Corey Brazzell, and Chris Baker.
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The new geology museum offers interactive exhibits for all ages. It uses new technology which was not available before the renovations like iPads and QR codes.
Geology Museum: continued from page 1 In addition to working with the Physics Department, the Geology Department also worked with several graphic design students and artists to help create a new, clean layout for the artifacts to be presented on, as well as infographics that hold easyto-read information about specimens on display. A gray cityscape is what was decided on to hold the different artifacts, and these offer viewers a clean layout to better
understand what they are seeing. “When I got here, we just crammed as much as we could onto that flat shelving,” Gahn said. “It’s like a grandma’s knickknack experience. There was so much to look at that you couldn’t see anything.” By reducing the number of labels the exhibits were decluttered, creating a better learning experience for museum visitors. A few labels offer an overarching theme
to the displays they present, but the labels for individual specimens are now offered through QR codes. Anyone with a smartphone can now scan these QR codes and find a wealth of information and pictures on everything in the museum. For those without smartphones, an iPad in the museum will be offered with the same information to use, so all visitors can access the same information.
Upward Connection: Spring 2016 Highlights Fulfilling the Mission: See what makes BYU-Idaho special................... The Mission Today:Get a look at what’s happening at BYU-Idaho........... Standing as Disciples: President Gilbert’s Devotional address.................. Small “L” Leadership: People leading by example................................... Construction Updates: The new Science and Technology building..........
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Winter Graduation 2016: See the most recent graduates of BYU-Idaho.
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BYU-Idaho employee reaches out to refugees One BYU-Idaho employee is demonstrating what it means to be a disciple leader as she heeds the call of Church leaders to help refugees. After attending the General Women’s Session of General Conference last April, Emmilie Whitlock, adjunct faculty member in the Department of Communication, and her husband, Eric, established “Rexburg for Refugees;” an organization aiming to help refugees relocated to Idaho and Utah. “I just really felt the spirit prompting me, and it wouldn’t leave my mind or heart, and I really felt I needed to do something to help these refugees,” said Whitlock. With this inspiration and desire, the Whitlocks sought opportunities to answer the call to help refugees, but without any refugees in Rexburg, they wondered how they would be able to help. So, without the opportunity to serve around the local community, they looked at the nearest locations where refugees are placed.
each center to donate various household items. “My husband had the idea to start a donation center in Rexburg, because we had the mindset that if we are having a problem giving donations, somebody else probably is too,” Whitlock said. “We decided to jump in with both feet and start an organization that would both educate the community on what to donate, and serve as a place where people could donate.”
In addition to delivering donations, the Whitlocks also aim to educate the community on both the plight of the refugees and the best ways to help them. By holding informative seminars, “Rexburg for Refugees” is able to help the public understand the issues surrounding the refugee crisis on a more personal level. At these seminars, the Whitlocks have spoken alongside IRC directors, as well as BYU-Idaho students who are former refugees.
The couple has since started, with a terrific response from the community, “Rexburg for Refugees.” One of the ways the Whitlocks are helping Rexburg community members get involved is with a donation pick-up. Anyone with donations is now able to text Eric or Emmilie anytime, and they will pick up any donations Thursday evenings from 5-7 p.m. From there, they deliver them to either Salt Lake City or Twin Falls.
Some businesses around Rexburg have begun following the Whitlock’s example in providing aid for the refugees. The Standard Journal has recently been created as drop-off point for donations, and donations can be dropped off at any time during its business hours. Pizza Hut is also holding a charity where every Monday in June all proceeds will go to “Rexburg for Refugees.”
The Whitlocks found the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Salt Lake City, whom The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has partnered with, and the College of Southern Idaho Refugee Center in Twin Falls. Around 1,100 refugees are placed in Salt Lake City annually, and 300 in Twin Falls. When they contacted the two centers, they found that both locations are in need of donations, so the Whitlocks traveled to
The Whitlocks prepare to drop off donations of blankets and other ohusehold items at a refugee center.
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