We have much to be grateful for at the UCM Alumni Foundation, beginning with our incredible alumni! More than 34% of alumni actively engaged with the university last year, and some even inspired their family members to follow in their footsteps. This fall, we welcomed almost 500 UCM Legacy freshmen and revitalized the program that celebrates these multigenerational UCM Legacy Families.
On Giving Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, more than 300 donors contributed a record $122,000 to the Central Annual Fund, which powers our Opportunity Grant program. In March 2025, our annual Match Madness giving day raised over $64,000 from 472 supporters for UCM Athletics. These efforts, combined with many other acts of generosity, allowed the Alumni Foundation to provide nearly $2.3 million back to UCM in FY25 including a record $1.96 million awarded in student scholarships.
Endowment growth is also redefining what’s possible at UCM. Last year, donors established 16 new endowed funds, bringing our total to an all-time high of 649. Endowments are invested to provide perpetual support for scholarships, faculty excellence and innovative programs, ensuring UCM’s ability to adapt and expand for generations to come.
Thanks to the Oppenheimer Symposium Series Endowment, we welcomed acclaimed actor Sean Astin to campus to speak on community engagement and mental health issues to a crowd of more than 2,000.
On behalf of the UCM Alumni Foundation Board of Directors, we are pleased to present the 2025 Annual Report, which highlights these accomplishments and more. No matter where you are in MuleNation, thank you for your support and for carrying forward the proud legacy of UCM!
With gratitude,
Leslie J. Krasner, J.D., ’77, ’78 President, UCM Alumni Foundation Board of Directors
Courtney E. Goddard, J.D. Vice President for Advancement Executive Director, UCM Alumni Foundation
Nov. 20, 2024,
2025 ANNUAL REPORT 2025 ANNUAL REPORT
Above: On April 12, 2025, actor Sean Astin addressed a crowd of thousands in the Jerry M. Hughes Athletics Center. The event was free and open to the public, funded through the Oppenheimer Symposium Series Endowment at the UCM Alumni Foundation.
At Right: On Giving Tuesday 2024, donors who contributed $150 or more to the unrestricted Central Annual Fund received a MuleNation sweater.
On
student journalists Sadie Staker and Braeden Sholes delivered a special edition of the Muleskinner student newspaper — hot off the press — focused on philanthropy for Giving Tuesday.
Founding Philanthropists
PHILANTHROPISTS RECOGNIZED FOR THEIR COMMITMENT TO STUDENT SUCCESS
The Founders Society is the UCM Alumni Foundation’s most prestigious giving society, reserved for donors demonstrating significant investment in UCM. The Founding Philanthropist Award is the society’s highest honor, and at An Evening of Appreciation, May 3, 2025, the following recipients were recognized. For society membership benefits and information about giving, visit ucmfoundation.org/founders.
J.C. Smith
John Clyde “J.C.” Smith was an exceptional member of the UCM community. Born Oct. 11, 1941, in Clinton, Missouri, he attended what was then Central Missouri State College, earning a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1963 with a major in Merchandising and Retailing. As a student, he was a member of the Epsilon Phi chapter of Theta Chi fraternity. Later in life, he served on the advisory board for the Harmon College of Business and Professional Studies and was proud that his great-nephew followed in his footsteps by attending UCM.
Mike and Patti Davidson
Mike and Patti Davidson grew up in Richmond, Missouri, where they were high school sweethearts. They were married during winter break of their junior year in college and both graduated in 1972, the year Central Missouri State College became Central Missouri State University.
Mike, a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, earned his degree in Physical Education, and Patti earned her degree in Elementary Education.
During his career at State Farm, Mike was instrumental in bringing the State Farm Marketing and Sales Competition to UCM. In 2007, he received the Distinguished Alumni Award. That same year, he and Patti established the Mike and Patti Davidson Distinguished Marketing Professorship. They have also made UCM a beneficiary of their Individual Retirement Account (IRA). From 2016 to 2024, Mike was a member of the UCM Alumni Foundation Board of Directors.
Chuck and Araly Simmons
Charles Earl “Chuck” Simmons has been a faithful supporter of the university. A native of Warrensburg, Chuck first enrolled at Park University before transferring to what was then Central Missouri State College. While a student, he worked for the Maurine Achauer family at their Vernaz Drug Store on Pine Street. He was also a member of the Epsilon Phi chapter of the Theta Chi fraternity. Chuck graduated in 1961 with a Bachelor of Science in Education, majoring in Agricultural Education.
After J.C.’s passing in April 2021, the UCM Alumni Foundation received a bequest from his estate. This generous gift has now become the J.C. Smith Quasi Endowment, meaning that these funds have been invested and will continue to provide dividends in perpetuity. The endowment was celebrated at a special event Oct. 11, 2022, on what would have been J.C.’s 81st birthday.
The couple’s service to their alma mater has been exemplary. From November to April, they reside in Marco Island, Florida, where they serve on the MuleNation Florida leadership team. While at their home in Osage Beach, they attend Mid-Missouri chapter events and encourage fellow alumni to engage with their regional MuleNation chapters. The Davidsons also champion UCM Athletics and give regularly to the Central Annual Fund.
Chuck’s service to UCM has been not only from him personally but also from the many he has inspired to give back. In 2007, Chuck’s longtime friend Lela Budwine established two scholarships for UCM Agriculture and Chemistry students in his honor. In 2015, the Kappa Sigma Kappa–Theta Chi Alumni Scholarship was renamed in his honor.
A member of the UCM Foundation Board of Directors for many years, Chuck has been a great supporter of UCM Athletics. In honor of his lifelong support, he was inducted into the UCM Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008. Chuck and his wife, Araly, continue to attend the UCM Athletics Auction and the First Pitch Fundraising Banquet.
2025 ANNUAL REPORT
PAYING IT FORWARD FROM ONE GENERATION TO THE NEXT
By Trevor McLanahan, ’25
The Alumni Legacy Scholarship Endowment was created to help families continue their tradition of seeing multiple generations become proud graduates of UCM. The scholarship is available to incoming freshmen who are children, stepchildren, grandchildren or stepgrandchildren of alumni. Meet a few of the recipients who have benefited from this scholarship!
ETHAN AND GRAYSON THOMPSON
Ethan and Grayson Thompson, twin brothers from Higginsville, Missouri, are proud to continue their family’s strong UCM tradition as fourth-generation students. With parents, grandparents and greatgrandparents all attending UCM, the twins’ connection to the university runs deep. Their mother, Sarah Cole Thompson, and father, Josh Thompson, both graduated in 2000. Sarah is a former employee of the UCM Alumni Foundation, and Josh is chief of police for the city of Odessa, Missouri.
For Ethan and Grayson, the decision to attend UCM wasn’t made overnight; it was shaped by a childhood full of memories. Ethan recalls afternoon trips as a little boy to visit his mom on campus, where she worked in the Smiser Alumni Center.
“With each visit, my parents would give me tours of the buildings,” Ethan says. “I remember visiting James C. Kirkpatrick Library with my grandpa, and I would stare at the massive shelves of books in awe as he would tell me stories of his time on campus.”
Ethan also remembers Homecoming parades and roaring football crowds that made campus feel alive.
Grayson shares similar memories of visiting his mom at work, attending Homecoming festivities, and listening to his dad reminisce about his days as an equipment manager for UCM Athletics.
“Every time we drove by the stadium, my dad would start telling stories,” Grayson says. “I also remember thinking the library was the biggest building I’d ever seen.”
For both brothers, walking the same sidewalks and learning in the same classrooms as their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents is not just an opportunity, but an honor.
Are you part of a UCM Legacy Family?
Ethan is majoring in Management and following in his mother’s footsteps as an annual giving student employee for the UCM Alumni Foundation. Growing up immersed in university traditions inspired him to pursue a career in alumni relations and give back to the university that has shaped his family for generations.
“The community has helped so much, and it is only right to give back once I graduate,” Ethan says.
Grayson is pursuing a degree in Sport Management and looks forward to building a foundation in business, marketing and event planning within the sports industry to ultimately create meaningful experiences for athletes and fans.
“UCM’s strong and loving community is what makes it so special to me,” Grayson says.
Together, the Thompson twins are not only honoring their family’s legacy at UCM but also working to build futures that will allow them to give back and pay it forward.
Alumni and current students whose parent, stepparent, grandparent or child attended the University of Central Missouri belong to a UCM Legacy Family. Tell us about your family, encourage family members to apply for the Alumni Legacy Scholarship or make a gift to enable more families like yours to uphold this special legacy. Visit ucmfoundation.org/legacy.
MARYN CLEMENT
Maryn Clement, from Lenexa, Kansas, is pursuing an undergraduate degree in Kinesiology and plans to continue her education in graduate school to become a physical therapist. She hopes to work with athletes or young patients recovering from injuries, making an impact through hands-on care and encouragement.
TENNESON GARDENHIRE
Tenneson Gardenhire, from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, is majoring in Speech-Language Pathology with a minor in Modern Languages. Tenneson plans to return to Lee’s Summit School District as a speech-language pathologist, helping students thrive both academically and socially.
LEXIE MORGAN
A third-generation UCM student, Maryn is proud to carry on her family’s tradition at the university. Her mother, Rachel Clement, graduated in 1998, and Maryn has many other family members who attended UCM, including her grandfather, aunts and cousins.
In addition to the Alumni Legacy Scholarship, Maryn received a scholarship to play on the Jennies Soccer team. She says both have been essential in helping her succeed academically and athletically.
“I am excited to start this new journey and chapter of my life, and that is thanks to the donors,” Maryn says. “My family plays a huge role in my life, and being able to share my school with them is something I’m truly looking forward to.”
GABY MICIANO
Gaby Miciano is a shining example of an alumna who received the Alumni Legacy Scholarship as a UCM student and has gone on to a successful career.
Originally from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, Gaby was looking for an affordable college close to home. Her mother, Shelly Kay Miciano, graduated from UCM in 1995 with a degree in Fashion and Apparel Merchandising. Shelly suggested UCM might be a good fit.
His family’s UCM legacy began with his great-grandmother Mildred Gregg, who graduated in 1939 when the institution was known as Central Missouri State Teachers College. His grandmother Judith Bates graduated next in 1964, followed by both of his parents, Kimberly (Bates) Gardenhire, ’91, and Gary Gardenhire, ’92, who met in a watercolor class at UCM.
“I’m honored to be attending the same university as many of my family members,” Tenneson says. “The Alumni Legacy Scholarship will lessen my financial anxiety and allow me to focus on my academics. I will be able to support and continue my education so that I can teach and guide future students.”
“It was CMSU back then, but it was very familiar to her and something we could definitely bond over,” Gaby says. “It was really cool to hear stories about what campus used to look like.”
Gaby started in UCM’s Open Option program, which allows students to explore different majors, and found her passion through a PR/recruiting internship with Northwestern Mutual. The internship turned into a promotion, which turned into a full-time job. After graduating in 2022 with a major in Communication Studies and a minor in Public Relations, she immediately started working as a director of campus selection for Northwestern Mutual.
Lexie Morgan, from Liberty, Missouri, is pursuing a degree in Radiologic Technology. Her inspiration for entering the medical field comes from a close relative’s experience living with a medical condition and the compassionate care they received from health care professionals. Lexie hopes to provide the same level of care for others.
During her senior year of high school, she completed an internship in the Radiology Department at Liberty Hospital, which solidified her career choice. Lexie’s ties to UCM are strong. Her grandmother, Teresa Swope, graduated in 1993.
“My grandmother is one of my biggest supporters and role models in this world,” Lexie says. “She taught me that college is a huge milestone in your life. … I love the environment that surrounds UCM.”
Lexie is excited to continue her education at UCM, deepen her knowledge of radiology, and prepare for a meaningful health care career.
Now based out of the company’s Olathe, Kansas, location, she has been in this position for five years. She estimates that half of her time is spent networking at colleges and universities in Kansas, while the other half is spent recruiting for the company’s nationally ranked business finance internship and providing professional development for other Northwestern recruiters.
Gaby remains engaged with her alma mater as a guest speaker in Business Communication classes and has conducted workshops for students on networking, job searching and building professional portfolios — all skills that, along with a little help from her UCM Legacy Family, have helped her get to where she is today.
2025 ANNUAL REPORT
YOUR GIFTS SHAPE NEW REALITIES
Your generosity is enhancing the student experience at UCM by funding innovative programs and technologies, including extended reality (XR).
Because of you, students are prepared to succeed in a rapidly changing world equipped with lasting values of service leadership. Together, we also deliver need-based student scholarships that allow more students to learn and grow in our programs and facilities.
In fiscal year 2025 (July 1, 2024 — June 30, 2025) we are proud to report:
$11.12 MILLION
Total FY25 Giving 7,875 Gifts from 2,831 Donors
• $1.96 million distributed in direct scholarship support to students
• 16 new endowed funds that will support UCM in perpetuity
• $2.3 million in endowment earnings paid out to UCM, the largest amount ever!
Thank you for your continued support!
2025 ANNUAL REPORT
OPPORTUNITY GRANTS
In 2013, the UCM Alumni Foundation launched the Opportunity Grant program, drawing from the Central Annual Fund to provide onetime seed money for faculty and staff initiatives to enhance the student experience.
In fiscal year 2025, a total of $30,000 was awarded for a range of forward-thinking initiatives aimed at improving academic spaces and hands-on learning opportunities. One donor-funded project allows students to engage in real-world data collection through the use of weather balloons, tracking flight paths and analyzing atmospheric data. Another grant facilitates outdoor learning by establishing a field gear library within the Department of Biological and Clinical Sciences, giving students greater access to the tools they need for research and exploration.
These Opportunity Grants reflect the University of Central Missouri’s continued investment in meaningful, experience-based learning and demonstrate the lasting value of alumni support in shaping the university’s future.
Make a difference by donating to the Central Annual Fund at ucmfoundation.org/give/magazine
Above the Clouds
The Journey of a Weather Balloon
By Caitlin Mendenhall, ’25, and Jazmin Hohmann, Public Relations Undergraduate Student
Associate Professor Corey Werner launched the first weather balloon with students in fall 2024, thanks to a donor-funded Opportunity Grant.
Cruising
We’re not trying to prepare students for their first career. We’re trying to prepare them for their last career. In other words, we’re trying to make them lifelong learners, trying to get them curious about things so that they can be agile when things are chaotic. “ ”
— Corey Werner
down South Holden street, drivers don’t expect to see a giant balloon floating above Walton Stadium — but that’s exactly what happened during the fall 2024 semester when science students launched a weather balloon as part of a hands-on learning lab. It might have looked like a novelty — but the balloon served a scientific purpose.
Weather balloons are helium-filled, ascend 1,000 feet per minute and carry instruments that measure air temperature, humidity and pressure. They are released all over the United States, including in UCM’s own backyard.
An idea that started a decade ago has finally come to fruition for Corey Werner, associate professor of Geoscience. In 2024 Werner was awarded a donor-funded Opportunity Grant through the UCM Alumni Foundation to fund a basic StratoStar flight system.
“I’ve been looking for opportunities to do more active learning with my weather and climate students,” says Werner.
Weather can be unpredictable, and wind conditions high up in the atmosphere can change every day, affecting whether a launch can happen. A Thursday in late September 2024 proved to be the perfect day.
In Alumni Park behind Walton Stadium, Werner and students from his Weather and Climate, Physical Geography and other courses gathered for the launch.
“I had several students show up, including students who sit in the back of the classroom,” Werner says. “It was more than I had hoped. I was very pleased with their excitement.”
For the launch, students were divided into three groups. The first group was the launch team, who prepared the balloon. Then, the
chase team found the balloon once it had fallen. There was also a ground control team that followed the GPS and communicated with the chase team to let them know where the balloon was flying at all times.
The balloon launch was as simple as it sounds. Students filled the balloon with helium and released it into the atmosphere. It floated for about 80 minutes before it burst, then took less than an hour to fall back to the ground.
With the unpredictability of weather and wind, where exactly it would land was uncertain. Because of this, Werner opted for the StratoStar Tree Recovery Package in case it got stuck in a tree.
“I practiced a little bit with it,” he says. “It’s basically a slingshot.”
Other components of the StratoStar flight system included atmospheric sensors, online training, GPS tracking, satellite tracking, a GoPro camera, a payload box and the balloon with launch supplies.
Some components of the system funded by the initial Opportunity Grant, such as the camera’s sensors and parachute, can be used again for future missions, but there are also expenses that must be renewed for each launch, including the balloon itself and software subscriptions.
The fall launch was recorded with a 360-degree camera so students could review its flight path using VR headsets in the university’s Digital Learning and Instructional Innovation (DLII) XR Studio. UCM Assistant Professor of Aviation David Jupp brought students from his Aviation Weather course to the lab to watch the VR footage. He had previously taken a group of students to Springfield to watch the National Weather Service launch a balloon, and the VR footage gave students who
were unable to go on the trip a chance to experience a launch.
Visitors to the XR Studio are also able to watch the launch using VR headsets, and the launch data continues to inform new lab exercises. It’s an experience that encourages exploration — a skill that serves students well, no matter their program of study or future plans.
“We’re not trying to prepare students for their first career,” says Werner. “We’re trying to prepare them for their last career. In other words, we’re trying to make them lifelong learners, trying to get them curious about things so that they can be agile when things are chaotic.”
The weather is an excellent example of something that doesn’t always stick to a predicted pattern. Werner and his students launched another balloon in spring 2025, and he would like to eventually involve local K–12 classes. By expanding access to experiential learning like weather balloon launches, Werner aims to spark curiosity and a love of learning that sticks with students long after they leave the classroom.
A
student in Assistant
Professor David Jupp’s Aviation Weather class uses a VR headset to experience a 3D video of the weather balloon launch.
GEAR UPGO AND 2025 ANNUAL REPORT
Field Gear Library Equips Curious Minds
By Jazmin Hohmann, Public Relations Undergraduate Student
Biology students Will Weger and Yonah Bennett swab the walls of Lime Kiln Mine near Hannibal, Missouri, for bat fungal pathogens while wearing helmets and headlamps from the new field gear library.
WHAT STARTED OUT
as a snow-day project for Cori Brown wound up snowballing into something bigger than she could have ever imagined.
While snowed in during the holiday break in December 2024, Brown, ’18, ’22, decided to tackle a dreaded household project: sorting through her old field gear. While decluttering her space, she thought about how useful her extra muck boots and clipboards could be to her students.
Brown recruited fellow University of Central Missouri Biology colleague Nick Barts to help her brainstorm ways to let students borrow her gear. Together, they applied for and received an Opportunity Grant, powered by donations to the Central Annual Fund. This provided the seed money for them to establish a field gear library.
FROM PASSION TO PRACTICE
Brown has always had an immense interest in animals and nature. She worked in veterinary medicine for 10 years before coming to UCM to pursue a degree in Biology. Her passion for fieldwork and research was sparked during her undergraduate Mammalogy course with Associate Professor Daniel Wolcott.
She was part of a lab at Turkey Foot Prairie, located just 10 minutes south of the main Warrensburg campus, where students trapped and studied small mammals. This fieldwork helped the class estimate species abundance and understand the diversity, distribution and health of the mammal population that plays a critical role in the prairie ecosystem.
UCM students also help with prescribed burns at Turkey Foot, which is something Brown became interested in for her graduate research. She visited Stony Point Prairie in Dade County, Missouri, to study the species found in areas at various stages of prescribed burns, a method used to manage the prairie. Some mammals prefer open ground, while others need thick vegetation. It was during this period of research and fieldwork that she found her calling.
A full-time UCM Biology instructor since 2023, Brown now wants students to have a similar experience of a fire being lit inside them.
“Some of them just don’t know that it’s in there,” Brown says. “We just need to turn [the fire] on for them.”
IGNITING MINDS IN THE FIELD
don’t belong compared with students who have spent more time in nature. Brown and Barts are trying to remove that barrier. They coteach General Biology II, with Barts giving the lecture and Brown leading the lab. With field gear now more accessible, they are coming up with more opportunities to get students outside observing wildlife and plant diversity near campus.
“I think it is important that students studying Biology get outside and see what is going on in their own environments,” Barts says, “even if they don’t want to do any kind of outdoor work in the future.”
In fall 2024, Brown took her Field Techniques in Biology students to Turkey Foot Prairie to catch and tag monarchs as they migrated south for the winter. Students used nets to capture the butterflies, then attached tiny, wing-safe coded tags as part of Monarch Watch, a community science initiative to observe and better understand the species’ 3,000-mile mass migration from Canada to Mexico. Monarch Watch is a project Brown hopes to get UCM’s chapter of the Wildlife Society involved with in the future.
Brown is attuned to how vital it is for students to have access to field gear for classes, research projects and even their own personal explorations. Field gear is expensive, and many students can’t afford it or don’t want to spend the money on something they don’t know if they will enjoy or ever use again. In Brown’s experience, some students feel self-conscious, out of the loop or like they
Cori Brown checks traps at Hi Lonesome Prairie Conservation Area in Dade County, Missouri, where she has captured deer mice, voles and shrews.
Student organizations such as the Wildlife Society and the American Fisheries Society (AFS) are able to use the field gear library too. About 30 members from these clubs
State Park. Campers are able to check out tents, sleeping bags, flashlights, binoculars, boots and other gear they either didn’t have or didn’t have with them on campus.
Yonah Bennett, a student in the Master of Science in Biology program, past president of UCM’s chapter of the Wildlife Society and member of AFS, says having the field gear library not only allows more students to participate but also improves the overall quality of their experience.
“I think as more people know about the field gear library, it’s going to be used for everything,” he says.
Biology master’s students like Bennett are required to complete a graduate project in order to earn their degree. Bennett is studying diseases in raccoons and has frequently used a hiking backpack from the field gear library while conducting fieldwork. He says the library helps students save their funding for actual research instead of spending it obtaining the gear needed to conduct the research.
The library doesn’t just benefit Biology majors. UCM’s Introduction to Environmental Science and Ecology lab is an introductory class often taken by nonmajors as their general-education science credit. During this class, students participate in fieldwork at places near campus, like Pertle Springs. If students don’t own the appropriate footwear to get close to the water, they can use boots from the field gear library to get the most out of their experience.
BEYOND THE LAB
The field gear library not only kindles a love of nature but also nurtures it. UCM Biology instructor Dawn Pauling, ’14, is currently conducting research on a fungal pathogen that may impact bats at Sodalis Nature Preserve near Hannibal, Missouri.
Brown and Pauling have taken qualified students to the protected Lime Kiln Mine to survey for a fungus that is to blame for widespread bat deaths. Lime Kiln is home to 168,000 Indiana bats, which are federally endangered. This is the largest known hibernation population for the rare species, so monitoring for the fungus is important. Students practice multiple sampling techniques and experience something they don’t get in the classroom — all while wearing helmets, headlamps and packs provided by the field gear library.
Bennett experienced one of the mine trips, along with Will Weger, the current president of the Wildlife Society and a member of AFS. Weger has also noticed the difference the field gear library has made for his peers, recalling one student in particular.
“When he first came here, he often looked to me and a couple other students for supplies,” Weger says. “He would say things like, ‘Oh, I can’t go; I can’t afford it at the moment.’ He is from the city, and he was nervous about [doing fieldwork]. But now he’s comfortable going to the library for supplies.”
Dawn Pauling shows students how to sample a fungal pathogen in the Lime Kiln Mine near Hannibal, Missouri. Pauling’s research on a different pathogen carried by fleas was published last year in the prestigious Nature
Tents, backpacks, a camp grill, a blow-up air mattress and muck boots from the field gear library were all used by UCM students in the Wildlife Society and American Fisheries Society during their yearly campout.
Another UCM Biology student who has taken advantage of the field gear library to pursue his own passion is senior Drake Carr.
Carr is interested in bird-watching. He had been on several birding trips but
“ — Drake Carr The predictable randomness of birding is something I enjoy about it. There is a set of birds you can expect to find in a particular habitat at a particular time of year, but you never know exactly what you will find. Especially during the migration, you can go to the same place several days in a row and see different birds every time. ”
“I was also in Ornithology that semester, and I checked a pair out every time we went birding for the class,” Carr recalls. “I was checking them out so much that eventually they just let me keep a pair checked out. I have been birding with that pair ever since. After using them, I never wanted to go without them.”
Carr’s favorite birds are the ones that take the most time and effort to see, such as the Henslow’s Sparrow. Paintbrush Prairie south of Sedalia is one of the few places in Missouri where this bird can be regularly found.
“I had heard them before but had never managed to see one until I had the binoculars,” says Carr, who also enjoys taking them on trips with the Wildlife Society and AFS.
The field guides and binoculars that changed Carr’s life are just a few of the resources at students’ fingertips through the field gear library, located in the Wilson C. Morris Science Building.
Checking out binoculars from the field gear library took Drake Carr’s birding hobby to a new level. Drake, pictured here with fellow wildlife advocate Smokey the Bear, took all of the bird photos on this page. Pictured clockwise are an altamira oriole, an upland sandpiper and a green jay.
Currently, the library has muck boots in a variety of sizes, chest waders, fishing nets, insect nets, helmets and headlamps, flashlights, first aid kits, camping gear and much more. The room also has a sink for cleaning gear after being in mud or other elements. With more funding, Brown hopes to offer a wider variety of boot sizes and other items that students recommend.
It has been only a year since Brown and Barts put the UCM Alumni Foundation Opportunity Grant to use, and although the library is not complete, the positive impact it has had on students is evident. Faculty in Biology and beyond want to give students every opportunity to ignite the fire of curiosity and spark their passion for the outdoors. And they have begun to do just that — one borrowed pair of boots and binoculars at a time.
Taylor Emmendorfer, ’24, holds a monarch butterfly after tagging it with a small, wing-safe sticker that is coded for tracking. UCM Associate Professor Dan Marschalek co-authored a study published this March in the prestigious journal Science revealing a 22% decline in butterfly populations since 2000.
Help expand students’ horizons in the sciences and beyond through the UCM Alumni Foundation’s Opportunity Grant program. Your gift to the Central Annual Fund allows faculty and staff to invest in projects like the field gear library. Give now at ucmfoundation.org/give/magazine.
Confessions of a
If you were to look through my childhood photos, you would find a picture of me at about the age of 5 — looking straight at the camera through a pair of binoculars. You might be inclined to think “Ah, he’s been fascinated with birds since that tender age.”
For a while back then, I was obsessed with the notion that I could catch a robin in our backyard. I’m not sure where I got the idea, but somewhere in this endeavor my mother encouraged me with the idiom about catching a bird by putting salt on its tail. So I went to the yard armed with a salt shaker, and for good measure I found a cage with a hinged lid. I don’t recall what I intended to do with the bird, but thanks to the natural proclivity of birds to avoid little boys, I never had to deal with that.
My avian mania did not appear for another 30+ years. For some of my friends, their bird obsession began with an experience with a particular bird, what some call their “spark bird.” For me it was a bird feeder presented as a white elephant gift one Christmas. I dutifully filled it with seeds and hung it outside the window. Over the months that followed, I became curious about the different kinds of birds that ate from it. Why do they like these seeds? If I put different kinds of seeds in, will the birds keep coming back? Wait, there are different kinds of birds now; what’s the deal? Where do they come from? Where do they go? Why?
I subsequently obtained a few different kinds of feeders — and accessories, binoculars and so much more — and set upon a journey for information. In the pre-internet age, I inadvertently (but happily) started a small library of bird books. One of the first was a 1,100-page tome titled “The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds,” which contains much information but is not handy to use in the field. Thus, I bought a field guide, so named because of its portable size, concise descriptions and imagery.
As I kept learning, each answer was a hydra sprouting new questions. I don’t know what triggered this intense interest, but I was suddenly curious about all aspects of birds.
In an attempt to understand what drove this, I read books by birders about this obsession. My favorite author is Pete Dunne, the onetime director of the Cape May Bird Observatory in New Jersey and founder of the World Series of Birding, who wrote with a style that let me know I was not alone.
Bird Nerd
By Michael O’Keefe, ’82, ’14
I first read “The Feather Quest: A North American Birder’s Year” and learned that people travel across the country and around the world in pursuit of birds to “list” in an effort to track all of the species they observe (see and/or hear). I keep a single “life list,” but many people list the species they’ve seen each year, or in each state, county, their yard and so forth. The level to which one does this is highly personal and subject to their own obsessive tendencies. I met one man who listed only the birds he was able to photograph, and a couple who counted only the birds they observed together.
Dunne also wrote about how to get started birding, stressing that one can spend lots of money on books, gear and travel, or simply enjoy the birds you find locally. The common factor is curiosity.
What really helped me learn about observing and appreciating birds was mentorship from people I met in those early years. I found my first mentors at Burr Oak Woods Conservation Nature Center in Blue Springs, Missouri, when I joined the volunteer corps in 2000. Shari Harden was a volunteer who was the first to introduce herself as a Bird Nerd. She was happy to (OK, I’ll say it) take me under her wing to show me her favorite birding haunts and ply me with wisdom about identifying different birds by their appearance, the sounds they make, as well as their specific behaviors and habitats.
My quest to learn included formal education at UCM. Owing to the educational benefit offered to staff, I was able to explore a variety of science and ecology classes, starting with Ornithology with Professor Emeritus John Hess. I happily delved into early-morning birding, studied preserved bird mounts and even dissected a pigeon.
Eventually I took enough undergraduate hours to pursue advanced studies, which
Although this bird is considered a harbinger of spring, it can be found year-round in much of the United States. Have you ever truly looked at a robin? That and other questions from “Let’s Go Birding” can be pondered to start you off on your own journey. See the “Welcome, New Birders” page at the American Birding Association’s website, aba.org.
included Field Ornithology with Professor Kurtis Dean, where I learned more about observing and collecting data to advance our understanding of birds.
What I’ve learned from these people, the books I read and experiences I continue to have, is that birds are indeed amazing, but so is all of the natural world!
Thanks to these mentors and my other friends and colleagues within the birding and conservation communities, I’m inspired to keep learning. I wish to follow their examples and share my curiosity about the birds and the world we share. I encourage you to follow your passions, learn all you can about the things that bring you joy
and share this with others. When you do, worlds will open up for you!
Michael O’Keefe retired this year from the University of Central Missouri as the programming/communications manager for KMOS-TV. He graduated from UCM in 1982 with a bachelor’s in Broadcasting and earned a master’s in Environmental Studies in 2014. He currently volunteers with the Missouri Department of Conservation and serves as president of the Missouri Birding Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and protection of birds and other wildlife; to education and appreciation of the natural world; and to effective wildlife and habitat conservation practices.
Michael O’Keefe apprenticed in bird banding at the Missouri River Bird Observatory in Arrow Rock.
