UWYO Magazine Vol.23 No.1

Roy’s Wyoming Legacy

Imagine being one of the 15,462 screaming fans cheering on the Cowgirls as they defeated Wisconsin for the 2007 WNIT Championship! Roy C. Miller was there, just as he’s been there time and again for Wyoming Athletics, including remembering UW in his estate plans. Roy loves his Cowgirls and Cowboys, and his Wyoming legacy is supporting the Pokes for generations to come.

Wyoming’s Grand Challenges

Interdisciplinary work promises better solutions to the state’s most pressing issues.

Learning While Making a Difference

Students in the UW Department of Anthropology learn in the field while serving the state and nation.

Real-World Solutions

Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources students learn hands on, helping to solve problems throughout the state.

Partnering for Inclusion

UW’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion partners broadly for a team effort toward success.

UW Plays Key Role in Vaccination Rollout

Students, faculty and staff helps Albany County achieve COVID-19 vaccination success.

Data Across Disciplines

Geospatial science—the science of place—reaches across colleges and into our daily lives.

Sharing Sport and Culture

UW’s partnership with the Shanghai University of Sport brings international opportunities.

For Teachers Everywhere

The Wallop Civic Engagement Program K–12 Curriculum Project brings UW expertise to classrooms across the state.

2020 MULLEN FIRE

Remains of the 2020 Mullen fire are visible in the Snowy Range Mountains of Medicine Bow National Forest, west of Laramie. Burnt trees, charred stumps and the emergence of new forest growth are starting to show after one of Wyoming’s largest wildfires on record.

UWyo

Fall 2021 | Volume 23 Number 1 UWYO.EDU/UWYO

The Magazine for Alumni and Friends of the University of Wyoming

University President: Edward Seidel

Associate Vice President for Communications and Marketing: Chad Baldwin

Editor: Micaela Myers

Design: Michelle Eberle, Emily Edgar, Brittny Wroblewski

Photography: All photos by Ted Brummond and Kyle Spradley unless otherwise noted

Contributing Editors: Chad Baldwin, Tamara Linse

Contributing Writers: Tamara Linse, Michelle Sunset, UW Communications

AlumNews/WyoGrams: Christine Henschler, Suweksha Shrestha, Jeff Victor

UWyo is published three times per year as a partnership between UW Institutional Marketing and the UW Alumni Association. UWyo is supported by UW Research & Economic Development, Student Affairs, Academic Affairs and the Office of the President. ©2021 by the University of Wyoming. All rights reserved. Excerpts from this magazine may be reprinted with permission, provided appropriate credit is given to the University of Wyoming and copies of reprinted materials are provided to the editor.

UWyo

University of Wyoming Department 3226 1000 East University Ave. Laramie, WY 82071-2000 (307) 766-2379 | uwyomag@uwyo.edu

The University is committed to equal opportunity for all persons in all facets of the University’s operations. All qualified applicants for employment and educational programs, benefits, and services will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, creed, ancestry, political belief or any other applicable category protected by law and University policy.

On the Cover: Professor of Law

Darrell Jackson and Art Museum

Director and Chief Curator Nicole Crawford’s partnership examines the theft and repatriation of cultural artifacts (see page 14).

A PLAN FOR UW TO ACHIEVE ITS FULL POTENTIAL

By Ed Seidel

I and my administration are committed to making the University of Wyoming a best-in-class, 21st century land-grant university true to its Wyoming roots. That objective is at the core of changes underway and proposals being considered by UW’s Board of Trustees.

You might have read media reports about the plan presented to the board during its July meeting. We are pursuing a transformation of the university’s academic programs to propel new and ongoing initiatives and to deal with budget cuts. Driving the plan is our desire to better serve our students by enhancing their UW experience and training them for success; to become a better engine for innovation and economic development in Wyoming; and to develop new revenue streams in part through increased research grants and corporate partnerships so that we are on a sustainable path for the future.

Among the proposals being considered by the Board of Trustees for possible action later this year are the creation of a campuswide School of Computing; a reconfiguration of UW’s academic colleges; and discontinuance or reorganization of some academic programs. Already underway are the formation of the Wyoming Innovation Partnership, in collaboration with Gov. Mark Gordon and the state’s community colleges; creation of a Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation; and the launch of a Wyoming Outdoor Recreation, Tourism and Hospitality Initiative.

The Wyoming Innovation Partnership (WIP) aims to develop innovative solutions that will support and enhance Wyoming’s economy and workforce. It includes an emphasis on focusing workforce development on high-potential areas; supporting and training entrepreneurs and new business startups; growing research and enhancing technology transfer and commercialization; and developing outside revenue sources such as corporate partnerships to provide new opportunities for students.

WIP is about aligning all of higher education to work together on training students—giving them skills to succeed in the new economy—and creating jobs—attracting companies and building the economy so students can stay in Wyoming after graduation. Statistics show that more than 70 percent of UW graduates leave the state. UW and its partners aim to help build a more diversified economy that would allow our graduates to stay and, in turn, create even more job opportunities.

That’s where the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI) comes in. It will make training in entrepreneurship available to all students at UW, and to the community colleges that wish to participate. It also will coordinate business incubators, lab spaces and innovation learning hubs across the state to create a stronger innovation ecosystem for Wyoming.

The Wyoming Outdoor Recreation, Tourism and Hospitality (WORTH) Initiative will serve the state’s second-largest economic sector. WORTH is designed to provide real-world experiences for students; courses, training and certificates via distance technologies

to working professionals; outreach services such as market analyses and business incubation; and applied research in collaboration with industry.

Also connected with WIP and its related initiatives is the proposed School of Computing, which would advance UW’s offerings in computing and digital literacy. These skills are needed for all students and all disciplines of study, such as precision agriculture, and are central to supporting economic growth in Wyoming. The school, which could launch in early 2022, would ensure that computing and digital literacy become pervasive across all disciplines at UW. It also would support collaborations of computing across the state, such as software boot camps and degree programs in software engineering already under development.

The School of Computing would offer a bachelor’s degree with multiple tracks and minors available to all majors, with plans to develop graduate degrees later—helping produce tech-savvy graduates ready to fill and create jobs in a changing Wyoming economy.

These new initiatives would be funded, in part, by savings realized through the proposed academic reconfigurations and consolidations. These academic program changes are intended to increase critical mass of faculty and students into a smaller number of departments; reduce administrative overhead; better serve students; and organize better for research competitiveness and corporate partnerships. Informed by robust discussion on campus and around the state, we are working now to finalize these changes to present to the Board of Trustees, likely in November.

These proposed changes to our academic structures and new proposed programs should make us more competitive for research grants that both enrich our students’ learning and make UW a more powerful engine for innovation in the Wyoming economy. It is anticipated that federal funding for research in big areas of science, technology and computing applications, as well as support for innovation and entrepreneurship, will increase dramatically through a tectonic shift in roughly doubling national research and development funding through the United States Innovation and Competition Act (USICA). As of this writing, USICA was already passed by the Senate, with the House also on a path to support. We at UW aim to be ready to be more competitive for this funding for our faculty, our students, our WIP partners and our state.

All in all, these changes have the potential to transform UW into an institution that will give students the 21st century education they need and deserve; attract the very best faculty and staff members; conduct research to tackle the grand challenges facing Wyoming and the world; and better serve the people, communities and industries of the state. We look forward to engaging with all UW supporters in the collaborations and partnerships necessary to reach our full potential.

Ed Seidel is the 28th president of the University of Wyoming.

NEW LEGACY MATCH HELPS DONORS MAKE A DIFFERENCE

The UW Legacy Match is a new matching gift program that enables UW alumni and friends to have an immediate impact when they pledge planned gifts to support the university. Planned gifts include gifts via will or trust, retirement plans and charitable gift annuities.

When donors document planned gifts to UW, they can immediately direct Legacy Match funds to a purpose that resonates with them, such as scholarships or support for a specific school or program. For every $10 of a pledged planned gift, $1 of Legacy Match funds will be directed to UW for the purpose selected by a donor, up to $10,000.

A pool of unrestricted matching funds is available on a first-come, firstserved basis to donors who are 65 and older and are documenting a new planned gift. The UW Legacy Match was created by the UW Foundation Board of Directors and a private gift directed to the UW Foundation. To learn more, visit uwyo.edu/ giftplanning and click on Legacy Match. Or you can contact Brett Befus at (307) 766-4259 or bbefus@uwyo.edu

MOTHER-DAUGHTER DUO GRADUATE TOGETHER

Maria Montaño has been waiting to graduate with a college degree since the day her father told her that there was no point for her, as a woman, to pursue an education. That was 37 years ago. And now, this lifelong drive to be an educated woman has extra meaning—she and her daughter both graduated from UW in May 2021. Montaño, an immigrant from Mexico, earned her bachelor’s degree in social science, and her eldest daughter, Ada Montaño Mushati, earned her master’s in social work. Mushati says she is prouder of her mother’s accomplishments than her own, even though she has now earned two undergraduate and graduate-level degrees—all from UW.

BY THE NUMBERS

No 1.

Three students won top graduating student honors this past spring: Caitlin McLennan of Monterey, Calif., earned the Rosemarie Martha Spitaleri Award; Carlos Gonzales of Buffalo, Wyo., won the Tobin Memorial Award; and Madelyn “Mady” Lundblad of Aurora, Colo., earned the Peg Tobin Excellence Award.

$90,000

The Chief Washakie Foundation has established an endowment fund through a gift of $90,000 to create the Zedora Teton Enos Excellence Fund that benefits the Wind River Indian Reservation community by supporting university outreach, service and programming.

100

The University Store celebrates its 100th year in 2021.

2-5-6

Spring 2021: Two finalists walked away as winners of the Microbial Ecology Collaborative Startup Launchpad administered by IMPACT 307, UW’s business incubator network. Five teams received seed funding for their business ideas as part of the Wind River Startup Challenge. And six teams were awarded seed funding for their startup companies at the sixth annual UW Fisher Innovation Launchpad competition.

$10,000

UW MFA in creative writing alumna Kali Fajardo-Anstine won the $10,000 American Academy of Arts and Letters Addison M. Metcalf Award as a writer of great promise.

NEW APPOINTMENTS

Kevin Carman, a distinguished scholar and administrator who led academic and research improvements at the University of Nevada, Reno, was selected as UW’s provost/senior vice president for academic affairs in March. “UW is fortunate to be adding such an experienced academic administrator of Dr. Carman’s breadth and expertise to our team,” says UW President Ed Seidel. “Having served for the past eight years as the executive vice president and provost of the University of Nevada, Reno, and as dean of the College of Science for nine years at Louisiana State University, Dr. Carman is uniquely qualified to address many of the circumstances and challenges which UW is faced with at this point in our history. His extensive leadership experience and accomplishments, coupled with a proven record as an innovative leader committed to an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach across the spectrum of academic affairs at land-grant institutions, will benefit all areas of our university.”

UW also appointed two new deans. Scott Thomas, most recently the dean of the

University of Vermont’s College of Education and Social Services, is the first John P. “Jack” Ellbogen Dean of the College of Education. Thomas holds a Ph.D. in education policy, leadership and research methods from the University of California – Santa Barbara, where he also received his bachelor’s degree in sociology. His areas of expertise include higher education finance, policy and organizations; the sociology of education; and statistical modeling. His career also has included faculty positions at the University of Arizona, the University of Hawaii-Manoa and the University of Georgia.

Meanwhile, Camellia Okpodu, most recently the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Xavier University of Louisiana, took the reins of UW’s the College of Arts and Sciences in June. Before her deanship in Louisiana, she spent 15 years at Norfolk State University as chair of the biology department; director of the National Institutes of Health Extramural Research Office; director of Defense Intelligence Agency Designated Intelligence Community Center of Academic Excellence; and director of the Group for Microgravity and Environmental Biology.

NEW MASTER’S DEGREE IN ENVIRONMENT, NATURAL RESOURCES AND SOCIETY

A new master’s degree in environment, natural resources and society from UW’s Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources will prepare students to become collaborative interdisciplinary leaders in environmental and natural resource fields. It launched this fall.

Kevin Carman

Scott Thomas

Camellia Okpodu

RESEARCH UNDER WAY

Name that research

Researchers Help Launch New Global Initiative to Map Ungulate Migrations

Details, please

An international team of 92 scientists and conservationists, including a few from UW, has joined forces to create the first-ever global atlas of the migration of ungulates (hooved mammals), working in partnership with the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, a United Nations treaty. The maps of the seasonal movements of herds worldwide will help governments, Indigenous people and local communities, planners and wildlife managers to identify current and future threats to migrations and to advance conservation measures to sustain them in the face of an expanding human footprint. UW researchers include Matthew Kauffman, director of the U.S. Geological Survey Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit; Jerod Merkle, UW assistant professor of zoology and physiology and the Knobloch Professor in Migration Ecology and Conservation; and Kevin Monteith, UW associate professor of natural resource science in the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources.

Scientists Probe Mysterious Melting of Earth’s Crust in Western North America

Professor Receives Fulbright Award for Energy Research in France

Faculty Member Contributes to Study of Unprecedented Rocky Mountain Subalpine Wildfires

A group of UW professors and students has identified an unusual belt of igneous rocks that stretches for over 2,000 miles from British Columbia, Canada, to Sonora, Mexico. The rock belt runs through Idaho, Montana, Nevada, southeast California and Arizona. Jay Chapman, an assistant professor in UW’s Department of Geology and Geophysics, is lead author of a paper, titled “The North American Cordilleran Anatectic Belt,” which was published in Earth-Science Reviews. The paper is a result of a special course taught by Simone Runyon, an assistant professor in UW’s Department of Geology and Geophysics, and Chapman. Runyon and six UW graduate students and one undergraduate student are co-authors of the paper.

Tara Righetti, a professor in UW’s School of Energy Resources and College of Law, has received a Fulbright Scholarship to conduct research related to energy transitions. She will conduct research at the Centre de Recherche Droits et Perspectives du Droit—Center for Legal Research and Perspectives in Law—at the University of Lille College of Law in France, where she will collaborate with researchers to formulate a comparative study of energy, industrial and workforce transition policies in Wyoming and France, with a focus on climate policies, sustainability and the circular economy.

The 2020 Mullen fire west of Laramie burned more than 176,000 acres and 70 structures. Unfortunately, this scenario was typical during the intense 2020 fire season in the Rocky Mountain region, an area of Colorado and southern Wyoming where high-elevation forests are burning more than at any point in the past 2,000 years. This is according to a study by Bryan Shuman, a professor in the UW Department of Geology and Geophysics, and others. Shuman was the main co-author of a paper, titled “Rocky Mountain Subalpine Forests Now Burning More Than Any Time in Recent Millennia,” that was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

To read more about these research projects and many others, visit

PHOTO CREDITS (TOP TO BOTTOM): MUNIR VIRANI, JAY CHAPMAN, UW PHOTO, JASON SHOGREN

uwyo.edu/sociology

Our faculty of awardwinning teachers and nationally recognized scholars are committed to providing a high-quality education to prepare and inspire students to meet the complex challenges of the 21st Century. Our graduates go on to diverse careers in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. We invite you to explore all our Department has to offer!

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS OPENS EXPANDED STUDENT SUCCESS CENTER

The UW College of Business launched the new home for the Peter M. and Paula Green Johnson Student Success Center, named after its lead donors. The center aims to help students from admission through to alumni and career.

“Among the obligations that every great business school has to its students is to prepare them for employment,” say the Johnsons, who are both alumni of UW. “The Peter M. and Paula Green Johnson Student Success Center will help the University of Wyoming College of Business students both succeed in college and be prepared for and achieve professional business employment upon graduation.”

The center is located on the west end of the College of Business Building, occupying approximately about 12,500 square feet. It includes a reception and common area, suites for each of the three services areas, flexible office spaces, and interview and conference rooms.

“I am so proud of the decision our college has made to reinvest in our students through this center,” says Director Steve Russell. “Our support of their success isn’t limited to their ability to earn a diploma but, instead, will be inclusive of countless experiences that will shape their lives and future careers. This center will differentiate our college as a key business school destination and allow our students to truly differentiate themselves on the job market. I am honored to have been given the

opportunity to lead an outstanding team in building something special at my alma mater, and I am excited for the work ahead.”

The center builds on the career preparation focus that the Johnsons made possible through a $1 million gift in 2007, doubled by the state of Wyoming, to endow a career center bearing their names. In 2019, the concept of creating one central location to support College of Business students was born—a natural next step from the career center that was created in 2007. The Johnsons were the lead donors to this project as well, with a $1.5 million gift. The majority of the success center’s programmatic activities are funded through student fees, block grant dollars and endowments.

The center offers enrollment management, including recruitment, community college relations and articulation and transfers. It also houses the college’s academic advising and professional development and engagement, which include career, mentorship, corporate engagement and employer relations, internships, coordination and support of faculty careers, and experiential learning opportunities. While the physical space opened this year, the center itself launched fall 2019. The center serves up to 800 students each year.

In addition to the Johnsons’ generous commitment, the Student Success Center is supported by gifts from Scott and Anne Macdonald, Pat and Nancy Higgins, Ron and Patti Salvagio, Fritz and Marci Valentine, MHP LLP, Greg Dyekman, Jack and Betty Lenhart, and Don and Susan Kany, along with estate gifts from Lois Mottonen, Charles Morrison, and Margaret and Sam Kelly. Most of the donors are UW College of Business alumni. The McMurry Foundation College of Business Dean’s Excellence Fund, which was established by Mick and Susie McMurry through the McMurry Foundation, also will be used to support the center.

BOOKS IN STORE

The University Store (uwyostore.com) is home to a large selection of books by Wyoming authors and about Wyoming. Butch Cassidy, My Uncle by Bill Betenson follows the life of Butch Cassidy from birth to death, over two continents, as he robs and charms his way to infamy. World War II POW Camps of Wyoming by Cheryl O’Brien recounts the experiences of the prisoners in Wyoming’s 19 prisoner of war camps and tells the intriguing story of how U.S. military personnel, prisoners and residents collaborated to cope with the challenges. 125 Years of the Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station: 1891–2016 by David D. Kruger pieces together the rich history and legacy of service of the Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station from a variety of archives, administrative files, personal papers and oral histories. Gracious Ghosts of Cheyenne by Jill Pope explores the lighter side of the paranormal spectrum with stories of departed loved ones, spirit guides and angels.

COWBOY COACHES PRODUCE STUDENT PODCAST

The Office of Student Success and Graduation has introduced a new student-created podcast. The Cowboy Coaching Podcast features Cowboy Coaches—a group of UW juniors and seniors who serve as peer-to-peer mentors on campus. Hosted by UW seniors Boone Schieffer (top) of Smoot, Wyo., and John Houghton of Modesto, Calif., the podcast will cover a wide variety of college topics, including personal struggles and successes and tips for academic success and also will feature guests from important areas of the university.

UW PRESIDENT ED SEIDEL’S STATEMENT ON DEATH OF SEN. MIKE ENZI

UW President Ed Seidel issued the following statement regarding the death of former U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi:

“The University of Wyoming is deeply saddened to learn of the death of former U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi. As a strong supporter of the state’s university both personally and professionally, Sen. Enzi contributed so much to generations of UW students, as well as to our research and economic development efforts. His passing is a tremendous loss for Wyoming.

“During his Senate tenure, Sen. Enzi worked with Senate Democrats on reauthorization of Head Start early education and college aid

programs. He valued educational access at all levels, and his career reflected that commitment.

“UW’s wonderful new undergraduate laboratory building (the Michael B. Enzi STEM Facility), which opened in 2016, bears his name, assuring that future generations of UW students will know of his amazing legacy.

“Naming the building after Sen. Enzi was proposed by former Gov. David Freudenthal, who saw an opportunity to honor Enzi’s contribution to education and propel the state forward in science, technology, math and engineering (STEM). Sen. Enzi played a key role in securing federal Abandoned Mine Lands funds to construct the $50 million building.

“UW extends its deepest condolences to the Enzi family during this time of loss.”

Individual meetings with professional sta at least twice a semester for academic, personal, and social support

ACADEMIC TUTORING: weekly meeting with trained peer tutors to support students to achieve their academic goals

COURSE PLANNING AND SELECTION for each semester

FAFSA COMPLETION AND SCHOLARSHIP search assistance

CAREER AND GRADUATE SCHOOL PREPARATION: from determining the right major, to information and assistance with resumes, interviews, and the GRE, students receive guidance as they prepare for life after graduation

CULTURAL EVENTS, SERVICE, AND CELEBRATIONS: our diverse community of students comes together to learn about di erent cultures, serve our community, and celebrate with one another throughout the year

PRIORITY REGISTRATION register for classes on the first day of registration

Snapshots

Stealing Culture

THE UW COLLEGE OF LAW AND ART MUSEUM TEAM UP FOR AN INTERNATIONAL LOOK AT HOW ART AND ARTIFACTS ARE COLLECTED AND REPATRIATED.

By Micaela Myers

In the 2018 blockbuster Marvel movie Black Panther, Erik Stevens, played by Michael B. Jordan, examines artifacts in a museum’s African display. He explains to the museum curator that an artifact is from his country and asks if her ancestors paid a fair price for it or stole it. This scene, though fictional, is at the heart of the questions University of Wyoming Professor of Law

Darrell Jackson and Art Museum Director and Chief Curator Nicole Crawford examine as part of their partnership on the subject of stealing cultural artifacts.

It all started a few years back when Jackson and Crawford took part in UW’s interdisciplinary UW in Scotland program for faculty and students. From there, the two delved into the project, wrestling with questions of law, ethics and culture relevant to museum collections. Since then, they’ve developed interdisciplinary classes, published a book chapter and two peer-reviewed journal articles, spoken on the topic internationally and begun working with other museums and universities, including the University of Lisbon with its colonial collections.

Unlike a car title or Carfax history, museums traditionally do not require legal proof of where and how a piece originated and its historical journey to the present-day institution. When museums examine an item’s provenance, there are often gaps. Many countries’ history of colonialism leaves them with artifacts that should likely be repatriated, but doing so is largely uncharted territory.

The United States has the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which, though imperfect, provides a process for museums that receive federal funds to repatriate Native American remains and certain cultural items. Thus, other countries are looking to the U.S. for direction.

“We’re starting to work with University of Lisbon

to help them set some guidelines for their colonial collections, especially Angola,” Crawford says. The director there wants to return the items but needs a process.

Jackson and Crawford are also speaking with folks in Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom.

“We’re looking at it academically and practically,” Crawford says. “The work we’re doing in Lisbon is getting into the collections and figuring out how they were collected, where they came from, should they be returned and how to return them.”

Trust and connections must be built between the possessing country and the originating country.

“The Benin Bronzes provide a great example,” Jackson says. In that case, Germany recently agreed to return to Nigeria priceless artifacts that were stolen during the colonization of Africa.

“We’re seeing a social response,” he says. “That dialogue is going on across the world and starts people thinking about what kind of regulations could exist both domestically and internationally.”

Back at home, the two main obstacles are funding and coordinating time between the two UW departments to allow Crawford and Jackson to continue this important work, a pioneering effort in this emerging field.

“Interdisciplinary is an act,” Jackson says. “It’s a verb, not a noun.”

Already, the next generation is excited about these efforts. Crawford and Jackson taught a class at UW with honors and law students and plan to offer a similar study-abroad experience to Europe next summer. They also taught a virtual summer class to Shanghai University.

“It was so cool to be able to watch the interaction and discussion,” Jackson says of the UW class. “They did presentations and role playing. It was awesome to see the dynamics of things they hadn’t thought of before and even things we hadn’t thought of before.”

Art Museum Director and Chief Curator Nicole Crawford and College of Law Professor Darrell Jackson at the UW Art Museum.

Helping Students Succeed

By Micaela Myers

On any given day, Mollie Hand may end up talking to personnel from all of the University of Wyoming colleges offering undergraduate degrees as well as multiple departments. Her job is by definition interdisciplinary. As manager of UW’s Learning Resource Network (LeaRN) programs, Hand manages and coordinates UW’s first-year interest groups, better known as FIGs.

FIGs bring together incoming freshmen by major or interest. Each FIG has a faculty sponsor and trained resident assistant (RA). Students registered for FIGs then take two to four classes together their first

AS MANAGER OF UW’S FIRST-YEAR INTEREST GROUPS, MOLLIE HAND HELPS INCOMING STUDENTS FIND COMMUNITY.

semester and live on the same floor, which creates a sense of belonging and improves retention rates.

“They work because students get to form a community of like-minded people, and that helps with study groups, having someone to explore Laramie with and more,” Hand says. “We work

with 30–40 different departments to coordinate about 17 different FIGs.”

FIG themes include criminal justice, outdoor recreation, art, exploring health careers, animal science and agriculture, and construction management. Faculty sponsors and RAs attend a special training. Hand works with Residence Life and Dining to identify FIG floor locations and with the Office of the Registrar to reserve seats in the grouped classes. Some of the classes are specific to the FIG theme, while others are general education requirements.

Hand also sits on the committee for the design of the new residence halls, working on incorporating livinglearning communities with spaces such as group kitchens for meetings and community meals.

Hand’s background is in linguistics, and each fall she teaches a fall bridge first-year seminar course on the language of food and culinary linguistics. She loves being in the classroom while also helping hundreds of other freshmen find community though FIGs.

“I love working with students and helping them succeed,” she says. “Retention is really my goal in this position. Through FIGs, students are so much more likely to stay on campus and graduate on time.”

Manger of UW’s Learning Resource Network (LeaRN) Mollie Hand (front) with students (L-R) Nathaniel Bertschinger, Beret Renfro, Leighkaren Labay, Ian Fletcher, Andrew Ker and Amarissa Geis.

LARS KOTTHOFF AND THE ARTIFICIALLY INTELLIGENT MANUFACTURING CENTER USE

MACHINE

LEARNING AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO ADVANCE SCIENCE AND MANUFACTURING.

Into the Future

By Micaela Myers

As one of the leaders of the Artificially Intelligent Manufacturing (AIM) Center on campus, computer science Assistant Professor Lars Kotthoff collaborates with NASA, as well as students and faculty from a variety of disciplines, including computer science, various engineering fields, molecular biology, veterinary science and chemistry. His own research combines artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.

The AIM Center was initially funded by the College of Engineering and Applied Science Tier-1 Initiative. “The aim was to bring faculty from different disciplines together and apply machine learning and AI more generally to manufacturing materials,” Kotthoff says. “We want to get as many people involved as possible and spread the knowledge beyond the usual disciplinary boundaries.”

Advanced materials and manufacturing have made affordable mass production possible. However,

designing new materials is a slow and costly process. AI and machine learning can replace time-consuming laboratory processes, as computational simulations reliably predict how to create the desired materials.

Last year, Kotthoff and two colleagues—Patrick Johnson in chemical engineering and Dilpuneet Aidhy in mechanical and energy systems engineering—were awarded a $750,000 NASA grant to work on developing machine learning materials and manufacturing methods for space. The three-year grant for their interdisciplinary project, titled “Artificially Intelligent Manufacturing of Flexible Electronics,” was funded through NASA’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). Together with Ray Fertig in mechanical engineering, Kotthoff, Johnson and Dilponeet share leadership responsibilities at the AIM Center.

Simply put, AI and machine learning techniques help scientists identify patterns in data. With his personal research, Kotthoff looks at automated

machine learning. For example, there are many machine learning methods, and the team is building models to determine how well different options will work in particular contexts.

Reaching beyond his college, Kotthoff consults with College of Agriculture and Natural Resources professors Brant Schumaker (veterinary science) and molecular biologists Todd Schoborg and Jay Gatlin, who were awarded grants from Microsoft’s AI for Earth program. They plan to use AI to perform image analyses in much the same way a human would—relying on the ability to “learn” what features are present in an image and then using that information to automatically identify those same features in subsequent images.

Students are a big part of the AIM Center. “We have students from many different disciplines,” Kotthoff says. “The idea is to build expertise, in particular for students in other engineering disciplines who might not be exposed to machine learning. They can use AI and machine learning in their respective fields.”

Lars Kotthoff in the Artificially Intelligent Manufacturing (AIM) Center

Ellbogen Center for Teaching and Learning Turns 30

2,775+ individual or group consultations

21 research project instructors on the scholarship of teaching and learning

261 enrollments since 2017 in ECTL’s certification and badge program, including 72 in the diversity, equity and inclusion certification

466 instructors participated in 17 courses

(Special note: 413 instructors across 81 departments participated in the ECTL Digital Teaching & Learning Course created in response to COVID-19 to prepare instructors for teaching in an online environment. Those 413 instructors taught 391 courses that were specifically redesigned as a result of the ECTL course to 16,632 students during the 2020-21 academic year.)

*Total numbers; not individuals. Some instructors participate in multiple programs and request numerous services.

234 instructors* participated in 24 learning communities

1,054 instructors* participated in 83 workshops

Knowledge base web resources: Best practices in pedagogy links (67) Teaching tools and technology videos (53)

For 30 years, the Ellbogen Center for Teaching and Learning has been the hub for faculty development at the University of Wyoming. In 1991, UW established the Center for Teaching Excellence as the university’s first teaching center. In 2001, the center was renamed the John P. “Jack” Ellbogen Center for Teaching and Learning to honor his contribution to top-quality teaching as the highest of callings. Ellbogen was one of UW’s most generous and devoted patrons. In carrying out this commitment, the ECTL supports instructors at all levels and from all disciplines in their efforts to further develop as teachers and to advance student learning through best practices in pedagogy. Instructors who participate in its programming value the interdisciplinary connections made with colleagues across the university and the resulting exchange of ideas to further student engagement and learning.

To celebrate its anniversary, ECTL held multiple book group discussions on the book Radical Hope: A Teaching Manifesto by Kevin Gannon. Gannon will serve as the keynote speaker at a celebration symposium Sept. 20-21. The symposium will also recognize UW faculty working in the scholarship of teaching and learning, as well as instructors who have completed their certification in teaching and learning and/or their certification in diversity, equity and inclusion.

Lizabeth Eva Rossof’s Imagined Excavation

Playing with the concepts of appropriation and cultural exchange, Denver-based artist Lizabeth Eva Rossof creates figures modeled on the iconic 2,000-year-old terracotta warriors excavated in Xi’an, China, but replaces their heads with those of American pop culture characters like Mickey Mouse, Batman, and Shrek.

Visit the Art Museum to experience the warriors at their largest scale yet: up to twelve and a half feet tall.

On view through March 19, 2022

Visit www.uwyo.edu/artmuseum/exhibitions

Centennial Complex · 2111 E. Willett Drive Laramie, Wyoming • (307) 766-6622 www.uwyo.edu/artmuseum

Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Open Thursday until 7 p.m.

Closed Sunday & Monday

THE WYOMING INSTITUTE FOR HUMANITIES RESEARCH

The Humanities Research Institute strives to be an engine for producing interdisciplinary research in the humanities; a community for faculty, students, and the public; and a model of democratic education fit for our land-grant university. Please join us!

For an exciting list of activities and programming, visit our Website: uwyo.edu/humanities and our facebook page: Facebook.com/UWYOWIHR

Lizabeth Eva Rossof, (American, b. 1973), Xi’an Mickey Inflatable, 2021, nylon fabric and electric fans, courtesy of Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA

Recipients of a Grand Challenges grant, Assistant Professor Jacob Hochard and undergraduate research assistant Gary Gassaway use spotting scopes, digital technology and social media-driven crowd-sourced conservation fundraising to provide live-streamed access to Wyoming’s remote wildlife.

By Micaela Myers

The world’s—and Wyoming’s—biggest issues can’t be solved by one viewpoint or one discipline alone. They require multiple perspectives, approaches and ideas. This belief inspired the University of Wyoming’s Grand Challenges initiative in 2019, which tied into new President Ed Seidel’s interdisciplinary pillar—one of his four strategic planning pillars for UW, the other three addressing inclusivity and being more digital and entrepreneurial.

“We face tremendous issues. None of them will be solved without the dedicated work of researchers, teachers and people who care about their communities working on them,” says Scott Henkel, director of the Wyoming Institute for Humanities Research, the Wyoming Excellence Chair in the Humanities, and associate professor in the departments of English and African American and diaspora studies.

Henkel is one of four co-chairs of the Grand Challenges initiative as well as co-chair of the strategic planning interdisciplinary pillar team with former Vice President for Research and Economic Development Ed Synakowski.

“Any one discipline will have a set of tools that will be useful,” Henkel says of the grand challenges we face. “Individual disciplines won’t be able to see the entire picture. Multiple disciplines together looking at problems from different perspectives stand a far greater chance of actually solving these problems.”

Fittingly, both the Grand Challenges team and interdisciplinary pillar team are made up of people from across campus. Aside from Henkel, Grand Challenges cochairs are Danny Dale, College of Arts and Sciences associate dean; Isadora Helfgott, vice provost of global engagement; and John Kaszuba, professor of geology and geophysics. The interdisciplinary pillar team includes about 30 members of faculty, staff, students and administrators from various colleges, departments and centers. Recommendations from the pillar teams will help guide UW’s strategic plan.

Beginning in 2019, the Grand Challenges team conducted dozens of listening sessions with faculty and community members as well as reviewed survey data and statistics to come up with five grand challenges to focus on initially: biodiversity and earth system change; energy transition and economic diversification; rural health issues; public trust in research and information; and quality of democracy and equality. Each issue has human and technical components.

To kick off research in these areas, the team invited interdisciplinary research proposals in spring 2021, choosing five to fund with seed grants up to $20,000. Major funding organizations are focusing on interdisciplinary work as part of their research agendas, helping UW be competitive in external funding.

The Grand Challenges initiative fits perfectly with the interdisciplinary pillar, which aims to transcend traditional boundaries of knowledge through collaboration and exploration, to leverage expertise across fields to address complex problems, and to produce interdisciplinary thinkers and problem-solvers via training and education.

In addition to providing sustainable support for interdisciplinary research through the Grand Challenges initiative, the interdisciplinary pillar aims to train students in diverse ways of knowing and problem-solving and to create a workforce prepared to support Wyoming’s complex biology, wildlife and water systems.

As a land-grant university, it’s our responsibility to help the state and its citizens, Henkel says. These initiatives aim to do just that.

Seidel says, “It’s the idea of bringing expertise from across the university together with communities to work together on difficult problems facing Wyoming, such as diversifying the economy or rural health care.”

The concept of interdisciplinary work and partnerships inspired this issue of UWyo Magazine. On the following pages, you’ll find a sampling of the many exciting projects taking place across the state and university.

Petroleum engineering Assistant Professor Soheil Saraji and his team earned a grant for their project, titled: Next-Generation Secure Digital Ecosystems at the Nexus of Climate and Energy.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE LEARNING WHILE

Students in the UW Department of Anthropology learn in the field while serving the state and nation.

By Micaela Myers

Across Europe, Asia and the Pacific lie the remains of 72,000 Americans still unaccounted for from World War II. Some were buried as unknowns, others were lost at sea, and still more are missing in action. University of Wyoming Department of Anthropology Senior Research Scientist Rick Weathermon and his students plan to head to Europe to help bring some of these servicemen and women home.

This new partnership with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency is close to Weathermon’s heart. The initial trip date to begin the work was pushed back due to COVID-19, but he plans to take 13 students to Europe during the summer to begin this important project. There, they will investigate plane crash and battlefield sites.

“We’re going over there to try to repatriate those individuals back to the U.S. and their families,” he says. “Most people have pretty solid reasons to want to do this. For me, it’s wanting to return those heroes back home. Some of the students are in the military themselves. They see this as an obligation they have to follow through on.”

The partnership is one of several the department has formed to serve its students, the state and the country.

Whether it’s recording cultural resources at Camp Guernsey, conducting skeletal forensic work for law enforcement or repatriating the remains of servicepeople from past conflicts, the Department of Anthropology gives students hands-on experiences while providing valuable expertise.

“The experience I gained from Weathermon and the Camp Guernsey project can be summed up in one word: invaluable,” says Adam Guinard of Powell, Wyo., who graduated in 2015 with his bachelor’s degree in anthropology and now works as an archaeologist and crew chief for Western Archaeological Services in Rock Springs, Wyo. He plans also to complete a master’s degree at UW. “The classes and instructors at UW are top-notch, especially in the realm of archaeology, but it is incredibly difficult to learn how to

Late Archaic (3500-1500 years ago) dart point made of Hartville Uplift chert found during work at Camp Guernsey. COURTESY PHOTO

Anthropology students test a prehistoric site. Right: Student Jack Sloan steadies the auger for instructors Rick Weathermon and Todd Surovell.

BOTH COURTESY PHOTOS TAKEN AT CAMP GUERNSEY

do fieldwork-based archaeology in a classroom setting. The Camp Guernsey project bridges that gap and allows students to have first-hand experience with professional fieldwork.”

The collaborative program with Wyoming military at the Camp Guernsey Joint Training Center in Platte County started back in 2013 with UW faculty, staff and students surveying, recording and testing archeological and historical sites. There, they’ve discovered radiocarbon dates in the 22,000-year range for pre-human material and approximately 10,000 for human material.

“The area around Guernsey is one of the largest archeological complexes in the U.S.,” Weathermon says. It includes stones that Native Americans quarried for tools and implements, such as cherts and orthoquartzites. The base itself was established in the 1930s, with many buildings built by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Students spend summers outside doing cultural resource surveys, site testing and excavation, collecting artifacts and writing up site narratives. “During the fall and spring semesters, we were taught how to write proprietary reports, compile research data, identify and catalog artifacts, and prepare for the next summer,” Guinard says. “Beyond building

WATCH THE ANTHROPOLOGY VIDEO

“RIDING REINDEER AND DIGGING THE AMERICAN WEST: UW PROFESSOR

TODD SUROVELL” AT UWYO.EDU/UWYO

a great foundation on how to be an archaeologist, the Camp Guernsey project allowed me to make lifelong friendships, get in shape, see the beauty of Wyoming and work at some of the greatest archaeology sites the state has to offer.”

Guinard says the experience also offered personal fulfillment, an amazing mentor in Weathermon and a step up in workforce preparedness.

Another hands-on learning opportunity comes in the skeletal forensic work the department does for law enforcement and coroners across the state, dating back to the 1960s.

“We’ve carried on with this tradition up to today,” Weathermon says.

The work includes everything from historic Oregon Trail burials that are eroding to crime-scene recoveries and the dating of remains. Faculty have even served as expert witnesses.

The department engages in many partnerships around the world, furthering research and understanding while offering students unprecedented opportunities.

THREE GIANTS IN ANTHROPOLOGY

UW’s Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center honors three anthropology greats.

George Gill: On Easter Island, Gill excavated and examined more than 425 prehistoric Easter islanders, providing important information relating to his theories on the peopleing of the New World. UW maintained a research connection with Easter Island since 1955 when UW anthropologist William Mulloy accompanied Thor Heyerdahl on the Norwegian Archaeological Expedition.

William Mulloy: Mulloy devoted much of his life to extensive research and restoration of the island’s shrines and monuments. He died in 1978 and willed his private collection of books, slides, maps and valuable field notes to the people of Easter Island. The William Mulloy Research

Library on Easter Island is evidence of the high esteem in which Mulloy is held. Gill conducted research on Easter Island, initiated through Mulloy’s efforts and political connections, when both were faculty members at UW.

Douglas Owsley: A UW student of Gill, the Lusk, Wyo., native was honored in a 2006 issue of Smithsonian magazine as one of “35 Who Made a Difference” for his contributions in the field of forensic anthropology.

Smithsonian cited Owsley’s extensive work on several high-profile cases, including the efforts to identify remains from the 1993 Branch Davidian disaster in Waco, Texas, and the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the Pentagon. Owsley currently serves as curator of biological anthropology at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

147 INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

78 DEGREE PROGRAMS MORE THAN

300 FACULTY MEMBERS

OVER 153,000 CREDIT HOURS TAUGHT

18 DEPARTMENTS

2 SCHOOLS

3,410 STUDENTS (29% OF UW)

Real - World Solutions

which she describes as the key to unlocking her love for tourism and hospitality. “Being able to speak to people from all over the world about why they come to Wyoming was my favorite part,” Even says. “The internship made me realize that the tourism industry encompasses all different types of businesses.”

McCoy says that the internships and capstone semester were the result of listening sessions around the state to develop the degree. “Employers were telling us to please not send students out without hands-on experience,” he says. “That’s how we decided to move forward with this innovative experience.”

In addition to the 400-hour internship, senior year includes a professional semester. Each year, the seniors focus on a different area of the state, starting with Lander the first year and southeast Wyoming this past year.

“It’s a project- team-based senior year capstone experience,” McCoy says. “They work in teams to develop products, research or work on an issue in the community. It’s something that’s relevant, timely and needed by that community.”

For example, this year students helped Snowy Range Ski Area evaluate its mountain sports program; helped Visit Laramie develop its Recreate Responsibly campaign; worked with Visit Cheyenne on its tourism master plan; put in time with the city of Laramie’s bike park feasibility study; and

helped the Wyoming Office of Outdoor Recreation develop communications to inform legislators and policy makers on the importance of outdoor recreation in the state.

“The capstone semester was great,” says Brynn Hirschman of Aurora, Ohio, who graduated May 2020 with a concentration in management of natural resources and now works as an outdoor recreation coordinator for the Wyoming Office of Outdoor Recreation in Cheyenne. “My capstone project was with a group of five students. We completed a

toolkit for Wyoming State Parks that is utilized by those seeking to add an outdoor recreation collaborative. It covers how to get a group of people together and create a common goal, create projects, work together and find funding.”

Hirschman says the project helped her land her current job and make connections around the state. For her internship, she worked at a guest ranch. Students are able to choose their internships based on interests. She appreciates that the degree left her ready to successfully enter the workforce.

“This degree was a perfect fit for what I was looking for in the outdoor world,” says Hirschman, who is now enrolled in UW’s new outdoor guide certification program. “Not many other colleges are offering it. Students interested in the outdoors should definitely look into this program.”

Environmental Solutions Field Course

In Jackson, Wyo., trout populations are on the decline due to increased algae. An unlikely culprit: lawn care practices. A team of UW students from a variety of majors explored this challenge via the Haub School Environmental Solutions field course. After a spring semester preparation course, they spent four weeks in summer 2019 living at the historic Murie Ranch in Grand Teton National Park and working with a variety of community partners to build informed collaborative solutions

Students have described this course as transformative, allowing them to develop teamwork and collaboration capacities and project management and professional skills and to support actionable and meaningful change.

– Rachael Budowle

to real-world environmental and sustainability challenges.

For this particular project, students supported Jackson Hole’s Clean Water Coalition Trout Friendly Lawns Program, which aims to reduce nitrogen runoff by improving local lawn care practices. They developed a three-part strategy that included a presence at community events, an increased social media presence and stakeholder interviews to identify allies, such as lawn care businesses willing to offer troutfriendly approaches. Other student teams in the 2019

COURTESY PHOTO

course created a food waste collection toolkit to support composting in local organizations; an inventory of potential individual, organizational and policy-level actions for energy conservation and emissions reduction; and a waste tracking tool for Jackson Hole Airport.

“Students learn in a real-world setting using complex social-ecological challenges in Jackson Hole and the greater Yellowstone ecosystem as a context,” says Assistant Professor Rachael Budowle, who teaches the course. “They work on defined projects—which faculty mentors scope with Jackson Hole stakeholders prior to the course—to address authentic and engaging issues of relevance to their community-based project mentors.”

Offered since 2017, the course is open to all UW students with junior, senior or graduate student standing. They bring skills from a range of fields in addition to environment and natural resources—such as history, philosophy, business, economics, wildlife biology, journalism, engineering, law and rangeland management—and apply them to actual onthe-ground challenges. Area partners have included Energy Conservation Works, Teton Conservation District and Vertical Harvest.

“The course allows us to engage in projects that community partners identify as relevant,” Budowle says. “In addition to faculty mentors, these community partners mentor students throughout the entire project—from creating implementation plans to interviewing stakeholders

and site visits to achieving final deliverables. Projects provide an opportunity for student learning and achieve tangible meaningful outcomes for community partners. Students have described this course as transformative, allowing them to develop teamwork and collaboration capacities and project management and professional skills and to support actionable and meaningful change. Environmental Solutions embodies UW’s interdisciplinary and entrepreneurial pillars.”

Currently, the course is offered every year, including a virtual version of the course during the pandemic. This summer, Budowle also piloted paid student fellowships with longtime community partner Teton County Integrated Solid Waste and Recycling. Fellowships allow experienced Environmental Solutions students to complete additional high-quality projects and to meet community needs beyond the course itself.

“We hope to further develop a fellowship approach that can pair students with organizations and partners not only in Jackson Hole but throughout Wyoming to address our state’s most pressing social and environmental challenges,” she says.

Watch short videos about student projects at bit.ly/ environmental-solutions and view a project gallery at bit.ly/ environmental-gallery.

Students in the inaugural 2017 Environmental Solutions field course with course creator Doug Wachob (front row, second from left). COURTESY PHOTO

PARTNERING FOR

UW’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion partners broadly for a team effort toward success.

By Micaela Myers

The University of Wyoming’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI) partners with individuals across campus and throughout the community to achieve its goals of making UW a leading institution where people of all identities, diverse perspectives and life experiences encounter a welcoming environment.

Nearly 50 members sit on the ODEI council, and its five subcommittees represent nearly 90 members, including alumni, community members, students, faculty and staff. Subcommittee topics include community engagement, pay

equity, recruitment and retention, inclusive physical spaces and accessibility.

“Diversity, equity and inclusion work can’t be done just by one office or area,” says Director of Strategic Inclusivity Initiatives Christi Carter. “Partners have to support initiatives for them to be successful. It’s a great opportunity to work broadly with members of the campus and greater community.”

For example, the community engagement subcommittee works with Albany County School District #1 to support diversity, equity and inclusion in the district.

In addition to the council and subcommittees, ODEI continues to

launch new programming on campus, including two recent programs: restorative justice and the search equity advisors program for inclusive excellence in the hiring process.

Restorative Justice

In 2019, ODEI partnered with the University of Michigan restorative justice (RJ) trainers to conduct a threeday workshop in Laramie for over 30 UW faculty and staff members from across campus. Since then, the team members meet regularly to practice and grow their skills, led by Connor Novotny. Starting in the fall, Novotny moved into a newly created role within

Residence Coordinator Anthony Zimny (center) works with student resident assistants during a restorative justice training.

INCLUSION

the Dean of Students Office as the restorative justice program manager and will continue working with the ODEI on RJ Initiatives.

Restorative justice has deep roots in many indigenous cultures and continues to gain traction in schools, colleges and youth corrections as a nonpunitive way of addressing, repairing and restoring harm (a term that means a person works to repair the damage caused by their actions). All parties report better satisfaction with learning and outcomes, according to surveys done at universities that use restorative justice. Often, colleges use restorative justice as a means of addressing student conduct violations.

“Restorative justice is a tool for people to come together and discuss how harms are affecting them as members of a community,” Novotny says.

For example, a student who vandalized university property may agree to pay restitution for the damage, to help physically repair the damage, and, if the student was inebriated at the

time of the incident, to go to an alcohol evaluation or organize an alcohol-free event on campus.

“A lot of times, people might make a mistake, regret their choices and want to be integrated and welcomed back as a member of the community,” Novotny says. “Here at UW, we’re focusing on how we can build a program that educates people and promotes the philosophy of restorative justice while offering practices to address instances of harm that arise on campus.”

Restorative justice programming often takes the form of a circle or conference that brings together the harmed party or parties, the person or persons who did the harm, and support persons for both, as well as concerned community members. They sit in a circle and share how the incident happened, how it impacted them and ultimately what can be done to repair the harm. Working with student leader Riley Talamantes, Novotny kicked the fall semester off with an event for rising sophomores discussing how

the pandemic impacted their first year and what can be done to make up for those harms.

The university hopes to continue to grow the program while also becoming a statewide resource.

Search Equity Advisors

One of President Ed Seidel’s four pillars for UW is inclusivity. To help meet this goal, ODEI launched the search equity advisers (SEA) program led by Carter and College of Arts and Sciences Associate Dean and Professor Teena Gabrielson.

“It’s a partnership between our office and Academic Affairs to really change the culture of UW by focusing on what we can do as an institution to make our search process more inclusive and mindful of diversifying the university,” Carter says.

The program raises the bar by extending a two-hour workshop to a 13.5-hour workshop, beginning with a set of faculty volunteers this August who will then take that knowledge and partner with hiring committees in other departments to facilitate these important discussions.

To launch the program, Carter and Gabrielson participated in a 16-hour course through Oregon State University and then tailored OSU’s celebrated search advocate program to meet the needs of UW. The program’s objectives are to build awareness of and adherence to best practices for inclusive excellence in the search and selection process, to promote greater diversity in UW’s workforce, and to facilitate meaningful conversations that promote diversity, equity and inclusion in hiring process.

“This program has the potential not only to improve our search and

selection processes but to bring questions of implicit bias and diversity, equity and inclusion into a variety of decision-making contexts on campus,” says Gabrielson, who has a strong background in curriculum development.

In addition to things such as implicit bias, the trainings cover the legal context and early strategies for inclusive excellence, including how job listings are written and where they’re posted. While UW currently does receive diverse applicants, the conversion rate is low.

“Recruitment and retention of underrepresented workforce is an issue at UW,” Carter says. “The SEA program works in conjunction with other initiatives to make UW welcoming to a wide variety of people to want to work here and be a part of the community.”

After the launch this August, the

program will continue to grow and evolve. It is expected that a workshop for staff will be developed and rolled out in the future.

Student Focused

In the end, all the efforts of ODEI are aimed at creating a better experience for UW students. “With our inclusionary and global leadership program, we’re really looking at our next generation of leaders and how we can enhance their education,” Carter says. “Our world is more interconnected every day. We’d

INTERDISCIPLINARY

GRADUATE PROGRAMS

– Christi Carter

do our students a disservice if we didn’t have them graduate with cultural competence.”

Even the employee-focused programming impacts students with a more diverse and educated pool of faculty and staff.

“At the end of the day, we’re all focused on student success and what we can do as a campus community to create that sense of belonging,” Carter says. “Whatever your background or social identify, all can find their home here and thrive. That’s our ultimate goal.”

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UW Plays Key Role in Vaccination Rollout

Students, faculty and staff helps Albany County achieve COVID-19 vaccination success.

By UW Institutional Communications

When the COVID-19 vaccinations were approved, University of Wyoming faculty, staff and students stepped up to help streamline the process and get as many folks vaccinated as possible. By June 2021, their efforts played such a key role that UW and the broader Albany County community achieved one of the highest levels of vaccination in the state.

The efforts were led by College of Health Sciences Dean David Jones and School of Pharmacy Dean Kem Krueger. Dozens of UW employees and volunteers joined colleagues with Albany County Public Health, Ivinson Memorial Hospital and local pharmacies to administer thousands of doses of the vaccines in the county since late December 2020.

The Albany County COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic team held its final walk-in clinic of the summer term June 10. As of mid August, a survey indicated 88 percent of employees reported being fully vaccinated. In Albany County overall, more than 45 percent of the population had been fully vaccinated at that time, topped only by Teton County.

“I’m so proud and appreciative of the great work done by so many members of the UW community to administer these safe and highly effective vaccines,” UW President Ed Seidel said in June. “My sincere hope is that all of our employees who are medically able will choose to be

Pharmacy student Marcela Gramcko extracts the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine into needles to prepare for a vaccinations clinic.

vaccinated this summer. The same goes for our students, for whom we’re planning to expand an incentive and information program leading up to the start of the fall semester.”

Multidisciplinary Efforts

UW students and employees helped with the vaccination efforts on a range of fronts, from scheduling appointments via telephone to providing facilities to actually administering the vaccine shots.

“Getting the vaccine to members of our community is our best hope to end this pandemic, and we’re happy to use the university’s resources and expertise to help make it happen,” said College of Health Sciences Dean David Jones in March. Jones oversaw sample collection for UW’s COVID-19 testing program at the same time as he helped organize vaccine clinics. “We feel very fortunate to work alongside our partners with Albany County Public Health, IMH, local pharmacies and others. For UW, it’s not only a way for us to fulfill our mission of service to our community and the state—it’s also the best path forward to allow the university and the broader community to return to pre-pandemic conditions as quickly as possible.”

The vaccination clinics were conducted at the National Guard Armory, owned by UW, and the former Mountain View Medical Park building, which was purchased by UW in late 2020 using federal CARES Act funding allocated by Gov. Mark Gordon. Numerous students and clinical faculty members in UW’s School of Pharmacy were part of the effort, led by faculty member Melissa Hunter and Dean Krueger.

“The clinic is a great interprofessional activity,” Krueger says. “This public health initiative has added to the students’ education, and they have been vital to the vaccination efforts.”

Students and clinical faculty from the Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing and Wyoming-WWAMI Medical Education Program joined their pharmacy colleagues in vaccine administration.

Dr. Brant Schumaker—a veterinary epidemiologist and an associate professor in UW’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources who now leads the Wyoming WWAMI Medical Education Program at UW—organized students and other volunteers for the expanded operation, which also involved checking in people when they arrived for their vaccinations; monitoring them after they received their shots; and recording the vaccinations for the Wyoming Immunization Registry.

Marcela Gramcko, a third-year pharmacy student from Caracas, Venezuela, was among those administering the vaccine. She was glad to be part of the effort. She describes vaccinations as “a step in the right direction to win this fight against COVID-19.”

Fourth-year pharmacy student Kristyn McKnight of Dallas, Texas, says that vaccinations not only will help protect the health of the individuals receiving them but also will reduce the spread and overall burden of the disease.

“I sincerely hope that widespread COVID vaccinations in the UW community, paired with continued mask wearing and social distancing, will eventually lead to a return to normalcy,” McKnight said this spring.

Albany County Health Officer Dr. Jean Allais says the collaborative vaccination program was a practical, effective approach to help the community eventually achieve herd immunity against COVID-19.

“Collaboration with the university, IMH and local pharmacies allows us to get more vaccines in more people more

quickly,” Allais said in March. “The collaboration also lets each agency utilize their resources to provide customized services, locations and communications to their target audiences.”

Connecting People with the Vaccine

Meanwhile, UW’s Wyoming Center on Aging (WyCOA) provided staff to support the work of the Albany County COVID-19 vaccine call center.

The team of 16 staff members from WyCOA and its subunit, the Dementia Support Center, as well as some staff from the UW Psychology Clinic, answered thousands of phone calls to schedule vaccination appointments for members of the community.

“Hosting a call center was a quick way to create equitable access to the vaccine for all eligible residents of Albany County,” says Christine McKibbin, a professor of psychology and WyCOA’s director. “Just creating and launching the call center has been an incredible interagency partnership, and we are pleased to do our part to create equitable access to the vaccine for older residents of Albany County and all other eligible groups.”

The mission of WyCOA—a grantand contract-supported organization within the Department of Psychology and the College of Arts and Sciences— is to optimize the health and well-being of Wyoming’s older residents and their caregivers through interagency partnerships, basic and applied research, community education, and clinical training and services.

McKibbin says she appreciates the strong support from IMH to create a scheduling platform; from UW Telecommunications and Information Technology (IT) to provide a telephone platform; from ACPH and UW veterinary sciences faculty who provided

guidance regarding vaccine priorities; and UW’s College of Health Sciences and School of Pharmacy and public health staff who have planned for and administer the vaccine. Brett Williams, UW IT’s director of applications and customer relationships, was at the center of the work, and UW Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center Senior Research Scientist Brian Harnisch developed an intake form for Albany County employers.

“Getting the vaccine to members of our community is our best hope to end this pandemic, and we’re happy to use the university’s resources and expertise to help make it happen.”

— David Jones

“The last few weeks, while working in the COVID vaccine call center, have been incredibly rewarding and energizing to me,” said Sabine Schenck, a senior project coordinator with WyCOA, in March. “It is such meaningful work to personalize the vaccine appointment experience for older Albany County residents. Most of our callers have been socially isolated during the past year and are grateful and relieved that they will soon be able to get back to life. They appreciated talking to a person rather than having to set up an appointment electronically.”

Campus Community

By late March, all members of the UW community were eligible to be vaccinated.

“The main reason I’m doing this is that I’m always thinking about older people like my grandfather,” said Julian Bustos, a freshman music education major from Cheyenne, as he waited for his shot in March. “It makes me feel safer so I can be around people who are elderly and more susceptible. It’s about taking care of everybody by taking care of yourself.”

While vaccinations are not required for UW students and employees, they’re strongly encouraged. And, to allow the

WATCH OUR COVID-19 VACCINATION DRIVE

university to track overall vaccination numbers, students and employees reported their vaccinations once they were received them.

Reed Scull, an associate professor in UW’s College of Education, received his vaccines in March. “To my students, I would say: ‘Do this for yourself but also for others.’ There are things that are larger than ourselves and, as professionals, we need to think about those larger issues like the community health as well as your individual health. I think it’s going to make people feel confident, long term, to get out and about. And I think it will help our campus environment considerably. I most look forward to seeing my friends and colleagues in person and having nice long conversations with my students.”

“It will keep my family safe and make it so I can see my grandparents,” said Matilda Schiewe, a freshman kinesiology major from Evergreen, Colo., shortly after she received her shot in March. She added that being vaccinated would help return to more in-person classes in the fall, which is especially important for “the hands-on aspect of the classes I’ll be taking next.”

By the end of March, UW announced that it was proceeding with plans for face-to-face classes at maximum capacity this fall, along with face-to-face student engagement programs, in-person athletics experiences and the like. UW’s Board of Trustees adopted a resolution to “fully reopen” the university “consistent with the health policy guidelines and directives of the state and federal governments regarding COVID-19.”

Dean Jones said, “After quite a challenging and difficult period, we all kind of feel like we’re looking at the light at the end of the tunnel.”

UW pharmacy student

Kristina Zaharas speaks with a patient at a vaccination clinic.

COME BACK FOR AN ADVANCED DEGREE, THEN MOVE UP WITH A CAREER IN HEALTHCARE.

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Health Institution Leadership

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WORKING TOGETHER, UW CAN GIVE YOU THE CREDENTIALS AND SKILLS YOU NEED to either advance in your current employment or move up into a new and exciting career path in the healthcare arena WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU CONTINUE YOUR EDUCATION AND YOUR TIES WITH UW. WE OFFER BOTH SPRING AND FALL ADMISSIONS.

THE UW SCHOOL OF PHARMACY

OFFERS AN ONLINE MASTER OF SCIENCE IN HEALTH SERVICE ADMINISTRATION PROGRAM THAT IS DESIGNED FOR WORKING PROFESSIONALS AND IT REQUIRES TWO YEARS OF PART-TIME STUDY.

Previous UW graduates with various education backgrounds have completed the program or are current students. In addition, you work with classmates from across the US gaining insights from others with diverse backgrounds and careers

Check out the program here:

DATA ACROSS DISCIPLINES

Geospatial science—the science of place— reaches across colleges and into our daily lives.

By Micaela Myers

With most of us attached to a smartphone, we’re using geospatial data wherever we go—whether we know it or not—from the ads that pop up based on our location to mapping our way to a destination. The University of Wyoming offered classes in this area for many years, but last academic year, a formal program launched through the Wyoming Geographic Information Science Center (WyGISC) to offer certificates in geospatial information science and technology (GIST), a master’s degree and a new bachelor’s degree to launch fall 2022.

“It’s become so infused into everything we do in our modern lives that there’s a huge market out there for students who have good foundational training,” says WyGISC Director Jeff Hamerlinck.

The program draws students from various professions and backgrounds. It offers undergraduate certificates in geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing, the new bachelor’s degree that will require a minor from any discipline, and at the graduate level a master’s degree in geospatial information science and technology as well as graduate certificates in GIS, remote sensing and unmanned aerial systems (UAS, or drones).

Naturally Interdisciplinary

“Geospatial science is the science of place,” Hamerlinck says. “What that means is geospatial science applies to everything that can be associated with a location. It’s becoming increasingly important across disciplines.”

For example, maps are important to zoology, ecology, botany, wildlife conservation, biology, geography and anthropology, as well as other disciplines that may seem less obvious such as economics, social sciences and business. An economics major could earn a certificate in GIS and be a stronger candidate for a job that uses place-based analytics.

“I think the new GIST program is the latest interdisciplinary aspect of what

Remote sensing Assistant Professor Austin Madson assembles and tests a M600 drone prior to a lidar mapping mission east of Laramie.

we do at WyGISC,” Hamerlinck says. “It’s our 25th anniversary this year. The thread that’s wrapped though everything we’ve done is place, and that’s inherently interdisciplinary, because pretty much everything happens somewhere.”

The center leads the way with drone activities on campus—from working with folks in engineering who are building drones to using drones to collect data across disciplines. The center recently hired a new expert in this area and hopes to expand offerings.

“As UW looks to become more interdisciplinary, we can give faculty members opportunities to work and partner with the center,” Hamerlinck says.

Workforce Development

The graduate programs are offered online, allowing students to maintain their jobs wherever they live.

“We have students from both coasts and in between,” Driese says. “They can earn these credentials without having to come to Laramie.”

Already, the program attracted students from the Fremont County Weed and Pest Control District, Wyoming State Parks, the Wyoming Army National Guard, game and fish agencies in other states, public health agencies, the federal Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Reclamation.

“Local, state and federal agencies are big employers of students with geospatial, remote sensing and drone skills,” Hamerlinck says.

This includes local government such as county assessors and public works and city planning departments and also extends to private companies. “A data scientist may work behind the scenes at Google to help develop the algorithm that creates the database that helps you navigate via Google maps,” Hamerlinck says.

Environmental consulting firms are contacting the GIST program about internship opportunities because they need people with this background.

The GIST program also partners

with community colleges, offering students a next step in their education.

Student Perspectives

Sarah Weidler of Cheyenne, Wyo., initially became interested in GIS as an undergraduate because it was the course of study that best allowed her to integrate skills she learned as a geospatial and satellite imagery analyst in the U.S. Navy. Now she’s beginning her master’s degree in the GIST program.

“The faculty who makes up the GIST program are passionate, knowledgeable and supportive,” she says. “I believe that the GIST program at UW offers me unique experiences in drone technology, which is a rapidly growing field.”

Through the GIST program, she’s learned geospatial visualization, programming, specialized GIS software, map design, best practices for data organization and management, drone technology basics, remote sensing analysis techniques and database management. Weidler says that the program also helped her

Program Director Ramesh Sivanpillai (right) and master’s students Sarah Weilder and Nicholas Case collect spectral reflection data from grass and trees with a hand-held spectrometer.

L ET ’S MAP O U T YO UR FUTURE .

PROGRAMS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING'S GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SCIENCE CENTER HELP SOLVE TODAY'S WORKFORCE CHALLENGES.

The Geospatial Information Science and Technology (GIST) program trains graduates to excel in rapidly growing fields including engineering, business, anthropology, wildlife management, ecology, energy resources, the humanities, and many others.

PROGRAM OFFERINGS INCLUDE:

Undergraduate Certificate in GIS

Undergraduate Certificate in Remote Sensing

Research M.S. in GIST (with thesis)

*Professional M.S. in GIST (non-thesis)

*Graduate Certificate – GIS

*Graduate Certificate – Remote Sensing

*Graduate Certificate – UAS

*O ered Online

Go to uwyo.edu/gist for more information.

enhance her research, creativity and problemsolving skills.

“These skills will help me to be wellequipped for a future career in GIS,” she says. “As a lifelong Wyoming resident, I want to bring new GIS skills and technology to Wyoming’s workforce. I believe that earning a graduate degree in GIST from UW will help me reach this goal.”

She could see herself working as a GIS or remote sensing specialist or cartographer in a governmental or environmental capacity or as a professor.

“I would definitely recommend this program to future students,” Weidler says. “GIST is a growing field that will offer good opportunities for future employment.”

Undergraduate senior Gabriella Dodgson, also of Cheyenne, is pursuing certificates in GIS and remote sensing with a major in environmental systems science. She previously studied GIS at San Diego State University before transferring. She has found the GIS program at UW to be a welcoming new home.

“I loved taking the summer UAV (drone) classes and having the opportunity to do GIS and remote sensing projects that are applicable to the real world,” Dodgson says.

As a student, she works as a GIS tech for WyGISC in Shannon Albeke’s lab, working with Agisoft Metashape software to 3D model organ pipe and saguaro cactus volumes.

After graduation this December, she hopes to work as a GIS developer, possibly earning a master’s degree first.

This past spring in her in Spatial Data Visualization class, Dodgson learned to take different data sets and to create incredible maps and visualizations.

Dodgson says, “I think everyone should at least take an introductory GIS course to understand how important spatial data is in our everyday lives.”

INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION

Wyoming Excellence in Higher Education Endowed Chair of Science Education Tim Slater is teaming up with the UW Trustees Education Initiative (TEI) and the Wyoming Department of Education to bring drone competitions and educator training to Wyoming communities. These hands-on events get K-12 and college students excited about future careers they could have using drones.

“The ability to fly, repair and program drones is one of the most valuable new technical skillsets of the decade. Our events introduce skills that enable students to pursue careers using drones in agriculture, construction, filmmaking, and coding,” Slater says.

The team hosts professional training for local educators alongside the competitions to provide the skills and resources needed to maintain student interest. So far, they have exposed about 60 Wyoming educators and nearly 100 students to skills that will lead them to become lifelong drone enthusiasts.

“We are excited about the energy surrounding this drone project and the multitude of Wyoming industries it can serve. It adds to the growing array of student experiences, educator training and community and workforce development partnerships supported by TEI,” says UW TEI E-4 Director Curtis Biggs.

This effort will help develop a pool of Wyoming students who are highly qualified and passionate about working with drones. These skills will set them up for success as they enter UW, community colleges and vocational schools.

Trustees Education Initiative Graduate Assistant Patrice Parkinson and Rob Hill, a teacher at Pathways Innovation Center in Casper, at the Using Drones in the K-12 CTE Classroom workshop at the 2021 Wyoming Association of Career and Technical Educators conference in Buffalo. PHOTO BY JASON HARPER

By Tamara Linse

What better partnership than University of Wyoming Giving Day and Homecoming! While UW alumni and friends are recalling memories and making them, they can also help today’s and tomorrow’s students make their own by giving to the areas of their choice.

UW Giving Day, an annual UW tradition spearheaded by the UW Foundation, went from raising a mere $11,000 to millions of dollars in a single day.

“UW Giving Day is about creating a culture of philanthropy, gratitude and giving back,” says Director of Annual Giving Jack Tennant. “It’s about bringing together all those who love Wyoming and its university and uniting them behind the common purposes of education, research and service. That’s also what Homecoming is about—coming together and celebrating the university that we love.”

It all began in 2015 with modest ambitions. That first year, the UW Foundation wanted to lay the groundwork and see if it could be done. It raised $11,000 from fewer than 100 donors— funds that went to support all the colleges and numerous other programs. Most gifts were given online at uwyo.edu/ giveonline. The motto was “What a Difference a Day Makes!”

“UW Giving Day helps me celebrate all my wonderful experiences as a Cowboy, both as a student, then as a grateful alumnus,” says Greg Dyekman, alumnus, attorney and generous supporter of UW in many capacities. “I’m still reaping the many benefits of a fine undergraduate and professional education in the College of Business, as a debater in the College of Arts and Sciences, and at the College of Law. I like helping future graduates enhance their experiences, and UW Giving Day is a joyful way to give back across the campus.”

UW Giving Day supports colleges, programs and students across campus.

Starting in 2015 and continuing until 2018, UW Giving Day was held midnight to midnight in conjunction with Giving Tuesday, a worldwide celebration of giving that takes place the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, following Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

The foundation for UW Giving Day was laid, and the 2016 UW Giving Day was more successful. One hundred three donors from across the U.S. and the world gave $80,000 in gifts ranging from $1 to thousands of dollars. This was the year that the UW Foundation instituted a crowdfunding site, You Fund (uwyo.edu/youfund).

Once again, in 2017, the total jumped by leaps and bounds. A total of $365,455 was raised from 216 donors, funds that supported all the colleges and many other programs. One of the great things about UW Giving Day is that any program across campus can set up a campaign—and so for every gift that the College of Business gets, another goes to Club Sports or the Wyoming Migration Initiative.

In 2018, for the first time, UW Giving Day broke both $1 million and a thousand donors. It raised $1,119,348 in gifts and pledges from 1,031 donors. That total included $308,000, as well as $804,000 in major gifts from seven generous donors. Many donors were able to take advantage of matching funds, including a President’s Impact Fund and a $50,000 matching fund created by personal gifts from the UW Foundation Board of Directors.

This was also the first year of friendly competition among campaigns to see who could rouse the most donors and who could raise the most funds. Winning the day were UW Club Sports with 151 donors and the College of Business with $463,636.

The fifth annual UW Giving Day in 2019 set a record, raising $1.6 million from 1,110 donors from all 50 states and four other countries. That’s $1.6 million in a single day! The total includes gifts that were doubled by over $200,000 in matching funds provided by the UW Foundation Board of Directors and colleges and units across campus, as well as more

than $1.2 million in major gifts from four generous donors.

The sixth annual UW Giving Day in the challenging year of 2020 also broke records. Thanks to the generosity of UW supporters, there were double the number of donors and double the number of annual gifts. UW Giving Day raised $840,602 in gifts and pledges from 2,409 donors in 48 states and six countries. More than $250,000 in matching and challenge funds were available—more than ever before. This included $50,000 from the UW Foundation Board of Directors.

The year 2020 also brought other changes. Due in part to UW’s COVID-19 phase plan, UW Giving Day was moved from Giving Tuesday to mid-November and ran from noon to noon, rather than midnight to midnight.

Again, in 2021, we’re looking forward to upping our game and inspiring enthusiastic donors and friends to support the university that they love. UW Giving Day will take place Oct. 20–21, noon to noon, in conjunction with Homecoming. Matches and challenges will be available to double the impact of your gift or unlock challenge funds.

As you’re tailgating with other alumni and enjoying the beautiful campus during Homecoming, don’t forget to stop by uwyo.edu/givingday and support those areas you care about.

“We’ve seen what can be accomplished in a single day and the impact donors have across campus—everything from preparing UW teams to go head-to-head in competition to providing resources for food-insecure students,” Tennant says. “UW Giving Day is the one event that brings together every campaign and individually celebrates each of them in the spirit of giving.”

UW Giving Day is an amazing force for good for UW and its students and alumni.

Thank you for making it possible!

UW Club Sports teams have been a clear winner on UW Giving Day. They’ve gotten the word out and consistently garnered the most donors per campaign for a number of years.

UW’S PARTNERSHIP WITH THE SHANGHAI UNIVERSITY OF SPORT BRINGS INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES.

Sharing Sport Culture And

Doris Yan came to UW from China as an undergraduate to study Nordic skiing and returned this fall as a graduate student in kinesiology.

By Micaela Myers

Health and sport transcend cultures, and crosscultural understanding in turn transforms learning, research and even career opportunities. These factors are behind the University of Wyoming Division of Kinesiology and Health’s partnership with the renowned Shanghai University of Sport (SUS).

“It’s an opportunity for us to expand the internationalization and cultural understanding of students, as well as faculty and research scholars at both institutions,” says Division of Kinesiology and Health Director Derek Smith.

The program kicked off in 2019 with SUS students coming to study at UW and will next expand to UW students also going to China to study.

Learning to Ski

One of the factors that drew the attention of the internationally acclaimed SUS was the opportunity for its student-athletes to learn the art of Nordic skiing.

“SUS doesn’t have the resources and facilities to develop winter sports,” says Professor Qin (Arthur) Zhu, who also serves as kinesiology’s international program coordinator.

Conversely, UW students will have the opportunity to go to China to experience the culture and learn sports such as martial arts and

table tennis. That exchange would have started in the school year 2020—21 but was delayed due to COVID-19.

The partnership’s Nordic Ski Educational Program, funded by SUS, kicked off in 2019 with UW hosting 10 SUS student-athletes to train with the UW Nordic ski team while they participated in classes and activities designed by UW’s intensive English program and kinesiology. Even though the SUS student-athletes had never skied before, they excelled, attending races and qualifying for the U.S. collegiate national championship.

“It honestly exceeded all of our expectations with respect to SUS athlete outcomes,” says Nordic ski coach Rachel Watson. “They are very dedicated students of sport in all dimensions.”

Not only did they learn to ski, but they also learned about coaching and about technical aspects such as the science of snow.

“We developed an entire curriculum for them around Nordic ski racing—technique, training, conditioning and psychology,” says fellow coach Christi Boggs. “It was a transformative experience for every person involved.”

One of the most transformative aspects was the mentor-mentee relationship, with each SUS student-athlete paired with a UW student-athlete. While the more experienced UW students could help the SUS students with their skiing, the relationships were definitely two-way, with both sides learning from one another.

“I’ve always known that teaching is the best way to learn just about anything, but I’ve only recently come to understand just how powerful that can be,” says Ella DeWolf of Laramie, Wyo., who just completed her master’s degree in botany. “Being a mentor and a teammate to these athletes was so much more than I could have imagined, and I just hope their experience on this team was even half as meaningful as my own.”

“[SUS student-athlete] Mei helped me learn just how close we are to all the people around the world,” says Katherine Gruner of Casper, Wyo., who graduated spring 2021 with her bachelor’s degree in outdoor recreation and tourism management. “I now know I could have best friends in every country.”

Not only did SUS students become immersed in American culture, but the UW students

Coach Rachel Watson works with Dong Yang Han, a graduate exchange student from Shanghai University of Sport.

also became immersed in all things Mandarin—learning customs, cuisine and even some language. Stereotypes and misconceptions fell by the wayside.

“Individuals who grew up in a completely different culture, with completely different political systems and cities—at the end of the day, they were laughing around the table together,” Boggs says.

Because the pandemic prevented a second cohort of SUS students from coming to UW last year, a few of the first cohort were able to stay on longer than expected, including undergraduate Dan “Doris” Yan.

“I learned lots about different aspects of cross-country skiing, including the science and culture,” Yan says. “I also really like Laramie—it is a quiet town with many different outdoor activities. Additionally, people are nice at UW. They really provide a family feeling.”

In fact, she liked it so much, she returned to start her graduate kinesiology studies here this fall. Yan recommends the program to

future students: “It’s good for students to challenge themselves for something greater. Also, through this process you will learn how to ski, practice English, and cultural and scientific knowledge.”

A Growing Partnership

Despite the pandemic, more than 40 SUS students have experienced UW through one of three initial programs: a short immersive summer program, the yearlong Nordic program (open to both undergraduates and graduate students) and a six-month visiting scholar program for graduate students. A new dual master’s degree program is also in the works, which will combine study at both institutions.

Zhu says UW has been identified as one of three strategic SUS partners to carry out international programs, including faculty exchanges, research collaboration and study abroad with financial support from SUS. He is also working on international partnerships with several other universities. These partnerships not only expand understanding and perspectives,

but they also make students more competitive for jobs in a global economy. For example, Zhu says strength-conditioning coaches are in high demand in China.

“By understanding the culture, students will be more flexible and successful in the international market,” he says.

Smith says UW’s location and access to outdoor recreation—in addition to standout academic programs—put it in a unique position to cultivate these international partnerships.

“Sport, health and human performance should be disciplines that really transcend geopolitical barriers,” Smith says. “In kinesiology and health, we have the strong value to make sure we’re trying to help our students learn and understand different cultures and approaches to health and sport training. It also sets the stage for international collaboration. By extending and growing these partnerships, it allows us to build stronger interdisciplinary teams to address challenges that affect the globe.”

Disability studies

Community

• Family support

Education Abroad at the University of Wyoming o ers credit-bearing study abroad, exchange, research, and academic internship opportunities for University of Wyoming undergraduate and graduate students. Through over 400 programs in 80 countries, we o er a wide variety of program structures, lengths, terms and academic focuses to meet students’ diverse needs and goals.

The Center for Global Studies generates international research opportunities and collaborations as a foundation for student opportunity at UW and abroad. We showcase and share UW faculty and student research, engaging all of Wyoming with an eye on tomorrow’s world.

The International Students & Scholars o ce provides a welcoming environment for the international community in Laramie, and provides a wide range of workshops and outreach services to the University of Wyoming.

The University of Wyoming English Language Center works locally and globally with non-native speakers of English through a variety of programs. The ELC focuses on English for academic preparation and professional participation in higher education.

Greetings UW Alumni and Friends,

Welcome to another edition of the University of Wyoming Alumni Association (UWAA) AlumNews. As our summer engagement efforts transitioned to the fall, I found myself more excited than usual to compose this message. Fall semester at our university has numerous traditions and gives us much to celebrate. As such, returning to the normalcy that encompasses this memorable season in reconnecting with alumni and friends carries a greater depth of brown and gold pride. This past year did not deter our steadfast mission in building community by bringing alumni and friends together. Our online engagement opportunities fostered our pride, and the closeness of our Cowboy community grew on a statewide and national level. As a result, we are pleased to share that we will continue the most impactful virtual engagement opportunities in addition to our inperson events. This dual methodology of outreach underlines our mission and provides us with a heightened sense of awareness of how important engagement is in the UW community.

Whether you visit the campus regularly or sporadically or haven’t been back since your days as a student, there is no better time to return to your brown and gold roots than this fall. After reading that sentence, I am sure it summoned you into a UW state of mind remembering all too well what it was like as you trekked to class through our beautiful campus, the crisp autumn morning air, the big Wyoming sky and its breathtaking sunsets. We look forward to hearing about your campus memories, and know that staying engaged with us will be unforgettable as well.

Below are some notable opportunities coming soon from the UWAA for you to be excited about. All event details and updates can be found on our website, uwyo.edu/alumni.

Kickoff Fridays: On Friday, the day before the Cowboy home football games on Sept. 4, Oct. 16 and Nov. 6 (time subject to change), from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the Alumni Center in the Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center, we will host a reception with appetizers and a cash bar. UWAA members will receive one complimentary drink.

Homecoming: We invite you to “Come Home, Cowboys” for the 2021 Homecoming set for Oct. 16-23. Now more than ever, I know Homecoming to be not just about the game but about the people and their experiences that are the heart of UW. Homecoming is about YOU, our amazing community of alumni and friends. It’s a reunion weekend when you can celebrate your relationship with the university, reconnect with your past and share the bond that belongs to those of us who celebrate everything brown and gold. Membership Appreciation: Please save the date for our annual membership appreciation event to be held on Saturday, Nov. 6. Additional event details and registration information will be made available on our website.

As a 1976 graduate and UWAA board member, Dean Henzlik shared with me when I was beginning my tenure as the executive director, “The University of Wyoming is a great place to be and a great place to come home to.” We are proud to be the brown and gold touchstone to your UW past and are eager to usher in new memories at UW—the place we all call home.

My best in brown and gold,

Keener Fry, UWAA Executive Director

NEVER LEAVING LARAMIE

AUTHOR AND ALUMNUS JOHN W. HAINES SPEAKS ABOUT HIS TRAVEL MEMOIR.

By Micaela Myers

In the winter of 1985, John W. Haines (B.S. ’82) was eating in a nearly empty hotel in Chengdu, China, after searching and finding sky burials in Tibet, when in walked his friend from Laramie, fellow UW graduate Jeff Alford (who later became a food writer and co-author of several acclaimed cookbooks). What are the chances? For Haines and his compatriots, it didn’t seem that unusual. There was something about growing up in self-contained Laramie that invited exploration beyond the city limits. After skiing, kayaking, climbing and hiking the mountains and rivers of Wyoming, the next logical step was a passport and a plane ticket.

“The landscape serves as an escape for kids and eventually, inevitably, as a launchpad for wanderers into a wider world,” he says.

Alone and with a few Laramie friends, Haines traveled the world, undertaking adventures that few—if any—had before. His recent book, Never Leaving Laramie: Travels in a Restless World (Oregon State University Press, 2020), details many of these adventures, including biking through Tibet and spending five months kayaking the length of the Niger River in Africa. The book also covers how Haines broke his neck leaping off a train in the Czech Republic.

“I always enjoyed writing,” he says. “I wrote for travel and other magazines to fund the travel habit. I always kept detailed journals. After I broke my neck, I wanted to write the real stories.”

While Haines grew up with UW as his playground, the university still proved an adventure in academics, and he found himself taking classes outside of a degree path.

“We had great professors at the university, and I was very distracted by everything except what I got my degree in,” he says. “I joke that I have a five-year degree in undecided.”

But Haines eventually followed in the Wyoming banker footsteps of his father, grandfather and great grandfather, earning his degree in finance.

“At the end of the day, I’m grateful for a practical, mobile and applicable degree,” he says. “Now I work for a big nongovernment organization, Mercy Corps. Mercy Corps, based in Portland, Ore., works in 40-plus countries for the past 43 years helping communities address crises, conflict and economic collapse. With me in a wheelchair, it’s interesting and inspiring to work for an organization that has their eye on the world.”

Haines created a U.S.-based Community Investment Trust aimed to close the racial wealth gap by offering people with low or no financial assets the opportunity to invest and build equity via shared ownership in real estate in their neighborhoods. Many of the leading think tanks—such as Brookings, Urban and Aspen Institute, and Stanford Social Innovation Review—have advocated the model as an actionable post-COVID and wealth-gap strategy.

“We’re working in 15 cities around the country and have a plan to work with 100 cities in the next five to 10 years,” Haines says.

He still returns to Laramie, usually twice a year, and was here this past summer working remotely and writing at his family’s cabin in the Snowies. He urges UW students to take advantage of the range of education avenues available at UW and to seek travel opportunities.

“Traveling globally is only as difficult as getting a passport and seizing an idea,” Haines says. “It’s easy to do.”

And don’t worry: You can leave Laramie, but Laramie will never leave you.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JOHN HAINES

John W. Haines in Tibet in 1985. Left: Rick Smith and Haines (right) approaching Mount Everest.

Right: Haines with his friend Pema Gyaltsen’s mother.

Author and alumna

Karen Wamhoff Schutte shares about her historical research in recounting her family history.

Painting Pictures

withWords

By Jeff Victor

To put it mildly, Karen Wamhoff Schutte believes in trying new things and pushing herself into unfamiliar territory. “Because if you don’t keep challenging yourself and reinventing yourself, then you may simply stagnate, and you lose out on a whole other world,” she says.

Schutte has approached her own life with this philosophy. She attended the University of Wyoming twice 20 years apart, shifted decisively from motherhood to interior design to becoming the published historical author of six award-winning novels. She has won Best in Fiction from the Wyoming Historical Society twice.

Raised in Emblem, Wyo., Schutte attended a two-room schoolhouse for her first eight grades. She graduated from Greybull High School in 1960, where she earned a scholastic scholarship to UW, majoring in elementary education.

“Back then, women had three strong choices of study: education, nursing or secretarial. I chose elementary education but, unfortunately, at that young age, was more interested in boys and beer.”

She attended UW for two years, then married Michael Schutte. In the next 10 years, they had four sons. She committed herself to her new domestic life.

“After 20 years at the helm of motherhood, I began to feel a deep yearning to broaden my world,” Schutte says. “The creative aspect of interior design had always intrigued me. I enrolled in the New York School of Interior Design and earned my first higher-education degree.”

Schutte launched her own design company, Interiors by Karen, and began to gain real-world experience, designing everything from offices to fraternity

interiors to optometrist surgical rooms. After three years, Schutte realized she needed a college degree to be accredited by the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID). She enrolled at UW as a junior in the field of design marketing.

“People thought I was crazy, but I knew what I wanted and what I had to do to get there. I wanted to make a difference, to contribute, to fulfill my dream,” she says. “I have always tended to dive in headfirst. When people tell me I can’t do something, my response is: Watch me.”

At first, Schutte was somewhat terrified of returning to the classroom, but that didn’t last. With mentors such as home economics Professor Judith Powell, Schutte found her confidence and excelled in the classroom.

“It’s funny, I didn’t feel out of place because of my age,” Schutte says. “Because I had experience in the field, other students looked up to me. I would meet my two oldest sons on campus, and everybody just accepted me. I thought that was amazing because, frankly, I had been ready to feel ostracized.”

Schutte earned her bachelor’s degree in 1987 as her UW trustee husband, Michael Schutte, handed her the diploma. She was accepted into ASID and enjoyed a two-year career as an interior designer practicing from Laramie to San Diego to Red Feather Lakes, Colo.

In 2007 she retired, but she wasn’t finished trying new things.

“As the oldest great-granddaughter and granddaughter on my mother’s side, I had files of information on my family stories,” she says. “I had also kept historical files, just because. Now it all came together. I began writing what I thought was a documentary for our son’s information. As I wrote, questions arose as to why they did this and that,

and as I researched the historical side, I began to hear and feel the characters emerge.” After three years, the interior designer handed her manuscript to a longtime English teacher friend and asked her to read it.

“That was a very vulnerable feeling,” Schutte says. “After she read it, she declared that my story flowed and my characters were well-fleshed out and that I was a writer. I never set out to write a historical novel, and here I was, a writer. Going down the internet wormhole and conducting further research led to one fascinating discovery after another, and I was hooked.”

Schutte recalls searching for more information about her uncle’s service in World War II as a tank commander. All she had were his battalion number and the fact that he served in the Third Army. Google did the rest by handing her his entire daily log.

“When I write, I visualize the entire thing. I am in the story, experiencing, hearing, smelling it all,” she says. “I have learned so much about my family and the lives my predecessors lived in Germany, the Civil War, the world wars and homesteading. One little secret I learned is to inject period slang into my narrative—it makes it come alive for the reader.”

Now that Schutte is thinking about writing her seventh and final book, she is already moving ahead mentally to what comes next. Perhaps oil painting or auditing a college class in geology?

Throughout her varied and everchanging life, Schutte gives credit to UW and how it shaped and prepared her to move forward.

“My time at the university was an amazing experience,” she says. “It was a pivotal period for me, and I appreciate the opportunity and the doors my education opened. I can’t wait to see what is next.”

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Sept. 10: Cowboy Road Series, Chicago, Ill.

Sept. 13: “The World Needs More Cowboys” Community Celebration, Buffalo, Wyo.

Sept. 16-17: UWAA Board of Directors Meeting, Laramie

Sept. 17: UWAA Award Recognition Ceremony and Reception, Laramie

Sept. 24: Cowboy Road Series, Hartford, Conn.

Oct. 8: Cowboy Road Series, Colorado Springs, Colo.

Oct. 15: Kickoff Friday, Laramie

Oct. 16-23: Homecoming, uwyo.edu/homecoming

Oct. 29: Cowboy Road Series, San Jose, Calif.

Nov. 5: Kickoff Friday and “The World Needs More Cowboys” Community Celebration, Laramie

Nov. 6: UWAA Membership Appreciation, Laramie

Nov. 11: Cowboy Road Series, Boise, Idaho

Nov. 18: Cowboy Road Series, Salt Lake City, Utah

Nov. 19: Cowboy Road Series, Logan, Utah

Make sure to follow the UW Alumni Association YouTube Channel to watch our Cowboy Alumni Pre-Game Pep Talk prerecorded videos during the 2021 Cowboy Football season.

Distinguished Alumnus GARY DARNALL

In Nebraska and Wyoming, alumnus Gary Darnall and his family’s historic Darnall Feedlot are nothing short of legendary. Located near Harrisburg, Neb., the property was homesteaded by the Darnalls in 1889. Gary Darnall used his University of Wyoming bachelor’s (’60) and master’s (’62) degrees in agricultural economics to take the ranch and feedlot to the next level of innovation. The ranch participated in trials, tests and studies— including natural resource sustainability and water conservation—and became one of the first feeders to adopt integrated pest management and no-till farming. Starting with 150 Hereford cows and 1,400 acres of pasture and dryland, the ranch has grown to several thousand acres of grassland, dryland and irrigated cropland, a commercial Angus cow herd, a yearling grazing operation and a 22,500-head commercial American Angus Association-certified feedlot.

“Only 5 percent of all feedlots in the U.S. have a capacity of 1,000 head or more,” says UW College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Dean Barbara Rasco. “This places Mr. Darnall’s operation in the top ranks of his industry. His operation feeds cattle from seven Western states. This alone is a testament to his success.”

Darnall has dedicated his life not only to growing his operation but also to sharing his knowledge to further the industry. He helped start the University

of Nebraska-Lincoln Panhandle Research Feedlot; served on the external advisory board for UW College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and many other boards and commissions; gives workshops and hires college interns; and is a staunch supporter of UW athletics, including the Steer-A-Year scholarship program. Darnall and his ranch have earned many state and national honors, prompting the governor of Nebraska, Pete Ricketts, to write a recommendation letter for Darnall’s UW Distinguished Alumni Award.

“Gary has done what many only hope to do— growing Darnall ranch into an expansive agricultural operation,” Ricketts writes. “His innovation, standard of excellence and service to his community set a strong example of hard work. Gary has spent his life committed to the continued education of students in both Wyoming and Nebraska.”

“I am very honored and humbled to have received the Distinguished Alumni Award from UW,” Darnall says. “The formal education I received at UW gave me a strong foundation to pursue my goals in life.”

UW holds a special place for the Darnall family, with three generations of graduates, including Gary, his wife Emilie, their son and daughter—Lane and Lisa—and now three of their grandchildren.

“Some of my fondest memories at UW are from the classes and professors of the College of Agriculture as well as the athletic programming,” says Darnall, who was a track and field athlete. He appreciated the dedicated and knowledgeable professors and the camaraderie of his teammates and coaches. This motivated Darnall to stay involved.

“By supporting the College of Agriculture, serving on the advisory board and supporting UW athletics, I hope to give a little back and show my gratitude toward UW,” he says. “The future of our country and industry is in our youth.”

PHOTO BY SPECTRUM PHOTOGRAPHICS –

KEN KURTZ

Distinguished Alumna MARLENE TROMP

Marlene Tromp loves teaching. She is an English professor with degrees from Creighton University, the University of Wyoming (M.A. ’90) and the University of Florida and now serves as president of Boise State University since 2019. Tromp didn’t set out to be a university president or administrator, but she wanted to help college students have the same opportunities she received. “I had someone ask me this question, ‘Over the course of your career, do you want to affect hundreds of students or hundreds of thousands of students? How much love do you have to give?’ ” Tromp says. “The answer was easy. As a university president, I have the honor and privilege of getting to impact hundreds of thousands of students in a way that allows them to get what I got from my higher-education experience. That’s the greatest honor of my life.”

Her impressive career includes serving as executive vice chancellor at the University of California Santa Cruz, vice provost at Arizona State University’s west campus and dean of the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences.

Tromp grew up in Green River and was a first generation college student. She didn’t realize how special growing up in Wyoming was until she went away to college and talked to other students who didn’t make their hometown sport teams because there were too many students. She also recalls the gift of visiting Yellowstone and Flaming Gorge regularly.

“I got the chance to study, explore and have all these experiences growing up in this amazing place,” Tromp says.

Students and professors often choose UW either because they have a connection to Wyoming or because they fall in love with UW’s unique location.

“It’s this incredible experience of being with all these people who have a deep love for this place,” Tromp says of her time as a UW student and later a visiting professor. “With the faculty, it’s hard for me not to get choked up when I talk about them. What a commitment they had.

It makes it possible for students to go on to do great things, and it makes the university great.”

While it’s hard to find time for her research on 19th century life and culture, Tromp has managed to achieve numerous publications.

“Right now I’m working on unsolved or belatedly solved murder cases from the 19th century,” she says of her latest book, which is nearly done. “It’s so interesting. I co-taught with a forensic scientist when I was at Arizona State, and we solved a 19th century cold case.”

Her previous books on seances and freak shows reveal her interest in things that rest on the edge of popular culture and how those things impact society.

Tromp remembers her UW English faculty fondly and stays in touch with these colleagues, such as Professor Caroline McCracken-Flesher, and occasionally guest lectures to her classes. Many of these colleagues also turned out for her inauguration at Boise State, donning their brown and gold.

“My whole life, they’ve been a part of my journey,” she says.

This year, Tromp also received outstanding alumni honors from Green River High School. “It’s hard for me to even explain how much it means to me to be honored by my high school and UW the same year,” she says.

On her wall hangs a poster of the Tetons with Helen Mettler’s quote: “God bless Wyoming, and keep it wild.”

Tromp says, “My love for Wyoming is so much a part of who I am, so to feel that love back means the world to me.”

PHOTO BY PRISCILLA GROVER

2020 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI/ MEDALLION SERVICE AWARD HONOREES:

David Burman, Nancy Freudenthal, Peter Sherman and April Brimmer Kunz

David Burman, 2020 UW Distinguished Alumnus

B.A. ’74 political science

“ I was surprised and humbled by the award. I’m extremely proud of my Wyoming and UW background, and it is a great honor that someone thought I reflected well on UW.”

Peter Sherman, 2020 UW Distinguished Alumnus

B.S. ’86 journalism

“ The UW Distinguished Alumnus award will never stop meaning the world to me. No matter where life takes you, there are very few things that top the acknowledgement of your alma mater. I had the great privilege of addressing the 2019 UW graduates, and I made the point that Laramie has never left me. If possible, this award has pulled me even closer to the university I love. I will always offer my time in Laramie as the most influential in my life, and this award brings it full circle. Once again, I find myself thanking UW for its profound impact on this proud alumnus.”

Nancy Freudenthal, 2020 UW Distinguished Alumna

B.A. ’76 philosophy, J.D. ’80 Law

“ Receiving the 2020 UW Distinguished Alumna Award was such a surprise and honor. In a year full of worry and disappointment due to COVID-19, this award was truly a high note. I am indebted to those wonderful friends who honored me by undertaking the nomination process and so very pleased to receive this award from an institution that has already given me so much.”

April Brimmer Kunz, 2020 UW Medallion Service Award Recipient

J.D. ’79 law

“ I am humbled and honored to be the recipient of the Medallion Service Award. Although much has been accomplished at the University of Wyoming, there will always be more work to do. I am looking forward to working with President Seidel, the Board of Trustees and the Foundation Board to implement the programs that will take UW to the top tier of land-grant universities. Go Pokes!”

PHOTO BY BRAD KEVELIN

PHOTO BY MICHELE RUSHWORTH

2020 UWAA AWARD HONOREES:

Maxine Chisholm, Myron Scott Gnall, Megan Degenfelder, Jennifer Nevins and Jørgen Waaler

Maxine Chisholm, 2020 Building A Better Wyoming

Award

B.S. ’80 nursing, M.S. ’82 nursing

“ An award like this presented to me at age 80 reflects years devoted to a nursing career that started at UW. I am grateful for the opportunities provided to me in a comfortable learning environment on campus. After graduation, I was involved in both ‘town and gown’ as a member of a hospital board, state board of nursing and UW faculty. This award is a nice surprise acknowledging my long nursing activities. Thank you, UW.”

Megan Degenfelder, 2020 Rising Alumni Award

B.S. ’12 business economics, B.A. ’12 political science

“ It is an absolute honor to receive this award, which reaffirms and energizes me to continue the work I have invested in since graduating from UW. It is my hope that I can continue to reflect positively on the university and give back to the institution that provided so much to me.”

Myron Scott Gnall, 2020 Network/ Chapter Leader Award

B.S. ’96 political science

“ It still doesn’t quite register. It wasn’t like I did this for recognition. I just want to give back. I found a few people, we had an event, and I saw how incredibly appreciative the people who showed up were.”

Jennifer Nevins, 2020 Life Member Service Award

B.S. ’76 pharmacy

“ I am so grateful and honored to the UWAA for this Life Member Service Award. Being told you’re appreciated is so uplifting! Being a freshman at UW in 1972 seems like such a short time ago! Little did I know how that life opportunity would lead to the local, state and national contributions in pharmacy that I have been able to share. One of the most rewarding experiences, however, has been the joy of watching my daughter follow in my footsteps as she received her PharmD from UW in 2011. In 2021 my niece joined our ‘pharmacy family,’ receiving her PharmD from UW as well. This recognition is just one example of the outstanding support UWAA gives to alumni members. Once a Cowboy, Always a Cowboy!”

Jørgen Waaler, 2020 Network/Chapter Leader Award

B.S. ’82 general business management, M.B.A. ’83

“ I am deeply pleased and honored to receive this prestigious award. I sincerely thank University of Wyoming Alumni Association for this recognition, and I’d like to express my sincere thanks to all the people who make this happen—especially more than the 100 Norwegian UW alumni who contribute to the life of the Norwegian UW Alumni Chapter every year. The award is a motivation for continued work to promote UW for new Norwegian recruits.”

KELLY COULTER PHOTOGRAPHY

BRIAN DEGENFELDER PHOTOGRAPHY

PHOTO BY BHP IMAGING

2021 UWAA RISING ALUMNI AWARDEE

native began performing with the Centennial Singers and taking roles in dance performances. She also taught classes at Laramie Dance Center and karate at Laramie Kempo Karate Club.

Eventually, she double-majored in finance and dance, looking to eventually work in arts administration.

“Originally I wanted my master’s in arts administration, but all the schools wanted 3-5 years of work experience before going into that program,” she said. “So, I figured I would get the experience first.”

month rotations in all these different finance groups,” she says. “One of those rotations was in Florida, which was really cool because I got to be at the launch site and see launches. I got to see the hardware and that’s what sparked my interest to get more involved on the technical side. I saw what the engineers were doing and what they got to experience.”

Young went back to school. Funded by her employer, Young enrolled at Colorado State University (CSU) and two-and-a-half years later, she had earned another master’s degree—this time in systems engineering.

She worked full-time at ULA throughout her time at CSU, and still works there, but now as a systems engineer.

By Jeff Victor

The University of Wyoming’s MBA program gave Tiffany Young the skills she uses to help launch satellites into orbit, teaching her to work across disciplines to achieve big picture goals.

Young earned the UW Alumni Association’s Rising Alumni Award for 2021, alongside Anne Mason. The award recognizes recent graduates who have distinguished themselves in their professional careers.

“I was really surprised, since I haven’t been out of school that long,” Young said of winning the award. “I’m just really humbled and honored to be recognized.”

Young did not start her collegiate career looking to launch satellites. When she came to UW, the Laramie

But while working for the UW Alumni Association, Young started talking to people in the MBA program on campus. Discovering that the program did not require years of experience, Young applied, was accepted, and in two years had an MBA in energy management.

Young accepted a job right out of graduate school with United Launch Alliance (ULA)—a spacecraft launch service provider.

“We’re based here in Centennial, Colo.,” she says. “But we launch satellites and other payloads into space from our two launch sites at Cape Canaveral in Florida and the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.”

The job would introduce Young to a completely new discipline.

“My first job was a finance rotation program where I got to do four six-

“You can think of a systems engineer as a technical project manager,” Young says. “I work with all the different engineering disciplines like mechanical, electrical, software and thermal— looking at all requirements between our launch vehicle and the space vehicle’s interfaces and making sure all the different parts and pieces come together for launch day.”

Throughout it all, Young credits UW with letting her explore new fields and fostering her ability to work across disciplines.

“In my work today, I try to take that same perspective,” she says. “If I see an opportunity and it’s something that I think would help me grow in my career, I try to go after that. The things I got to experience when I was going to school really helped me on my journey to where I am today. Without those experiences, I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish the things I have.”

2021 UWAA RISING ALUMNI AWARDEE

By Jeff Victor

The University of Wyoming has been ever-present in Anne Mason’s life—from her years as an elementary student at the UW Lab School to the interdisciplinary partnerships she now maintains through Relative Theatrics.

Mason earned the UW Alumni Association’s Rising Alumni Award for 2021, alongside Tiffany Young. The award recognizes recent graduates who have distinguished themselves in their professional careers.

“I’m filled with a wave of gratitude by the selection,” says Mason, the founder of Relative Theatrics. “It’s validation of all the hard work I’ve put in over the last decade to really build up an arts community in Laramie.”

When she graduated high school, UW stood apart from the larger “namebrand” schools that are so attractive to young actors seeking theater degrees.

“I realized they were all very densely populated programs with a lot of clout attached to them but not actually a lot of investment in the individual students,” Mason says.

It seemed like UW would be different, and it was.

“It was everything I dreamed that it would be,” Mason says. “One-on-one tutelage, great focus and training from my professors, and I left school with a stacked resume of performance opportunities.”

But after graduation, Mason went the way of many young people, believing she had to leave Wyoming to chase opportunities and advance professionally.

“That’s the narrative I had grown to believe,” she says. “Even though I loved Laramie and was sad to leave, that’s what I did.”

But Mason’s experiences beyond Wyoming eventually brought her back.

She toured for a year with Missoula Children’s Theater, directing and performing in big cities and small towns alike.

“Small towns were really rewarding, because it was bringing the arts to a community that maybe only got an artistic or cultural outlet once a year when Missoula Children’s Theater came through town,” Mason says. “And in those moments, I realized how valuable

it is to have arts in rural areas—to have access to arts, culture, and humanities in places that hadn’t had that before.”

A year in Sacramento and an apprenticeship with the Capital Stage Company gave her experience with contemporary theater.

“Rather than just providing entertainment, it was really about engaging with the work, grappling with the ideas, questioning, starting discussions,” she says. “I thought, this is theater that belongs in Laramie, and I don’t understand how my hometown— this community of thinkers—has never had something like this.”

She brought these experiences back to Laramie, originally just for the summer of 2013. But she soon launched Relative Theatrics, bringing that necessary contemporary and challenging theater to a town that would otherwise lack it.

Since then, the organization has grown and now hosts several performances a year, providing an artistic outlet for local performers and a venue for thoughtful engagement for the community.

“I owe so much of that to the connections and the partnerships with the university that I have been fortunate enough to cultivate,” Mason says. “Whether that’s academic programs with the Honors College or with the students who are theater majors, UW has been there every step of the way.”

WYOGRAMS

Alumni, we want to hear what you’ve been doing. Mail career, wedding, birth and obituary news to: WyoGrams, UW Alumni Association, 222 S. 22nd St., Laramie, WY 82070; complete our online submission form at uwyo.edu/alumni/ wyograms, or email us @ uwalumni@uwyo.edu; or fax (307) 766-6824. Photos may be sent to uwalumni@uwyo. edu for consideration. WyoGrams written by Suweksha Shrestha, Emma Petersen and Christine Henschler.

1970

Roger Bazeley, B.A. ’70, anthropology, B.A. ’70, art. Bazeley served as a public affairs officer in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary (USCG) for 13 years and as the editor of Navigator Express, the USCG Auxillary’s national quarterly e-magazine, for the past two years. After over 30 years as an industrial design and packaging consultant, Bazeley joined the USCG Auxiliary as a professional photojournalist using the many skills and knowledge gained from UW and the Pratt Institute NYC. Fifty years later, he still works as an active design and photojournalism volunteer professional in San Francisco while serving, augmenting and supporting Team Coast Guard as a member of America’s Volunteer Guardians, where he publishes their ongoing story.

1974

Dennis Davis, B.S. ’74, biology, B.S. ’78, journalism. Wyoming native Dennis Davis presented his novel, Wyoming—Perspectives on a ‘Small Town with Long Streets’ at the Pahaska Corral of Westerners in May 2021. His book and photographs capture stories from a diverse group of Wyoming residents and the changes of the Equality State, in regard to the energy industry, over the course of four years.

Edward Livingston, M.B.A. ’74. Henderson Franklin, one of the largest local law firms between Tampa and Miami, Fla., welcomed registered patent attorney Edward Livingston to its team. Livingston is a Florida Bar boardcertified expert in intellectual

property law, of whom there are only five in the local area.

1985

Tracy Ragland, B.A. ’85, elementary education, Ed.S. ’08, education. After 33 years at Newcastle High School and various positions ranging from teacher to athletic director to his current role as principal, Ragland retired.

Daniel Thoren, B.S. ’85, mechanical engineering. Thoren, board chairman, president and CEO of Barber-Nichols Inc. for 24 years, was appointed as president and chief operating officer (COO) of Graham Corp.

1986

Brian Ellison, B.S. ’86, psychology, M.A. ’86, American studies, M.P.A. ’89. Ellison was appointed as the new provost and vice president for academic affairs for the American University of Armenia in July 2021.

1991

John Roby, B.A. ’91, broadcasting, was asked to coach a technical team for the Jeffrey S. Raikes School of Computer Science and Management at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. As part of the Raikes Design Studio, junior and senior students from both the computer science and business programs come together and partner with a local company to produce working software. Volunteer coaches from local businesses help the students learn to navigate the business process and technical and relationshipbuilding challenges around their projects. Roby’s team is working on a project to update

the Nebraska Department of Transportation website. Further, he has been asked to guest lecture at the Raikes School on scrum and agile sprint planning as part of preparing sophomores entering the program the following academic year.

1994

Darrin Peppard, B.S. ’94, biological science-secondary, Ed.D ’17, educational leadership, was invited to be the keynote speaker for the 2021 Wyoming Department of Education STAR conference. Peppard was named Wyoming Secondary School Principal of the Year by the National Association of Secondary School Principals in 2016 and was the Jostens Renaissance Educator of the Year the year prior. He currently serves as the superintendent of West Grand School District in Colorado.

1995

Suresh Muknahallipatna, Ph.D. ’95, electrical engineering. Muknahallipatna received UW’s George Duke Humphrey Distinguished Faculty Award in May 2021, an honor that recognizes teaching effectiveness, distinction in scholarly work and distinguished service to the university and state. He has also been awarded the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute University Ambassador Award and, for three consecutive years, the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Award.

1999

Elizabeth “Gizzy” Gray, B.S. ’99, social work, graduated from Drexel University with a doctorate in health science. Gray’s thesis,

“Advocacy for Firearm Awareness and Risk,” details a training for victim advocates to increase comfort in and likelihood of talking about firearms with intimate partner violence victims.

Cody Koerwitz, B.S. ’99, finance, minor, banking and financial services, M.B.A. ’08. Koerwitz, a member of the Army ROTC during his time at UW, was promoted to colonel in the U.S. Army in June 2021. He currently serves at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va.

Shannon Person, B.A. ’99, women studies. Person, manager of the circulation help desk at UW’s Coe Library, was the recipient of the UW Libraries Outstanding Staff Award for her contributions in 2020.

2000

Lori Howe, B.A. ’00, Spanish and English, M.A. ’02, English, M.F.A. ’12, creative writing, Ph.D. ’17, curriculum and instruction. For the past three years, Howe has received UW’s Promoting Intellectual Engagement Award for excellence in first-year teaching. Additionally, she was one of two recipients of UW’s 2021 John P. Ellbogen Meritorious Classroom Teaching Award.

2001

Christina Hiegel, B.S. ’01, architectural engineering, minor, management. Hiegel joined Ayres Associates as a senior environmental engineer and

strategist. Additionally, she was selected as the 2020 winner of the Wyoming Business Report’s Best Mentor Award.

Kara Calvert, B.S. ’01, business administration, minor, international business. During her time at UW she was the first female president of Associated Students of UW (ASUW). This year marks the 20-year anniversary of her historic achievement. Calvert went on to work in Washington, D.C., in public policy and has had a long and flourishing career in politics.

Lisa Esquibel, B.A. ’01, elementary education, was elected as the first vice president of ASUW during her UW attendance. This year recognizes the 20-year anniversary of her historic achievement. Esquibel works in Cheyenne, Wyo., as an educator and was one of the main teachers to troubleshoot and offer remote teaching during the pandemic.

2005

Brett Befus, B.S. ’05, business administration, J.D. ’10, law. Befus, a UW Foundation associate vice president, was among the 42 residents selected for the 2022 Leadership Wyoming class.

2010

Jonlee Anderle, B.S. ’10, business administration, M.B.A. ’12, Ph.D. ’18, education, minor, quantitative research methods. Anderle, the

Region 5 Administrator for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, received a NHTSA Five-Star Performer Award from the NHTSA administrator, coupled with a Partnering for Excellence Award and a Transportation Safety Award from the secretary of transportation.

Ellen Creagar, M.A.T. ’10, history. Earlier this year, Creagar was appointed to serve a sixyear term on the Wyoming State Board of Education by Gov. Mark Gordon. She has been an instructor at Eastern Wyoming College since 1996.

Kami Danaei, M.A. ’10, communication, Ed.D. ’18, higher education leadership. Danaei took on a new position as academic advising manager for the UW School of Energy Resources. In her role, Danaei will oversee, advise and provide careerrelated guidance to incoming and current students within both concentrations of the Energy Resource Management Program.

2012

Jacquelin Wells, B.S.N. ’12, M.S. ’15, nursing. Wells is a member of the Rawlins City Council and received the Woman of the Year award in April 2021 from the Rawlins Chamber of Commerce. She works for the State of Wyoming as regional nurse supervisor for public health nursing.

WYOGRAMS

2013

Kali Fajardo-Anstine, M.F.A. ’13, creative writing. Earlier this year, she was an Addison M. Metcalf Award in Literature winner, a biennial award of $10,000 that honors young writers with great promise. Her collection of stories, titled Sabrina and Corina, tells a powerful narrative of feminism, heritage and home.

Saeed Danaei, M.S. ’13, chemical engineering, Ph.D. ’13, mechanical engineering. Danaei was promoted to process engineering manager at Genesis Alkali and was accepted into the 2022 Leadership Wyoming class.

Andrew Salzman, B.M. ’13, music education, received the Music Educator of the Year Award from the Wyoming Music Educators Association.

Jeanne West, B.S.N. ’13. After 25 years in the utilization and case management field, West accepted the position of director of case management at Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County.

2014

Rachel Smullen, B.S. ’14, astronomy and astrophysics, Honors College, minors, interdisciplinary computational

science, mathematics, B.S. ’14, physics, minor, computer science. Smullen is a Metropolis Postdoctoral Fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Her research spans from topics like, Pluto and Kuiper Belt to planets around binary stars to the formation of stars like our sun from giant clouds of gas in space.

2016

Debbie French, Ph.D. ’16, curriculum and instruction, concentration, science education, minor, quantitative research methods. French received the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association Gerhard Salinger Award for enhancing I-STEM education through technological and engineering design-based instruction. Currently she is an assistant professor of science education at Wake Forest University.

2017

Molly Maier, B.S. ’17, business economics, Honors College. Maier joined the Bradley Arrant Boult Cummings LLP Houston

office as one of its newest attorneys in June 2021.

2018

Muhammad Haq, Ph.D. ’18, civil engineering. Haq currently serves as a postdoctoral research associate in the Wyoming Technology Transfer Center at UW. He is a distinguished researcher in the field of transportation engineering, and his research focuses on traffic safety, operation and simulation and transportation planning. Over the past five years, Haq has conducted research on transportation-related issues, which have made significant contributions to maximizing traffic safety, mobility and overall operation. His current project is the performance evaluation of a new alternative design called Super Diverging Diamond Interchange (Super DDI), originally developed and initiated by Amir Molan in 2018. As part of a comprehensive research effort on improving the performance of failing service interchanges in the mountainplains region, the research team found Super DDI as one of the

Dear Poke Nation,

We realize the last year has been hard on all of us. And like all of you, we strive for normalcy with our thoughts turning to the future and our excitement to celebrate Homecoming and our wonderful UW traditions this fall! That's why this year, more than any other we'd like to invite you to come home. Come back to us for a crisp autumn weekend and enjoy all the great things about Laradise and Homecoming — football, parade, family, friends and most important of all — community.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSOR:

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16 THROUGH

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2021

Event Highlights

FRIDAY

OCTOBER 22

FRIDAY

OCTOBER 22

UW Distinguished Alumni Dinner (invite only)

SATURDAY

OCTOBER 23

UW Alumni Homecoming Discount at the University Store *Online discount available for alumni who aren’t able to travel to Laramie 50th Club Reunion (Classes of 1970 and 1971 along with alumni who have graduated prior to 1970. Registration required.)

Cowboy Co ee Homecoming Parade

UW Alumni Homecoming Discount at the University Store *Online discount available for alumni who aren’t able to travel to Laramie Pepsi Pregame Zone

Wyoming vs. New Mexico Football Game

WYOGRAMS

promising alternative designs that can significantly improve traffic operation, safety and pedestrian performance. Three research papers and the final report of this project are expected to be published in 2022, which will assist transportation managers and policymakers in deciding on management strategies for implementing appropriate alternative interchanges.

2020

Solivia Mercer, B.A. ’20, criminal justice, minor, psychology. Mercer is with the U.S. Navy security forces, stationed in Europe.

Weddings

Julia Clark, B.S. ’19, psychology, minor, sociology, and Ryan Bush, B.A. ’19, anthropology, minor, statistics, were married on April 8, 2021.

Arrivals

Randi Downham, B.S. ’05, finance, minor, banking and financial services, Cer. ’05, real estate, and Tim Downham, announced the arrival of Hayes Torren Downham on 1/21/2021.

Samantha Freeman, B.S. ’05, kinesiology and health promotion, M.S. ’08, kinesiology and health, and Glen Freeman, announced the arrival of Jordan Allen Freeman, weighing 7 lbs. 8 oz., into their family on 5/25/2021.

Josh Law, B.S. ’10, agriculture business, and Danielle Law, B.A. ’12, elementary education, welcomed their son Sheridan Law into their family on 4/7/2021. In Memoriam

Janet Armijo, B.A. ’68, English secondary education, M.A. ’73, English, 6/8/2021. Survivors include her husband, children and their spouses, grandchildren and siblings.

Glenda Bell, B.S. ’60, zoology and physiology, 2/9/2021. After Bell’s retirement from public education, she and her good friend became professional speakers, Calamity Jane and “Barbwire.” The pair entertained for 17 years, and Bell became one of the nation’s experts on the Old West personality. Survivors include her half-siblings, nieces, nephews, Barbara Fisher’s family and many dear friends.

Duane Christensen, B.A. ’60, industrial arts education, 4/27/2021. Christensen was a construction superintendent for Kansas Nebraska Natural Gas until his retirement in 1994. By his own words, prior to his passing, Christensen said he lived a long, satisfying life. Survivors include his wife, sons, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Hearley Dockham, B.S. ’65, agriculture, 5/13/2021. Survivors include his wife, sister, children, grandchildren and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

Theodore Gertsch, B.S. ’62, civil engineering, 6/6/2021. Survivors include his sister, sister-inlaw, brother and many nieces, nephews and cherished friends. Charles Greenbaum, B.S. ’50, journalism, 5/9/2021. Greenbaum joined the U.S. Army, where he served two years before receiving his MBA. Outside of his academic and professional life, he was a proud father and travel enthusiast and loved to

share his beautiful bass voice with cherished friends and family. He is survived by his children, grandchildren, greatgrandchildren and his niece and her son.

Louise Haaby, B.S. ’50, home economics, 5/15/2021. Survivors include her daughters, granddaughters, greatgrandchildren and brother.

Linda Herbst, B.A. ’83, agriculture business, 3/23/2021. Herbst continued her loyalty to the UW athletic programs from a young age until her passing. Survivors include her mother, sister, niece, nephew, great nephew and many cousins.

Helen Hurich, C.E.R. ’38, education, 3/28/2021. Survivors include her sister, children and grandchildren.

Mark “Popee” James, B.S. ’75, accounting, 5/14/2021. At 68 years of age, James passed in Ogden, Utah, in early May. With his father, Jack James, he owned and operated James Brothers Painting in Rock Springs, Wyo. Survivors include his two daughters, one step-son, five grandchildren and two brothers.

Gary Janssen, Exp. ’84, personnel administration and industrial relations, 5/23/2021. Survivors include his sister and brother.

Richard Wirth Jensen, B.S. ’58, agricultural education, M.S. ’71, animal science, 5/5/2021. Survivors include his brother,

children, 32 grandchildren and 63 great-grandchildren.

John Kennedy, B.S. ’51, geology, 2/21/2021. Kennedy was born on Sept. 15, 1926, in Sheridan, Wyo. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. After graduating from UW, he worked as a petroleum geologist but made his career with the U.S. Geological Survey in Casper, Wyo. Survivors include his son, daughter, son-in-law, numerous nieces and nephews and many cherished friends.

Karl Kruzik, B.A. ’18, elementary education, 5/23/2021. Survivors include his partner, parents, brother, grandmother, uncles and aunts.

Margene McLellan, B.A. ’51, art, 2/07/2021. While attending UW, McLellan met and married her husband, John. They both enjoyed camping, gardening, golf and traveling. Their travels took them all around the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, New Zealand and Peru. Survivors include her children, grandchildren, sister and numerous nieces and nephews.

William “Bill” Myer, B.S. ’72, business administration, 5/21/2021. Survivors include his wife, sons and daughter-in-law.

John Pedry, B.A. ’73, English, M.A. ’75, English literature and philosophy, 4/22/2021. Survivors include his wife, children, grandchildren and siblings.

Susan Rardin, B.S. ’62, education, M.S. ’90, counselor education, 7/21/2020. Survivors include her sons, 16 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Jack “Raleigh” Robertson, B.S. ’80, finance, 1/11/2021.

Survivors include his partner, two daughters, two granddaughters, two brothers, two nephews and several cousins.

In 1952, an agreement between the University of Wyoming and the government of Afghanistan was signed to enact a program that would allow UW to train Afghans in engineering and agriculture. These courses not only formed a relationship between the U.S. and Afghanistan, but they also led the way for future international educational programs at the university.

KABUL UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FARM DEVELOPMENT: NIELSEN111, CIRCA 1963-1966, BOX DIGITAL, FOLDER AHCDM_400088_001, COLL. 400088, GERALD A. NIELSEN PAPERS, AMERICAN HERITAGE CENTER, UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING.

Faculty from the university’s various STEM departments, as well as other departments, still conduct field courses throughout Wyoming. These programs follow the tradition of the landgrant university and have continued to uphold the partnership of public-sector work with the state of Wyoming and university students, faculty and alumni. This photo is from the 1960s.

UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING, AMERICAN HERITAGE CENTER, PHOTOFILE: COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES - UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING - CLASS SCENES, NEGATIVE NUMBER 21171

Mary Ruland, Exp. ’49, College of Arts and Sciences, 4/11/21. Survivors include her children, grandchildren, great-grandchild, nieces, nephews and many friends.

Kathryan Toulouse, Exp. ’56, nursing, 1/12/2021. Survivors

In 1969, 14 black students were discharged from UW Cowboy football after requesting the right to wear black arm bands to make a statement against racial discrimination across college campuses. This began a series of protests in which students from all disciplines united on a common cause.

UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING, AMERICAN HERITAGE CENTER, PHOTOFILE: COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES - UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING - DEMONSTRATIONS AND CONTROVERSIES, NEGATIVE NUMBER 30849

include her children and brother. Janet Weis, Exp. ’59, College of Arts and Sciences, 5/21/2021. Survivors include her children, grandchildren, greatgrandchildren, sister and sisterin-law.

By Assistant Curator Michelle Sunset

The University of Wyoming Art Museum holds an encyclopedic collection of over 9,000 objects relating to a multitude of disciplines across campus.

The Art Museum engages with people across campus and the Laramie community through partnerships and programming such as the Shepard Symposium, robust exhibitions such as that of artist and scientist Brandon Ballengée in 2016, and ongoing collaboration with the College of Law. One of the museum’s most important partnerships takes place in the Patricia R. Guthrie Teaching Gallery—a space in the museum dedicated to serving faculty and students most directly.

Curator of Academic Engagement

Raechel Cook works with three to four faculty members or other partners. Cook works with faculty to select objects from the collection that relate to their curriculum, and then the works are exhibited in the gallery. Over the past eight years, faculty have engaged with the collection in different ways. They might have a particular assignment related to the works on view, or sometimes the artworks might serve as a touchpoint throughout the semester and then culminate in a final project. Cook also offers support to faculty by facilitating class sessions in the gallery and providing research assistance to students and access to studio space for students completing creative assignments. In years past, the artworks and curricula have even connected to plays produced by local theater company, Relative Theatrics.

The Patricia R. Guthrie Teaching Gallery brings diverse disciplines together to learn through art.

select works for the class Thinking Like a Mountain. Artwork selected will help students begin to unpack the nature of environmental challenges from multiple perspectives and to better understand our interconnected world. Science and Math Teaching Center Assistant Lecturer Erin Stoesz is also engaging the gallery for General Field Geology. This course will make use of the Art Museum’s many artworks featuring landscapes as well as sculptures made of geologic matter.

History and anthropology Assistant Professor Alexandra Celia Kelly is excited to use the Teaching Gallery for her course Forgotten Africa: Introduction to African Civilizations. Cook and Kelly are collaborating to select objects from the Art Museum’s collection to critique the colonial lens through which Western culture has historically depicted African art as “ethnographic” as opposed to placing value on authorship. While learning about Africa as a dynamic continent filled with peoples of many diverse cultures and histories, students will connect these concepts with real objects. Students will conduct research on these objects, assisting the museum in creating deeper understandings of the African artworks in the collection.

Striving to work with faculty across disciplines, Cook facilitates learning and understanding through the arts and helps students to make new connections in their chosen fields. Cook also seeks out faculty to use the collection and gallery space each semester. She has made it a point to find classes relating to traditional STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) to provide dynamic learning opportunities for students in those departments or those taking general education classes.

This semester, the gallery will be used for a broad variety of courses. Cook is working with Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources Associate Lecturer Maggie Bourque to

One of Cook’s additional goals has been to make meaningful and intentional connections with Laramie County Community College (LCCC) through the Teaching Gallery. She wants to ensure that the museum’s collection is open and accessible to our broader academic community. LCCC’s Samira Caamano will use the gallery for her Introduction to Chemistry course. She is eager to provide an entry into chemistry for students who might be more comfortable with the arts and humanities.

For museum visitors, the Teaching Gallery offers a glimpse each semester into the broad range of exciting classes offered by UW and now LCCC while providing exciting ways of making meaning with artworks in the museum’s collection. The gallery also highlights unusual juxtapositions of artwork that may not normally be exhibited together. The museum strives to serve and engage our academic, local, state, national and global communities to foster deeper connections that envision new futures for humanity. In fulfilling this mission, the museum seeks out new and engaging partnerships across disciplines to best connect people with art and the world around us.

A student from Laura DeLozier’s Classical Epic Poetry class looks closely at Vernon Fimple’s painting Approach to the City (1975.125.0)

by Chris Navarro

The Philosophy OF COMPUTING

The new Association for Philosophy and Computing was incorporated in Wyoming with the help of two UW professors.

By Micaela Myers

Philosophy and computer science form an unlikely pair. But thanks to two University of Wyoming faculty members, the new international Association for Philosophy and Computing recently incorporated in the state.

The association formed as an offshoot of an American Philosophical Association subcommittee.

What exactly do these philosophers and computer scientists examine as part of this work? Research in this area includes interesting questions such as the metaphysics of digital objects, the ethical implications of artificial intelligence, the philosophical issues of digital currency, and the vote as a data structure.

“The association is a way to bring together people who want to apply these traditional philosophical tools to questions that are distinctive of computing,” says philosophy Assistant Professor Bradley Rettler.

Rettler is one of the incorporating members of the new association along with Robin Hill, board retiree and adjunct professor in computer science. The association’s mission is to work to provide forums for the critical and creative examination of information, computation, computers and other computationally enabled technologies (such as robots). It endeavors not only to enrich philosophical research and pedagogy but also to reach beyond philosophy to enrich other discourses, both academic and non-academic (www.philosophyandcomputing.org). Other charter members include faculty members from the University of Illinois Springfield, Canterbury University (New Zealand), Wichita State University, Stony Brook University, Hibbing

Community College, Penn State University and IULM University of Milan.

“This is the only Americanbased group that we know of that is the interdisciplinary reflection of the intersection of these two studies,” Hill says. One of the association’s first activities was presenting at the Philosophy and Computing Conference at the 2021 summit of the International Society for the Study of Information, held virtually in September.

Both Hill and Rettler pursue their own research interests in this realm. Hill’s interest in philosophy and computing goes all the way back to her undergraduate studies in the 1970s, when she studied both subjects. Her work is cited in the philosophy of computer science entry in the Stanford

“This is the only American-based group that we know of that is the interdisciplinary reflection of the intersection of these two studies.” – Robin Hill

When it’s something people take for granted, like a vote, philosophy wants to know what kind of a thing we’re talking about, Hill explains. What is the vote as a data structure, and what is the vote as a subject of processing by algorithms? Those are both computer science subjects.

Rettler has a book proposal under review on the philosophical issues of digital currency such as Bitcoin— a subject he recently published a paper on.

“Digital currencies involve so many disciplines: computer science, economics, law, politics, game theory and ethical and metaphysical questions,” he says.

One co-author of his book, Craig Warmke, has written a paper on the metaphysics of digital currency—in other words, what are digital currencies, and just how different are they from physical currencies?

“Then we have moral questions,” Rettler says. “Bitcoin is a relatively private money, and it’s a censorship-resistant money. You might want a currency (like Bitcoin) that’s not controlled by intermediaries. But there are tradeoffs. A censorshipresistant money lets you buy things that maybe we shouldn’t let people buy, like assassins. There are also issues of financial justice. We want to disentangle the cost and benefits.”

Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

“One of my aims is to broaden the questions that are asked in this field,” says Hill, who writes a regular online blog for the monthly journal Communications of the ACM, from the Association for Computing Machinery, the premier professional organization in computing. “One of the first pieces I wrote when I started doing this research was on whether nature uses data. Is data completely made up by people? The answer is, no, nature does not use data. I also did some work on the ontology of algorithms in which I claim that an algorithm is an imperative object. Another topic I’ve addressed recently is the ontology of the vote.” Ontology is a branch of metaphysics that addresses the nature of being.

Blockchain—the distributed digital record of transactions that makes digital currency possible—also has implications for voting and for carbon credits, Rettler says. Blockchains are useful when nobody can be trusted, and everyone is incentivized to cheat. “If your vote is recorded in a blockchain, it’s embedded and hard to change. If you have a token for a carbon credit, you can prove that it’s yours and prove when you spent it. After currency, these are perhaps the most promising application for blockchain.”

Philosophical research in this area is imperative to make sure the application is appropriate.

In addition to his digital currency research, Rettler looked at the ethics of algorithms. People may think algorithms aren’t biased, but that’s not true. Say a photo recognition software was created using photos of white people—that program may not recognize photos of people of color, which makes it biased.

Both professors are excited for the expanding questions the Association for Philosophy and Computing can help answer by bringing experts from both disciplines together.

Story time with Fallon Lewis, basketball game sponsor, sock toss prizes, member appreciation, Homecoming parade, summer movie.

IMAGES COURTESY OF UNIWYO

PARTNERING FOR SUCCESS

UW Athletics and UniWyo Federal Credit Union come together to support students, sports and the entire state.

By Micaela Myers

It’s not University of Wyoming Director of Athletics Tom Burman’s typical role, but last summer, there he was reading a children’s book on Facebook live—delighting little ones across the country. The weekly Little Pokes Story Time featured a host of coaches and others from Athletics giving tired parents a healthy distraction for their kids during the pandemic. Each book was signed and mailed to a lucky winner. This is just one example of the many ways UW’s partnership with UniWyo Federal Credit Union benefits the community of Wyoming and beyond.

Started by nine UW employees back in 1953, UniWyo maintains branches in Laramie—on and off campus—and Cheyenne, and many former students keep their accounts well after they graduate. UniWyo is the financial wellness sponsor for UW and offers many services to all students, including financial wellness. In the past decade, it has also developed strong support for athletics, which must generate 50 percent of its own revenue.

“UniWyo is the exclusive credit

union of UW Athletics,” says UniWyo Vice President of Marketing Mindy Uitterdyk. “We feel it supports our entire state because we’re all proud of our only four-year university and that we can rally behind our Cowboys and Cowgirls. Whether a student is an athlete or not, we really try to support the university as a whole, and athletics is a great way to do that.”

Burman says that the partnership is invaluable—from programming for students and the state to marketing and financial support. While other universities had to drop sports during the pandemic, UW prevented this with the support of partners such as UniWyo.

UniWyo provides workshops, lectures and services to all students, and it also tailors financial wellness programming for athletes as part of Excellence at 7220.

“In our leadership development programming for our first- and secondyear students, we do everything from basic financial planning to how to deal with college debt and how to handle a lease agreement,” Burman says. “UniWyo has been very helpful in teaching classes and mentoring our young people.”

Uitterdyk says, “We’re trying to help

create well-rounded individuals in the presentations we’re giving. We talk about budgeting, credit, and tips and tricks to help our college students be more prepared not only during their college journey but also after they graduate.”

The partnership reaches well beyond the university to give back to the community. In addition to the story hour and similar outreach in schools across the state, UniWyo sponsors three movie nights in War Memorial Stadium each summer in non-pandemic years. The events are free, and credit union staff are there to hand out drinks and popcorn. Attendees also enter to win fun prizes. Last summer, UniWyo sponsored a drive-in movie.

The partnership is emblazened across the UniWyo Sports Complex, and each year the credit union hosts a massive member appreciation event inside the practice facility—welcoming thousands of members for a free dinner and entertainment, including interacting with Pistol Pete and the UW Spirit Squad. You’ll also find the cheerleaders and Pistol Pete at annual branch events, where community members get a framed photo with the crew.

“We collaborate together to come up with new ideas,” Uitterdyk says. “Athletics has been such an amazing partnership for us. We take such pride in that partnership.”

FOR TEACHERS EVERYWHERE

THE WALLOP CIVIC ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM K–12 CURRICULUM PROJECT BRINGS UW EXPERTISE TO CLASSROOMS ACROSS THE STATE.

By UW Communications

The 2020–21 school year proved an immense challenge for K–12 educators as they struggled to meet a variety of student needs using virtual and hybrid models. The University of Wyoming stepped up to help, offering free online resources in the form of the Wallop Civic Engagement Program K–12 Curriculum Project.

A virtual curriculum catalog of free video lessons and resources became available last December. Since then, new content has been added regularly. The virtual library includes short video presentations across a range of topics, such as civics, civic engagement, government, history, geography, economics and health—all from UW faculty, partners from Wyoming community colleges and public experts.

Along with brief video courses, the project provides an accompanying teacher resource guide, including discussion questions, and offers teachers the opportunity to schedule a live chat-back—an “Ask Me Anything” session—with the expert presenters to delve more deeply into each topic.

The project represents a collaboration among UW’s College of Arts and Sciences’ School of Politics, Public Affairs and International Studies; UW’s College of Education Trustees Education Initiative; and the Office of Engagement and Outreach. It focuses on student education and K–12 curriculum as part of its broader statewide community engagement commitment.

“The innovative, interdisciplinary outreach effort to partner with Wyoming schools to provide digital resources that address specific curricular needs offers an excellent example of how UW can be a 21st century land-grant university true to Wyoming roots,” UW President Ed Seidel says.

SOCIAL STUDIES IN FOCUS

The library’s main focus areas correlate with the six Wyoming social studies content standards: citizenship (government and democracy); culture and cultural diversity; production, distribution and consumption (economics); time, continuity and change (history); people, places and environments (geography); and technology, literacy and global connections.

The project is inspired by former Wyoming Sen. Malcolm Wallop who, in his distinguished career serving in the U.S. Senate for three terms and in the Wyoming Legislature, is remembered for his commitment to civil discourse, public education and public service. The project is made possible through the support of the Tucker Foundation, Rocky Mountain Power Foundation and private donors.

The Wallop program began in 2017 to help Wyoming communities and to support UW faculty and student research opportunities. Jean Garrison, a UW professor of political science and international studies in the School of Politics, Public Affairs and International Studies, directs the program. She has served a number of administrative roles, including as founding director of UW’s Office of Engagement and Outreach and at the Center for Global Studies. Jason McConnell, an assistant professor of political science in the School of Politics, Public Affairs and International Studies, co-directs the K–12 curriculum project. He also is a past recipient of a Malcolm Wallop Faculty Fellowship.

“This project has been a valuable UW partnership with teachers in Sheridan and other communities from the start and, with COVID-19, we found a way to shift our gears and make this resource available to teachers across the state,” Garrison says. “We are addressing an immediate need but also developing a sustainable model that addresses UW’s statewide

land-grant mission virtually. As we proceed, the Wallop project intends to expand the catalog by taking feedback from teachers about what content their students need most.”

Mike Thomas, a Sheridan High School teacher who has been a partner with the Wallop program, says the K–12 curriculum project is a “21st century, cutting-edge resource for students, teachers and the public.”

He says, “I have firsthand experience regarding the impact on student learning through this project. My students were able to engage with civic experts who were able to relate civic engagement to young people. I believe programs like the Wallop K–12 Curriculum Project will excite, motivate and

help our future leaders develop the knowledge, skills and abilities to be effective leaders in our communities.”

UW and Wyoming community college faculty members and public experts work with UW College of Education instructors to share their expertise in aligning topic areas with Wyoming social studies standards. Topics in the project range from a crash course on Wyoming politics and Native American skies and Indian sovereignty to economic and geopolitical issues.

In the short videos, the experts introduce topics and offer interesting facts typically not covered in a survey-style textbook. Classroom teachers make use of the catalog in ways that best suit individual needs, Garrison says.

Camellia Okpodu, UW’s new College of Arts and Sciences dean, says: “Providing access to experts and other virtual resources via the platform broadens the knowledge base by supporting the work of the teachers and enhancing opportunities for student engagement and performance. It provides educational equity to all users. Most impressively, virtual resources ensure that even remote and rural districts are getting the latest advancements in curriculum for their students.”

HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS

This past spring, Alyssa McElwain, an assistant professor in the UW Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, added to the virtual library with lessons to help youths ages 14–18 build and maintain healthy romantic relationships.

The virtual health content library caters to topics linked to Wyoming’s health education content and performance standards. The series of brief modules is hosted on UW’s WyoLearn platform along with the rest of the program’s virtual library.

Barb Rasco, dean of the UW College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, says the skills McElwain is providing

“WE ARE ADDRESSING AN IMMEDIATE NEED BUT ALSO DEVELOPING A SUSTAINABLE MODEL THAT ADDRESSES UW’S STATEWIDE LAND-GRANT MISSION VIRTUALLY.”

— JEAN GARRISON

through the program will help young people immensely as they enter adulthood. “I am excited that McElwain is going to be able to reach a greater number of high school youth with strategies on managing relationships,” she says.

McElwain is a certified family life educator and a 2020–21 Wallop Faculty Engagement Fellow who focuses on relationship education in adolescent and adult populations. She also is director of the Relationship Education and Leadership project, which provides peer-taught relationship education on campus through Relationship Smarts classes.

FUTURE PLANS

From December through May, there were nearly 106 active users including 49 teachers from 22 of 48 school districts representing 16 counties and the Wind River Indian Reservation. Twenty-one UW faculty and staff members, along with several community college partners, have already shared their expertise as part of the project.

The project, like social studies itself, is naturally interdisciplinary. In addition to College of Arts and Sciences and College of Education personnel, staff from the NASA Space Grant Consortium, Law Library, Vaughan Planetarium and American Heritage Center have also contributed.

The program hosted a virtual professional development workshop June 9–10 with UW faculty and K–12 social studies teachers from across the state aimed at building relationships, getting feedback and creating new modules on how to use the virtual library.

“One of the goals is to use this as a basis to develop a learning community across social studies professionals at all levels because no such state organization exists for this discipline currently,” Garrison says.

The project is all about partnerships, and successful education in Wyoming means synergy across K–16, she says. “Our No. 1 mission is to be effective educators and create student success,” Garrison says, adding that this mission is key to successful economic development.

The program is currently seeking additional funding and hopes to continue expanding the virtual library. Already, they’re in talks with folks from the School of Energy Resources, UW’s Science Initiative and humanities faculty for new modules.

While the content is aimed at teachers, anyone from the public can learn from and enjoy the modules. A number of UW Saturday University talks are also available in the virtual library.

Fort Washakie High School social studies teacher Jamie Le Jambre is grateful for this new resource. “We have done all sorts of units, whether related to current events or bigger issues like freedom of speech,” she says. “It can be really hard in rural Wyoming for students to have access to the speakers and experts that are available through the Wallop program. They have really enjoyed that. I love how this program is aligned with the state standards. It’s really easy to find where something might fit in and to build a unit from the materials.”

For more information about the Wallop K–12 Curriculum Project, visit uwyo.edu/wallop or email wallop@uwyo.edu

• Boasts 20 faculty, over 350 undergraduate majors, and three graduate programs— including the largest master’s program at UW, the Master’s in Public Administration

• Encourages students to take advantage of a wide variety of internships and study abroad opportunities with designated funding

• Develops skilled, forward-thinking leaders who will shape the future of Wyoming, the United States, and the world

www.uwyo.edu/ppais

uwyo.edu/pols

Senior design project featuring mechanical and/or energy systems engineering students

Chase Bancroft (Jackson, Wyo.), Rhett Cook (Laramie, Wyo.), Alex Jansen (Kansas City, Mo.), Justin Keller (Casper, Wyo.), Lucas Morrissette (Calgary, Canada) and Ben Wimpenny (Saratoga, Wyo.).

“With the decline of oil, gas and coal around the world, Wyoming must look toward the future of energy production to diversify its economy. Wyoming is known for wind energy, with thousands of turbines towering over vast prairies. However, solar energy is often overlooked, despite Wyoming being in the unique position to receive similar irradiance levels experienced near the equator.

“In collaboration with 9H Energy, we were asked to perform a techno-economic analysis and design a utilityscale 3-megawatt solar farm in Laramie. Additionally, we were asked to design and build a functional prototype that could be used at the 9H property to gather crucial data for future expansion. We presented 9H Energy with our design of ground-mount fixed bifacial panels. This design would allow for energy production year-round with little to no risk. Since bifacials can collect reflected light from the backside and frontside of the panel, we are able to take advantage of

HEAD TO UWYO.EDU/UWYO TO WATCH THE VIDEO ABOUT THE 9H PROJECT

unfavorable conditions such as the slope of the land and low production rates in winter and fall.

“This design allowed us to win the 9H Energy Design Competition and inspired our prototype to test bifacial panels against standard panels at the 9H property. With the completion of our prototype, we have gathered the data necessary to determine the advantages of bifacial panels. We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved throughout this project and are excited to see how students will expand upon our project in the future.”

Read more about the UW-9H partnership at bit.ly/uwyosolar.

Clockwise from left: Lucas Morrissette, Alex Jansen, Justin Keller, Rhett Cook, Chase Bancroft, Ben Wimpenny. PHOTO BY ALI GROSSMAN

See three ways to visit UW!

Whether virtually or in person, we’d like to invite you to explore our campus and all that the University of Wyoming has to offer! From our virtual tour to our on-campus visit programs, there are plenty of ways to learn more about UW as you begin making your college list.

Schedule an in-person campus visit and tour

Join a UW Ambassador session online

Take a virtual tour WAYS