THE MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING Volume 23, Number 2, Winter 2022
NEW INITIATIVES SET THE STAGE FOR SUCCESS
Trailblazers Together
eir adventure began in 1968, when David was researching Fort Fetterman for his history degree. It was at Coe Library where he met Janice, a well-organized young librarian who was also pursuing her degree through UW. Together, the Robrocks traced the routes of early trailblazers along U.S. highways, prioritized their savings, and later in life named UW a bene ciary in their bank and retirement accounts, ensuring their Wyoming legacy would support students for generations to come.
An Innovative Partnership to Serve Wyoming
The Wyoming Innovation Partnership brings the state’s community colleges and UW together for economic and workforce development.
A Statewide Hub for Businesses
The new Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation serves as the front door for business creation and growth.
Growing Tourism
The Wyoming Outdoor Recreation, Tourism and Hospitality Center aims to serve the state’s second-largest economic sector.
Computing for the Future
The new School of Computing aims to prepare students, propel research and foster workforce development.
Fostering Student Success
New programming aims to help students transition, stay in college and graduate on time.
In December, the UW Department of Theatre and Dance put on These Shining Lives, directed by Patrick Konesko. Pictured here, student actors Katarina (Kat) Tyler and Seth Palmquist.
UWyo
Winter 2022 | Volume 23 Number 2 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, Hallie Davis, Casidy Mittelstadt
Photography: All photos by Ted Brummond and Kyle Spradley unless otherwise noted
Contributing Editors: Chad Baldwin, Tamara Linse
Contributing Writers: Cassidy Biggs, Michelle Sunset, UW Communications
AlumNews/WyoGrams: Christine Henschler, Emma Petersen
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. ©2022 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
1000 East University Ave., Dept. 3226 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: Student Colin Prosser mountain bikes at the Pilot Hill Recreation Area, east of Laramie. Learn more about UW’s efforts to grow recreation, hospitality and tourism in the state on page 30.
With Plans in Place, UW is Ready to Reach New Heights
By Ed Seidel
In my last president’s message in the September 2021 issue of UWyo Magazine, I provided some details of my administration’s plan to make the University of Wyoming a best-in-class, 21st century land-grant university true to its Wyoming roots. I’m delighted to report that UW’s Board of Trustees, Gov. Mark Gordon and others have endorsed key components of this plan, setting the stage for changes that will help the university achieve its full potential even during a time of uncertain state revenues.
In this issue of the magazine, you’ll read more about the new initiatives I mentioned previously: the Wyoming Innovation Partnership with the state’s community colleges; the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation; the Wyoming Outdoor Recreation, Tourism and Hospitality (WORTH) Center; and our new School of Computing. I’m excited that the governor has allocated federal American Rescue Plan funding to help launch these interrelated programs, which will work in concert to also achieve the objectives of UW’s existing Tier-1 Engineering Initiative and Top-Tier Science Initiative.
In this issue, you can also learn more about our academic reorganization plan approved in November by the Board of Trustees. It not only reallocates funding to help support the new initiatives, but also positions the university to reduce administrative overhead; better serve students; and organize better for research competitiveness and corporate partnerships. We are now beginning a strategic planning process to assure that, as the restructuring unfolds over the next year and a half, the changes will be implemented in a way that maximizes opportunities while avoiding unintended consequences.
While I couldn’t be more optimistic about where these changes will take us, we all recognize that, in many respects, our work is just beginning. We have created a strong framework to move the university forward, and now we must execute the plans. We’ll only be successful through the combined efforts of our faculty, staff, students, alumni, elected leaders, private and public partners, and other supporters.
Change is often difficult, so it’s reasonable to expect that we’ll encounter some bumps along the new path we’ve chosen. But I’m confident that we’re headed in the right direction, and that we’ll navigate through any issues if we keep in mind the outcomes we all desire.
First and foremost, we are intent upon improving the
experiences and preparation of UW’s students. For example, the School of Computing and the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation are about infusing digital literacy, computing savvy and an entrepreneurial mindset across all of our academic programs. We want our graduates to possess the skills to succeed in an increasingly complex global marketplace—and to become leaders and innovators right here in Wyoming to help grow and diversify the state’s economy. And it’s not just about the IT sector—innovation and computing are needed in every market, from agriculture and energy to tourism and hospitality!
In addition to helping build a workforce to support existing and new business in the state, we also aim for the university to play a larger role as an innovation engine for the state’s economy—supporting and training entrepreneurs and new business startups, growing research, and enhancing technology transfer and commercialization. For example, WORTH has tremendous potential to fulfill the existing needs of the state’s second-largest economic sector while helping private and public entities expand into new business opportunities related to outdoor recreation, tourism and hospitality. Similar opportunities exist in biotechnology and blockchain, as well as data science, artificial intelligence and their applications to all other fields.
As I’ve noted previously, we’ll be working hard to generate new and enhanced revenue sources from federal agencies, corporate partners and others. That will be essential to achieve our ambition of moving from R2 to R1 status in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. More importantly, it will help us 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 world; and better serve the people, communities and industries of the state.
We truly appreciate the extensive input and interest from UW’s various stakeholders that has helped establish the roadmap endorsed by the Board of Trustees, the governor and others. Now, please join us as we move forward to make Wyoming’s university the best it can be.
Ed Seidel is the 28th president of the University of Wyoming.
• 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/sppais
uwyo.edu/pols
WYOMING BLOCKCHAIN STAMPEDE TAPS TOP LEADERS
STUDENT EXPEDITION INTO KEMMERER FOSSIL FISH QUARRIES
Laura Vietti, museum and collections manager for the UW Geological Museum, took some of her students on a trip back in time to Wyoming’s Green River Formation in July, where Eocene-era fish once swam; bats and birds flew; and giant mammals and crocodiles roamed. “The fossil lake sediments preserved in the Green River Formation preserve some of the best fossils in the world,” Vietti says. “The unique environment of the fossil lake prevented scavenging and promoted quick burial, which led to fossils preserved in great detail including scales, feathers, insect wings, flowers and more. One of my primary goals of the field trip was to educate my students on the past Eocene lake environments and how they evolved through time.”
The fourth annual Wyoming Blockchain Stampede and WyoHackathon took place at UW in September over six days. In Wyoming, innovative companies can find support, talent and favorable legislation. Chairperson Caitlin Long, CEO of Avanti Bank, is credited with cultivating favorable legislation establishing the state as the progressive leader in blockchain policy. Long joined other keynote speakers, including Gov. Mark Gordon, and industry innovators. The week’s events included a Startup Stampede and the Sandcastle Invitational for promising startup companies; a chance for legislators to hear testimony from the public on opportunities to improve the blockchain laws; a conversation between National Science Foundation Director Sethuraman Panchanathan and UW President Ed Seidel ahead of a Future Forward panel featuring blockchain leaders from around the country; breakout conferences on law, finance and business as they relate to blockchain; a DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) Day diving into what DAOs are and the role they will play in our future; and a Stampede Developers Conference to prepare for the WyoHackathon, followed by the hackathon itself, offering challenges and bounties for developers, entrepreneurs and business professionals.
FISHER INNOVATION LAUNCHPAD ANNOUNCES SIX FINALISTS
In October six innovative businesses—ranging from a company that focuses on increasing outdoor recreational opportunities to one that reduces atmospheric carbon dioxide levels through the use of biomass—were announced as finalists in the Fisher Innovation Launchpad, a business startup competition hosted by IMPACT 307, UW’s network of business incubators. The entrepreneurial contest is supported by a financial gift from Donne and Sue Fisher, the launchpad’s namesake. The finalists are UW students, faculty and entrepreneurs who will compete for seed funding to grow their businesses. Teams then made their presentations during the Fisher Innovation Launchpad Pitch Day, Nov. 30. “The Fisher Innovation Launchpad has always been a phenomenal platform that allows UW students to solve real-world problems with their ideas and passions, and the sixth year of the competition is no different,” says Fred Schmechel, interim director of IMPACT 307. “These teams continue the tradition of putting UW’s best foot forward as we improve the world.”
PHOTO BY CLAUDIA RICHBOURG
BOOKS IN STORE
The University Store (uwyostore.com) is home to a large selection of books by Wyoming authors and about Wyoming. Steamboat, Legendary Bucking Horse by Candy Vyvey Moulton and Flossie Moulton presents the story behind the horse whose likeness is the symbol of Wyoming. The book traces the history of the bucking horse from its youth on the Two Bar outfit of the Swan Land and Cattle Co. through its rise to the undisputed world champion bucking horse. Wild Migrations is an atlas of Wyoming’s ungulates (with multiple authors) telling the story of the long-distance migrations that elk, mule deer, moose, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, bison and mountain goats make each spring and fall across the landscapes of the American West. Never Leaving Laramie, Travels in a Restless World follows the story of John Haines as he spent the better part of two decades traveling the world until 1999 when everything changed after a fall. The Day the Whistle Blew takes place in a 1940s coal town, tiny Stansbury, Wyo. In this memoir, Marilyn Nesbit Wood writes honestly and compellingly of mines and miners, company towns, coal camp kids, and miners’ wives, providing a searing story of survival and acceptance.
11.5%
The number of firsttime students from Wyoming attending UW grew by 11.5 percent this fall, driving an overall 3.7 percent increase in UW’s first-time headcount.
965
In September, the men’s rodeo team broke its school record for most points at a single rodeo, scoring a whopping 965 team points (just 35 points away from an unheard-of 1,000 team points for a Central Rocky Mountain Region rodeo) at the Chadron State College rodeo.
$600,000
The Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources received a gift of $600,000 from the Tomé Foundation to create the Tomé Scholars to Fellows Program.
$2.4 million
The seventh annual UW Giving Day in October broke records, raising $2.4+ million from more than 3,600 donors to support studentfacing programs from 108 separate campus campaigns.
RESEARCH UNDER WAY
Name that research
Researchers Lead Study of Chronic Wasting Disease in Mule Deer
Details, please
Holly Ernest, Wyoming Excellence Chair in Disease Ecology in the Department of Veterinary Sciences and the Program in Ecology, was part of a research group that examined a single genetic mutation tied to slowing the progression of chronic wasting disease in mule deer. Ernest is senior and corresponding author of a paper, titled “Spatio-temporal Analyses Reveal Infectious Disease-Driven Selection in a Free-Ranging Ungulate,” that was published Aug. 11 in Royal Society Open Science. The lead author of the paper is Melanie LaCava, a recent UW Ph.D. graduate in the Program in Ecology and Department of Veterinary Sciences. This study was part of LaCava’s dissertation research.
Researchers Create Earthquake System Model With Better Detection Capabilities
Mruk Receives NIH R21 Grant to Study Spinal Cord Regeneration
Two UW researchers developed a machine learning model that improves the accuracy of detecting earthquakes by 14.5 percent compared to the most accurate current existing model. Pejman Tahmasebi, an associate professor in the UW College of Engineering and Applied Science, led a study that proposed a method that is more efficient in detecting seismic activity. Tahmasebi is corresponding author of a paper titled “Attention-Based LSTM-FCN for Earthquake Detection and Location” that was published Oct. 5 in Geophysical Journal International. Tao Bai, a fourthyear Ph.D. student in the UW College of Engineering and Applied Science, is the paper’s lead author. Bai programmed the software for this research.
Karen Mruk, UW assistant professor of pharmaceutical science, focuses on spinal cord regeneration and how a zebrafish regenerates to learn more about how that information can apply to humans. She recently received a two-year $362,494 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH Exploratory/Development Research Grant (R21) was awarded for Mruk’s project, titled “RNA-Based Tools for Developmental and Regenerative Biology.” The grant is a collaboration with Maureen McKeague, an assistant professor of chemistry at McGill University located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Mruk and McKeague will develop tools—called riboswitches—that will allow them to control translation of mRNA into protein in a vertebrate animal.
School of Energy Resources, Williams Cos. Join Forces on Hydrogen Project
The UW School of Energy Resources (SER) and The Williams Cos. Inc. have forged a partnership based on a mutual desire to invest in and explore new energy ventures for Wyoming—especially in hydrogen and carbon capture. Williams, based in Tulsa, Okla., was awarded a grant by the Wyoming Energy Authority to support efforts to develop a hydrogen production and transportation hub in the southwest part of the state. The Wyoming Hydrogen Pilot Project will research hydrogen production from renewable energy sources. Williams will evaluate the impact of hydrogen on its local assets to include its pipelines in southwest Wyoming. The feasibility study is in partnership with SER, as a subawardee, to evaluate water access and compatibility needed for hydrogen production.
To read more about these research projects and many others, visit uwyo.edu/news.
PHOTO CREDITS (TOP TO BOTTOM): HOLLY ERNEST, PEJMAN TAHMASEBI, UW PHOTO (2)
UW TRUSTEES APPROVE ACADEMIC REORGANIZATION
By UW Communications
A major reorganization of the University of Wyoming’s academic programs will proceed as outlined by the university’s administration, following votes of support by UW’s Board of Trustees in November.
After months of development informed by thorough review and feedback from internal and external stakeholders, the board approved plans setting in motion changes that will position the university for a vibrant future at a time of uncertain state revenues, economic shifts and a changing higher-education landscape. Some changes will take effect by the end of this fiscal year; others won’t be fully implemented until on or before July 1, 2023.
“We appreciate the board’s support of our vision for UW, and we are ready to move forward with these changes and work with our various stakeholders to make this the best university it can be,” UW President Ed Seidel
says. “I couldn’t be more excited for the future of Wyoming’s university.”
The Board of Trustees voted in favor of the proposal from Seidel and Provost and Executive Vice President Kevin Carman to reorganize the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Agriculture and Natural Resources, and Engineering and Applied Science to better align the life and physical sciences and the humanities, social sciences and arts. That will involve the movement of several academic departments, and eventually renaming the colleges. The changes will be made on or before July 1, 2023, in conjunction with a strategic planning process that involves more discussion with the affected units and their stakeholders.
“This process will allow us to make sure the reorganization positions the university for a prosperous future,” Carman says. “We will have a robust discussion over the next year to carefully consider optimal alignments while minimizing unintended negative consequences of restructuring.”
The board also approved a reorganization of the College of Education effective July 1, 2022. The college will have three divisions: one focused on educator preparation; one for graduate education; and one for innovation and engagement. Enrollment will be suspended for two graduate degree programs—the Ph.D. in counseling and the Ph.D. in learning, design and technology—while discussions take place to determine how they can be continued in the reorganized college.
Trustees voted to eliminate these lowenrollment graduate programs: the Master of Arts in philosophy, the MBA in finance, the MBA in energy and the Ph.D. in statistics.
The board’s other action was to allow for discussion over the next year regarding the move of the Human Development and Family Sciences, and Design, Merchandising and Textiles programs, currently in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, with a final recommendation to the board in January 2023.
While the proposed reorganizations were driven, in part, by budget considerations, the anticipated savings—about $2 million annually— will not achieve the reductions necessary to respond to the drop in state funding and
reallocated resources for new initiatives. Those include establishment of a School of Computing, a Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI), and the Wyoming Outdoor Recreation, Tourism and Hospitality (WORTH) Center, which are integral to the new Wyoming Innovation Partnership (WIP) involving UW and the state’s community colleges.
As a result, working with UW college deans, the Office of Academic Affairs has separately developed a budget reduction plan that achieves a $5.3 million reduction to academic programs— including elimination of 20-25 faculty positions that have been vacated by resignations and retirements. Additional proposed reductions and revenue enhancements that will be refined during UW’s regular budget process for the coming fiscal year include academic policy efficiencies, consolidations in auxiliary units, and reductions in employee travel and supplies.
“We’re happy that we have been able to achieve our budget targets without eliminating currently filled faculty positions, and our deans are focused on making strategic decisions to position their colleges to best serve our students and the state,” Seidel says. “We’re excited to move forward with our plans to improve the student experience and help grow and diversify the state’s economy.”
Stay tuned for additional information on the reorganization plans in future issues of UWyo Magazine
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A Q
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES DEAN
Camellia Moses Okpodu
This past June, an accomplished scientist and administrator stepped into her new role as dean of the University of Wyoming College of Arts and Sciences. Camellia Moses Okpodu previously served as Xavier University of Louisiana’s College of Arts and Sciences dean. Before that, she spent 15 years at Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Va. She earned her Ph.D. in plant physiology and biochemistry from North Carolina State University, and her research has focused on environmental topics, including climate change, sea-level rise, coastal resiliency, and agriculture.
What drew you to this deanship?
I have a National Science Foundation grant with an emphasis on diversifying the geosciences, so UW’s emphasis in environmental research as well as the geosciences appealed to me. When I read the job description, it sounded like exactly my skill set. I had opportunities at other places, but this was my top choice. I liked the land-grant mission and the rural setting.
What are your goals as dean?
It’s a very capable college with outstanding faculty, but maybe we haven’t really packaged it in a way that other people see all the good going on here.
I’m one of those people who believe we should give the best to our constituents and stakeholders. We need to be a center of excellence for faculty, staff and students.
My No. 1 goal is to produce highquality graduates to be able to compete in the global market but also to create an environment where they’ll be more entrepreneurial and want to stay in the state.
For my faculty and staff, my focus is going to be well-being. My philosophy is that if you don’t have a
healthy faculty, you can’t have a healthy university. We need to think about what’s going on with people as they move through tenure and how to make sure people feel safe and appreciated. We need to realize we’re responsible for each other. The writer Maya Angelou has a saying: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
What do you love about Wyoming?
I like the openness of the people and the camaraderie among the faculty. Coming here to the West, I’m learning things I didn’t know about. I’m really interested in dry farming and how climate change will influence farming techniques.
I learned about Empire, Wyo. (a town founded in 1908 by African American settlers who used dryland farming techniques). I grew up on Empire Road, so the name is really apropos. I’m trying to learn things in an ethno-botany way, like did they ever culture okra? I do some of my research on okra and am still trying to figure out how to do that here.
I also have a creative side. I have done a lot of community theater, I love to write (prose and poetry), and I recently joined the UW’s Civic Chorus. This summer I went to the State Fair in Douglas and had so much fun. I also went to the Snowy Mountains, and I kept thinking, why don’t more people know about this? It’s beautiful.
Camellia Okpodu in the Williams Conservatory.
&
A Q
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION DEAN Scott Thomas
In July, Scott Thomas became the first John P. “Jack” Ellbogen Dean of the University of Wyoming’s College of Education. Last year, the John P. Ellbogen Foundation provided the gift to establish the endowed deanship, the first of its kind at UW. Thomas’ past roles include dean of the University of Vermont’s College of Education and Social Services and dean of the School of Educational Studies at Claremont Graduate University, where he also served as vice president of strategy and academic planning. He holds a Ph.D. in education policy, leadership and research methods from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His areas of expertise include higher education finance, policy and organizations; the sociology of education; and statistical modeling.
What drew you to this deanship?
First, UW is the only university in the state. The College of Education has a very central role in Wyoming. It presents a level of responsibility that you won’t find in any other state. The state’s small population also speaks to my interest in rural education and college opportunity. The network of seven (soon to be eight) community colleges round out Wyoming’s higher-education system and provide opportunities for outreach and a set
of pathways to higher education.
The state’s investment in endowed chairs in literacy, science and math education is huge, as are the Trustees Education Initiative and Wyoming School-University Partnership. The significant prestige and resources realized through the generous endowing of this position provide a potent catalyst for these valuable assets. Taken together, these resources create a rich potential for innovation and entrepreneurialism in the college
and across Wyoming. These features also provide a robust portfolio for advancing student learning and education excellence in the state.
What are your goals as dean?
Wyoming’s public education system should be second to none by 2030. My first and primary goal is to support the college in our shared goal of preparing exceptionally skilled educators for Wyoming schools. The goal is to prepare new teachers and educational leaders who will start out strong, produce positive outcomes for their students and grow in their profession across time.
We’re a land-grant research university, so it’s important that this work is research-informed and applied widely throughout the state. It also needs to be continually assessed and improved to assure we’re meeting the needs of students, families and communities across Wyoming. I think through this our impact will be more powerful across Wyoming while elevating our national distinction as a college.
This only happens through the outstanding students, faculty and staff that form our college community. It’s essential that we find new ways to support their great work while continuing to encourage their smart ideas and ambitions.
What do you love about Wyoming?
First, our deep sense of community. Second, I know Wyomingites pride themselves on independence. I appreciate that our independence is based on a tight network of relationships and trust.
I also love the wide-open spaces and no traffic. I’m an outdoor nut, so excellent skiing, road biking, mountain biking, a ton of other year-round outdoor activities are real pluses. Those are some of the reasons I love being here.
Scott Thomas in front of the Education Building.
A QHAUB SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENT
NATURAL RESOURCES DEAN
AND
John Koprowski
Last September, UW’s Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources welcomed new Dean John Koprowski, who formerly directed the University of Arizona’s School of Natural Resources and the Environment. A fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, The Wildlife Society and the Linnean Society of London, he holds a Ph.D. in biology from the University of Kansas, a master’s degree in zoology and wildlife ecology from Southern Illinois University, and a bachelor’s degree in zoology and wildlife biology from Ohio State University. Here, we spoke with Koprowski about his new role and vision for the school.
What drew you to this deanship?
The opportunity to make a difference in our future. The Haub School is so well positioned to have impact. Diverse expertise and broad-based approaches to engage in the most challenging issues faced on our wild and working lands have long been a signature of the school faculty and staff in topics ranging from wildlife conservation and &
food security to land management and the carbon economy.
What are your current goals as dean?
My ultimate goal is to maximize the impact of the Haub School on the future of UW and Wyoming. A 21st century land-grant university must have a strong interdisciplinary and collaborative
approach to the environment and natural resources. I want to be certain to empower students to address the pressing needs and emerging issues to ensure a future of sustainable landscapes and livelihoods. I look to continue to grow our student body and to provide immersive experiences in the field. We are working to connect more with the economy of our state through new collaborative efforts such as the Wyoming Outdoor Recreation, Tourism and Hospitality (WORTH) Initiative and joint ventures on the challenges of the carbon economy and energy transition (see page 30)—all of this while continuing our diverse portfolio of existing applied research that permits data-informed decision making on our natural resources and quality of life.
What do you love about Wyoming?
I love the fact that all Wyomingites have a connection to the land for recreation or livelihood in ways that enrich our lives. No matter our differences, we are joined in an appreciation for Wyoming’s landscapes and an economy that is intimately connected to these lands. We can share stories of a Wyoming sunset across the mountains or plains spent with a loved one, a stately pronghorn buck surprised while we hike alone over a rolling hilltop, a trout caught with our grandparents, or a job where we get to drive across our beautiful lands on the way to and from work. Making a difference is easier when we are reminded that we start with much in common.
John Koprowski at Vedauwoo Recreation Area.
What drew you to this job at SER?
First and foremost, the people I already knew from SER convinced me to apply. They are well respected in the research community and also individuals who are humble, respectful and dedicated to a common cause—impacting the state in which they live for the better. The group is particularly strong in the field of carbon capture, use and storage— a technology class about which I am particularly passionate and with which I’ve been engaged my entire career. It is a wonderful opportunity for me, and I’m grateful every day for the chance to make a lasting, tangible impact.
What are your goals as director?
Our mission at SER is energy-driven economic development for Wyoming.
SCHOOL OF ENERGY RESOURCES DIRECTOR
Holly Krutka
In March, a scientist and administrator who spent much of her career advancing carbon capture took the reins as director of the University of Wyoming’s School of Energy Resources (SER). Holly Krutka most recently served as vice president for coal generation and emissions technologies with Peabody. She holds a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Oklahoma. Prior to Peabody, Krutka served as a senior research and development analyst for TriState Generation and Transmission; as executive editor of Cornerstone, the official journal of the world coal industry; and as a research scientist and senior research engineer with ADA Environmental Solutions.
My central goal as executive director is to keep the team focused on this mission and give them the support and resources they need to deliver for the state. More specifically, I want our team to support development of a commercial CO2 capture project. That technology is ready to be demonstrated at the commercial level. Another goal is the near-term demonstration of a novel process that creates non-energy products from Wyoming coal. In addition, we aim to identify emerging energy-research areas that could be particularly helpful for the state, such as hydrogen production, transportation and storage; rare earth elements and critical minerals; and much more.
In addition, I would also like to increase the focus on collaborative
academic offerings to educate more students around critical energy issues. SER’s undergraduate major and its two concentrations are highly interdisciplinary, and our graduates have outstanding placement outcomes. Now we are offering a minor as well.
What do you love about Wyoming?
I love so much about Wyoming. I love that there’s no traffic, that I feel safe, that folks are respectful and down to earth and that people here want to be here. Most of all, despite my busy life, I love that Wyoming uniquely gives me the chance to slow down and be in the great outdoors with my family. Moving here from a larger city, I am deeply appreciative of all Wyoming has to offer.
Holly Krutka in front of the Energy Innovation Center.
Turns 100
The year 2021 marked the University Store’s 100th year serving the University of Wyoming community. Here are some fun facts about this beloved university destination.
Location, Location
When it opened as the “University Book Store” in 1921, it was housed in the Arts Building, which was originally located where the Biological and Physical Sciences buildings are now, just north of Old Main.
More Than Textbooks
Services provided by the bookstore quickly grew to include school and office supplies, snacks and greeting cards. The University Store has always sold products relevant to the time. Some of the popular items it sold in the past include pantyhose, hair nets, typewriters and typewriter supplies, and quill pens.
On the Move
By 1960, the bookstore had outgrown its space in the Arts Building and relocated to the newly constructed Ross Hall, occupying the space that is now Rendezvous Cafe. When the Wyoming Union was expanded in 1973, the store moved to its current location. It was extensively remodeled in 2000.
Changing With the Times
To reflect the broad range of services it provides, the store was rebranded in 2013 as the University Store. It serves the campus and visitors with textbooks and course materials, art and lab supplies, books, UWlicensed gifts and apparel, commencement regalia and office supplies, along with being an Apple-authorized campus store.
AN INNOVATIVE PARTNERSHIP WYOMING TO SERVE
The Wyoming Innovation Partnership brings the state’s community colleges and UW together for economic and workforce development.
By Micaela Myers
The saying goes that Wyoming is a small town with long streets—the idea being that despite the wide-open spaces that separate us, we’re all connected. The concept applies to the new Wyoming Innovation Partnership (WIP), a collaboration among the University of Wyoming and the state’s community colleges—endorsed by Gov. Mark Gordon—to develop innovative solutions that will support and enhance Wyoming’s economy and workforce.
“WIP is an opportunity for Wyoming’s higher education institutions to take a collaborative approach to addressing the state’s workforce needs and supporting economic growth,” Gordon says. “This unified effort is the first of its kind for higher education collaboration in Wyoming and will provide new opportunities for students and additional
WIP supports the Wyoming Investment in Nursing program. Pictured here, Casper College students Savanna Pehringer and Ashley Green.
PHOTO COURTESY OF CASPER COLLEGE
opportunities for the people of Wyoming. We are going to help students navigate a changing marketplace, equip them with market-demanded experience and encourage and support entrepreneurship. WIP is a chance for Wyoming to utilize its resources to build a better economic future.”
This means UW and the community colleges coming together on a number of fronts—from academic offerings to support for entrepreneurs and existing businesses. Rather than a local college trying to meet a local need, efforts will focus statewide with unified goals. Federal American Rescue Plan funding—with Gordon’s allocation of $27 million—will help cover the first year of WIP.
“WIP is a framework for collaboration that will focus on what higher education can offer to build on and complement existing state efforts,” Gordon says. “A unified effort will have a larger impact by allowing the state to better focus its resources.”
Working Together
“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,” says UW President Ed Seidel. “We have an opportunity to truly move the needle for Wyoming’s economy as we collaborate with the community colleges, private and federal partners, and others.”
The Wyoming Community College Commission aims to provide coordination for the community college system and has been very involved in WIP, which is led by the college presidents and the governor’s office. Executive Director Sandra Caldwell says WIP is a great opportunity for the
state to advance economic development and entrepreneurship through the collaboration.
“The colleges and university continue to show how well they work together to impact the state, including collaborating with the governor’s office, business and industry, community partners and the K–12 system,” Caldwell says.
“WIP is intended to support the state’s overall economic vision set forth by the Wyoming Business Council and support education attainment goals developed by the state, allowing the state to better focus its resources to assist both existing industries and areas identified as having significant growth potential. WIP has the capacity to move forward successfully to benefit Wyoming’s economic development and innovation due to the hard work over the last several years with efforts such as the WyoTransfer process, articulation
and the attainment work, which established a strong foundation for WIP to be successful and impact Wyoming for generations.”
UW Associate Vice President of Economic Development Steven Farkas serves as WIP’s executive director. He explains that the effort began with a thorough understanding of what resources and educational opportunities are currently available. From there, they’re working on developing programmatic activities aligned with the state’s economic agenda and key economic sectors, such as energy, agriculture, advanced manufacturing, health care, hospitality and tourism, entrepreneurship and building a new economy, and computing and digital applications across sectors. These activities must produce measured outcomes, Farkas says, such as business growth and
Above: Gov. Mark Gordon speaks to welding career students at Puma Steel in September.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF GOV. MARK GORDON
Left: Wyonics cofounder Kristin Di Bona. The scientific innovation company started at UW and recently received a Department of Energy Small Business Innovation Research grant.
recruitment, increased access to capital, sponsored projects and research, graduate retention and enhanced industry partnerships. Because of WIP, new UW-led efforts such as the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (page 26), the Wyoming Outdoor Recreation, Tourism and Hospitality Center (page 30) and the School of Computing (page 36) also emerged.
Workforce Development
“It’s going to be critical that all the state’s entities that drive economic development are moving in the same
“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,” Seidel says. “Statistics show that more than 70 percent of UW graduates leave the state, a significantly higher number than all of our neighboring states. 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.”
direction,” Gordon says. “We want more college graduates staying in Wyoming, and to do that we need to ensure we are creating educational opportunities for both traditional and nontraditional students, including adults seeking new careers.”
This includes an emphasis on workforce development in highpotential areas for the state.
Benjamin Moritz serves as deputy director of the Wyoming Community College Commission. He co-chairs WIP’s programmatic subcommittee with UW Vice Provost for Enrollment Management Kyle Moore. Their subcommittee focuses on creating or expanding programs that positively impact the economy and economic development.
“One of the most, I hope, lasting impacts of this work is a level of collaboration, respect and trust across the institutions as we discuss how
we jointly can have an impact on the workforce and the economy of the state as a whole,” Moritz says. “There’s more collaboration and consensus-building because there’s no existing program that anyone is lobbying for. Instead, everyone is bringing all the ideas to the table. That’s one of the exciting things.”
One goal is to create collaborative academic programs, putting aside issues such as which institution gets credit for a class and making transferring credits easy. Organizers have identified third-party programs that make course sharing easier. So instead of a resident having to choose between moving or foregoing further education, that person can access courses right in his or her own community. Virtual reality technology also plays a part, allowing students to virtually utilize expensive equipment that may only be available at one location. An example is advanced manufacturing equipment, Moritz says.
“It’s amazing what technology can do these days,” he says. “Now you can be on the other side of the state using virtual reality to do diesel technology and work on an engine located elsewhere. We’ve done that a little, but we need the investment to take it large scale.”
Casper College President Darren Divine also serves as president of the Wyoming Community College Presidents, where he acts as the official spokesperson for the state’s now-eight community colleges. “Historically, in Wyoming and most other states, workforce and economic development efforts are undertaken at individual campuses, or perhaps a small collection of nearby campuses, with little to no coordination with the other higher education institutions in the state,” he says. “This current effort, including and coordinating the voices from all of the colleges as well as the university and working alongside various business
Course sharing and using virtual technology to share equipment are some of WIP’s academic aims.
Pictured here: Casper College student Sarah Steed.
PHOTO COURTESY OF CASPER COLLEGE
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groups around the state, is a new and exciting approach to workforce and economic development in Wyoming.”
Divine echoes Seidel regarding the lack of job opportunities in graduates’ preferred fields. “While UW as well as the colleges offer a wonderfully wide array of degree programs to choose from, many times there are no job opportunities in those areas for graduates to pursue once they graduate thus forcing them to leave the state to pursue their career goals. This effort will help align current and future business growth to match up with current educational opportunities to hopefully increase the number and diversity of career opportunities for our graduates, no matter their field of study.”
One example of a WIP collaboration took place last spring when 20 students from various Wyoming colleges gained hands-on training in software development via a two-week online intensive. It was used to pilot an innovative software development program through a partnership involving Cardiff University in Wales, United Kingdom, UW, Wyoming community colleges and industry partners. During the program that was aimed at preparing Wyoming residents to participate in the 21st century workforce and diversify the state’s economy, students worked on a short software development project with Trihydro Corp., an environmental engineering consulting firm based in Laramie.
UW has entered a memorandum of understanding with Cardiff University to cultivate academic and cultural interchange. This agreement will make available to Wyoming students an applied software development degree based on a curriculum offered by Cardiff’s School of Computer Science and Informatics. UW and the state’s community colleges are working with
“We have an opportunity to truly move the needle for Wyoming’s economy as we collaborate with the community colleges, private and federal partners, and others.”
-- Ed Seidel
Cardiff and industry partners toward initially offering a two-year degree in software development that will provide a pathway to a bachelor’s degree.
“This partnership with external partners such as Cardiff, Wyoming community colleges and industry is an example of the type of program that can make a real difference in workforce and economic development in the state,” Seidel says.
Another example includes entrepreneurship curriculum, which you can read about in the feature on the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (page 26).
Economic Expansion
Farkas says that, in addition to workforce development, WIP is also focusing on workforce retention. For example, if workers in an extractive industry lose their jobs, they may need retraining or credentialing to transfer to a new sector rather than moving out of state.
“As we think about those traditional sectors, we think about what skills are transferrable and where are the gaps, so that we—as part of the highereducation consortium—can identify those gaps, develop programmatic activities and hopefully preemptively provide training to those transitioning workforce members to be aligned with emerging industries,” Farkas says.
A similar two-pronged approach applies to helping entrepreneurs and
aiding existing businesses.
“Most individuals that think about entrepreneurship usually do so in the context of new business creation,” Farkas says. “The real opportunities are how do we take those same resources and adapt them to support our existing business communities. So when we think about the pandemic and the strain it’s put on the state’s industries, companies are having to think very differently about how they align themselves with new marketplace demands. These new demands are requiring companies to adapt and innovate by adopting an intrapreneurial mindset.”
Farkas sees WIP and the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation as the conduit for sharing best practices. “The idea here is to lean on the institutions—UW and the community colleges—so they really become hubs for these activities,” he says. These entities will all have access to the same information and can efficiently point businesses or entrepreneurs to the right resources around the state, such as continuing education, applied research, business incubators, tech transfer, the Small Business Development Council and others. You can read more about this effort starting on page 26.
Gordon says, “We want to create more opportunities for people to live and work in Wyoming in both core and new industries that lead to higher earnings and a stronger state. To do this, we will need to better connect local economic and community development plans to the state’s goals and plans. There will be a focused effort to develop programs or initiatives at institutions of higher education having significant growth potential. New opportunities reside in growing our existing business communities, concurrent with activating new and complementary businesses through the partnership.”
Dr. Angie O’Hearn, who runs The Visiting Vet in Casper, consulted with the Wyoming Small Business Development Center Network. COURTESY PHOTO
Adam Pauli’s company Symmetry Trailers—one of the Casper Start-Up Challenge winners—builds custom offroad capable camp trailers for the overland community. COURTESY PHOTO
COURTESY PHOTO
COURTESY PHOTO
The new Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation serves as the front door for business creation and growth.
A Statewide Hub for Businesses
By Micaela Myers
Whether you own an existing business you want to grow, have an idea for a new business or product, or are a student wanting to study entrepreneurship, Wyoming offers many resources. However, in the past, these resources were scattered like puzzle pieces across the state. Bringing them all together and filling in the missing pieces is the mission of the new Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI), led by the University of Wyoming and enabled through the efforts of the Wyoming Innovation Partnership (page 29).
“The Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation will serve as the hub for entrepreneurship education and practice, supporting the teaching of entrepreneurial skills across all disciplines; providing experiential programs for students; and engaging in statewide outreach,” says UW President Ed Seidel. “Specifically, 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.”
Resources for Businesses and Entrepreneurs Through the Wyoming Business Resource Network, the UW Office of Research and Economic Development and the Wyoming Business Council collaborate with other partners to assist state businesses through a variety of existing programs, including the Wyoming Procurement Technical Assistance Center to help businesses grow through government contracting; Manufacturing Works to provide broad technical assistance; the Market Research Center to answer market questions regarding topics such as customers and competitors; the Wyoming Technology Transfer and Research Products Center to assist with intellectual property; the Wyoming SBIR/STTR Initiative to aid access to funding from the Small Business Innovative Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs; the Wyoming Small Business Development Center with offices throughout the state to provide basic business education; and IMPACT 307, a growing statewide business incubator program that focuses on high-growth-oriented companies. IMPACT 307 currently has facilities in Laramie, Casper and Sheridan but will be expanding to all community college cities (adding Cheyenne, Gillette, Powell, Riverton, Rock Springs, Torrington) as well as Evanston and Rawlins under the Wyoming Innovation Partnership.
CEI leverages these existing investments and aims to grow them and other needed programs in a coordinated fashion with state entities and community colleges to provide ease of
Far left: Fisher Innovation Launchpad winner Resono Pressure Systems is located in Laramie’s Wyoming Technology Business Center and partners with NASA and the Air Force. Pictured here, Patric Shea with a wind tunnel model of the Space Launch System.
Courtesy Photo. Left: UW Student Alex Balogun (right) during the 2018 John P. Ellbogen $50K Entrepreneurship Competition.
Cameron Schoening (left) took the Entrepreneurship Essentials coursework. Here, he speaks to Gov. Mark Gordon, UW President Ed Seidel and others about his new business, Par 4 Golf.
access for residents. “I see CEI as the front door, the gateway, so an individual knows where to go to and what that resource landscape looks like,” says UW Associate Vice President of Economic Development Steven Farkas. “The Wyoming Innovation Partnership enables these collaborative activities. It provides the governance and structure to ensure these programs are done in a coordinated way with the community colleges.”
The aim is to enable and sustain new business creation from start through ongoing growth.
Laramie County Community College President Joe Schaffer is excited about bringing IMPACT 307 offerings to Cheyenne via Laramie County Community College.
“Entrepreneurship has become increasingly important in Laramie County and statewide, because we’re going to continue to struggle to recruit our way to economic diversification,” Schaffer says. “Our path is likely to have a strong focus on helping the people here start businesses and grow small business.”
The Forward Greater Cheyenne initiative showed the need for business and entrepreneurship support. Laramie County
Community College added entrepreneurship and business planning coursework and then broadened offerings out into the community via the 2022 Southeast Wyoming Innovation Launchpad in partnership with IMPACT 307 and other local partners. This startup challenge focuses on Albany and Laramie counties and is one of many offered throughout the state. The launchpads give entrepreneurs the early funding needed to move their ideas forward and provide guidance via a process called Lean Launchpad.
Schaffer looks forward to bringing more IMPACT 307 programming to Laramie County because businesses and entrepreneurs need mentoring and support. “My biggest hope is that it continues to build out this entrepreneurial ecosystem in Cheyenne,” he says. “It takes this idea of a Center of Entrepreneurship and Innovation away from it being a UW Laramie center to it being a Wyoming center with sites and resources across the state.”
The Wyoming Innovation Partnership is a recognition that if we all share a vision and a common goal, we can come together to share resources, Schaffer says. “We have very hard-working independent folks in Wyoming, many of whom have great ideas. What we hope is that as we start building upon that and growing companies that are Wyoming-based, we will start diversifying our economic mix from a grassroots perspective.”
One missing piece in the entrepreneurship landscape of Wyoming is access to capital beyond the seed funding startup challenges provide, both Farkas and Schaffer emphasize.
“The CEI should become an activator or conduit to provide access to capital networks—from angel to venture,” Farkas says. For example, UW is also exploring opportunities to build a venture fund that will support faculty and student initiatives. Seeing the university has “skin in the game” may inspire outside investment, he explains.
In addition to entrepreneurship, the CEI wants to aid businesses of all sizes, including those struggling with innovation. Projects in this area could involve faculty and students as well as UW’s makerspaces (see page 67).
“In addition to student internships, these activities also become an opportunity for enhancing faculty-sponsored
Students at Laramie County Community College learn to use equipment in the college’s new Entrepreneurial Center Lab on the Cheyenne campus. COURTESY PHOTO
research,” he says. “That’s another value added for the company.”
The key to all these efforts is to be coordinated, efficient and easy to engage, Farkas says. They plan to develop a corporate engagement office that will help centralize and coordinate statewide corporate engagement.
UW College of Business Interim Dean Rob Godby describes CEI as a comprehensive structure to support economic development in the state. “It takes assets and coordinates them in a way that’s more effective and strengthens UW’s land-grant commitment to the state.”
Entrepreneurship Education
While the College of Business offers an interdisciplinary entrepreneurship minor, Godby hopes to see all students gain exposure to entrepreneurship education.
“Somewhere in your life, you’ll be involved in something that has entrepreneurial aspects,” he says, describing a music major who perhaps offers private lessons or opens a music store. “It’s really something that everyone can benefit from.”
Bringing students and outside businesses together is also key—from internships to sponsored projects and applied research. For example, 9H Research Foundation recently challenged student engineering teams to help design solar facilities near Laramie.
“Students will work in incubators and alongside businesses,” Farkas says. “The idea is for this to be an interdisciplinary destination. So, whether you’re in health sciences or engineering or the arts, there is a place for you and your passions and how that translates into activating a business. Through student engagement and education, I hope it translates into activating businesses in Wyoming. A lot of our students want to stay. They need to understand the resource opportunities and how those fit their needs. CEI will advance those conversations and ways of thinking.”
Again, UW is working hand-in-hand with community colleges on these efforts. For example, this past spring, UW partnered with Central Wyoming College to offer a hybrid
HEAD TO UWYO.EDU/UWYO TO WATCH THE VIDEO ABOUT THE 9H PROJECT
online and in-person six-week Entrepreneur Essentials (e2) course. It’s based on the highly successful Start-Up Intensive, a 10-week program hosted in Jackson, which has trained more than 140 Wyoming entrepreneurs over the last six years. Some 77 percent of graduates are still operating their businesses after three years, and 20 percent of those graduates have raised significant private investment capital.
Central Wyoming College President Brad Tyndall saw this partnership as a way to reach beyond the college’s service area and work with UW to serve the state. “The important thing is that we need to serve the public, help diversify the economy and create more opportunities for people,” he says. “We really have to hit hard this business startup concept with all hands on deck. If you want to accomplish big things, you partner. We have to start businesses and create more opportunities for people to stay local and work local.”
Tyndall recognizes the need statewide for the entrepreneurship training and says the coursework will be offered on an ongoing basis. It’s directed at those trying to launch a business or product. Similar to IMPACT 307 programs, the coursework digs deep into the heart of what the person is trying to accomplish. “When you connect that project with a person’s core values and meaning, they do so much better,” he says. From that basis, you can connect them with all the other resources they need.
“We’re a small town with big roads,” Tyndall says of the efforts to partner statewide through the Wyoming Innovation Partnership and CEI. “We have to leverage our experts statewide. This is happening, and it’s exciting, because we need each other. The time has come.”
UW alumnus Gene Humphrey created 9H Research Foundation, a solar energy research facility in Laramie that will donate its energy proceeds to the university while also creating research and curriculum opportunities. Pictured here: student Pat Sheehan with Senior Engineer Victor Bershinsky.
By Micaela Myers
Tourists flock to Wyoming for its amazing national parks and monuments, but there’s so much more to explore—from pine-clad mountain ranges to colorful deserts. Tourism is Wyoming’s second-largest economic sector but offers plenty of room to grow. From skiing and snowmobiling to fishing, hunting, hiking, mountain biking and more, Wyoming offers year-round recreation and sightseeing.
The state’s Wyoming Innovation Partnership efforts (see page 20) inspired the Wyoming Outdoor Recreation, Tourism and Hospitality (WORTH) Center—a new hub for the 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,” says University of Wyoming President Ed Seidel.
“The WORTH Center will be extremely valuable in continuing to grow and support the state’s second-largest industry—tourism and hospitality,” says Diane Shober,
executive director of the Wyoming Office of Tourism. “We need to foster the next generation of hospitality industry leaders, as they will be vital in strengthening and diversifying our local and state economies going forward.”
The initiative builds on UW’s success with the outdoor recreation and tourism management degree launched in 2018. “We knew that this was just the first commitment UW would make to help the outdoor recreation, tourism and hospitality industries in Wyoming,” says Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources outdoor recreation and tourism management Degree Coordinator Dan McCoy. “It was always our No. 1 goal to expand and diversify Wyoming’s economy by ensuring WORTH industries are supported and thriving. Our industry partners are very excited about the possibilities of the WORTH Center, and I cannot wait to see what we accomplish.”
EXPANDED EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
UW currently offers a minor in hospitality, and the WORTH Center expects to grow that program to offer a bachelor’s degree focusing on the business side of tourism and hospitality management and marketing. At the same time, it will offer
The Wyoming Outdoor Recreation, Tourism and Hospitality Center aims to serve the state’s second-largest economic sector.
expanded coursework to students in the outdoor-recreationfocused degree program and vice versa. Students could also do both majors concurrently. These two degree programs are partnerships between the College of Business and the Haub School.
“They are two sides of the same coin,” says College of Business Interim Dean Rob Godby.
Unlike some hospitality programs that focus on hotel management or culinary arts, this new program focuses more broadly on the industry itself and the business of it.
“It creates an applied focus, and that’s a benefit to students and the industry,” Godby says. “It will not only serve the students already here, but it forms an attractor.”
Current UW students are excited for the new opportunities WORTH will bring. “I fully support the development of a hospitality management program at UW,” says Meredith Hoerman of Franklin, Tenn., who graduated this winter with a degree in management, a concentration in entrepreneurship, and minors in economics and energy resource management. “The industry is massive, and it would be a wonderful investment in our student’s futures to specifically train them in the skills needed.”
Hoerman spent last summer working as a reservations specialist for Premier Resort Properties, a franchise of iTrip, in Orlando, Fla. The company manages vacation rental properties for homeowners.
“Hospitality is such a broad industry with so much opportunity for our management majors, especially in Wyoming, where there is so much untapped land and property potential,” she says. “If I had the option to closely study hospitality management at UW, I certainly would have done so.”
Currently, UW only has one hospitality-focused instructor, Haub School Assistant Professor of Practice Sara Ghezzi, though the new program will grow this field significantly.
“We’ve seen tourism increase,” Ghezzi says. “This degree goes hand in hand with helping meet the needs of the state.”
She explains that hospitality stretches across many industries, including some people may not think of, such as health care. “Hospitality and management is all about customer service. There are lots of different paths you can take with this major. There’s a big need in Wyoming right now.”
Ghezzi teaches foundations of customer service, global tourism, managing profitability in hospitality, hospitality
The fall colors shine below the peaks of the Teton Range from an overlook above Spread Creek, on the east side of Grand Teton National Park.
operations and a practicum course on business strategies. She envisions the new degree creating well-rounded leaders in hospitality.
One of her students, senior Erin Barnhardt of Bismarck, N.D., is majoring in outdoor recreation and tourism management with an emphasis in cultural and international tourism and minor in hospitality business management. She hopes to work in event planning. “I think the new degree would be beneficial to students, as it offers real-world application of business courses within a specific industry,” Barnhardt says. “Hospitality professionals are needed within the state of Wyoming, especially as tourism continues to grow as an industry.”
A fellow hospitality minor, junior Faith Joiner of Highland, Calif., is also majoring in outdoor recreation and tourism management and hopes to work as a resort manager. “I love working with people, and I think that making them as comfortable as possible in a hospitality setting would be very fulfilling as a career,” she says. “I have really enjoyed hearing about the inner workings of the hospitality industry, such as why pricing works the way it does, how hotels and resorts cooperate with and utilize other online platforms to help sell rooms, and various activities I would participate in if I worked as a revenue manager for a hotel.”
Joiner believes the new offerings will expand the scope of career paths for students. The program can also create more opportunities for them to stay and work in Wyoming.
“It’s really about workforce development, which we’ve found is much needed as we visit with folks around the state,” says Haub School Dean John Koprowski. “They can’t find enough qualified staff.”
Partnering with community colleges is a key aspect of the Wyoming Innovation Partnership and WORTH. Koprowski
says that not all jobs require a bachelor’s degree, but for community college students who want to go on to UW, transfer planning guides make transferring a seamless process. Online offerings are also key for those around the state looking to learn new skills and advance their careers without relocating. These could include webinars and certificate courses, in addition to the degree offerings.
A GROWING SECTOR
As part of the WORTH initiative, UW personnel met with industry leadership around the state to gauge their needs.
“The collaboration of the WORTH initiative with industry partners from throughout our state has been tremendous,” says Jim Waldrop, president and general manager of Silver Dollar Inc., the parent company to Jackson’s The Wort Hotel, The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar and The Wort Plaza Shops. “The initiative has been thoughtful and strategic in support of our state’s second-largest industry. To bring all of our resources together with the WORTH initiative is overdue and timely and will truly help our industry by providing a skilled, work-ready workforce.”
There’s a great deal of room to grow the industry, Godby says. While there’s high-end tourism in Jackson and camping around the state, a lot of value can be built in between. He says experiential tourism unique to each region can be built out to keep people coming back, not just checking Yellowstone off their bucket list. Great service will play a key role.
“We’re going to give them an experience they’re not expecting so they come back,” Godby says. “The idea is to create this depth and workforce development.”
To aid the industry, WORTH will offer services such as market analyses and applied research projects led by faculty and students. The center will conduct
UW student Jimmy Borchard bikes along the new trails at the Pilot Hill Recreation Area, east of Laramie. During planning of the recreation area, UW students helped facilitate public feedback workshops.
Supporting effective environment and natural resource decision making
The Ruckelshaus Institute of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming communicates new science and policy understanding to relevant audiences, facilitates and builds capacity for collaborative problem solving, convenes diverse stakeholders around emerging issues, and produces applied and participatory research to inform on-the-ground decisions.
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detailed business analysis and studies of the industry, Godby says. Companies, towns or organizations can approach the center for help evaluating their ideas.
A local example is Laramie’s Pilot Hill Project, a large recreation area, which approached UW to learn how the project would impact the community. Koprowski offers other examples, such as a rancher who wants to diversify and accommodate birdwatchers or campers. The National Park Service may contact WORTH for data on wildlife jams in Yellowstone, or Jackson may need assistance with destination management. WORTH can also help the state determine how to get tourists to visit more places.
“There are numerous ways we can provide data for datainformed decisions,” Koprowski says. “Graduate students and undergraduates interested in research will be involved collecting data.”
In this way, WORTH will work closely with the proposed School of Computing (page 36). “It could be managing environmentally sensitive assets to very sophisticated marketing efforts that use very granular data,” Godby says. “WORTH is also entrepreneurial. We’re helping economic development in the state, which ties to the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (page 26).”
Student internships will combine hands-on learning with service to the state. “It will train students and expose them to industry and organizations,” Koprowski says. “Students will provide services and get educational value as well as gain a foot in the door. To the organization, it’s a recruitment opportunity.”
Godby says WORTH also incorporates UW’s other disciplines. For example, environmental sciences play a role in understanding impacts, and agriculture is affected by tourism and also a draw for tourists wanting to experience the “Western” lifestyle, which is where the humanities also come in—from iconography of the West to local art that draws tourists.
“WORTH is important to the region,” Godby says. “How do we beef up what we have here, encourage it, sustain and support it in a way that makes us stronger?”
SERVING THE STATE
Bridging both educational offerings and workforce development is the larger concept of service to the state.
“The president really sees the land-grand institution of the 21st century connecting to the state in new and meaningful ways,” Koprowski says. “We want WORTH to be the go-to place where people come for training and assistance in this sector. We have a long history of extension agents being out in the state. We want to use that connection working with the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources to reach out to residents and have someone available they can go to for assistance, guidance and expertise.”
As part of being that go-to place, he says: “You can get not only degrees via WORTH but also advanced training, continuing education and career advancement, and that provides the workforce the state needs. Then that service and outreach component really connects us around hospitality, tourism and outdoor recreation in ways we haven’t been connected. That applied research provides data to make those informed decisions. We’re wrapping that all together and trying to broaden the impact in the state. The No. 2 industry will have a home in WORTH.”
Tourists enjoy the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone, which is a popular wildlife spotting destination. Among them is Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources graduate student Kayla Matlock, whose fieldwork included studying wildlife and interacting with the public about their experiences in the park.
CC O M P U T I N G
THE NEW SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AIMS TO PREPARE STUDENTS, PROPEL RESEARCH AND FOSTER WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.
omputing and technology touch every part of our lives, enable data-driven decisions and—as part of every industry—form a cornerstone of economic growth. All students need a strong computational foundation to thrive in today’s workforce. Given these facts, in January, the University of Wyoming Board of Trustees approved a plan for a School of Computing. Initially, the school will be housed within the College of Engineering and Applied Science. Eventually, the School of Computing will become a separate unit.
STUDENTS FIRST
“The School of Computing will provide the organizational infrastructure and emphasis to accelerate the growth and impact of computing, artificial intelligence and data science at UW across research, learning, entrepreneurship and engagement,” UW President Ed Seidel says. “The School of Computing will differ from other departments in science or engineering, in that it will be pervasive across the university; it will be interdisciplinary; it will increase external funding; and it requires collaboration at the college or school level. This novel organizational structure will ensure that computing and digital literacy become pervasive across all disciplines at UW.”
The school hopes to begin offering a bachelor’s degree programs in the 2024-25 school year, including 2-plus-2 agreements with the community colleges. Eventually, undergraduates will be able to choose from multiple tracks plus minors. These will be available to many majors across UW, with plans to develop graduate degrees in the future. The school will also work to infuse computing skills across the university to produce tech-savvy graduates ready to fill and create jobs in a changing Wyoming economy.
“Computing is essential in all aspects of modern society, like teamwork and communication skills,” says Lars Kotthoff, an assistant professor of computer science. “Unlike the latter, computing is not usually emphasized in educational contexts, with the expectation that students acquire computing skills largely on their own. The School of Computing will propel computing to first-class citizenship at UW and infuse it in curricula throughout the university. Strengthening computing and computer science is a crucial step to strengthen UW’s position nationally and internationally.”
Computer science junior Teaghen Sweckard of Buffalo, Wyo., is excited about the School of Computing and believes it will attract more students and offer a broad range of skills that aren’t necessarily the focus of a traditional computer science program.
“This new school will benefit students by providing them with the computing skills necessary for the workforce that they are facing after college,” Sweckard says. “They will be more prepared with applicable skills from the School of Computing and will have a better idea of what they are interested in, as the school is interdisciplinary and provides students the opportunity to get a sense of what is available after college. The new school will also benefit the state because students doing research and entrepreneurship in computing will bring solutions to problematic economic situations locally and will lead to job opportunities and students, ultimately, staying in Wyoming.”
In high school, Sweckard thought she’d pursue biomedical engineering. A related project forced her to learn to code.
At the Wyoming Blockchain Stampede in September, UW President Ed Seidel and National Science Foundation Director Sethuraman Panchanathan participate in the Future Forward discussion.
FOR THE
F U T U R E
Computer science junior Teaghen Sweckard studies on a laptop outside of Old Main. She is excited about the new School of Computing and believes it will attract more students and offer a broad range of skills that aren’t necessarily the focus of a traditional computer science program.
By Micaela Myers
“After learning to code a little bit on my own, I realized that I liked that a lot more than anything else I was doing with the project,” she says.
Sweckard took all the computer classes she could in high school and completed two related internships, one at Gannett Peak Technical Services and another at Kennon Products. While studying at UW, she began working on the software team at Trihydro, an engineering and environmental consulting firm.
“I enjoy programming a lot, and I think applying that to projects that make a difference and are meaningful in some way sounds pretty great to me,” she says.
“The School of Computing is fundamentally about students,” says Professor Gabrielle Allen, UW’s special assistant for strategic initiatives for the Office of Research and Economic Development. “Across every discipline and every major, employers are looking for students who know how to use computers and data and how to apply that knowledge in novel and interesting ways.”
Students will also learn how to approach problems, utilize software options and work on interdisciplinary teams, Allen says.
Similar to the research scholar programs in science and engineering, future students in the School of Computing will be able to apply to become computing scholars, earning money toward their education along with hands-on research opportunities. Also in the works is an internship program in which students will work on interdisciplinary teams with Wyoming companies.
“We want this to be an environment where students can take ideas and run with them,” Allen says. “They are really going to come up with new innovations.”
Organizers of the school want to reach students early and often—long before they enter UW.
“Outreach is a primary goal,” says mathematics and statistics Professor Bryan Shader. Shader, along with Vice President for Information Technology Robert Aylward, guided a team of 30-plus faculty, staff and students to create a draft plan for the School of Computing. “We need to work with the Wyoming Department of Education, K–12 teachers and administrations throughout Wyoming, and our community colleges to create this pipeline and get people to think more broadly about what computing is.”
The School of Computing is not seeking to replace the soon-to-be-combined Departments of Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering—which perform important teaching and research—but rather to supplement them to extend the reach of digital literacy throughout all
Wyoming teachers participate in a robot and coding demonstration in UW’s Engineering Education and Research Building during the Machine Learning for High School Teachers weeklong professional development training.
disciplines on campus and to everyone in the state. Its reach aims to be much broader and comprehensive.
“Because of that, it should be more attractive to a broader population,” Shader says.
From day one, Allen and Shader hope to attract diversity in faculty, students and the disciplines that join and partner with the school.
RESEARCH FORWARD
“Presently at UW, research on computing and the use of computing for research are being undertaken in various departments across campus,” says electrical and computer engineering George J. Nicholson Professor Suresh Muknahallipatna, the liaison to the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)-Wyoming Supercomputing Center in Cheyenne. “Because computational research is interdisciplinary, a single entity such as the School of Computing will enhance collaboration among computational research faculty in various departments. Faculty using computation for their research will have a resource in the computing school to help them develop computational models.”
Shader says UW and the state have invested a great deal in high-performance computing, and the School of Computing will move that investment—and related research—to a higher level.
NCAR operates the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center. NCAR Associate Director and Director of the Computational and Information Systems Lab Anke Kamrath says that the center has become a vibrant hub for collaboration between NCAR and UW.
Kamrath says, “The School of Computing will further strengthen the partnership around all things computing— including collaborative proposals and projects, innovative technology collaborations, educational and internship
opportunities for students and, ultimately, through the strengthening of the future workforce across the state of Wyoming. We are excited to be a part of this increasing focus on computing at UW.”
The school will also help UW become more competitive for national research grants that enable research and educational opportunities for students. Federal research agencies such as the National Science Foundation increasingly focus existing research funding towards areas that are advanced by computational approaches, and Congress is working on providing significant increases in funding to NSF, the Department of Energy, and other research agencies in these areas.
“I think the school will really help us provide that bridge between new tech and computer science and bring the varied expertise we have on campus to bear on problems of regional and national importance, and significantly increase our capacity to bring external funds to UW to support our students and faculty,” Allen says. “It will also place us in a better position to bring in more corporate partners to provide our students with the real-world experience they need.”
A planned Wyoming Data Hub will serve UW and the state, drawing upon research data already collected by a variety of sources on and off campus. The hub will allow students and faculty to develop, evaluate and use new computational and analytical tools to mine and synthesize data. It will also make Wyoming-centric data more accessible to Wyoming citizens and state agencies while facilitating interdisciplinary research and addressing critical Wyoming issues and opportunities.
A SKILLED WORKFORCE
Researchers from a variety of disciplines and across Wyoming can partner with the School of Computing for
computational expertise. Together, they can share ideas, offer tools, develop new algorithms and address real-world problems.
“Data science, analytics and artificial intelligence aren’t just the way of the future—they are the way of now,” say Jerad Stack and Angie Schrader, co-founders of Flowstate in Casper, Wyo. Collaborating with major national players in the pipeline industry, Flowstate leverages the predictive and proactive capabilities of big data and artificial intelligence to develop a new standard for leak detection systems. “Every industry is being driven forward by digital transformations and technologies developed to utilize data. For example, we see on a daily basis how data is being used in the oil and gas industry to drive decisions and increase safety.
“We are excited that the university sees this and is working to provide education and resources in this area,” they continue. “Students across campus will need to be equipped with skills to not only navigate this data-driven world but also to help drive it forward. Computing and data science are no longer just the realm of engineers and scientists—it impacts every industry across Wyoming, and we are optimistic that businesses across the state will benefit from the resources provided through the school.”
Training students for high-tech jobs in companies such as Flowstate gives them a path to stay in Wyoming and can attract new businesses via a skilled workforce.
“In all sectors—agriculture, energy, tourism—computing skills are critical, whether it’s navigating user interfaces or utilizing new tools,” Allen says. “It’s critically important for economic development.”
“I think if we can get our trained students out into the state, they’re going to be agents of change,” he says.
Imagine, he says, if every state agency and company in Wyoming had a trained employee with the gumption and ability to say, “Can we do this differently or better or more efficiently?”
Shader adds, “We’re already getting lots of contacts from companies in Wyoming who are demanding students with the types of skillsets we can bring out.”
The school also wants to help expand training for those already in the workforce and those needing to switch careers.
Seidel says, “Our aim is to provide our students with the expertise and experiences they need to have successful careers; play a central role in creating the workforce, knowledge and infrastructure to support Wyoming companies; and empower data and computational research driven by applications of Wyoming interest.”
Deputy Director of the Advanced Research Computing Center Cyberinfrastructure Mike Killean in UW’s Information Technology Center. The building houses a state-of-the-art computing facility designed to meet the computing and data needs of the university’s students and researchers.
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ACADEMIC TUTORING: weekly meeting with trained peer tutors to support students to achieve their academic goals
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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
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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!
L ET ’S MAP O U T YO UR FUTURE .
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FOSTERING STUDENT SUCCESS
New programming aims to help students transition, stay in college and graduate on time.
By Micaela Myers
Enrolling in college marks a first step toward success. Ahead lie many years of hard work before graduates can toss their hats in the air. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, six-year graduation rates at public institutions are only about 60 percent—and much lower at private for-profit institutions. Graduating on time saves students money and lets them enter the workforce sooner. The University of Wyoming is taking an all-hands-on-deck approach to student retention, success and timely graduation.
“We’re in the middle of a considerable culture shift at UW, really making university-wide global strides,” says Dean of Student Success and Graduation Nycole Courtney. “It’s a global effort to really shift our focus to reduce barriers and provide success for all of our students from the moment they decide to come here through graduation.”
Two new programs will add to these efforts.
Vice President for Student Affairs Kimberly Chestnut speaks at the grand opening for “U-Dub Hub”—the UW Student Success and Graduation Hub—in October.
Saddle Up College Prep
High school students entering college soon learn that it comes with a very different pace and expectations. While existing programs such as Cowboy Connect aim to welcome students with a fun few days of activities, the new Saddle Up college preparation program will help prepare them academically while providing connection and mentorship.
As part of Saddle Up, incoming freshmen will move in a week early. They’ll be assigned to Poke Pack groups based on their chosen colleges or exploratory tracks. Each small pack will have an upperclassman Cowboy Coach mentor. Together, they’ll experience a one-unit academic class complete with midterm plus advising and tutoring. They’ll learn about campus resources, time management, wellness offerings and explore their career trajectory as they bond together.
Anne Alexander, vice provost for strategic planning and initiatives, says organizers based the college preparation camp on a successful program from University of Nevada – Reno, where it produced a 7-10 percent increase in retention. “They have a very similar student population, so that’s very promising,” she says.
Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Steven Barrett believes that the mini-midterm is one of the key components. “The whole idea is to get them ready for what that midterm week is going to be like and how to prepare,” he says. The mini-midterm will be graded, and the professor will provide feedback to each student.
“Saddle Up really sets a rigorous fun environment that’s also helping students find connections, create a sense of belonging, find new friends, explore a major, and make learning adjustments before the start of the semester,” Courtney says. “It’s also helping to grow and foster our Cowboy Coaches peerto-peer mentoring program.”
The coaches, all UW students themselves, will be there for the new freshmen well after Saddle Up ends, and students can come to their coaches with all manner of questions and concerns. The coaching program includes weekly emails on timely topics and ways to get involved.
“That coach is there for them for the majority of their career at the institution, so we’re building that foundation,” Courtney says.
Physiology and honors junior Danielle Ernste of Cheyenne, Wyo., is one of the Cowboy Coaches team leads. “The list of ways that this program will benefit freshmen is endless,” she says. “It will kick-start how freshmen begin to make friends at the university, give them opportunities to experience lecturestyle classes before school even begins, and let them experience what it means to be a cowboy the second they get here.”
Another team lead, political science master’s student John Houghton of Modesto, Calif., loves making a difference in the lives of new students and helping them feel welcome. He believes the program will help coaches develop strong relationships with their mentees. “Saddle Up will provide countless opportunities for students to connect with their colleges, learn new skills and make plenty of friends along the way,” he says. “It will also help us begin to make yearlong
Dean of Student Success and Graduation Nycole Courtney (far left) poses with Cowboy Coaches at the opening of the Student Success and Graduation Hub.
connections, ensuring students will have all the help they’ll need throughout the year.”
Political science and gender and women’s studies senior Riley Talamantes of Whittier, Calif., works as a project coordinator for the Cowboy Coaches program. “As a first-year student, it can be difficult to adjust to college life, keep track of classes and learn to take care of yourself,” she says. “Cowboy coaching is a great way for students to ask a peer how to navigate their first year of college and is a meaningful way for students to know that the institution truly cares for them.”
Talamantes says that, by moving in a week early, freshmen can gradually get settled and focus on information provided before all the other students return. “What makes me most excited about this program is the opportunity for students to learn skillsets that will be important for them during their college career, such as health and wellness, time management, study skills for difficult core classes and more,” she says. “I truly wish I had a program like this my freshmen year.”
Parents are also a key part of student success, and Courtney’s office is creating a student-family council, communicating with parents via email and inviting families to a send-off ceremony as part of the early move in and drop off. A mini-version of Saddle Up is also in the works for transfer students.
“It can be challenging when you’re coming from a small community college or community,” Courtney says. “You can feel isolated or like you don’t belong. This is going to help that population feel connected to campus.”
Navigating to Success
Technology also plays a key role in student success efforts via the new Navigate program, which streamlines student scheduling, advising and information for UW personnel and the students.
“We had 15–20 software applications we were using,” Barrett says. “Navigate replaces a lot of those and integrates a lot of the others. In my mind, it provides a user-friendly interface so we can mine the data to help students and connect them with scheduling and advising. The goal of Navigate and Saddle Up are the same: We want to improve retention and degree completion.”
Students can view their schedules, schedule appointments and connect with friends on the platform, among other
Advising, Career, Exploratory Studies Center (ACES) Academic Advisor Ben Herdt discusses class options with student Cassandra Mittlieder.
things. If they’re struggling in a class, the professor can reach out to them and connect them with resources.
Approximately 47 percent of all students at around 850 colleges across the country are now using Navigate, Alexander says. “Those institutions have seen a pretty significant increase in retention and graduation rates. It’s a great combination of using our own data with technology that helps us identify early markers of success and pathways for students. It allows the entire advising team to share core information and help make sure students stay on a path to success. It’s tailored to what students need and customizable.”
Advisers began using Navigate this winter. The platform takes advising from an occasional appointment and makes key information and options always accessible at a student’s fingertips. It also allows for easy reminders to students about deadlines and to-dos.
“Navigate helps us make data-driven decisions,” Courtney says. “It will help us come up with ways to understand students who are at risk and get to the nuances of retention. We’re doing a lot of assessments and really listening to constituents to close gaps and eliminate barriers.”
In addition, the Student Success and Graduation Hub opened in the Alumni House in October. The hub offers a one-stop shop aimed at helping students as they transition into college, enabling them to remain in college by connecting them with appropriate resources and helping ensure they graduate in a timely manner.
You can learn more at uwyo.edu/student-success
By Michelle Sunset
Time to Slow Down
VISITING ARTIST COLLIN PARSON BRINGS A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE TO THE UW ART MUSEUM.
“Slowing down” is a common thread running throughout artist Collin Parson’s work and extending through his September 2021 visit to Laramie as a University of Wyoming Art Museum artist in residence. Parson has three installations on view at the museum that form the exhibition Moiré. Parson is an arts administrator himself—he is the director of galleries at the Arvada Center—and these works that are on view stem from his assessment that viewers do not spend enough time truly looking at works of art in galleries and museums. He plays with perception to entice viewers to spend more time experiencing artworks. Participants in his events at the museum experienced the richness of spending more focused time looking at, thinking about and even creating works of art.
Parson’s infectious joy and charisma were at the forefront as he engaged in a variety of activities over the course of his threeday residency. He led UW students who were on class visits
through the museum to discuss his work. The UW course “Art in the Elementary School” participated in a slow-looking exercise with Parson’s Light Ellipse in the Art Museum’s Rotunda Gallery. Students shared their perspectives on the work’s transformative power, and Parson revealed his aim of inspiring visitors to see the world differently. He spoke about his upbringing as an artist raised by sculptor Charles Parson during his artist talk in the Visual Arts Building. Parson shared the evolution of his work, along with the successes and challenges he has faced in creating large-scale installations.
Members of the Student Art League enjoyed the more casual opportunity to eat pizza with the artist at the museum and gain insight into possible avenues for pursuing art careers after graduation. Parson gave his ideas for forming art cooperatives and engaged in philosophical discussions about the value of art in society. On the final day of his residency, Parson led a workshop in which participants experimented with patterns and perspectives to create their own acrylic moiré sculptures.
Parson said of his residency, “Laramie isn’t far geographically, but it’s far enough from the hectics of family life and the buzz of the Denver area that it allowed me to slow down. My work is about slowing viewers down and having them experience their surroundings differently, but ironically Laramie did this to me. I’m honored to have my work in the UW Art Museum and in such amazing company. The residents of Wyoming should be proud of having such a cutting-edge and important museum located in the heart of their state.”
Throughout the residency, program participants expressed how hearing from and interacting with the artist directly completely transformed their experience of the work. Engaging with the artist deepened visitors’ understanding of the works and the world around them. The museum is proud and excited to continue hosting artist residencies to share perspective-shifting and life-enriching experiences with the UW and broader Wyoming communities.
Collin Parson and moiré workshop participants with the artwork they created. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE UW ART MUSEUM
by Chris Navarro
Contact me!
Dilnoza, Director of WyoGlobal Alumni Relations, at dkhasilo@uwyo.edu if you have any questions, suggestions, or ideas.
Adlynn Qistina Jamaludin WYOGLOBAL ALUMNA
Graduated in May 2020 Degree: BA Communication Department and College: Communication & Journalism
The Global Engagement Office envisions a University of Wyoming community that engages, thrives, and leads in an interconnected and interdependent global society.
To learn more about our initiatives to foster global citizenship, visit uwyo.edu/global.
Hi, I am Dilnoza Khasilova, a two-time alumna of the University of Wyoming. I earned my master’s degree in curriculum and instruction in 2014 and my doctoral degree in literacy with a minor in international studies in 2020. As a WyoGlobal Alumna, I am pleased to come back to UW to launch WyoGlobal’s new initiative “WyoGlobal Alumni.”
If you would like to share your global perspectives and stay engaged with us, please join our new worldwide #WyoGlobalAlumniNetworkGroup
Our goal with the WyoGlobal Alumni Initiative is to connect and engage with all UW alumni who have current or previous global connections. We are excited to partner with UW’s Alumni Association.
Whether you are a former international student, you studied or volunteered abroad, you have international experience and connections, you travel the world for work, you’re interested in pressing global issues, or you do work, research, or service related to global engagement: You are a WyoGlobal alumna/alumnus and we want to connect with you!
To connect with us, scan this QR code! Greetings from the Global
Connecting People to Their Passions
New UW Foundation donor experience officers use digital technology to connect donors with what inspires them.
By Cassidy Biggs
What if your job was to connect a person to his or her life passion? A new University of Wyoming Foundation program powered by technology is set up to do just that, led by Doug Hammond, Hailey Dungan and Sarah Erickson, the UW Foundation’s new donor experience officers (DXOs).
“We are consistently encountering the human stories and learning about what inspires people to give to UW,” Dungan says.
The UW Foundation Donor Experience Program, launched in July, is all about using digital-powered tools and data to build relationships with thousands of UW supporters on a personalized basis.
“Private support to UW is driven by our ability to build meaningful relationships with our donors. With extensive digital technology, we can be even more intentional with our communication and do so in a way that is more personalized for both the donor and the donor experience officer,” says Jack Tennant, director of annual giving and the new leader of the Donor Experience Program. “As a result, we have more ability to engage and connect with our most loyal and dedicated donors.”
Hammond says the purpose of the program is to get to know the person behind the donation because for them
the gift isn’t just transactional:“It’s about their stories—their why—and it’s about connecting them with people for whom they can have an impact.”
“It’s digital, but it’s not disconnected from the human experience,” Dungan says. “It’s allowing us the opportunity to connect more deeply where we have not been able to before.”
The DXO team can already recall many meaningful conversations with supporters. These are only a few of them.
Hammond recalls a story from a supporter who wanted to pay it forward. As a young man working for a grocery store, he was encouraged by his manager to further his education. Thanks to his manager, he was able to find a job and a place to stay in Laramie so that he could attend UW. With the help of multiple scholarships, he graduated and eventually become a dean of a college. Years later, after contacting UW to thank the university for the financial assistance, he was told there was no record of any scholarships being awarded to him. To his surprise, he learned that it was the grocery store manager who funded his education. Today, Hammond is helping him not only connect to UW, but also to create opportunities for him to pay it forward.
Dungan remembers interacting with a man who doesn’t have children of his own but wanted nothing more than to
leave a legacy. He wanted to support community college students who wanted to continue their education at a four-year institution. Today, Dungan is working closely with him to establish scholarships to do just that.
Erickson recalls a phone conversation with a longtime donor about her scholarship, established for students looking to study abroad, specifically in French-speaking countries. In response to the conversation, Erickson arranged a thank you video from a current scholarship recipient. The video message was delivered to the donor entirely in French—from Strasbourg, a beautiful city in the east of France. Today, Erickson is finding innovative ways to communicate the impact of private gifts on UW’s students.
By leveraging digital technology, the DXO Program will see a 300 percent increase in the number of supporters they are able to connect with on a oneto-one, personalized basis.
“Since we are the first three DXOs, it is important for us to build a foundation, utilizing the resources that we have to allow us to connect people to a cause that is personal to them,” Erickson says. “By establishing more intentional connections with our community, we can grow the support for the university and create bigger opportunities for the future.”
Doug Hammond and Hailey Dungan enjoy working collectively to connect one-on-one with donors. PHOTO BY CASSIDY BIGGS
Come Home, Cowboys
By UWAA Staff
Homecoming Week at UW was Oct. 16–23, with the theme “Come Home, Cowboys.” We invited alumni and friends to come home for a crisp autumn weekend and to enjoy all the great things about Laradise and Homecoming: football, parade, family, friends and most important of all—community.
The week included a variety of activities for students, alumni and friends. Student activities ranged from Homecoming trivia to an inflatable athletics competition to the Associated Students of UW (ASUW) barbecue, plus so much more. Alumni and friends activities ranged from department open houses and receptions to tailgates.
Alumni could take advantage of the University Store discount coupon, and those who weren’t able to make it to Laramie for Homecoming could utilize an online discount option. The first 300 alumni who took advantage of the discount on Friday, Oct. 22, received a UW Alumni Association (UWAA) Homecoming T-shirt.
Downloadable and digital content was made available on the Homecoming website that included pumpkin carving stencils, coloring pages, phone backgrounds, Facebook and Snapchat frames, and animated GIFs.
The 2020–21 Distinguished
Alumni Awards were presented to David Burman (B.A. ’74), Gary Darnall (B.S. ’60, M.S. ’62), Nancy Freudenthal (B.A. ’76, J.D. ’80), Peter Sherman (B.S. ’86), and Marlene Tromp (M.A. ’90). The 2020 Medallion Service Award was presented to April Brimmer Kunz (J.D. ’79). These individuals were honored at the UW President’s Homecoming Dinner, participated in activities with their colleges, took part in the parade and were announced at the football game. The 50th Club Reunion was hosted by the UWAA and honored the class of 1971 and all alumni who graduated prior to 1971. Members of the class of 1970, who celebrated virtually in 2020, were also invited to the reunion to celebrate in person.
There were 65 entries in the parade, and the overall parade winner was Sigma Nu and Alpha Phi. The UWAA and the UW President’s Office welcomed alumni and friends to Cowboy Coffee on the south lawn of Old Main near the parade route.
The Homecoming football game pitted the Cowboys against the New Mexico Lobos. The Cowboys lost to the Lobos 14-3.
Thank you to the Homecoming committee for helping to create a memorable week at UW and to everyone who hosted events. Thank you as well to our Homecoming sponsor, UniWyo Federal Credit Union.
UWAA Executive Director Keener Fry Passes the Torch
By Micaela Myers
Keener Fry recently celebrated his 19th year at the University of Wyoming, serving first in roles with UW Athletics and the Cowboy Joe Club before taking the reins as executive director of the UW Alumni Association in 2011. This winter, he’s stepping down from that role to spend more time with his family in what he calls a “rewiring” vs. retiring.
“To be able to be an alumni director at UW was the top highlight of my 41-year professional career,” Fry says.
BUILDING PROGRAMS
Previous director Robbie Darnell left Fry with a small but mighty staff and strong relationships with alumni.
“We’ve been able to grow that it into a more comprehensive staff to cover more areas,” he says.
One of the programs Fry is most proud of is the student writing program, in which alumni write to admitted students encouraging them to attend UW—a personal touch.
“We began that about five years ago,” he says. “That first year we reached 600 of approximately 6,000 admitted students. The last two years, nearly all 6,000 admitted students have received a personal note from an alum. That’s been really special. The stories we hear about how students made decisions to come here because of the personal touch that our alumni showed them has been off the charts. That’s been a signature accomplishment during my time that my staff have really bought into.”
Career connections are another area of growth Fry led. These efforts include the Cowboy2Cowboy informational interview program, in which students or recent graduates can be connected with professionals in their areas of interest plus access other career guidance. During the pandemic
when one-on-one connections were more difficult, the UWAA recorded 40 interviews with successful alumni that students or graduates can access at any time, and many request to meet with that professional via Zoom after viewing an interview.
Fry is also proud of how the previously established UWAA awards programs have expanded during his tenure, including the Distinguished Alumni and Medallion Service awards and the launching of the four Alumni Awards, which recognize achievements of alumni who invest their time and talents by supporting the state of Wyoming, its communities and the alumni association.
MEMORY LANE
Fry’s biggest takeaway, however, is the many friendships and personal relationships he’s developed over the years. He now has friends across the country and around the world. A couple of years ago, Fry traveled to Norway to meet a group of Norwegian alumni who have been getting together for nearly 40 years straight.
Another recent highlight was the Cowboys’ 2019 trip to the Arizona Bowl. “We had 650 people gather the night before from all walks of life and from all over the country,” Fry says. “To be there with the UW president and band, that’s extremely memorable.”
Each Homecoming is itself special to Fry—from the 50th reunions to the annual parade.
“I’ve enjoyed every single Homecoming,” he says. But one that stands out was 2015, when the grand marshals were Virginia “Ginny” Bryant and Lillian Oleson Miller, both 100 years old.
“They are remarkable ladies,” Fry says. “You cannot believe the energy with which they showed up to that parade.”
He also enjoyed every one of the 21 board meetings that took part during his time.
“There’s a pride and spirit at those meetings that is encouraging to our staff,” Fry says. “It’s energizing.”
Although the pandemic presented many challenges, the UWAA staff got creative with things such as online pregame pep talks where student-athletes are interviewed, and alumni can tune in.
“The comments I get from people who watch those every week is very special,” Fry says.
ALWAYS GROWING
“I’m really excited for the future of UWAA,” he says. “The partnerships we’ve built and expanded on these last few years, both with campus and external partners, are just tremendous. We could not do our work without these associations.”
The new director can build upon this strong foundation of partnering and intentional connections with alumni.
“The person coming in is going to have a great opportunity. The ways we engage alumni will continue to evolve,” Fry says. “The future is bright. The UWAA is well respected internally and externally. We’re seen as a valued partner that can help others succeed and do their work. We are better when we can share resources and work toward common goals.”
Capt. Art Howe and Keener Fry at the UWAA Houston Golf Tournament in 2019.
A Path to Reality with UW Alumna Caryn Vainio
By Cassidy Biggs
Imagine experiencing the excitement of Apollo 11’s epic mission to the moon from the comfort of your living-room chair or creating a platform that gives you the ability to feel like you’re sitting right next to a loved one even though you live thousands of miles apart. UW alumna Caryn Vainio creates experiences like these every day as an interaction designer in the research division at Facebook Reality Labs.
Since Vainio earned her bachelor’s degree in astronomy and astrophysics in 1999 from UW, her career path isn’t at all what she had planned. After she graduated, a job offer in the video game industry and an open mind to the opportunities that lay ahead sent Vainio on a journey that she could not have predicted—from astrophysics to games to working on future augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR)
technologies. Vainio says her scientific background and her degree help her understand more of what her colleagues are developing at Facebook Reality Labs.
“I always joke that as a designer in AR, I never use my astrophysics degree—but that’s not really true,” says Vainio. “I do a ton of work with optics, graphics and material sciences, and my degree trained me in physics, electricity, magnetism and other related topics. Even though I chose to be a designer, my scientific background has enabled me to be an effective bridge between scientists and designers such as myself.”
When asked what advice she would give to current students about their career goals, she responds, “I’d tell them to be open to the possibilities of where your chosen field can take you. There may be avenues you hadn’t considered!”
Alongside her career in future-forward tech industries, Vainio finds inspiration from the physical realities of the landscapes of the Pacific Northwest as a mixed media painter and printmaker.
Bringing It Home with UW Alumna Caitlin Long
By Sunnie Lew
In UW’s War Memorial Fieldhouse, a crowd of pathfinders is blazing new trails. The mood is electric, charged with the anticipation and curiosity of students, legislators, investors and participants. The pulse of the Wild West quickens in the chests of spectators. It’s the opening ceremony for the WyoHackathon—an annual event where hackers are preparing to embark on an intensive two-day competition solving blockchain technology challenges in exchange for incredible prizes.
Wyoming is trailblazing at the forefront of blockchain technology, and at the heart of the movement is UW alumna Caitlin Long, founder and CEO of Avanti Bank & Trust. She’s a 22-year Wall Street veteran who has been active in Bitcoin and blockchain since 2012. Over the past few years, she’s helped lead the charge to make her native state of Wyoming an oasis for blockchain companies in the U.S. She was one of a few people central in helping enact several blockchain-enabling laws and is shaping the future of Wyoming’s digital and economic landscape.
“UW gave me the tools to spot the importance of blockchain technology in its early stages, to understand its historical significance and to understand how it can help solve Wyoming’s economic development needs,” says Long. “I can’t think of a better volunteer passion project—what an honor it has been to pay it forward.”
Long’s Wyoming roots run deep. She hails from a family of educators—her father was an electrical engineer professor at UW for 40 years and her mother an elementary teacher in Rock River. Throughout her academic career, she formed close bonds with her educators and made lifelong friends.
“I’m a proud product of Wyoming’s schools—and a proud product of UW,” she adds.
Long earned her bachelor’s degree at UW in 1990 and then went on to graduate from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government with her Master of Public Policy in 1994. She earned her J.D. at Harvard Law School that same year. Throughout her career, she’s proven herself to be an exceptional strategist and remarkable leader.
In 2017, Long wanted to endow a scholarship for UW
women engineering students using appreciated Bitcoin but found that Wyoming laws prevented the exchange. The incident was the catalyst for her push to restructure state regulation on blockchain technologies, which has opened a wealth of opportunity for Wyomingites and Wyoming investors.
Such opportunities include the WyoHackathon, which has been fostering cutting-edge blockchain technology in Wyoming since 2018. Long is the hackathon’s chairperson. The event is inclusive, dynamic and innovative. The initiative
also allows students to consider starting their careers in state. Long’s love for Wyoming and her decision to return home are an inspiration for young scholars as they decided to stay or relocate elsewhere after graduation.
“I have two passions—Bitcoin and Wyoming,” says Long. “My work in helping to build the blockchain tech sector is what brought me back. Growing up in Laramie and attending this very special university prepared me to explore the world, but I never stopped trying to return. I’m excited to be back. I’m happy to come home.”
COURTESY
ALUMNI AWARDS
The UW Alumni Association proudly recognizes achievements of alumni and friends by presenting awards each year. These honorees include individuals who support the state of Wyoming and its communities, exhibit exceptional professional achievements, and display leadership and volunteerism. They are engaged in supporting the University of Wyoming Alumni Association and the University of Wyoming. The nominee must be able to participate in person at the Awards Recognition Ceremony (no posthumous nominations).
MAKING A BETTER WYOMING AWARD
Recognizes alumni of the University of Wyoming who make a di erence in the lives of people in Wyoming and is a source of UW strength and pride.
NETWORK/CHAPTER LEADER AWARD
Recognizes alumni of the University of Wyoming who are active members of the UWAA and have been leaders and actively engaged in a UWAA network or chapter.
RISING ALUMNI AWARD
Recognizes alumni of the University of Wyoming who have graduated in the last ten years and distinguished themselves through a high level of professional accomplishment in their career.
LIFE MEMBER SERVICE AWARD
Recognizes a UWAA Life Member who has shown outstanding and exemplary service primarily on behalf of or for the UWAA and the UWAA community.
DETAILS & NOMINATIONS:
• Full descriptions and applications can be found at: uwyo.edu/alumni > About the UWAA > Alumni Awards.
• Nominations must be received by the Alumni O ce by Feb. 28, 2022 to be considered. Nomination applications need to be completed in full in order to be accepted by the deadline.
AWARDS RECOGNITION CEREMONY & RECEPTION
Held annually in September.
NOTE: These awards are in addition to the UW Distinguished Alumni & Medallion Service Awards.
DA and Award Nominations
The Distinguished Alumni (DA) Award recognizes alumni who are distinguished in their business, profession, or life’s work; are persons of integrity, stature, and demonstrated ability; and reflect upon and realize the importance of their UW education.
The Medallion Service Award (MSA) recognizes alumni or friends of the university who have given unselfishly of their time, talent, or support to the university, and have integrity and stature. This award may not be given annually, but nominations are accepted each year, and MSA nominees need not be UW alumni to be eligible.
Nominations must be received by the Alumni O ce by Feb. 28, 2022 to be considered. Nomination applications can be found at: uwyo.edu/alumni > About the UWAA > Distinguished Alumni/Medallion Service Award. Nomination applications need to be completed in full in order to be accepted by the deadline. Certain restrictions apply to those who may be nominated.
APRIL 21-23, LARAMIE: UWAA Spring Board Meeting
uwyo.edu/alumni and on our social media channels for up-to-date event information
Change of Passion and Tons of Patience with Karah Pantle
By UWAA Staff
From the small town of Encampment, Wyo., UW student Karah Pantle imagined a bigger world outside of her hometown and was anxious to pursue her dreams elsewhere after high school. As her college career drew closer, her sense of appreciation for her Western roots made it obvious she was right where she needed to be.
In 2021, Pantle became a recipient of the Herschler Skinner Family Memorial Scholarship through the UW Alumni Association.
“While school should be the first thing on my mind, it’s often hard when you are worried about money and how you are going to pay it all off,” Pantle says. “This scholarship is going to relieve some of this stress that I deal with every day.”
Since eighth grade, Pantle has been
attending medical camps.
As a first-year student, she was determined to be a surgeon and do her pre-med studies at UW, but soon her experience and interest leaned to a different direction.
I then want to continue my education by getting a master’s degree in accounting.”
“As a little girl, I always imagined myself as a surgeon, but when I went to college, I soon learned that being a surgeon was not my passion,” Pantle says.
This realization made her re-assess, as it would any college student, but she was patient and prioritized her academic journey by going back and taking general classes. As a result, she found her passion and says that it was the best decision she ever made.
“I did find my passion in business entrepreneurship and accounting,” Pantle says. “I plan to get a bachelor’s degree in both business management with a focus in business entrepreneurship and accounting.
Currently, Pantle is enjoying her internship in Cheyenne, where she has learned how to set up a real estate business, limited liability corporation information and more, which furthers her knowledge base outside of accounting. Pantle says she has no idea where life will take her, but once she is settled, she wants to use the entrepreneurial skills she learned at UW and plans to open her own bakery and coffee shop.
“I want people to come in, sit and tell me their stories,” Pantle says, as she reminiscences about how she loved hearing everything her grandparents went through over a cup of coffee.
As the University Store celebrates 100 years of serving the UW community, let’s take a look back at advertisements the store took out in UW publications over the years. The ad in 1946 illustrates the purpose that bookstores have historically served for university communities throughout the years—providing textbooks and classroom supplies. As the years progressed, we see that in 1953 the University Book Store expanded its offerings and “can fill students’ needs in almost EVERYTHING”—and it still does to this day selling textbooks, classroom supplies, memorabilia, the latest in technology, apparel, makeup and more. 1976 saw a renovation of the bookstore to better serve our community, as well as a unique logo, incorporating UW in the top outline of a cowboy
COURTESY PHOTO
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 Emma Petersen and Christine Henschler.
1970
Roy Schatz, B.S. ’74, vocational agriculture. Schatz completed his latest novel, Tommy Quinn: The White Apache, in 2021. It tells the compelling story of a man who is raised by an Apache chief after surviving a traumatic event.
Richard Perdue, B.S. ’75, recreation and park administration, M.S. ’77, recreation and park administration. In July 2021, Perdue was named R.B. Pamplin Professor Emeritus by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. Emeritus titles are conferred on retired professors, associate professors and administrative officers whose services have been exemplary to the university.
Nancy Freudenthal, B.A. ’76, philosophy, J.D. ’80, law. U.S. District Judge Nancy Freudenthal will take senior status in June 2022. She will be stepping down after serving on the Wyoming federal bench for 11 years. She is the first and only woman to have served as a federal district judge in the state.
Nancy Quan, Ph.D. ’76, chemistry. Dakota Wesleyan University appointed Quan to its Board of Trustees in July 2021.
Thomas Zimmerman, B.A. ’76, French and Spanish. Zimmermann retired from the Army in June 2021 after serving for 20 years, followed by a 17year tenure as a senior national security professional with General Dynamics Information Technologies, previously known as CSRA and CSC. In that position, he served as the language and treaty trainer for
the START-I and New START Treaties within the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. Following graduation from UW, he studied Russian and German and taught Spanish in the UW Department of Modern and Classical Languages. He joined the U.S. Army in 1984 and trained at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., where he went on to train as a military linguist. Throughout the U.S., as well as overseas tours in Germany and Bosnia-Herzegovina, he served until his retirement in 2004. He also completed the postgraduate intelligence program and received a Master of Science degree in strategic intelligence (’92) from the Defense Intelligence College during his Army career. His language proficiency in Spanish, French and German came in handy during family travels around Europe while he was stationed in Germany and on several ad hoc missions to international air shows in South America. Zimmerman was recognized in 2010 by the U.S. secretary of state and in 2011 by an assistant secretary of defense for his support in Geneva, Switzerland, for START follow-on negotiations that led to New START’s signing and ratification. Zimmerman, his wife Kimberly, a UW alumna, and their son live in Florida.
1980
John Luhrs, B.S. ’80, industrial arts education, M.Ed. ’88, educational administration. In August 2021, Luhrs started his new position as interim principal of Thunder Mountain High School in Juneau, Alaska.
Kent Eberspacher, B.S. ’82, business education. Eberspacher was named Volunteer of the Month by the Center for Financial Empowerment, a nonprofit corporation whose goal is to bring financial education, assistance and improvement programs to underserved youth and families in the Las Vegas area. He was also one of 12 teachers selected from across the United States to help radio show host and author Dave Ramsey develop curriculum for his high school program called Foundations in Personal Finance. Eberspacher was a Star Valley High School business teacher for over 32 years and has since retired. He spends winters at his home in Las Vegas and summers at his home in Afton, Wyo. He was a member of the UWAA Board of Directors from 2006 to 2010. Ramsey Avery, B.A. ’85, theater and dance, has traveled a long way from Wyoming but loves to find places along the way that remind him of home. He has been in New Zealand recently, where he is the production designer for Amazon’s upcoming Lord of the Rings series that will premiere in 2022. While exploring the country, he was amazed by how similar the mountains and plains of the South Island were to various parts of Wyoming. Disney’s California Adventure also opened The Avengers Campus, a new land with several attractions he designed, such as the Spiderman ride, an Ant-Man and the Wasp restaurant, and several outdoor stunt venues. As soon as he returns to the United States, he is looking forward to spending time in the Rocky Mountains.
Kristin Lee, J.D. ’86, law. Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck announced that Lee, a shareholder in the Cheyenne office, joined the board of directors of Cheyenne Housing Authority in October of last year. As part of her three-year term, she will assist with the oversight of the agency and collaborate with the director and staff. Members of the board provide their professional experience and knowledge of the community to ensure that the agency is successful in providing lowincome housing.
Lance Goede, B.S. ’88, sociology, B.S. ’89, psychology, M.S. ’95, counselor education. The former director of student success has retired after 26 years of service to Central Wyoming College in Riverton, Wyo. After holding the positions of housing manager, director of student life, counselor, and student success coordinator, Goede completed his tenure in the student success department. Both he and his wife, Kelly Goede, B.A. ’90, elementary education, moved to Laramie,
Wyo., to help raise their grandson and enjoy retirement.
1990
Terri Lesley, B.S. ’90, marketing. Lesley, executive director of the Campbell County Public Library System, was appointed by Gov. Mark Gordon as one of the newest board members of the Wyoming Council for Women in June 2021.
Machelle Pardue, B.S. ’91, zoology and physiology. Pardue was selected to step in as interim chair of the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University in August 2021.
Leah Barrett, B.S. ’92, business administration, MBA ’95, business administration. The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program announced that Barrett, president of Northeast College in Norfolk, Neb., is one of 25 leaders selected for the 2021–22 class of the Aspen New Presidents Fellowship—a program designed to support community college presidents in their early years of leadership to achieve higher and more equitable student success.
Barrett became Northeast’s ninth president in January 2020.
Bruce Smith, Ph.D. ’94, zoology and physiology, an award-winning science writer and wildlife biologist, completed his middle-level novel Legend Keepers, an intellectually stimulating tale about a lone mountain goat rescued by an unknown raven.
Terry Moss, B.S. ’95, communications, emphasis in broadcasting, public relations and education. Ivinson Memorial Hospital appointed Moss as its chief operating officer in October 2021. As a member of the senior leadership team, he will oversee Ivinson’s outpatient clinics and ancillary services. He had previously been the chief operating officer at the Memorial Hospital of Converse County in Douglas, Wyo. After earning a bachelor’s degree from UW, Moss earned a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Colorado Christian University. The brown and gold enthusiast also worked for UW Athletics
WYOGRAMS
for several years after his graduation before moving to Colorado, and once there, he served as vice president of the Doctors Clinic Building at the Community Hospital of Grand Junction. He was also chief operating and financial officer of Western Valley Family Practice and Redlands After Hours Clinic in Grand Junction. With more than 15 years’ experience in the sector, Moss and his family are happy to be back in Laramie. His wife Corwyn, Pharm.D, ’00, is also an alumna, and together they have two children. The family enjoys anything related to UW, traveling, spending time with loved ones and cheering on the Douglas Bearcats and the Cowboys. Moss’s commitment to the university continues, as he currently serves as the UW Alumni Association Board of Directors president-elect and will assume the role of president in April 2022 for a two-year term.
2000
Shawn Curtis, B.A. ’00, secondary education social studies, is a social studies teacher at Carmel High School in Carmel, Ind., who embarked on a twoweek journey with a high school junior as a co-pilot and a seventh grader as the historian and science officer to explore Route 66. The team experienced and analyzed the U.S. post-COVID and sought to learn more about the past, present and future of American culture within the context of our country’s most famous road. Curtis and his team created a website, “Our Journey on Route 66: 2021,” which features a blog, photos and more.
Amanda Larson, B.A. ’00, anthropology. In December 2020, Larson, coordinator of research services for UW’s Office of Research and Economic Development, received the designation of certified research administrator from the Research
Administrators Certification Council.
Amanda Vandervort, B.S. ’01, communication. The United Soccer League named Vandervort president of the USL Super League in October 2021, a second-division women’s pro soccer league that will launch in 2023. She will oversee all of the league’s women’s soccer initiatives, including a preprofessional league set to launch in 2022.
JoAnn Skeim-True, B.S. ’02, geology, MBA ’10, executive. In June 2021, Skeim-True was appointed by Gov. Mark Gordon as an at-large board member of the Wyoming Council for Women. Malynda Mabbitt, B.S. ’06, political science, M.A. ’09, political science. Mabbitt earned a Doctor of Education in education administration from the University of South Dakota. Currently, she teaches and trains
faculty on how to implement and use online courses at South Dakota State University.
Zach Guier, B.S. ’08, environment and natural resources, wildlife and fisheries biology and management, J.D. ’11, law. Guier was officially appointed to the Western Wyoming Community College Board of Trustees in June 2021.
Farrell Rapp, B.S. ’08, business administration, minor, finance, MBA ’16. Rapp, director of research services in UW’s Office of Research and Economic Development, was selected to the Society of Research Administrators International’s inaugural class of “Future of the Field” honorees in July 2021.
Bertine Bahige, B.A. ’09, mathematics and secondary education math, was named Wyoming’s 2021 National Distinguished Principal in March 2021. He was honored at an event by Campbell County
School District officials, school board trustees and various Rawhide Elementary School staff members. He was the 41st principal recognized in Wyoming and the fifth from Campbell County. Bahige traveled to Washington, where he and principals from 49 other states participated in recognition events and a ceremony.
2010
Mathew Haigler, B.S. ’10, energy systems engineering. Haigler formerly served as the supply chain manager for the Permian Basin and was promoted to senior supply chain manager for North America at Halliburton in August 2021.
Daniel Hsieh, B.A. ’12, political science, minors in criminal justice and public law. As a former assistant attorney general advisor and litigator for the Washington Attorney General’s Office and the Labor and Industries Division for the last three years, Hsieh joined
2022 UWAA BOARD Nomination Process
Nominations for a new director are being accepted now through Monday, January 31, 2022 for:
ONE DIRECTOR – WYOMING:
District 2: Albany and Carbon Counties
the commercial litigation group of Helsell Fetterman’s, a Seattlebased law firm, in September 2021.
Nathan Sobey, B.A. ’14, social science, was selected to the Australian Olympic team in June 2021 and represented Australia at the Olympic Games in Tokyo the following month. Sobey, who plays for the Brisbane Bullets of the National Basketball League in Australia, was also named to the First Team All-League in 2021.
Kimberly Coggins, Ph.D. ’16, counselor education and supervision. Coggins, Austin Peay State University associate professor of psychological science and counseling, was named Counselor Educator of the Year by the Tennessee Licensed Professional Counselors Association in June 2021.
Chris Lambrecht, B.S. ’16, mechanical engineering, completed his master’s degree in civil engineering at the University
Only paid and active UWAA members may submit nominations
On Wednesday, June 1 active and paid members with a valid email address will receive an email with the 2022 official ballot. Pictures of the nominees and brief biographies will be published on the UWAA website and as a supplement to the electronic ballot. You may request a paper ballot from the Alumni Office at 307-766-4166 The voting period will end on Monday, June 20 at 5:00 p m MT
To nominate a candidate, complete the nomination form on our website uwyo edu/alumni > About the UWAA > Board of Directors > Board Nomination Form
WYOGRAMS
of Nebraska in May 2021. He is employed as a Bridge EIT by HDR in Omaha, Neb.
Eric Webb, M.P.A. ’16, public administration, was appointed to serve as acting associate vice president of UW Business Enterprises in June 2021, a consortium of campus entities merged into one organization to better serve the UW community.
Kadi Cooley, B.S. ’17, physiology and honors program, minors in neurosciences and psychology. Cooley earned her medical degree from the West Virginia University School of Medicine in May 2021. She began her five-year orthopedic surgery residency at Texas Tech University in June 2021.
Hailey Dungan, B.A. ’17, English, minor in creative writing. Dungan joined the UW
Foundation development team in September 2021 as a donor experience officer. Before this, she worked as an admissions recruiter for UW, traveling around the state and across the country to cultivate and maintain relationships with prospective students, their parents and transfer students while providing them with information regarding admission to the university.
Mason Finley, B.A. ’17, theater and dance. Finley threw the discus 206 feet 11 inches to win the U.S. track and field trials for the 2021 Summer Olympics. As a result of his performance, he qualified for his second Olympic team by 1 foot 6 inches. He competed in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Sydney Sims, Exp. ’18, communication. Sims accepted the position of director of
strategic communications and branding within the football recruiting office at the University of Michigan.
ARRIVALS
Megan Pince, B.S. ’13, speech language and hearing science, M.S. ’16, speech path audiology, and Chase McNamee, B.A. ’13, history, M.S. ’15, counseling, welcomed a son, Archer Daniel McNamee, to their family on April 10, 2021. He joins a family of over 50 UW alums and is already a big Pokes fan! Archer already rocks his UW onesie every Saturday on game day.
WEDDINGS
Emily Woodard, B.S. ’16, chemistry, minor in psychology. and Ryan Wallen, B.S. ’17, management, MBA ’19, were married at the Wigwam Resort in Litchfield Park, Ariz., in May 2021.
PHOTO BY DARBY CLARK
IN MEMORIAM
Calli Christina Aust, B.S.N. ’15, 6/15/2021. Survivors include her husband, father, mother, brothers, grandparents, aunts, uncles and multiple cousins and nieces.
Leon Barkdoll, B.S. ’61, electrical engineering, 5/29/2021. Survivors include his children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren.
Kelley (Bacon) Frits, B.S. ’08, biology, 6/9/2021. Survivors include her husband, her parents, sister and brother-in-law.
Lois Boyce, Exp. ’55, music, 6/26/2021. Following her UW attendance, Boyce moved to Denver, where she worked in downtown commerce and met her husband Charles Boyce. They wed in 1955 and moved throughout the Rocky Mountain West raising their three children. Lois said they rented or owned 22 houses throughout their marriage! Survivors include her sister, her son, daughter, five grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.
Virginia (Booth) Core, B.A. ’59, speech and drama, 2/16/2020.
James Core, B.A. ’58, accounting, 7/26/2021.
Patricia Cox, B.S. ’55, home economics, 7/4/2021. Survivors include her children and their spouses, grandchildren, stepgrandchildren and many nieces and nephews.
Marlene Cushing, B.A. ’62, physical science with honors, M.S. ’63, chemistry, 7/30/2021. Marlene took an active role in her education, and that carried over into her teaching career as a co-sponsor of Pep Club, Junior Class, Zonta Girls Club and Science Club. She was the recipient of the 1993 International Teacher Fellowship Exchange in Australia. In 1996, she retired from her chemistry education
career to travel with her husband and spent the remainder of the 1990s in Germany. Marlene and Bob, her husband, lived and taught overseas and traveled to 30 different countries. The pair had lasting relationships with students, teachers and villagers alike. Survivors include her husband, niece, great-nephew, children, stepchildren and goddaughter.
Karen Davis-Talbott, B.S. ’63, zoology and physiology, M.S. ’69, home economics, 6/5/2021. Upon graduation, Davis-Talbott had her only child, Ruby. Before completing her graduate degree, she was a first-grade teacher and lab technician at UW. She became an assistant research professor of home economics at the University of Idaho for 11 years after relocating to Moscow, Idaho. She and David Talbott, her husband for 26 years, met there, and they shared adventures, love and laughter together. She is survived by her daughter, grandson and cats.
Richard Drake, B.S. ’58, animal science, 7/14/2021. The Holmes Herefords Inc. cattle business was founded by Drake, his wife and three children, along with other members of the Holmes family in Cheyenne. He was described as a Wyoming rancher with an eye for producing Hereford cattle of the
highest quality. He was married to his wife Myra for 41 years before she passed away. In 2002, he remarried. He and his wife Pat were together for 19 years. In addition to his military service in the Wyoming Army National Guard, he was a member of the Wyoming and American Hereford Associations, Wyoming Stock Growers, the National Cattleman’s Beef Association and the Laramie County Fair Board. Survivors include his wife, children, stepchildren, sister, grandchildren, step-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.
Frank “Bob” Gartner, B.S. ’50, range management, Ph.D. ’67, range management, 6/26/2021. Gartner served two years in the U.S. Army during the Korean War before joining the College of Forestry and Natural Resources at University of California, Berkeley to earn a master’s degree. He met his wife, Barbara, while skiing early in his career at San Diego State University. Laramie was the place where both embarked on graduate programs. Bob retired from range and forest land research and education at San Diego State University after nearly 50 years. He was named professor emeritus of range science. Survivors include his wife, son, daughter, grandchildren and his beloved poodle.
Richard Gray, B.S. ’49, range management, 7/3/2021.
Survivors include his four sons, 14 grandchildren and a greatgrandchild.
Gary Greer, B.S. ’68, mechanical engineering, 6/14/2021. Survivors include his wife, brothers, children and grandchildren.
Charles “Buddy” Hirsig, Exp. ’59, agriculture and natural resources, 7/7/2021. Often known as a ”cowboy by birth,” Hirsig was a member of the UW rodeo team and a pivotal part in Cheyenne Frontier Days (CFD). After returning from his service in the U.S. Air Force, Hirsig succeeded his father as arena director of CFD, and his son succeeded him—a total of five generations of Hirsigs in the arena. He was inducted into both the CFD and Wyoming Cowboy halls of fame. He and his wife were avid Cowboy Joe Club supporters. He always put his family and friends first and left a legacy in Wyoming. Survivors include his wife, his children and grandchildren.
Thomas Hool Sr., B.A. ’60, business education, 6/17/2021. Before attending UW, Hool joined the U.S. Navy and reached the rank of petty officer third class before being discharged. During his time at UW, he married Selma and started a family. He taught
at Kelly Walsh High School and coached until he retired in 1990. His retirement activities included coaching various Casper Little League teams, attending drag races, playing bingo and dancing most weekends with his partner, Ardith. Survivors include his children, numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren, a niece and a cousin.
Diane Johansen, B.A. ’67, German secondary education, 6/3/2021. After graduation, Johansen began her teaching career at Lander Valley High School, where she resided for 33 years before retiring in 2000. She was always a loyal fan of Cowboy and Cowgirl athletics. Survivors include her brother and his wife, sister-in-law and nieces.
Keith Kreider, B.S.’84, petroleum engineering, 9/2/2021. Keith cherished his passion for work and always appreciated and loved his time with family, countless weekends watching his children play soccer, wood working and brewing craft beer. Survivors include his wife of 35 years, children, grandchildren, parents, sister and extended family and friends.
James “Jim” Lewis, B.S. ’70, economics and commerce and industry, 6/21/2021. Lewis and his wife, Jane, lived in Casper
for 42 years before retiring and relocating to Cheyenne. He had a passion for fly fishing, history and travel, especially on his shared European travel adventures with Jane. Survivors include his wife of 54 years, daughter, son and daughter-in-law, and brother and sister-in-law.
William Linton, B.S. 51, agriculture and natural resources, 5/29/2021. After graduating from UW, Linton served in the Army in the Korean War. He was an honest hard-working man of many talents and spent his life serving the community of Meeteetse. In 1958, he married his wife of 62 years, Geraldine, and they had six children. Survivors include his older brother, wife, children and their spouses, 24 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, numerous nieces and nephews and friends.
Gary Long, B.A. ’70, geography, 6/23/2021. Survivors include his wife, sister, children, grandchildren, step-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.
John Longpre, Exp. ’70, business administration, 5/25/2021.
Survivors include his wife, son, grandsons, brothers and their spouses, sister, nieces, nephews and a host of friends.
Charlotte “Marie” McDougall, B.S.N. ’64, 7/11/2021. Marie’s family gained comfort knowing she joined her husband, Alex, on what would have been their 57th wedding anniversary. Survivors include her children and grandchildren.
Douglas Mitchum, B.S. ’59, zoology and physiology, M.S. ’60, zoology and physiology, 6/8/2021. Mitchum married his wife, Marcella, in 1956, and they had four children. He worked as an assistant fisheries biologist, research laboratory biologist,
a first violinist in the Cleveland Orchestra
the concertmaster of the Roanoke Symphony the conductor of the Wheeling Symphony Youth Orchestra
a violinist in the Netherlands Philharmonic
a trumpeter in the Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Utah’s Music Educator of the Year for 2016
the conductor of the Idaho State Civic Symphony the executive director of the Wyoming Arts Council
the co-principal trumpet of the New Japan Philharmonic
the assistant concertmaster of Brazil’s Orquestra Filarmônica de Minas Gerais
a cellist in the Symphony Orchestra of National eatre of Brasilia, Brazil
a cello teacher in Cochabamba, Bolivia
the cello professor at Guizhou Normal University, China
a trombonist in the U.S. Naval Forces Europe Band
various cruise ship band members
many highly successful music educators working all around the country
a violist in the Colorado Symphony the executive director of the Moab Music Festival
a bassist the jazz clubs of LA
A member of Nomad Session, a San Francisco based wind octet
the oboe professor at Central Washington University
the keyboard player in the New World Symphony of Miami
WYOGRAMS
laboratory supervisor and fish pathologist for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department over a span of 37 years. Throughout his career, Mitchum published several articles and books. In 1976, he received the award of Outstanding and Meritorious Service to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
Donald T. Rogers, J.D. ’70, law, 5/22/2021. Rogers attended the U.S. Naval Academy, where he would enjoy one of the highlights of his life through developing a strong sense of honor, courage and commitment—core values he would keep for the remainder of his life. After graduating from the Naval Academy in 1963, he served as a lieutenant in the Navy during the Vietnam War. In 1967, Rogers was honorably discharged from active duty and attended UW College of Law. His job as a park ranger in Grand Teton National Park between academic semesters only furthered his appreciation and passion for law enforcement and thus propelled him into a successful legal career. Rogers recently retired as deputy prosecutor in Teton County and ended a 50-year career as a Wyoming attorney devoted to his wife and family, including 43 years with Gloria. Survivors include his wife, children, brother, sister and grandchildren.
Steven Rolf, M.S. ’87, physics, Ph.D. ’91, physics, 6/27/2021. Survivors include his wife, children, brother, grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. Mark Roybal, MBA ’90, business administration, 6/11/2021. Survivors include his wife, mother, siblings, niece and nephew, and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.
John Seitz, Exp. ’72, College of Arts and Sciences, 6/8/2021. Survivors include his wife, children, grandchildren and siblings.
Wesley “Gene” Shuler, B.S. ’92, social science, 5/12/2021. During his college years, Shuler met his wife, Cheryl, and they were blessed with 52 years of marriage and two children. Many years of their life were spent farming and raising livestock, and later Shuler worked for the irrigation district and Park County Weed and Pest. Shuler served on the school board and irrigation board, taught Sunday school and was a youth sports coach. During his free time, he enjoyed fishing, hunting and playing softball and golf. He won a world championship title as horseshoe pitcher within his division. Survivors include his wife, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, siblings and nieces and nephews.
Helen Tennant, B.A. ’71, elementary education, 7/12/2021. Survivors include her husband, four daughters, eight grandchildren, nine greatgrandchildren, a great-greatgrandchild, siblings and their spouses, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Henry Therkildsen, B.S. ’50, architectural engineering, 9/14/2021. Therkildsen’s office was in Casper for over 33 years. He won many accolades for design and was a 2005 UW College of Engineering Hall of Fame inductee. Survivors include his sister, four children, numerous grandchildren, greatgrandchildren, nieces and nephews.
Bertha Ward, B.A. ’64, biological science secondary education, M.S.T. ’76, natural science, 6/13/2021. Survivors include James “Jock” Ward, Dr. Dawn Bodin and Laura Roberts.
Michael Worden, Exp. ’72, College of Engineering and Applied Science, 7/13/2021. Survivors include his wife, children, grandchildren and brother.
Karen (Ames) Wright, Exp. ’65, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, 3/8/2021. Survivors include her sister, children and grandchildren.
Fred Yates, B.S. ’82, journalism, 5/21/2021. Survivors include his sisters, brother, numerous nieces and nephews and their children.
Phyllis (Lagos) Yeamans, B.S.N. ’59, 5/25/2021. Survivors include her husband, son, sister, niece and numerous cousins.
UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING, AMERICAN HERITAGE CENTER, B. C. BUFFUM PAPERS, ACCESSION NUMBER 400055, BOX 32, ITEM 59
Throughout UW history, there have been many who have taken initiative and improved the world around them. One such person is former UW President Frank Graves. From 1896–98, he oversaw the complexities of running a university even though he was only 27 years old himself, making him one of the youngest college presidents in the United States. He led UW into a golden period with its highest enrollment number at that time, 100 students. Here he is pictured in his office in 1897, alongside his typist, taking notes from a meeting.
UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING, AMERICAN HERITAGE CENTER, B. C. BUFFUM PAPERS, ACCESSION NUMBER 400055, BOX 32
UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING, AMERICAN HERITAGE CENTER, PHOTO FILE: WYOMING-PENITENTIARYLARAMIE (WYOMING TERRITORIAL PRISON), FOLDER 2
UW’s STEM departments have received many awards and contributed to innumerable scientific discoveries throughout the years, but none of them would be possible without the humblest of beginnings. These photos from the late 1890s show UW students hard at work in a chemistry laboratory (below) and a botany class (left). Like the university, from these basic foundations, students are taught the skills that they need to go out and meaningfully contribute to their respective fields of study.
Wyoming Territorial Prison
was built in 1872 and was used to house some of the Wild West’s most notorious criminals, including Butch Cassidy. After it was closed down in 1903, it was given to UW’s College of Agriculture for use as an experimental station (above). One of its main functions was as a stockyard to study everything from dairy cows to sheep. It was used by UW until 1989 and then reopened in 1991 as the historic site that stands there today.
UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING, AMERICAN HERITAGE CENTER, B. C. BUFFUM PAPERS, ACCESSION NUMBER 400055, BOX 15, ITEM 1
The
(left)
1911, UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING, AMERICAN HERITAGE CENTER, B. C. BUFFUM PAPERS, ACCESSION NUMBER 400055, BOX 21
Discover the difference at the University of Wyoming’s College of Engineering and Applied Science.
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MERIT-BASED SCHOLARSHIPS OFFERED EACH YEAR TO CEAS STUDENTS
52%
PERCENTAGE OF UW STUDENTS WHO GRADUATE DEBT-FREE
72,000+ $
AVERAGE STARTING SALARY FOR CEAS GRADUATES
Makerspaces Go Mobile
A new partnership will bring makerspace technology, design thinking and social-emotional learning concepts to all corners of the state.
By Micaela Myers
For years, University of Wyoming students, personnel and the greater community have had access to amazing makerspaces at the Laramie campus that are stocked with high-tech tools and other creative accessories for learning, exploring and making things. The uses range from entrepreneurial to practical to research and everything in between. Now, a statewide and campus-wide partnership will bring mobile makerspaces, along with concepts of social-emotional learning, to the rest of Wyoming.
UW Innovation Wyrkshop Makerspace Coordinator Tyler Kerr and Trustees Education Initiative Managing Director Colby Gull first suggested the idea of the mobile makerspace project while brainstorming innovative ways to provide crucial support of Wyoming K–12 students during the
pandemic. Team members from UW’s Innovation Wyrkshop, Trustees Education Initiative and College of Business gathered ideas from Wyoming education stakeholders, including the Wyoming Afterschool Alliance and Wyoming Department of Workforce Services—which led to the development of the UW Social-Emotional Learning Mobile Makerspace (SELMM) project, an element of the Wyoming Innovations Partnerships (see page 20).
“We are eager to launch the social-emotional learning mobile makerspace project through support of Gov. Mark Gordon’s office and the Wyoming Innovation Partnerships initiative,” says Trustees Education Initiative Enterprise for Elevating Educational Excellence Director Curtis Biggs. “The mobile makerspaces will provide forward-thinking ways to directly serve Wyoming schools, community and industry.”
The SELMM will bring technology and associated training to communities that do not have immediate access to such maker facilities and will underpin student learning through collaboration, goal setting and design thinking. It will also support Wyoming businesses and entrepreneurs in their designing, manufacturing and training. In addition, the project will help train UW students via internships in social-emotional learning, design thinking and makerspace technologies, Biggs says.
Ronn Smith, senior associate dean of the College of Business, notes, “The intersection of schools and businesses in these makerspaces is a very exciting aspect of the project. This exposure to industry increases student awareness of local opportunity and the skills specific to the businesses—essentially creating a customized homegrown talent pipeline in our rural communities.”
Student Victoria Evans changes filaments on an Ultimaker 3D printer in the Innovation Wyrkshop Makerspace.
Partnerships are a hallmark of Trustees Education Initiative programming, and partners on the project include the College of Education, College of Engineering and Applied Science (Innovation Wyrkshop), College of Business, Department of Visual and Literary Arts, Manufacturing Works, Wyoming Afterschool Alliance, Wyoming Department of Workforce Services and WyoTech. Partnership with community colleges will be critical to both the dispatch of the mobile makerspaces across the state and creation of maker resources and services that complement those already in place. The SELMM team welcomes additional partners as the program expands.
Kerr says that the purpose of these roving mobile K–12 tech labs is to provide equal access to STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics) resources and technology for rural and remote communities. Initially, they’ll be retrofitting one 25-foot school bus and two 15-foot cargo trailers but hope to expand the fleet in the future. The team anticipates that these larger mobile makerspaces
will serve young adults, college students and community members, complementing existing mobile spaces across the Mountain West, such as the Think Make Create labs built by the Wyoming Afterschool Alliance that serve K–8 audiences.
“Each makerspace will be fitted with a large suite of
An autonomous hexapod robot underway in the Innovation Wyrkshop Makerspace. Controlled by Arduino microcontrollers, the robot will have a plant on its top. It will be programmed to do things such as seek out sunshine and beep when the plant needs water.
tools that include 3D printers, 3D scanners, laser cutters, electronics equipment, soldering stations, woodshop tools, sewing machines, machine cutters, virtual reality stations and more,” Kerr says. “In addition, we’ll be deploying a number of compartmentalized mobile makerspace ‘creative crates’ with one or two machines that educators can gain access to for free.”
Educators can apply to use these resources for a set period of time, and Kerr hopes community members will use them as well. Teachers don’t need to worry about developing their own curriculum, as the Maker Access Pass program offers 90-plus pre-designed workshops that educators can use to teach their students how to use the equipment, how to teach and learn critical social and emotional learning competencies through the College of Education, and even how to begin to market that next groundbreaking invention through entrepreneurial classes designed by the College of Business, Kerr says.
“Our hope is that down the road, having so many creative communities and entrepreneurial ideas bubbling up from all corners of the state might put Wyoming in an excellent position to become the next ‘Silicon Sagebrush,’” he says. “And that’s pretty exciting to imagine.”
The Department of Visual and Literary Arts’s Ashley Carlisle and David L. Jones are helping to design, lay out and fabricate the interiors of the mobile makerspaces. They are also creating a public art commission for the new Engineering Education and Research Building.
Student Cole Thomas works at the Electronics Bench in engineering’s makerspace.
Cowboys’ legacy player Chad Muma shares a message of hope with the next generation.
By Micaela Myers
Mechanical engineering senior Chad Muma of Lone Tree, Colo., holds a long list of honors as the Cowboys’ starting middle linebacker, including ranking No. 4 in the nation in total tackles and No. 3 in the nation in solo tackles. His 2021 post-season accomplishments include Walter Camp Football Foundation Second Team All-American, Pro Football Focus Second Team All-American, Associated Press Third Team All-American, Butkus Award
finalist and First Team All-Mountain West Conference. Muma’s father and grandfather played for the University of Wyoming, but he wasn’t sure he’d be able to follow in their footsteps after his Type 1 diabetes diagnosis in middle school. He’s now the only football player on the team with diabetes, and his success required learning to carefully manage the condition.
“The process I have to go through is always staying on top of it and checking what I’m eating before practice and before games,” Muma says. “During
a game, I’ll check my blood sugar at each quarter. I’ll adjust my numbers, whether it’s giving myself insulin or eating snacks throughout the game to keep my blood sugar at a steady state. That’s the most important thing. There’s a lot of fluidity with it, but learning how my body reacts to exercise helps me through the games.”
It’s important to Muma to share his message with the next generation— diabetes doesn’t need to change your dreams. In high school, he spoke to middle school kids with diabetes.
PHOTO COURTESY OF STEVE JOHNSON
In the summer of 2021 Chad Muma spoke to the participants of Casper’s Camp Hope, a program dedicated to helping children with Type 1 diabetes .
And this summer, he made the trek to Casper’s Camp Hope, a program dedicated to helping children ages 7-18 with Type 1 diabetes.
“It was a great experience,” Muma says. “It’s something I always wanted to do, having Type 1 diabetes and being an athlete in college. They told me their stories, and I shared my story with them and let them know that anything is possible and not to let their diabetes hold them back at all. I got a lot out of it as well.”
Muma is definitely not letting the
disease hold him back and hopes to go on to play in the NFL.
“My long-term hopes and dreams are to make it to the NFL and excel at that level,” he says. “There are other players with diabetes that have done it. I think I have a good opportunity as long as I keep playing the way I know I can.”
He remembers attending games with this family in Laramie when he was growing up.
“I love playing for our team,” Muma says. “I feel like the support we have here is incredible. Having that atmosphere is
what I enjoy the most.”
However, balancing sport with such a demanding major isn’t easy.
“There’s definitely not a lot of social time,” Muma says. “Every day I stick to my strict schedule of going to class, going to meetings for football, going to practice. After practice, I go home and do homework.”
He appreciates the stellar educational opportunities at UW: “All the new buildings and resources we have available on campus allow me to really further my education.”
“I shared my story with them and let them know that anything is possible and not to let their diabetes hold them back.”
Cowboys football player Chad Muma defends against Fresno State at War Memorial Stadium in October 2021.
VISUALIZING Mental Illness
ANGELA JOHNSON
HARRISON, NEBRASKA
Honors Capstone Project | Winter 2021 Graduate psychology major, creative writing and honors minors
“Mental illness is largely stigmatized in modern society. My first piece is titled Faceless—a woman, head into her arm, shielding herself partially from the world, while baring her naked body to the world, in a completely vulnerable state. Much like the vulnerability of mental illness, admitting that you are facing struggles within your own mind can be the most vulnerable state. Additionally, she is faceless. Mental illness presents itself uniquely in each person. This is an important concept for society to accept.
“My next piece is titled, Can You See It? The background is disorganized and chaotic, representing many mental illnesses— a representation of what the eye cannot see. I chose to paint the picture this way because the focus needs to be on mental illness, rather than vilifying the person with the disorder. The disorder is not who the person is. A mental illness does not define us, no matter how big or how uncontrollable it may feel.
“My final piece, Does It Show?, depicts a woman looking up to the sky with her eyes closed. Bright white veins seep through the normal-looking face. Mental illness is in many people, but it does not have a visual sign. The veins represent the mental illness coursing through each individual existence. It can be embraced and handled properly, leading to a fulfilling existence.”
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