April 2025

NMU alumna Debra LaMere is a contingent faculty member in the College of Business. She also serves as senior vice president at Goodwill Industries. She has worked in the human resources (HR) field for many years, starting out as an administrative assistant at the Tilden Mine. LaMere has since held HR roles in manufacturing, healthcare, higher education and now nonprofit. 

As a geographer and landscape ecologist, Assistant Professor Adam Naito integrates field work, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), remote sensing and simulation modeling to improve understanding of landscape-scale changes in vegetation and its implications for cross-scale interactions and ecosystem services in terrestrial systems. His work has spanned multiple environments, including the montane forests of northern California, Arctic Alaska, the Appalachian Mountains, Southwestern rangelands, and the North Woods and agricultural landscapes of the Upper Peninsula.

Assistant Professor of Education Cindy Basse leads and teaches in the early childhood graduate program. She launched the MAE in Early Childhood Education with four students and has been instrumental in teaching and growing the program to its current level of eighty students. She has focused her professional development on pedagogical approaches to online learning that engages students in active learning within a supportive classroom community. 

Psychological Science Assistant Professor Lin Fang is co-director of the Cognitive x Affective Behavior & Integrative Neuroscience (CABIN) Lab. Her research mainly focuses on 1) The cognitive and affective vulnerabilities to depression and anxiety: Mechanism and intervention; 2) The interaction between cognitive control and emotion regulation; 3) User experience (UX) research.

Shaun Shepard, EdD, is an adjunct professor in the College of Business. She holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Administration from George Washington University, and her research interests include trauma-informed pedagogy, social and emotional learning, and professional development.

Northern Michigan University Theatre and Dance will present its adaptation of the iconic rock opera “Jesus Christ Superstar,” the first musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice produced for the professional stage more than 50 years ago. Show dates are Thursday-Saturday, April 10-12 and 17-19 in Forest Roberts Theatre. 

Northern Michigan University will host its 29th annual Celebration of Student Scholarship on Thursday, April 17, beginning with an opening ceremony at 9 a.m. and continuing throughout the day in Jamrich Hall. This year's event will feature a broader range of presentation formats beyond the traditional research posters and 10-minute oral presentations. Students were also invited to submit projects in the form of film and video, readings, roundtables, performances, publications, artistic displays and more.

Northern Michigan University's Music Department will present three upcoming performances featuring its percussion ensemble, a senior trombone recital, and the Open Mind experimental music ensemble.

A new article detailing the history of environmental advocacy work at Northern Michigan University and in the Upper Peninsula has been posted on a website dedicated to the symbiotic relationship between NMU and the surrounding region. "This Land is Our Land: Yooper Relationships to the Environment and NMU" was written by Graduate Administrative Assistant Abby LaForest, with support from the Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center on campus, and utilizing historical records from the Central U.P. and NMU Archives.  

Two Northern Michigan University undergraduate students and an NMU alumna presented their work at the annual convention of Sigma Tau Delta, the international English honor society, March 19-22 in Pittsburgh. Two came away with awards.