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Leach's Convocation Stresses Solid Footing and Bold Thinking

NMU-Blackrocks Partnership Supports Student Recreation

The partnership between Northern Michigan University and alumni-owned Blackrocks Brewery began last year with the launch of a new beer, Wildcat Gold, to celebrate NMU's 125th anniversary. It has since morphed into much more, supporting student access to the area's world-class recreational trails. Blackrocks has contributed $7,500 from the sales of Wildcat Gold to NMU's Outdoor Recreation Center for the purchase of mountain bikes and Nordic ski equipment made available to students for free.
NMU Interim President Gavin Leach, fourth from left, and Blackrocks' Steve Farr (’09 BS, ’12 MBA), David Manson and Andy Langlois ('95 BS), center, are pictured with NMU students and staff showing some of the bikes and skis purchased through the partnership.

Presidential Search Update

The search for Northern Michigan University's next president is “underway and on schedule,” with campus visits by finalists expected in late September and early October. Presidential Search Advisory Committee Chair Tami Seavoy presented a status report at today's convocation.
NMU academic logo

Weston Addition Enhances Research, Teaching

Northern Michigan University's recently completed addition to Weston Hall has increased available lab space, elevating the ability of Biology and Chemistry faculty to conduct high-quality research and train students in biomedical techniques. Highlights include two specialty teaching labs: a “world-class” Cell Culture Facility; and a state-of-the-art Microscopy Suite with dedicated rooms to house each of NMU's advanced microscopes, providing a central hub for research projects.
Undergraduate student Hosanna Brindle (left) and graduate student Mikaela Fairbanks in the LeBert Lab on the second floor of the Weston addition.

Woodland Park Input Requested

NMU's Sustainability Hub for Innovation and Environment (SHINE) will host two events on Tuesday, Sept. 9, to seek campus and community input on the project to develop an experiential learning forest and garden at the corner of Norwood and Neidhart Avenues, adjacent to the Woodland Park Apartments.
A portion of the Woodland Park site, with the relocated solar array (formerly near the athletic complex) in the back, and the frame for the Hoop House (formerly outside Jacobetti).

NMU Profs Among 2% of Highly Cited Scientists

Two Northern Michigan University professors—Maris Cinelli from Chemistry and Ryan Stock from Earth, Environmental and Geographical Sciences—are among the top 2% of highly cited scientists in the world, according to the most recent listing released by Stanford University and Elsevier, one of the largest publishing companies for scientific, technical and medical research. The list shows which scientists have had the biggest impact in their fields, based primarily on how often other scientists mention their work.
Maris Cinelli and Ryan Stock

NMU Receives USFS Wood Innovation Grant

Northern Michigan University was recently awarded $114,553 from the U.S. Forest Service's Wood Innovation Grant program to identify facility and process improvements for the combined heat and power plant at the Ripley Plant on campus. This is an essential step in working toward NMU's Carbon Neutrality Plan and the potential transition from natural gas to using local woodchips. 

Site Prep for NMU Apartments Begins Aug. 4

Northern Michigan University has announced that initial steps toward construction of two new student apartment complexes will begin Monday, Aug. 4. The buildings will be located on university property along both sides of Presque Isle Avenue—one between Fair Avenue and Subway on the east, and the other from Cohodas Hall to Waldo Street on the west. The general contractor, Stevens Construction Corp. of Bloomington, Minn., along with local subcontractors, will begin fencing the construction area and moving equipment onsite Monday. Preparation for the removal of the former Invent@NMU building on the corner of Fair Avenue and Presque Isle and the former Temaki building next door will also begin next week.
Architectural rendering of apartments.

NMU Conservation Law and Policing Featured

Northern Michigan University's wildlife conservation law and policing minor is featured in a recent story by Bridge Magazine, the state's "largest nonprofit news service." The article highlights adjunct instructor Jeremy Sergey's scenario-based training that helps prepare students to become DNR officers who enforce fish, game and natural resource laws; alumnus Joseph Budnick, who graduated from the DNR's 23-week conservation officer training academy in early July and will work in Mackinac County after field training with a veteran officer; and professor Greg Warchol's research on illegal wildlife trading and poaching in Africa, which also has relevance domestically. 
In one of several mock crime scenes that help NMU students learn how to investigate environmental crimes, this group examine a fake deer carcass loaded in the back of a hunter’s truck (Jeremy Sergey photo)..