Around NMU

Standing 75 yards away from two Alaskan brown bears playing in a river, NMU biology graduate teaching assistant Rylee Jensen was able to snap an award-winning photo while she was working at Brooks Camp in Katmai National Park. The picture was entered into the PetaPixel photo competition and won the grand prize: a trip to the Galapagos Islands on the National Geographic Islander II and an OM System camera with two M. Zuiko lenses.

In honor of Women's History Month, Northern Michigan University First Lady Kristin Tessman shares a short list of the historical and contemporary women she most admires, effective qualities possessed by female leaders she has encountered, and her deliberate efforts to demonstrate to her young daughters that they are capable of becoming or achieving anything they desire.

Northern Michigan University's online applied workplace leadership program is one of the best organizational leadership bachelor's degrees in the nation, according to a 2023 listing compiled by OrganizationalLeadershipEdu.org. 

More than 50 Northern Michigan University students—mostly criminal justice majors—are volunteering as role players for active shooter training scenarios being conducted this week by the Michigan State Police Emergency Support Team (ES Team) in the former hospital's emergency room. Representatives of all Marquette County law enforcement agencies are participating. One NMU student even came up with an idea for a new scenario that became part of the training.

Beverly Matherne, professor emerita of English at Northern Michigan University, has been selected as the 2023/2024 U.P. Poet Laureate. The former director of NMU's Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing and poetry editor of Passages North literary magazine is the author of seven poetry books.

The Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center is hosting a live virtual event, “An Evening with Jeannie Thoren,” at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 30. The Marquette native and NMU alumna has spent the past three decades researching the way women ski and developing specialized equipment for them, earning her a place among Skiing magazine's “Top 25 Most Influential People in Skiing in the last 50 years.” She will share her career experiences, as well as what it was like growing up skiing on Cliff's Ridge (Marquette Mountain). Participants will be able to ask questions during the live stream.

Steve Burns, best known as the original host of the long-running children's television program Blues Clues, will visit Northern Michigan University. He will participate in a moderated Q&A session titled "What Happened to Steve?" at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 28, in the Northern Center Grand Ballroom. A meet and greet will follow at 8:15 p.m. 

Northern Michigan University alumna Sharon Valascho is one of six finalists for the Detroit Red Wings Teacher of the Year, a title that comes with a $5,000 classroom grant and a virtual meet and greet with a Red Wings player. The elementary art teacher and avid hockey player earned Red Wings Teacher of the Month in January, and said she is hoping she has what it takes to clinch the overall win.

A company formed by three Northern Michigan University alumni that is focused on keeping space clear of orbital debris has earned its second straight Michigan Best Small Business award. Marquette-based Kall Morris Inc. (KMI) will be among the honorees at the 19th annual Michigan Celebrates Small Business gala on May 2 in East Lansing.