Around NMU

Northern Michigan University will host a virtual Climate@Noon presentation titled “The Color of Bunny” from noon to 1 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6. Assistant Biology Professor Diana Lafferty will present about how a mismatch in seasonal coat color provides a visual metaphor for how climate change may affect Earth's biodiversity. 

They toiled in Upper Peninsula mines and mills. But on weekends, the muscles forged by the sweat of their labor would be on display against some of the NFL's finest football teams. This rich deposit of U.P. football history is being unearthed in a new television documentary titled "Linked to Legends: The U.P. Teams that Played the Packers." The film by Northern Michigan University Professor Dwight Brady will debut later this month on WNMU-TV.

NMU alumnus William Provost ('20 BS, '13 MA, '10 BS) recently became the first to complete a course and certification offered through NMU's Upper Peninsula Cybersecurity Institute (UPCI), which opened on campus in May 2019. The UPCI offers non-degree and industry credentials relevant to emerging careers, augments NMU's existing cyber defense bachelor's degree and provides career exploration and training opportunities for K-12 school districts.

Northern's annual Diversity Common Reader Program (DCRP) revolves around a nonfiction book of interdisciplinary interest that advances discussions of diversity, inclusion and justice. This year's selection, Ta-Nehisi Coates' "Between the World and Me," is available free to NMU students, starting today. Two related virtual events are planned Nov. 13.

Northern Michigan University student organizations will offer area children a safe, drive-through "Trunk or Treating" experience on Halloween. They will decorate trunks of vehicles and have them set up from 4-6 p.m. in the PEIF parking lot at the corner of Presque Isle Avenue and Fair Street.

Jill Deno ('20 BSN), an oncology nurse navigator at OSF St. Francis Hospital in Escanaba, was selected from 13,000 nurses employed at 14 OSF HealthCare hospitals to receive the 2020 Nursing Legacy Award. The graduate of Northern's online RN to BSN program was nominated by her manager for her efforts with cancer patients. As a breast cancer survivor herself, Deno works to ensure that no one goes through the journey alone. 

Northern Michigan University's Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center and Center for Upper Peninsula Studies will present the 2020 Sonderegger Symposium Friday, Nov. 6. The event will be entirely virtual and will feature 18 sessions and 35 presenters. The theme of this year's event focuses on "Insider/Outsider" issues in the Upper Peninsula region.

The Northern Michigan University Alumni Association has launched a Wildcat Authors directory. Similar to its Wildcats Mean Business campaign supporting alumni-owned businesses, the authors directory is an effort to promote the published books of Wildcat alumni across the country and encourage the NMU community to support these authors.

WNMU-TV at Northern Michigan University has joined the Michigan Learning Channel, a statewide public television partnership offering instructional content to support the education of students and to provide alternative curriculum resources for families and teachers.

Northern Michigan University's Theatre and Dance department will host its 2020-21 academic season of performances in a virtual mode in light of the COVID-19 pandemic