Around NMU

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. 

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.

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. 

Northern Michigan University's partnership with Central Michigan University's Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (Ed.D.) program is celebrating 10 years in 2025. What began as an idea from a cohort of students who were hired at NMU after completing the CMU Ed.D. has now evolved into a successful collaboration to motivate advanced learners seeking a terminal degree.

Northern Michigan University will host its first BIPOC Outdoors Summit & Rest Retreat Aug. 4-8. While the events are centered on promoting joyful and inclusive nature-based experiences for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) through outdoor activities, skills workshops, keynote speakers and conversations, all are welcome to participate. 

Anishinaabe Radio News, a program co-produced by Northern Michigan University's Center for Native American Studies and Public Radio 90, will soon mark its 200th episode. Since the first broadcast in 2016, host April Lindala has explored Native American history and culture and shared updates on Indigenous events planned across the Great Lakes region. 

Alexa Christensen, a Marquette native who holds two degrees from Northern, has returned to her alma mater to serve as the new director of Dining Services. She previously worked as the dietary manager at Houghton County Medical Care Facility. Christensen arrived on campus in early June and hit the ground running to help ensure that students and families in town for orientation had a positive experience sampling food from NMU Dining locations.

William “Bill” Hart, who has been a decades-long fixture at WNMU-FM, Public Radio 90 in Marquette, will be the 2025 recipient of the Michigan Association of Broadcasters' 2025 Public Media Impact Award for Professionals. This statewide award is presented to professionals—including volunteers—working in public broadcasting to honor their contributions to the industry.

In an effort to preserve the Anishinaabe language for future generations, Northern Michigan University and Bay Mills Community College recently signed an articulation agreement that will allow students to complete a two-year associate of arts degree in Anishinaabe language instruction at BMCC, then seamlessly transfer to NMU for the final two years to complete a bachelor of science degree in Native American studies, with potential for a Michigan Anishinaabemowin K-12 teaching certificate. This creates the state's first pathway for teachers to earn such an endorsement, according to the Michigan Department of Education (MDE).

The Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center at Northern Michigan University has brought back two of its most popular exhibitions for the months of July and August, “Remnants: Ghost Towns of the Upper Peninsula” and “The Polar Bears: U.P. Soldiers in the Northern Russian Expeditionary Force 1918-1919” are on display in the center's gallery in Gries Hall from noon to 4 p.m. Monday-Saturday through Aug. 30. Admission is free.