All News Releases

Alumnus Finds True Calling as Fishing Guide

Ermatinger (right) with a client and her catch.
Aug. 4, 2023 —
NMU alumnus Alex Ermatinger graduated in 2012 with a bachelor's degree in environmental science and biology. After a few years working in chemical engineering and then pharmaceutical research, he realized that his true calling was to be a fishing guide. He had grown up fishing for salmon and steelhead in the northern Lower Peninsula. Ermatinger returns to the area to help clients chase the same species during their annual migration from Lake Michigan into rivers along the west coast of the state.

Students Gain TV News Experience

'Public Eye News' at WNMU-TV
Aug. 3, 2023 —
Northern Michigan University multimedia journalism students have abundant opportunities for TV news internships and employment, with four commercial stations in the local market. The public television station on campus also broadcasts the student-led production Public Eye News (PEN), which introduces them to the diverse skills required for the industry.

NMU Responds Proactively to AI

NMU Instructional Technologist Scott Smith
Aug. 3, 2023 —
The rapid proliferation of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), which creates new content from existing data almost instantaneously, is transforming the educational landscape. Some are eagerly embracing AI as a powerful tool that will make learning more personalized and accessible, and provide-data driven insights for educators. Others are concerned it will increase academic dishonesty, generate biased and false information, and adversely impact security and employment. Northern Michigan University is taking proactive steps to ensure that it is incorporated responsibly and effectively.

Campus Closeup: Mark Shevy

Mark and Cheri Shevy
Aug. 3, 2023 —
While Mark Shevy has been a professor of mass communication and media production at NMU since 2007, people still don't agree on his name. Students in his classes usually call him “Dr. Shevy" or "Professor Shevy.” But he has been told that more people may know him as “Zumba Mark” because he enthusiastically instructs the trademark fitness classes that combine cardio with Latin-inspired dance. Students in Radio X and Marquette Ending Hunger—two organizations he advises—just call him “Mark.” Now Shevy has added a new title before his name: department head. 

Yoga Event Features Swami Omkarananda

Swami Omkarananda
Aug. 1, 2023 —
Northern Michigan University's Yoga Club will present a public event titled “Yoga and Meditation in Busy Life,” featuring Swami Omkarananda from India. The event will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 11, at Unity Yoga Co-op at 147 W. Washington St. in Marquette. Swami Omkarananda grew up around the great lady saint of India, Ma Anandamayi. He studied and lived with six world-renowned Hindu and Buddhist masters, and has been traveling throughout the world as a peace and wellness messenger.

Alumna Touts MML Women's Training Program

Allison Watkins
Jul. 31, 2023 —
NMU alumna Allison Watkins is profiled in a feature story on the benefits of a Michigan Municipal League training initiative that helps women advance their skills and leadership abilities to become strong local government managers. Watkins has served as Newberry village manager since 2019. Despite her extensive experience as HR and community relations director for Newberry, and working with AmeriCorps NCCC, she recalled having imposter syndrome, a feeling she was not where she should be.

Marquette Courtroom Jogs Judge's NMU Memory

Charles "Chuck" Johnson is pictured lower left in the 1975 yearbook photo and as a presiding judge in the same courtroom earlier this month. The yearbook photo shows (front row L to R): Johnson, president of the Pre-Law Society; John Rogers; and Doug Courtney. Back Row L-R: Jeff Swarbich, vice president; Dennis Baldinelli; Greg Rose; Liz Polloch, Secretary; Dick Ralph; Dr. John Ashby, Adviser; Larry Ziehm; Jeff Wellman; and Dave Reinhard.
Jul. 28, 2023 —
Northern Michigan University alumnus and retired Emmet County Circuit Judge Charles Johnson of Petoskey recently donned his robe again to preside over a July jury trial at the Marquette County Courthouse. He is one of two grant-funded visiting judges helping to clear the county's backlog of criminal cases. As Johnson sat behind the bench in the historic courtroom, which also served as a pivotal location in the book and film “Anatomy of a Murder,” he developed a sense of déjà vu.

Student Researches Freshwater Acidification

Maddy Saddler (Alpena News photo by Darby Hinkley)
Jul. 24, 2023 —
Northern  Michigan University biology student Maddy Saddler will address freshwater acidification and its implications for the Great Lakes ecosystem during a Thursday, July 27 presentation in her hometown of Alpena. She will give details about her role as a research intern working on the ongoing freshwater acidification monitoring project with Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, and Michigan Sea Grant. 

Improv Training Can Ease Social Anxiety

Felsman (left) doing improv with a house team called Brenda at Pointless Brewery & Theatre in Ann Arbor, which is now closed.
Jul. 7, 2023 —
Some people are apprehensive about participating in improv comedy because of its unscripted format that requires quick thinking to play off unpredictable ideas presented by others on stage or in the audience. But Northern Michigan University assistant professor Peter Felsman is the lead author of a published study providing the first evidence that improv training can significantly reduce a common trait of social anxiety and depression: discomfort with uncertainty.

Cumberlidge Attends Workshop in Berlin

Workshop participants at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, Germany. From left: Pierre A. Mvogo Ndongo (Douala, Cameroon in Central Africa); Kristina von Rintelen, Curator of Crustaceans, Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin; Thomas von Rintelen (Leibniz Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity, Museum für Naturkunde); Paul Clark (The Natural History Museum in London, UK); and Neil Cumberlidge (NMU).
Jun. 30, 2023 —
NMU BIology Professor Neil Cumberlidge recently attended a week-long freshwater crab workshop at the Museum für Naturkunde (Natural History Museum) in Berlin, Germany. He joined international colleagues working on new collections of freshwater crabs resulting from the group's biological surveys of three central and West African biodiversity hotspots in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sierra Leone.