Outstanding Community Engagement & Partnerships - Academic Affairs and Student Success

• The School of Art and Design's Visiting Artists program brought in two visiting artists in October 2024 who presented on their work and ran participatory workshops for students. George Rodriguez in Ceramics hosted a collaborative, multi-day workshop for building a Wild Cat Willy decorative ceramic statue. Donato Giancola, a renowned fantasy illustrator, provided a week of lectures, workshops, and portfolio critiques for illustration, painting, and drawing students.

• In April 2025, Tracy Wascom and art and design students contributed to the NMU "Water Is Life Festival" by painting a canoe as part of a creative decorating project.

• The Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center partnered with alumni and others to showcase NMU's history in its "Northern Tapestry: 125 Years of Stories" exhibit (Aug. 30, 2024 - Feb. 1, 2025)

• In November 2024, the Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center and Center for U.P. Studies hosted the 24th annual Sonderegger Symposium, a community event made possible by a generous donation from the Sonderegger family.

• The Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center presented a performance by the folk-jazz fusion group, American Patchwork Quartet (Sept. 14, 2024).

• The Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center collaborated with Hiawatha Traditional Music Coop, the Peter White Public Library and the City of Marquette Arts and Culture Center on the community-wide Winter Roots Festival, including a concert by Frigg, a Finnish folk supergroup.

• Partnership with the Superior Watershed Partnership, City of Marquette, and Moosewood Nature Center surrounding the salamander migration at Presque Isle Park which is supported with over 200 volunteer students serving as Salamander Stewards and data collectors to enhance both knowledge of the organism and community experience.

• Participated in the American Society of Parasitologists' Parasite Week community outreach through presentations in several Upper Peninsula elementary school classrooms (>120 students).

• Re-established the Dental advisory board, Dentists and Dental specialists in the community, for pre-Dental students at NMU.

• Between 5-8 local Dentists per semester come to campus or bring pre-Dental students into their offices for hands-on activities and workshops.

• Between 3-4 Physicians or PAs per semester come to campus or bring pre-Medical or pre-PA students into their offices for hands-on activities and workshops.

• The pre-Medical advisory board, consisting of NMU faculty and local physicians, provides application feedback and interviews for prospective Medical school applicants.

• Participated/represented Kenosha Public Museum's "Women in STEM" event providing educational resources and activities in the natural (biological) and forensic sciences.

• Presented at Science on Tap (9Oct2024) Forensic Identification: Sending them home as a team.

• Invited speaker at the University of North Texas Health Science Center: Career Seminar Series; shared experience as a practitioner in the (forensic) sciences after earning a graduate STEM degree.

• Invited speaker at Michigan Technological University (MTU) Chemistry Department for a presentation on hibernators as metabolic magicians of seasonal fluctuations for a seminar series for faculty and graduate students.

• Participated in Marquette area home-school visit and educational interactive event (Jan 2025).

• Interviewed by student at Marquette Senior High School via email (topic: crime scene work for Freshman Seminar Career Project; student's instructor reached out after attending Science on Tap talk).

• In the 5 years of running the Wastewater Pathogen Monitoring Project in Marquette as part of the State of Michigan Disease Monitoring Network, faculty have been interviewed on TV6 three times about pandemic related topics, or other disease topics like Mpox. Also, weekly reports of results are submitted to the local health department, to the State of Michigan and the CDC.

• Department faculty coordinate the Science on Tap series where monthly talks are given at a public venue to a community audience. The Biology Department also sponsors this event.

• Collaboration with USDA New England Plant, Soil, Water lab research biologists on fish reproductive physiology.

• Coordinated with the Marquette Rotary Club to set up a tour of NMU's interdisciplinary Indoor Agriculture Program with a group from Georgia (country), the Georgia Farmers Association delegates.

• The College of Business student service organization Rotaract engaged in numerous fundraising efforts to support the Rotary effort of polio vaccinations in Gaza.

• The College of Business Public Relations Student Society Association organized the Coffee Crawl fundraiser benefitting the Women's Center

• The College of Business Student Cyber Security Association provides security education to the public and seniors at the public library and other local sites.

• The College of Business is a partner with its newly formed Wildcat Consulting to assist with UP Small Business Support Hub as a subgrantee. Mostly organizational this year, actual consulting activities will ramp up this summer and next academic year.

• Honor Credit Union, in collaboration with Northern Michigan University's College of Business (NMU), proudly hosted a Financial Reality Fair on Friday, September 27th, welcoming nearly 350 students from local high schools to NMU's campus. Participating schools included Gwinn Area Community Schools, Ishpeming Public Schools, Negaunee High School, Nice Community Schools, and Republic Michigamme Schools.

• The College of Business partnered with Innovate Marquette, SISU Institute, College of Graduate Studies to organize and sponsor Peak Week; this partnership included the Big Pitch and Outdoor Innovation Summit Pitch.

• Several faculty have been presenters in the Science on Tap events in Marquette.

• Faculty and students are heavily involved each year in the regional Science Olympiad competition.

• Several faculty and students are involved in the American Chemical Society UP local and the Younger Chemists Committee of the ACS.

• Faculty host science activities for area high schools.

• Students have been active in science education at the Children's Museum.

• Several faculty are actively involved in organizing the Cannabis Collaboration conference each spring. Students are presenting at the conference.

• Through the forensic biochemistry program there is close collaboration with the Michigan State Patrol.

• Paul Mann has been an active member of the Hope Starts Here planning committee since 2015.

• Paul Mann has presented two Science on Tap talks.

• Paul Mann has guest lectured to the Marquette Genealogy Society.

• Martin Renaldi was interviewed on the radio; "The Mark and Walt Morning Show" for a venue to present to the public what Clinical Laboratory Science (CLS) does at NMU; 3/26/2025; interview has been archived.

• Every Spring the CLS successfully presents what they do to the Ishpeming HS HOSA students in an effort to garner interest in the programs; it is a very successful endeavor as they eventually see those former HS students here at NMU CLS.

• Martin Renaldi worked with Helen Newberry Joy administration to orchestrate a brand-new design for student interns, $10,000 clinical placement scholarship opportunities; very popular. This project was highlighted by the NMU Rural Health Center and can be found on their website.

• Matt Jennings was the 2024 John Kerry Award recipient for outstanding service to the UMBTC.

• Matt Jennings has served as the MCJGA (Marquette County Junior Golf Association) Secretary since 2019.

• Matt Jennings was recruited by the Marquette Genealogical Society to present a talk regarding DNA, its reliability, and how to interpret data coming from 23andme and similar sources.

• Matt Jennings performs a variety of fundraising on behalf of the UMBTC including the Hope Starts Here event and the Annual UMBTC golf benefit.

• Matt Jennings was the primary organizer of the 2023 MLS and Molecular Genetics Symposium.

• Matt Jennings made a presentation to the NMU Board of Trustees titled "Interdisciplinary Collaboration Between the UMBTC and Medicinal Plant Chemistry"

• Matt Jennings completed a variety of campus tours events for local, regional, state and interstate high schools.

• Matt Jennings developed exportable laboratory experience for MSHS / Westwood high schools as part of a grant funded project to expose high school students to the clinical sciences.

Clinical Laboratory Science (CLS)

• The NMU CLS Program has entered into a partnership with Helen Newberry Joy hospital (HNJ) to offer a $10,000 scholarship and free room and board for 2 internship students each semester who successfully get placed there.

• The program is being solicited by other rural health hospitals who want to partner to offer similar scholarship opportunities to capture new laboratory employees.

• The program takes the profession on the road by visiting local and distant High Schools/Middle schools to educate future collegians in Clinical Laboratory Science, working with local HS/MS guidance counselors and HOSA (Health Occupation Student Association) officials to schedule visits.

• Sara Potter served as a Consultant for Little Agate's Leah Blanchard's Presentation at the Sault Tribe Business Alliance October 2025 Annual Business Conference titled: Reclaiming Tradition in Business: A Sustainable Perspective on Success.

• Sara Potter's COM200 (Fall 2024 and 2025) was selected for the Wikipedia Student Program.

• A faculty member and two students traveled to Mackinac Island, and made several presentations to legislative officials about the proposed expansion of the cold case program.

• Partnered with detectives from Michigan State Police to produce nearly 100 actionable leads in ten cases as part of the cold case program

• Provided death investigative photography training to law enforcement through FROST/FARL

• Faculty participation on the board of directors of Teaching Family Homes of Upper Michigan, facilitating internships, class projects, and part-time employment

• Fingerprint workshop for NMU students

• The Criminal Justice Association (CJA) worked closely with the UP 200 to provide security and crowd control in addition to coordinating all student volunteers not directly working with dogs

• CJA provided security for the Haunted Hayride fundraiser at the fairgrounds

• Dr. Adam T. Naito continued engagement with the Upper Peninsula Land Conservancy along with students in GC 425 - Remote Sensing to begin estimating aboveground biomass and model overland water flow in the Bridges Parcel of the Dead River Community Forest via drone-based lidar (https://nmu.canto.com/v/RAP02NEAOP/album/NAJFL?viewIndex=0). https://nmu.edu/eegs/faculty-student-research-natural-resources#composition-biomass

• Dr. Adebiyi has been working with Dr. Fatimat Adebiyi (co-PI) and AquTerra on applied research to address production challenges at the Hannahville Tribal Aquaponics facility, aiming to maximize its potential, scale its operations, ensure commercial viability, and expand the linked summer school program.

• Dr. Stock has been collaborating with energy justice organizers in downstate Michigan to create the Michigan Just Transition Toolkit: Energy Justice Lookbook, published in March 2025

• Dr. Sarah Mittlefehldt has served as chair of the City of Marquette's Planning Commission and in that capacity, she has assisted the Community Master Plan process, reviewed site plans for development, researched amendments to the Land Development Code, attended planning workshops led by the Michigan Association of Planning, and led 17 public meetings during the 2024-2025 academic year.

• Working with Tyler Dettloff (PI), Director of NMU's Center for Native American Studies, Dr. Sarah Mittlefehldt received a grant from Michigan Arts & Culture Council Award to organize a Water is Life Festival in Marquette in April 2025.

• Dr. Sarah Mittlefehldt serves on NMU's Center for Native American Studies Faculty Advisory Council and in that capacity she has assisted with personnel evaluation, event planning, curriculum design, and program development.

• Dr. Sarah Mittlefehldt was invited to give a talk on the history of wood distillation technologies for the Science on Tap series in Marquette, MI.

• Dr. Sarah Mittlefehldt collaborated with Bothwell Middle School science teacher Jennifer Tapolcai to plan and implement environmental educational opportunities for students in GC424 and Ms. Tapolcai's 7th grade Green School class.

• EEGS, NMU's chapter of Gamma Theta Upsilon (GTU) International Geographical Honor Society, and SHINE organized the 11th annual Anderton's Earth Week for April 21–26, 2025. https://nmu.edu/eegs/earth-week

• Joshua Ingber and a team of 4 students are working on the U.P.'s first inflation study. This report will be reproduced annually and will provide a valuable resource for U.P businesses.

• Joshua Ingber has appeared twice this year on news outlets related to U.P. inflation.

• Connected students with members of the Economic Club of Marquette County. They were invited to some of their social hours, dinners, and talks.

• Ten year partnership between NMU and Central Michigan University for the NMU Educational Specialist pathway to the CMU EdD program with approximately 20 successful doctoral completers to date.

• Teacher candidates regularly engaged in out-of-classroom learning experiences in partnership with the Marquette Regional History Museum and Travel Marquette via the Chamber of Commerce.

• Implementation of observational tools and protocols for structured field and lab work, guiding teacher candidates to collect and analyze consistent, reliable data for use in elementary classrooms supporting in-service teachers.

• Developing over 300 teacher candidates in Michigan's Talent Together and Grow Your Own Programs through online educator preparation programs, addressing state and national teacher shortages by providing funding and educational opportunities for those with an interest in becoming certified educators, including paraprofessionals, substitute teachers, and school support staff.

• SELPS partnered with 52 school districts across 5 states and 3 countries in 2024 to allow for 118 student teaching placements. Currently, the school maintains nearly 500 active affiliation agreements with school districts across the state of Michigan and in 13 additional states. (Kennedy)

• Elementary and special education teacher candidates spend 6-7 weeks in Negaunee's Lakeview Elementary apprenticing with teachers every semester to gain experience and support PK-5 learning.

• Bothwell Teaching Week is a culminating experience for elementary and special education students each semester. Small groups of teacher educators take over 7th-grade rooms at the middle school and teach integrated subject-area curriculum for the week. This is a partnership that has been ongoing for 20 years.

• Monthly mentoring meetings with local teachers to coach their National Science Foundation grant-supported leadership in teaching at high-needs schools (Joe Lubig and Christi Edge).

• Collaborative partnership with MTU faculty and MI partners (principals, superintendents, ISDs) to design and implement National Science Foundation grant-supported teacher leadership for 38 teachers in high-needs schools across the state of Michigan (Joe Lubig and Christi Edge).

• Clinical site visits to diverse schools for approximately 100 teacher candidates each semester: Preble High School, Danz Elementary School, and Syble Hopp Elementary School. All three schools are alumni partnerships and represent diverse populations of students for ethnicity, language, and abilities.

• NMU Financial Aid, NMU Teacher Education, and Marquette Elementary Schools partnering to embed 26 paid teacher candidates as literacy and math tutors taking advantage of a federal work study program to support PK-5 students.

• The 7-week undergraduate Applied Workplace Leadership (AWL) program is designed based on non-traditional student feedback and work schedules to partner with 56 ISDs and the Michigan Department of Education to offer a pathway for K-5 licensure for para-pros hired in school settings (non-traditional population) supporting 100 non-traditional students.

• The 3+1 Early Childhood Education online pathway will support non-traditional students with associate's degrees and traditional students while allowing them to be licensed Birth-K while retaining employment in their home communities.

• Inventiveness in developing an online early childhood grad program and an experimental Learning Disabilities program as initial licensure programs was inventive and forward thinking in MI allowing leverage of T.E.A.C.H. grant funds legislated at the state level for early childhood and a tuition reimbursement grant for the LD program.

• Lobbying for MI Ed Fellowship and MI Educator Stipends have supported program retention and completion rates at the grad and undergrad levels which are both at or above 90% retention.

• Use of Title funds years ago to test and revise a secondary licensure pathway are paying off as non-traditional students enroll into a secondary licensure pathway online allowing schools to hire a teacher of record while obtaining licensure.

• Use of the Ed Admin programs in partnership with alternative route pathways is a smart move allowing the SELPS to formalize a trusted and transparent competency based pathway.

• Sit-ski Project: NMU Engineering Tech partnered to build Nordic Sit-Skis for Adaptive Athletes.

• Professor Joe Routhier paired with a local fabricator to redesign and prototype a Desk Cart for use in the NMU dorms for his DD 202 course.

• Professor Mike Martin's MET 320 and Dr. Cale Polkinghorne's MF 263 classes worked with Mount Mfg to design and manufacture guide bushing honing tools for Mount to use in their manufacturing facility.

• Prof. Joe Routhier will be judging high school industrial arts student projects and running a booth at this year's Michigan Industrial and Technology Education Society (MITES) conference this May in Gaylord, Michigan.

• Joseph Self painted the cover for Issue 46 of the Passages North literary magazine.

• Joseph Self attended the AWP conference as a representative of Passages North where he engaged with the fanbase and met with other publishers to develop and maintain relationships in the industry.

• Dr. Amy Hamilton supervised and advised the student co-coordinators of the 2025 NMU Gender Fair, which brings together campus and community organizations and participants.

• Dr. Amy Hamilton led a book conversation for students, faculty, staff, and community members as part of the Diversity Common Reader Program.

• As faculty adviser for Sigma Tau Delta, Dr. Kel Sassi and Dr. David Wood hosted the inaugural Dead Writers Reading at the Ore Dock, where students, faculty, and community members dressed up as their favorite dead writer and read a selection from the writer's work.

• Carmen Ollila works in other programs through NMU, where she plans and counsels a summer camp program, Upward Bound, which is for students with disadvantaged backgrounds to succeed in higher education.

• Ari Koontz served as a judge for the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, and served as a judge for the Barnard and Houston undergraduate writing awards.

• Matthew Frank served as Outside Review Board Evaluator, Prestigious Named Professorship, The Nonfiction Writing Program, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Iowa.

• Matthew Frank served as Distinguished Guest Lecturer, NYU Graduate Program in Journalism.

• Matthew Frank served as PhD Dissertation Committee Member and Reader, University of Missouri.

• Dr. David Wood serves as Vice President of the Board of Directors for the Hiawatha Music Co-op, in Marquette, MI (2021-present).

• Dr. David Wood serves as Trustee on the Board of Directors for the Tyler Rigg Foundation in Greenwich, CT (1998-present).

• Dr. Kia Jane Richmond actively participated in Zonta Club of Marquette as the chair of the Scholarship Committee, which involved communicating with potential scholarship recipients and organizing/running meetings with Zonta Club members to select winners of their annual Non-traditional Female Student Scholarship.

• Nicolette Visciano served as a judge for the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, reviewing fiction submissions by middle-school and high-school writers.Nicolette Visciano was invited as a Visiting Poet to two Introduction to Creative Writing courses at NMU.

• Selah Tay-Song, as Managing Editor of Passages North, led an effort to re-organize their library of literary journals from around the country and invited/encouraged faculty to bring their classes into the Passages North office to take advantage of this outstanding resource.

• Dr. Lynn Domina serves on the planning committee for the Great Lakes Poetry Festival.

• Dr. Z.Z. Lehmberg partnered with Zhuhai Media Group to create a FLSA course in China in May 2026.

• Adam Nesbit collaborated with NMU Marketing to design official logos and materials and take site photos.

• Adam Nesbit gave an invited presentation and facilitated a workshop for the McNair Scholars program pertaining to graduate school application letters.

• Adam Nesbit gave an invited presentation and facilitated a workshop for First Generation Services pertaining to scholarship applications.

• Adam Nesbit gave an invited presentation and facilitated a workshop for students in the Department of Engineering Technology.

• Adam Nesbit collaborated with the Wellbeing department to contribute to three campus wellbeing events, one of which is forthcoming.

• Adam Nesbit initiated an ongoing collaborative project with the Office of Graduate Studies and Research to (1) create a template for all graduate student theses and (2) revise thesis formatting guidance materials.

• Adam Nesbit initiated an ongoing collaboration with the Office of Sponsored Programs to facilitate writing workshops for prospective Fulbright scholars and students applying to study abroad, generally.

• Adam Nesbit facilitated two campus-wide student events: a write-in and a trivia night.

• Adam Nesbit served as a juror for the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.

• Adam Nesbit worked with two community novelists and NMU alumni on drafts of their current works.

• Adam Nesbit planned an invited and forthcoming application letter workshop for NMU Pre-Dental Club.

•  Adam Nesbit coordinated with Marketing and Social Media Management to conduct social media manager training for Writing Center tutoring staff.

• Since 2020, Dr. Patricia Killelea has served the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians in support of Upper Peninsula tribal youth community development in the areas of literacy and language instruction, traditional seasonal & cultural activities, summer camp facilitation, and more.

• Dr. Patricia Killelea was a Writing Juror for the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, Alliance for Young Artists & Writers (Dec 2024).

• Dr. Chad Seader currently leads an online memoir writing workshop in partnership with an Iowa-based health organization and a New York-based arts organization.

• Randi Clemens served as a regional juror for the Los Angeles region as well as a national juror for the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards and successfully contributed to the organization of the inaugural UP Regional Scholastic Awards Ceremony along with Dr. Kel Sassi.

• Randi Clemens began service as the Communications Manager for the Upper Peninsula Poet Laureate Foundation and will partake in the UP Poet Laureate selection committee. Also in the community, she presented the Arts Educator Award at the Annual Marquette Arts and Culture Awards.

• Ronnie Ferguson organized the International 3-Day Poetry Chapbook Contest, which engages with the global poetry community, and directed the full-length documentary Tracks of Freedom, which has screened across the world, including an early screening at Peter White Public Library in Marquette.

• Alex Watanen, as an associate poetry editor and team lead at Passages North, has fostered meaningful literary engagement by facilitating collaboration among undergraduate students, graduate students, and NMU faculty.

• Barbra Lounsbury was able to lead an instructional session of the lecture and conversation series "Let's Talk Teaching" on the relevant, challenging topic of teaching the humanities during a polarizing election and even more polarized era of culture.

• Barbra Lounsbury interviewed Sarah Minor–critically acclaimed and award-winning author of nonfiction and interdisciplinary artist–for Passages North's Ray Ventre Memorial Nonfiction Prize judging.

• Averi Fier feels much more engaged and connected with her community through the relationships her cohort has made with each other, going to many on- and off-campus events together, which has helped shape the way she interacts with students.

• The CGS&R team served on the planning committee for the Peak25 Conference February 17-20, 2025, with Innovate Marquette and SISU; the Three Minute Thesis competition, PEAK Student Scholarship Summit, Faculty Buzz Session, and a panel discussion with alumni community research leaders were spotlights in the conference program.

• The CGS&R team welcomed community members and parents to the 29th Annual Celebration of Student Scholarship on April 17th, 2025.

• Research with local youth (elite and recreational), and college students who play hockey in a 4-week study engages three undergraduates with local kids and their parents from the greater Marquette area.

• The Concussion Research Clinic reaches patients 8-86 clinically and works with all demographics and backgrounds, providing low-cost care available without referral to all in the area.

• Dr. Maria (Lupe) Arenillas participated in the Diversity Common Reader program at NMU and translated Leanne Simpson's video "How to Steal a Canoe" into Spanish.

• Dr. Anna Zimmer organized and hosted Poetry without Borders at the UNITED conference in March 2025. Participants shared 17 languages and nearly 100 people were in attendance.

• Dr. Rebecca Ulland, along with Dr. Mlado Ivanovic (Philosophy), organized the "Refugee Voices of Resilience" panel in November. Panelists included Dilli Gautam (Vice-Chair of the Michigan Immigrant and Refugee Council and President of the Bhutanese Community of Michigan), Anna Kovalenko (immigrant from Ukraine), Shukurani Nsengiyumva (Program Manager with the Alzheimer's Association), Banjor Musa (Administrative Chair of the Michigan Immigrant and Refugee Council), and Dr. Mlado Ivanovic

• Dr. Nell Kupper's French students created and presented a lesson plan to Sandy Knoll Elementary students.

• Emera Bridger Wilson partnered with Shilpa Jhobalia and the Marquette Great Start Family Coalition to organize a Diwali celebration, to which over 200 people attended, ranging from students and faculty to families and children from Marquette and other surrounding communities.

• Marcus Robyns and Annika Peterson have expanded the Upper Peninsula UPLINK historical societies and museums community membership to 27, while the migration to Islandora has enhanced UPLINK's visibility and increased its usage by external researchers.

• Dr. Steven Riley led the 70th Annual Band Day on October 19, 2024, which brought a dozen high school band programs and over 400 high school musicians to share the field with the Wildcat Marching Band.

• Dr. Stephen Grugin led the premiere performance of the new NMU Alma Mater with the combined NMU alumni band and Wildcat Marching Band on September 21, 2024.

• Dr. Steven Riley coordinated the first NMU Junior Honors Band Festival which brought over 20 junior high school band programs featuring 120 7th-9th grade musicians from across the region to perform at Reynolds Recital Hall on April 12, 2025.

• Dr. Steven Riley launched the Okanagan Charter Concert Series in collaboration with Jes Thompson, Assistant Vice President for Sustainability during the NMU Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble Concert on February 24, 2025.

• Dr. Erin Colwitz coordinated the NMU Choral Festival in October, which brought approximately 150 students to campus for workshops and an evening performance with the NMU Arts Chorale.

• Choral Music Education majors routinely engage with the Marquette Choral Society (a course and a community "town and gown" ensemble), singing alongside them, leading them in warm-ups and sectionals, etc.

• Dr. Mark Flaherty coordinated the 2025 NMU Jazz Festival in March, which brought approximately 250 high school and middle school students to campus for a variety of workshops and performances.

• Members of the School of Nursing participate in community events including the Superior Health Foundation's Paint the Peninsula Pink event for Breast Cancer Awareness month, trunk or treat in both Escanaba and Marquette, and involvement in several summer camps such as Bay Cliff, Camp New Day, Victory Camp at Fortune Lake.

• The Wildpups program continues to grow with constant feedback from prospective students, current students, faculty and staff about how meaningful the program is.

• Partnership with Saginaw Valley State University offering the Psych NP (PMHNP) program to UP students through a collaboration with help of a funded HRSA grant.

• Partnership with the University of Michigan to enhance substance use disorder content in curriculum, funded through a SAMHSA grant.

• Articulation agreement with Gogebic Community College creating a seamless transition from associates degree in nursing to bachelors in nursing, with GCC providing student scholarships for BSN completion at NMU.

• Two Physics Department Faculty participated in the Aspen Ridge Family Science Night in May 2024.

• At least five Physics faculty and staff participated in the Upper Peninsula Regional Science Olympiad again this year (2025).

• The entire Physics Department held an Eclipse Viewing event at NMU in April 2024.

• One faculty member gave several presentations on Eclipses at local schools.

• One faculty member gave a presentation to a high school physics class about nuclear power.

• One faculty member has given several TV interviews for various Physics and Astronomy events over the last few years.

• The NMU Behavior Education Assessment and Research (BEAR) Center continued to support individuals and families with neurodevelopmental disabilities across the UP. So far this fiscal year (2024/2025), the BEAR Center's staff and students provided over 11,100 hours of client and training related services including assessment, parent training, monitoring and direct treatment.

• Lin Fang mentored a student research project presented at "Brain Awareness Week Q&A: ADHD, Addiction, & More" 3/11/25 K.I. Sawyer Air Museum

• Lin Fang will speak to the Marquette Co-op senior board about applications for UX research, which may also facilitate future internship opportunities for students.

• Amber LaCrosse presentation on "Brain Awareness Week Q&A: ADHD, Addiction, & More" 3/11/25 K.I. Sawyer Air Museum

• Amber LaCrosse presented twice at Sawyer Community Enrichment with students and research associates, the Face Addiction Now support group in Escanaba, and supported activities the annual Spread Goodness Day event.

• Joshua Carlson published an infographic on the neural correlates of eco-anxiety and how neuroscience can be leveraged to promote resilience.

• The Theatre and Dance department has a robust community sponsorship program within its performance season, over 20 community businesses support the program at the moment.

• Theatre and Dance is a front door to the community for NMU as they have over 16 productions with thousands of attendees coming annually to their theaters.