Detailed Schedule - BIPOC Outdoors at NMU

8:00 am to 10:00 am

• Registration, Lite Breakfasts & Networking | Waino Wahtera Pavilion

9:00 am to 9:15 am

• Opening Song, Land Acknowledgment | Waino Wahtera Pavilion

9:15 am to 9:30 am

• President Chris Olsen | Waino Wahtera Pavilion
  • Welcome

9:30 am to 9:45 am

• Summit Highlights | Waino Wahtera Pavilion

10:00 am to 11:00 am

• Lance Woods | Yurt
  • 9th - 12th grade youth session: Why I Run: The Heart Behind WeRun313
    • Lance opens up about the inspiration and vision behind founding WeRun313, using his own story to challenge and encourage high school students to find their motivation, own their purpose, and run toward the life they want.
• Zach Zuchowitz | Waino Wahtera Pavilion
  • Adaptive/inclusive recreation demonstration experience
• Hannah Douglas | Northern Center, Penn III
  • MI DNR Adult Focus Forum”(2-hour presentation)

11:15 am to 12:15 pm

• Jean Alicia Elster | Yurt
  • 9th - 12th grade Youth Session: Where You're From, Who You Are: Stories of Identity, Place, and Belonging
    • In this session designed for high school students, Jean Alicia Elster will explore how she approached the themes of identity, place, and belonging in her young adult novel—How It Happens—and read from select passages in that work. She will then lead the students in an exploration of the power of finding yourself in the stories you read, as well as the ones you write.
• Alice Jasper & Lorena Aguayo-Marquez | Waino Wahtera Pavilion
  • Shaping Outdoor Narratives

12:15 pm to 1:30 pm

• Picnic Lunch & Networking at NMU’s Waino Wahtera Pavilion

1:45 pm to 2:45 pm

• Jean Alicia Elster: Bridging the Distance: My Embrace of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
  • Jean Alicia Elster will reflect on a decades-long relationship with the Upper Peninsula, delving into the landscapes, personal connections, and embedded memories that have shaped her as a writer and as a person.

3:00 pm to 5:00 pm

• Hannah Douglas | Northern Center, Penn III
  • MI DNR Student Focus Forum (2-hour presentation)

• Andie Balenger | Yurt

  • Walking together: "Two-Eyed Seeing" as a path toward holistic understanding in the outdoors (90 minutes)

• Katy Pawlusiak | NMU Hoop House & Woodland Park

  • Sustainable and Inclusive Food Systems on Campus and at Home (60 minutes)

• Michaline Dutkiewicz & Emily Hanes | Waino Wahtera Pavilion

  • Big Bay Environmental Center (60 minutes)

5:45 pm 

• Pre-race Announcements

• Run With Lance: WeRun313 Founder Leads the 5K

  • Get ready to move! Lance Woods, co-founder of WeRun313, takes the lead as the official lead runner of the 5K — setting the pace and the spirit for one of the most memorable miles of the event.

6:00 pm 

• 5K Race Start

9:00 am 

• Registration, Lite Breakfasts & Networking | Waino Wahtera Pavilion

10:00 am to 11:00 am

• Jean Alicia Elster | Waino Wahtera Pavilion

  • Writer's Craft Workshop: Writing the Wild: Craft, Nature, and the Making of Black Summers

    • Drawing from her chapter in the Black Summers edited collection—as well as examples from two of her historical fiction novels, The Colored Car and How It Happens—Jean Alicia Elster will read from her work and share how she approaches the natural world on the page. She will explore the discipline, perceptiveness, and sensitivity that writing about the outdoors demands. She will then lead participants in a hands-on writing exercise and ask a few volunteers to share what they have written.

• Dr. Tayla Shanae Ealom and Dr. Michael Lynn Wellman | Yurt

  • We The Earth: Creating the UP's QTBIPOC Retreat Space

• Nichole Fisher | Fire Site

  • Careers in Parks & Recreation session (60 minutes)

11:15 am to 12:15 pm      

• Keynote Speaker: Lance Woods | Waino Wahtera Pavilion

  • Running Toward Something: A Story of Purpose, Community, and Drive

    • In this keynote-style presentation, Lance Woods shares his journey as an athlete, advocate, and community builder — and what keeps him moving forward on and off the road.

12:15 pm to 1:30 pm

Picnic Lunch & Networking at NMU’s Wahtera Pavilion

2:00 pm to 5:00 pm | Local Excursions

• Dr. April Lindala | Love Marq Church & (weather permitting) Fire Site Pavilion 

  • Decolonizing Diet Project Workshop (20-person limit) 

• Justin Schapp | Chocolate Bayou

  • Manoomin Tour (6-person limit)

• All ages activity | Partridge Creek Farm

• Self-guided | NMU Private Beach

6:00 pm

• Summit After Party at Presque Isle Pavilion