Volume 25, Number 2, Winter 2024
THE MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING
FOR THE
PEOPLE UW Touches Every Corner of the State
success through service Harry Reed’s inspiring story is symbolized by the White Hat Award he received from the Cowboy Joe Club and the gift he left in his estate to support football scholarships. From his college years, where coaches guided his path, to his later role as a community leader helping first responders during 9/11, Harry’s impact was profound. His story is a reminder of the difference one person can make, urging us all to leave behind a meaningful legacy.
We can help you plan your Wyoming Legacy. Contact Brett Befus (307) 766-4259 • bbefus@uwyo.edu uwyo.edu/giftplanning
WATCH A VIDEO
Connor Kasarda, who earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science and is now working toward his Ph.D., mentors children through the Laramie Robotics Club.
FEATURES 16 / FOR THE PEOPLE / UW supports programs that directly benefit the state’s citizens. 22 / JUST FOR KIDS / Hands-on learning and support for the state’s teachers form the backbone of these important UW programs. 30 / THRIVING LANDS / From agriculture to conservation, UW programs support land management efforts across the state. 38 / GROWING BUSINESS / The Wyoming Business Resource Network and UW’s IMPACT 307 support businesses and entrepreneurs across the state. 44 / DOING GOOD / Foundations partner with UW to nurture Wyoming’s future. 68 / AIDING INDUSTRY / UW research and development helps support industries across the state.
DEPARTMENTS 04 / PRESIDENT’S LETTER 06/ NEWS & NOTES 10 / SNAPSHOT PROFILES 14 / FACTS & STATS 21 / ARTS & HUMANITIES 29 / ATHLETICS 36 / RESEARCH 48 / ART MUSEUM 50 / ALUMNEWS 67 / GIVING 76 / BY THE NUMBERS
ON THE COVER George W. Hopper Law Library Director Tawnya Plumb created a program to bring legal resources to citizens around Wyoming (page 10).
UWyo
The Magazine for Alumni and Friends of the University of Wyoming Winter 2024 | Volume 25, No. 2 uwyo.edu/uwyo-mag University President: Edward Seidel Associate Vice President for Communications and Marketing: Chad Baldwin Editor: Micaela Myers Design: Michelle Eberle, Emily Edgar, Fernando Lechuga, Brittny Wroblewski Photography: Ted Brummond, Andrew Wee unless noted Video: Ali Grossman, Mary Jung, Kyriessa Lane, Andrew Wee Contributing Editors: Chad Baldwin, Tamara Linse Contributing Writers: Tamara Linse, Michelle Sunset AlumNews/WyoGrams: Michael Blaney, Kirby Federock, Abi Gerhard, Jennifer Kirk, Amy Morgan, Kaitlyn Polley, David Stotzer UWYO is published three times per year as a partnership between UW Institutional Marketing and the UW Alumni Association. UWYO is supported by UW Research & Economic Development, Student Affairs, Academic Affairs and the Office of the President. ©2024 by the University of Wyoming. All rights reserved. Excerpts from this magazine may be reprinted with permission, provided appropriate credit is given to the University of Wyoming and copies of reprinted materials are provided to the editor. The University is committed to equal opportunity for all persons in all facets of the University’s operations. All qualified applicants for employment and educational programs, benefits, and services will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, creed, ancestry, political belief or any other applicable category protected by law and University policy.
UWYO / University of Wyoming 1000 E. University Ave., Dept. 3226 Laramie, WY 82071-2000 uwyomag@uwyo.edu
UWyo Winter 2024 • 3
From the Office of the President
Celebrating UW’s Connection With Wyoming’s People By Ed Seidel
Since 1886, four years before statehood, the University of Wyoming has been Wyoming’s land-grant university, with a three-fold mission of providing a high-quality education; conducting research for the benefit of the state and nation; and serving the people of Wyoming on many fronts. We take pride in continuing to meet that obligation, which requires a high level of engagement with the state and its far-flung communities. To know what the people of Wyoming need and want, we must constantly be listening, responding and collaborating. We have made such engagement a top priority during my time as president, and our current strategic plan aims to take us to new levels of performance in serving the people of Wyoming. I’m delighted to report that our efforts have been recognized. For the first time in its history, UW has been selected as having met the criteria for the 2024 Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement by the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. We are among the institutions shown to be making significant strides in finding ways to engage with community partners, build on community assets and address a wide array of challenges. This is a highly-sought-after designation, particularly by land-grant universities such as UW. The process to apply is rigorous and lengthy, and
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it required intense focus for a team assembled by Provost and Executive Vice President Kevin Carman and led by Professor Jean Garrison. The American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation found that UW’s application “documented excellent alignment among campus mission, culture, leadership, resources and practices that support dynamic and noteworthy community engagement,” with “both descriptions and examples of exemplary institutionalized practices of community engagement.” Many of those examples can be found on the pages of this issue of UWyo Magazine. They include efforts to reach out to the state’s pre-K-12 students and educators with science, civics and other programs; work with the state’s key minerals, agriculture and tourism industries; new programs in the humanities, arts and the creative economy; efforts to improve health care for the people of Wyoming; and what our new School of Computing is doing to help the state thrive in our digital world. But these constitute only a small slice of the examples of UW’s engagement with the people of Wyoming. There’s not enough space to detail all of them. As part of my commitment to get out and around the state, I am in the midst of a series of monthly “UW in Your Community” events planned in each Wyoming county, where I get a chance to speak directly with and receive input from the state’s citizens.
At these events, we also shine a light on local collaborations. It has been invigorating to see something unique in each community we have visited. In Rawlins and Cody, our wildlife biologists described the innovative research that has documented migrations of big-game animals that people in those communities — and, really, all Wyomingites — treasure. In Gillette, our School of Energy Resources (SER) noted its groundbreaking work on carbon capture and storage, which is so vital to the future of our state’s coal industry. In Rock Springs, soda ash producer Genesis Alkali discussed how the university responded to its need for training in process controls. In Newcastle, the mayor thanked UW’s Center for Business and Economic Analysis for performing an economic impact analysis of the community’s planned Heritage Park.
At Sheridan College, we celebrated our deep collaborations on the state’s new software engineering program, agriculture and the arts. In Kemmerer, one of our researchers presented groundbreaking research valued by the people who work in the area’s famous fossil beds, and SER leaders laid out collaborations on the emerging nuclear and hydrogen industries. In Jackson, local educators expressed appreciation to our College of Education for the collaborative Master Educator Competency Program, which aims to address K-12 teacher attrition, and we highlighted research on Yellowstone National Park’s hydrothermal system, Snake River cutthroat trout and more. Our program in Casper was filled with work being done in that community by UW-Casper faculty
members, including development of a play therapy lab for preschool and K-6 educators and virtual reality-based training to help mental health care workers better identify suicidal risks in clients. In Torrington, UW’s collaborations with Eastern Wyoming College on precision agriculture and business ethics were among the efforts noted. Most recently, in Douglas, we highlighted UW’s efforts to support rural K-12 teachers — and how the local community helped with a Department of Anthropology dig at the world-famous La Prele mammoth site, where Wyoming’s first humans killed and butchered one of the behemoth mammals 12,900 years ago. I’m excited to visit more Wyoming counties — in almost all cases, those will be return visits for me — and celebrate UW’s work with each community.
Driving Innovation in Wyoming Through Computing & Data Shape Wyoming's Workforce Landscape. Get Started Now! Learn more about the School of Computing and Wyoming Geographic Information Science Center at:
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The Carnegie community engagement designation is a badge of honor for Wyoming’s university, but we will not rest on the laurel. In fact, it signifies a commitment to do even more to connect and collaborate with the people of the state. We recently restarted our Office of Engagement and Outreach, which will play a lead role in these efforts. And faculty, staff and students across all of our units are working harder to meet the state’s needs. UW is proud to be Wyoming’s university, which has been serving our people before we were even a state. With an incredible heritage — and strong support from the state’s leaders, alumni, donors and others — we are committed to continuing and expanding on that legacy. Ed Seidel is UW’s 28th president.
News & Notes
MAJOR GIFT TO UW CIVIL ENGINEERING SUPPORTS DEPARTMENT HEAD A gift from retired Shell engineer and executive Tom Botts and his wife, Shelley, establishes the Thomas and Shelley Botts Department Head in Civil Engineering. The purpose of this
DONORS PROPEL UW TO EXCEED $60 MILLION IN PRIVATE SUPPORT Private giving to UW for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, topped $60.7 million, the second largest fundraising year in UW’s history. More than 23,000 donors stepped up to champion UW, with many donors establishing endowments that support UW and its students in perpetuity. The annual fundraising average over the past five years is $50 million, and the overall UW endowment now totals $789.5 million — putting UW at the top of Mountain West Conference schools and on par with muchlarger universities. Several key initiatives contributed to this milestone, including UW’s annual Giving Day, the Difference Makers campaign for War Memorial Stadium renovations and a new pool, the successful completion of the Legacy Match program for planned giving, and endowment support for student success and faculty excellence.
endowed position is to recruit and retain a strong department head by garnering the attention of nationally recognized scholars or industry leaders. It provides a flexible source of funding that can be used to foster excellence in the department and provide support for departmental needs and special initiatives. The gift was matched by the UW Foundation.
UW STUDENTS TO DEVELOP APP FOR CROWDSOURCING AIR QUALITY DATA An interdisciplinary team of UW students and researchers won funding from the Environmental Protection Agency to develop a platform for crowdsourcing information about air quality at outdoor recreation sites during wildfires. The project will pair a smartphone app with signs at notable backcountry recreation sites.
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JACKSON HOLE TRAVEL AND TOURISM BOARD PARTNERS WITH WORTH INITIATIVE The Jackson Hole Travel and Tourism Joint Powers Board has partnered with UW’s Outdoor Recreation, Tourism and Hospitality Initiative and Teton County’s Regional Transportation Planning Division to create a more sustainable community and destination. A $600,000 Destination Development Program grant from the Wyoming Office of Tourism has been allocated to develop a tourism dashboard to measure impacts on the local community ($513,129) and to conduct a mobility hub study to better manage visitor movements ($86,000). The program aims to help Wyoming destinations develop their communities to be visitor-ready and to have the capacity to leverage the visitor economy.
RESEARCH UNDERWAY UW to Lead $10M Hydrogen Project With Award From Department of Energy
The Hydrogen Energy Research Center in the School of Energy Resources is set to lead a collaborative project integrating a produced water thermal desalinization technology along with autothermal or steam methane reforming for efficient hydrogen production. The project aims to demonstrate hydrogen production using water produced during oil and gas extraction and has partnered with Los Alamos National Laboratory; Engineering, Procurement and Construction LLC; and Williams, one of the nation’s largest energy infrastructure companies. The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management recently announced that the project was selected to negotiate a nearly $5 million award as part of the expanded Clean Hydrogen Production, Storage, Transport and Utilization to Enable a Net-Zero Carbon Economy funding opportunity with cost share among the project partners, bringing the total endeavor up to $10 million.
Student Receives DOE Graduate Student Research Program Award
Ellen Polites, a fifth-year Ph.D. geology student from York, Pa., is the recipient of a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Student Research Program Award. She will conduct her research fellowship at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash., on the topic of “unraveling new reactive transport pathways of multi-phase REE (rare earth element) cycling in low temperature basins.” Polites says: “The main goal of this project is to understand how rare earth elements are moving in sedimentary basins during the migration of water and oil from source rock to reservoir. I plan to do this by utilizing data I have collected here in Wyoming and using a reactive transport modeling software created by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.”
Researcher Receives NSF Grant to Study Aging in Life Cycle of Bees
Michael Dillon, a professor in the Department of Zoology and Physiology, recently received a three-year $398,251 National Science Foundation grant to lead a research team that is studying the life cycle of bees to better understand an aging mystery that affects humans, animals and insects. “Sisters in a bee colony are genetically very similar but can differ 50-fold in age,” says Dillon, the grant’s principal investigator. “Workers live for only about two weeks, but queens live for over a year. This provides a unique opportunity to study the underlying causes of aging.” For the grant, Dillon is collaborating with four colleagues at North Dakota State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service in Fargo, N.D.
Research Points to Bug Benefits From Changing Color of Wind Turbines
To test the hypothesis that wind turbine color attracts insects, a group of UW researchers — headed by former UW master’s student Madison Crawford — sampled insects near experimental fake wind turbines painted with nine different colors. “Madison’s study found that insects are attracted to colors with high reflectance generally. White reflects a high proportion of all wavelengths,” says Lusha Tronstad, lead invertebrate zoologist with UW’s Wyoming Natural Diversity Database who was also an author of the paper titled “Insects Are Attracted To White Wind Turbine Bases: Evidence From Turbine Mimics” that was published recently in Western North American Naturalist, a peer-reviewed journal focusing on biodiversity and conservation of western North America. The research has implications for wind turbine efficiency and bird mortality.
Faculty Members Receive NSF Grant for Rural Epidemiology Study
Department of Mathematics and Statistics Professor Long Lee, Department of Criminal Justice and Sociology Associate Professor Jennifer Tabler and Wyoming Geographic Information Science Center Associate Professor Chen Xu received a $457,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to create a system that can predict disease outbreaks in real time for states in the Mountain West region. They will use existing data to create a map of how people move around in rural places. With this map, they seek to understand and map the unique mobility data for rural regions. The team also will explore the mobility patterns that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study will help government health experts come up with better and fairer ways to deal with epidemics in rural areas in the future.
READ MORE ABOUT THESE RESEARCH PROJECTS AND MANY OTHERS AT UWYO.EDU/NEWS. PHOTO CREDITS: ERIN PHILLIPS; MICHAEL DILLON; LUSHA TRONSTAD
News & Notes
NEW APPOINTMENTS Julie Andersen Hill — an attorney, academic and administrator who started her legal career in Wyoming — has been named dean of the UW College of Law. She will begin her new leadership role June 28. The Firearms Research Center, housed at UW’s College of Law, has announced that firearms historian Ashley Hlebinsky will serve as the center’s first executive director.
Erin Olsen Pueblitz is the new director of UW’s Office of Engagement and Outreach. She has 20 years of experience at UW, building collaborations between the university and partners around the state and beyond.
UW AND PARTNERS TO CREATE GEOLOGIC DATABASE FOR CARBON STORAGE A collaborative project from the School of Energy Resources Center for Economic Geology Research, the Wyoming State Geological Survey and the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality will create a dataverified Class VI geologic database providing a unique service to carbon storage developers and regulatory agencies for the state of Wyoming. To be funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, the award will advance DOE’s regional initiative to accelerate carbon management deployment. The proposed database will provide geotechnical information that has been compiled and verified from established public geologic databases and entities. It also will include a record of key social considerations and community benefits that developers should consider when preparing Class VI well permit applications. Once completed, the nearly $2 million project will provide carbon developers and agencies with a comprehensive database for decision-making.
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THREE RECEIVE FULBRIGHT AWARDS FOR INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS Brandon Gellis (an associate professor in the Department of Visual Arts), Elizabeth Lynch (an assistant professional lecturer in the Department of Anthropology) and Thomas Seitz (an associate professor in the School of Politics, Public Affairs and International Studies) have all received Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program awards from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. “The fact that UW will have three of our scholars participating in the Fulbright Program is a testament to the broad range of exceptional international work being done at UW,” says Isadora Helfgott, UW’s vice provost for global engagement. “Maximizing our faculty participation in the Fulbright Scholar Program is a main priority for the Global Engagement Office, and I am thrilled with the success of these three applications, which will take our faculty to different corners of the world and bring such diverse perspectives back to our students.”
Snapshots
Access to Justice LAW LIBRARIAN TAWNYA PLUMB WORKS TO RAISE AWARENESS OF LEGAL RESOURCES AROUND THE STATE.
By Micaela Myers
Across Wyoming, many people represent themselves in legal matters, often due to lack of options and money. Other times, residents want to research legal issues to learn more. However, these folks run into two barriers. First, professionals such as local librarians may not provide “legal advice.” Second, the only two public law libraries in the state are located in the southeast corner — in Laramie and Cheyenne. Because of this issue, Tawnya Plumb, director of the University of Wyoming’s George W. Hopper Law Library, wanted to dedicate her 2020 sabbatical to outreach by working with libraries across the state to provide resources and discuss how to safely direct the legal inquiries they receive. She applied for a grant from Equal Justice Wyoming Foundation and earned additional funding as a fellow for UW’s Office of Engagement and Outreach. “I strongly believe in the land-grant university’s mission to serve the state,” Plumb says. “There is a state, individual and court need for this work. We struggle in Wyoming with folks who cannot afford legal representation and represent themselves in the courts. The courts need support to help these litigants who may not be prepared. The more prepared people are, the more efficient the courts are. There’s a benefit to the community because people can find the help they need, whether it’s affordable representation or access to information.” For example, the College of Law offers a number of free legal clinics to help those in need. Part of her work included spreading the word about these great resources.
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Since her sabbatical, Plumb has continued her outreach. The Law Library also recently hired a dedicated public services librarian, Tracey McCormick. “Her extensive background in teaching and advocacy will help us grow our access to justice initiatives,” Plumb says. Plumb’s article “Access to Justice: Legal Research on the Road” published in the peer-reviewed national librarian journal Public Services Quarterly earned the American Association of Law Libraries Excellence in Community Engagement Award in 2021. The work was also presented on campus and at the Western Pacific Chapter of American Association of Law Libraries from 2020 through 2022. Plumb and McCormick plan to continue offering training and resources to interested libraries and organizations throughout the state.
Tawnya Plumb
Left: Alexandra Kelly photographs a small bottle at the Carbon City site. Right: Jason Toohey at the Carbon City site.
Mining the Past ANTHROPOLOGY PROFESSORS UNCOVER WYOMING’S FIRST COAL MINING TOWN. By Micaela Myers
What if you could open a time capsule left by Wyoming’s first coal miners? In a way, that’s exactly what University of Wyoming Department of Anthropology Associate Professors Alexandra Kelly and Jason Toohey are doing in Carbon City, Wyoming’s first coal mining town, which was established in 1868 near Medicine Bow. “Carbon City had seven mines that were in operation throughout its occupation,” Kelly says. “There were thousands of people living there by 1890. Then the coal fields started to dry out.” By the turn of the century, the railroad had been rerouted to Hanna. Aside from the cemetery, which continued to be in use, Carbon City became a ghost town. “We’re really interested in linking this site-specific history with the state at large and showcasing how these
historical artifacts and landscapes hold histories that Wyoming communities have been so profoundly shaped by,” Kelly says. “Archaeology is a really powerful way to not only teach history but also engage wider communities with their histories.” Thus far, they’ve completed two seasons of work. The first involved mapping the site using Sanborn insurance maps made as a result of a fire in 1890 as a base. The city included a number of buildings, neighborhoods and even crude dug-out houses that single or poor minors used for shelter at the time. “We’ve found a ton of fascinating artifacts so far,” Kelly says. “We plan to continue excavations in future years.” Excavated items show how residents lived and what they consumed, such as mineral water from Hungary, sardine tins from Finland, shells from shellfish shipped on ice, a pocket watch complete with a dial marking days of the
week, and children’s slate boards and marbles. Students in Kelly’s historical archeology class pick an object and complete historical biographies. However, it’s the cemetery that has proved most meaningful to Wyoming residents. “One of the coolest aspects has been working with the Carbon Cemetery Association and local history enthusiasts and descendants to think about how to better preserve the coal mining heritage of the site,” Kelly says. Every Memorial Day, folks gather to hold a ceremony commemorating the veterans buried there as well as the miners who died in mining disasters. Kelly and her colleagues hope to garner funding to create heritage infrastructure at the cemetery so that visitors can learn more. Kelly enjoys this communityengaged research and appreciates seeing more of these projects popping up around the state. UWyo Winter 2024 • 11
Snapshots
Local Pharmacy Lives On MEET BRETT KVENILD, ONE OF MANY UW PHARMACY GRADUATES PROVIDING HEALTH CARE IN THE STATE.
PHOTO BY ALI GROSSMAN
Brett Kvenild
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By Micaela Myers
Whether it’s filling a prescription, receiving a vaccination or asking for an over-the-counter recommendation, most of us have regular contact with our pharmacists. These pharmacists play an essential role in disease management and health-care delivery. However, just as there’s a shortage of rural doctors, there’s also a shortage of rural pharmacists. The University of Wyoming School of Pharmacy addresses the shortage of rural pharmacists by offering high-quality Doctor of Pharmacy degrees as well as continuing education for pharmacists WATCH A VIDEO in the state. Pharmacy students at UW get a feel for practicing in Wyoming and learning hands-on during internships and externships at approximately 225 pharmacies statewide. One of those pharmacies is Pole Mountain Pharmacy in Laramie, which is owned by alumnus Brett Kvenild. Kvenild grew up in Medicine Bow and Laramie. He earned his pharmacy degree in 1998 and worked for local independent pharmacies as well as Walgreens before opening Pole Mountain in 2018. “I interact with a lot of pharmacists in the state, and here at Pole Mountain we’re all UW graduates spanning many years,” he says. “I’m in a network of other independent pharmacists, and all of them are UW graduates. UW is a valuable resource, and we’re glad to see more of these independent pharmacies around the state. These graduates are able to stay here, give back and provide that local health-care piece.” Kvenild serves as a preceptor for UW pharmacy students and offers paid internships. “I’m delighted to host these students,” he says. He tailors students’ experiences to their needs and interests. The university atmosphere kept Kvenild nearby, and he can’t imagine living, working and raising his family anywhere else. “I’ve always loved independent pharmacy,” Kvenild says. “It’s really fun to set your own priorities and feel like a member of the community. The community connections are a real big thing for me. To build relationships with providers and patients in Laramie and the surrounding towns over the years has been really satisfying.”
Aaron Kersh
Sheep to the Rescue GRADUATE STUDENT AARON KERSH RESEARCHES THE BENEFITS OF GRAZING SHEEP ON LAND IMPACTED BY DEADLY LARKSPUR. desirable forage for subsequent cattle grazing,” Kersh says. The research takes place in collaboration with the USDA Agricultural Research Service at the High Plains Grasslands As we gaze across the open rangeland in Wyoming, most Research Station west of Cheyenne with the help of Research of us may see nothing but rugged nature. However, cattle Leader Justin Derner. Kersh is studying various stocking ranchers are well aware of the dangers their cattle will densities — numbers of sheep on different sizes of pasture face, including from poisonous plants such as larkspur. — as well as select breeds and ages of sheep to see what Consuming even a small amount of larkspur can be fatal. factors influence the amount of larkspur consumed. Kersh It’s a problem to which graduate student Aaron Kersh has is co-advised by Extension Sheep Specialist and Associate dedicated his research. Growing up in Cheyenne, Kersh knew Professor Whit Stewart and Extension Rangeland Specialist he’d attend the University of Wyoming, just as his parents and Associate Professor Derek Scasta. All three share a did. After earning his undergraduate degree in rangeland passion for boosting the state’s sheep industry. management in 2021, he stayed on to pursue a master’s degree “This is a great opportunity to show people how amazing in animal science. sheep are and how useful they can be,” Kersh says. “Their diet Sheep have four to six times the tolerance of larkspur that selection is different than cattle, so a lot of times when they’re cattle have. Kersh’s research involves studying sheep to see if grazed with cattle, they can enhance rangelands and improve they will consume the larkspur prior to cattle grazing. rangeland health.” Sheep are showing promise with some “I like how applied my research is,” he says. “It’s helping a invasive plants as well. real-world problem for ranchers and providing opportunities “We want to showcase the importance of sheep for the sheep industry.” in our livestock industry,” Kersh says. Traditionally, ranchers have either sprayed In addition to sheep, Kersh has a passion for herbicides on larkspur-impacted pastures or kept WATCH A VIDEO managing America’s grasslands in a wholistic way. cattle off the land until the larkspur has matured After graduation this spring, he plans to apply for and become less toxic. However, that also means work in this field with a number of prominent keeping them off nutritious early spring grasses. organizations. Kersh says, “My goal is to stay in “Our aim is to see if sheep will graze the larkspur grazing, rangeland management and conservation.” effectively and at the same time leave enough By Micaela Myers
UWyo Winter 2024 • 13
Facts & Stats
SYMPoSiUM oN SoCiaL JUSTiCE
Alok Vaid-Menon — an American writer, performance artist and media personality — was the keynote speaker in April, before the symposium moved to fall.
The annual symposium honored Matthew Shepard with its 27th conference. In 2023, the Shepard Symposium on Social Justice hosted two conferences — one in April and one in October. The theme was Social Justice Literacy and the 25th Memorial of Matthew Shepard. “This conference is crucially important to the university, to Laramie and to the state of Wyoming as a whole,” says 2023 co-chair and Assistant Lecturer Allison Gernant. “Universities are in the business of transformative learning and engagement — that kind of learning should be happening at every turn. Our conference matters deeply to attendees, presenters, volunteers and community members because we discuss social and environmental issues that personally matter to each one of us in some way, shape, or form. Shepard offers a space to learn, to stretch our thinking, to feel vulnerable, to see what the world might look like from someone else’s view. The world needs more spaces like Shepard Symposium.” Traditionally a spring event, starting this year, the symposium permanently moves to fall. Read on to discover key facts and stats from this important University of Wyoming symposium.
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Multicultural Affairs Gender and Sexuality Project Coordinator Kora Wolfgang was a symposium co-chair.
Mission
The symposium’s mission is to spotlight contemporary inequities in order to promote transformative learning and engagement in the pursuit of justice. Each year, it brings together leading voices in social justice — scholars, students, community members, activists, artists and filmmakers — to support an inclusive dialogue addressing issues of social and environmental justice in interpersonal, community and structural contexts.
History
Originally named the Symposium for the Eradication of Social Inequality, the conference was started in 1997 by faculty members Omowale Akintunde and Margaret Cooney. The changed in 2002 to honor the work of the Shepard family and the memory of their son, Matthew Shepard, a UW student and social activist. The annual conference works as a living reminder of the need for information and dialogue about social justice concerns in American and beyond. It has grown from a local event to an internationally recognized conference.
The United Multicultural Council Drag Show is one of many fun events held during the annual symposium.
Symposium Events
Each symposium includes a renowned keynote speaker. Past symposium speakers have included Anita Hill, Johnny Cochran, Morris Dees, Ronald Takaki, Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, the Brown Sisters and Sherman Alexie. The multiday conference events are open to the public, with attendance often topping 500. Recent offerings included a remembrance of Matthew Shepard, a concert, a reading and Q&A with the cast of the play “The Laramie Project,” a full day of presentations and workshops, a Relative Theatrics presentation of the play “Hurricane Diane,” a resource fair and a United Multicultural Council Drag Show.
Honoring Matthew Shepard
COURTESY OF SHEPARD SYMPOSIUM
Musician Lee Knight (aka Black Wolf ) performed at the spring symposium.
“As we remember 25 years later the terrible tragedy of the murder of Matthew Shepard, we also celebrate the accomplishments of Judy and Dennis Shepard with all of the work they have done to advance equality and justice across the country with the Matthew Shepard Foundation,” says symposium co-chair Kora Wolfgang, a Multicultural Affairs gender and sexuality project coordinator. “Although Laramie and UW have made significant changes and advancements over the past 25 years, there is still much room for growth to make safe and protected spaces for the 2SLGBTQIAP+ community.” UWyo Winter 2024 • 15
Low Income Taxpayer Clinic Not long ago, a woman contacted Nicole Choi, director of the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic in the College of Business Department of Accounting and Finance. The woman had been homeless and struggling with substance abuse but was getting her life in order and planned to attend nursing school. To apply for student aid and loans, she needed to be current on her taxes. The first place she went wanted to charge her $5,000. The taxpayer clinic helped her get her taxes current free of charge. In another case, a single mom of three on the Wind River Indian Reservation was living on Social Security, and the clinic helped her collect $11,300 in tax refunds. Clinics like these are part of a federal grant program administered by the IRS. Until 2022, Wyoming was one of only four states without one. Representation is free for qualified low-income taxpayers, while consultations are open to anyone. The clinic works alongside the longstanding
By Micaela Myers
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Nicole Choi, director of the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic, meets with Simona Wambeke, a student in the clinic’s course.
Albany County Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, a partnership between the College of Business Department of Accounting and Finance and United Way that assists individuals in filing tax returns. “Any tax issues that you have with the IRS, we can help with,” Choi says. “It often starts with a letter from the IRS saying they found an error and you owe them money. We can help with installment plans, or sometimes we can negotiate with the IRS. Other times, the IRS is wrong and clients don’t owe anything.”
Students pursuing a master’s in accounting and finance assist clients, which provides the students with hands-on learning, and a pro-bono panel of attorneys from Holland & Hart of Jackson helps with the court side of things. “Taxes are scary to people, and court is very scary,” Choi says. “We not only represent and help clients — we also do educational activities around the state to make taxpayers aware of their rights and benefits. We need to spread the word so that residents know about these services.”
For the
Ann Simpson Artmobile Educator Sarita Keller travels to dozens of Wyoming towns each year.
Ann Simpson Artmobile While anyone can look at works of art online, a kindergarten student in Arapahoe, Wyo., demonstrated why it’s also important to see artworks in person. UW Art Museum Ann Simpson Artmobile Educator Sarita Keller tells the story. One kindergartner turned to the other and said, “What’s the big deal, we could just look at this on a computer.” The other responded, “Well, then you can’t feel it with your eyeballs.” “There’s a special reaction when they know it’s the actual work of art,” Keller says. In addition, Keller believes that the UW Art Museum collection belongs to the entire state: “How do most residents get to see them unless the works come to them? It’s like me bringing the field trip there.”
Keller visits about 20 Wyoming towns per year with the Artmobile, sharing the artworks and leading lessons and workshops. She partners with schools, libraries, senior centers, museums and other organizations to tailor each experience, often staying up to a week. Her current Artmobile printmaking exhibition includes 17 original pieces. UW started offering touring exhibitions back in 1969. The pieces would be shipped in crates. In 1982, UW supporter and Art Museum board member Ann Simpson helped create a position for a traveling curator, and soon the Artmobile experience was born. It’s the longest running of its kind, Keller says. Fundraising support comes from the Julienne Michel Foundation, Helga and Erivan Haub, Ann and Alan Simpson, Genesis Alkali LLC, Rocky Mountain Power Foundation, Union Wireless, Wyoming Public Radio, the Wyoming Arts Council through the National Endowment for the Arts, the Wyoming State Legislature and other generous donors. “Everywhere I’ve been, I’ve always been warmly welcomed,” Keller says. “People are happy to have something different coming to town. I feel like the special thing is that it’s like having an artist in residence and a museum in one.”
People
UW SUPPORTS PROGRAMS THAT DIRECTLY BENEFIT THE STATE’S CITIZENS. UWyo Winter 2024 • 17
Family Medicine for Wyoming
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PHOTO BY ALI GROSSMAN
According to the Health Resources and Services Administration, 65 percent of rural areas had a shortage of primary care physicians in 2023. In addition, nearly half of American adults report struggling to pay for health care. The UW College of Health Sciences helps address these issues through education and programming, including its Family Medicine Residency Programs for doctors-intraining. These programs provide affordable health care at several locations throughout the state. “In Casper and Cheyenne, we have been training family medicine physicians since the late 1970s,” says UW Graduate Medical Education Director Dr. Beth Robitaille. “We have produced over 500 graduates since our inception, with over 100 graduates currently practicing in the state. We have a geriatric fellowship in Casper to help meet the needs of Wyoming’s aging population. We also have a rural training track in Thermopolis — the first of its kind in the state that trains family medicine physicians in a rural site.” The programs also partner and practice within the College of Health Sciences Educational Health Center of Wyoming, a federally qualified health center with clinics in Casper, Cheyenne and Laramie that serve underserved and uninsured patients. “We provide full-spectrum family medicine and had over 40,000 patient care visits last year, the majority of which were provided by our residency program faculty and resident physicians,” Robitaille says. Many graduates of the program stay in Wyoming to practice, meeting a critical need in rural medicine.
Pathways from Prison
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Unfortunately, most former prisoners return to prison. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics shows that nearly 80 percent are rearrested within five years. However, there’s one thing that can change that — education. In fact, the higher the degree, the lower the recidivism rate, which is 14 percent for those who obtain associate degrees, 5.6 percent for those who obtain bachelor’s degrees and zero percent for those who obtain master’s degrees. What’s more, providing education saves taxpayer money in the long run. “For every dollar spent on education in prison, it saves taxpayers four to five dollars in costs associated with recidivism,” explains Rob Colter, who currently leads the Pathways from Prison (WPfP) program and also serves as head of the UW Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies. WPfP started in 2015 on a volunteer basis and grew from there, providing over 500 college credits at no cost to more than 200 incarcerated women and men at all five Wyoming Department of Corrections facilities. In 2017, the program won the Correctional Education Association’s national award for innovation, the Austin MacCormick Award. Recently, Colter helped the program earn a place in the Department of Education’s highly selective Second Chance Pell Experiment grant program. This in turn allowed UW to roll out a Bachelor of General Studies degree, first at the Wyoming Women’s Center in Lusk and now at the men’s Wyoming Medium Correctional Institution in Torrington. Rob Colter “The first cohort at the Wyoming Women’s Center just completed their first full year toward their degrees, earning an average 3.89 GPA,” Colter says, adding that many made it on the President’s Honor Roll. “The men’s program in Torrington started this fall. There are fewer than 50 institutions in the nation offering four-year degree programs in incarcerated settings, so we’re really on the cutting edge.” The courses are hybrid, using combinations of in-person and online instruction. Twenty students from each facility move through the courses as cohorts, in part to create a sense of community. If future funding allows, UW hopes to expand offerings. In a thank-you note, the first cohort of women in the degree program wrote: “This is an opportunity of a lifetime, and it has changed our lives for the better in many different ways. Words cannot express how much having higher education will impact not only us personally but our loved ones as well.”
Wyoming Institute for Disabilities Project Coordinator Cari Glantz helps oversee the ECHO for Families, a virtual network that connects caregivers and experts.
WIND ECHO for Families About 17 percent of children age 3-17 have one or more developmental disabilities, and families living in rural areas often have difficulty accessing experts, resources or support networks. However, thanks to the Wyoming Institute for Disabilities (WIND) ECHO for Families network, families in Wyoming are receiving the help they need. “ECHO for Families is a virtual community that provides opportunities for learning, advocacy and mentorship with families who have a child with autism, other developmental disabilities or other special health care needs,” explains WIND Senior Project Coordinator Cari Glantz. “This network allows families to receive professional support and brainstorm evidence-based and reality-informed solutions and share successes with other families around the state.” The sessions are held biweekly via videoconference, with many families attending in regional groups. In addition to in-person gatherings in Laramie and Green River, a group for Spanish-speaking families recently formed in Casper.
Legal Clinics For too many, unresolved legal problems are the root of stress-related health issues and the loss of jobs, homes, children and liberty. According to law school Professor Dona Playton, “The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affected low-income people, especially seniors, veterans, children, survivors of domestic abuse and people in rural areas. Most Americans don’t receive any or enough legal help for their substantial civil problems.” Playton supervises students in UW’s Family and Child Legal Advocacy Clinic, providing legal services in family law, child advocacy
Participants all report that their knowledge and skills increased. “The ECHO sessions have been a great opportunity for families to connect, learn and share,” says Lorenza Trevizo, a bilingual family support specialist with Parents as Teachers in Casper, who coordinates the Spanish language group. One of the participating parents adds, “The information that was shared has provided me with new insights into ways of working with my boys.” Project ECHO is a model developed in 2003 at the University of New Mexico that provides low-cost highimpact intervention that links specialists with local experts through virtual meetings. This model has application in many different settings. Glantz says, “Based on the success of this learning model, we serve as a national example of how to virtually connect families in rural and underserved communities to increase their capacity and improve their desired outcomes.”
and domestic violence cases. The clinic helps bridge the access-to-justice gap by handling civil legal cases for low-income people in Wyoming. UW’s Wills and Estate Planning Clinic helps clients with end-of-life planning and decisionmaking. Students in the Defender Aid Clinic focus on post-conviction relief actions, including federal and state appeals and sentence reductions. “Our experiential programs at the College of Law set our law school apart and help ensure our students are practice-ready and can hit the ground running upon graduation,” Playton says. Other outstanding experiential opportunities include the Prosecution Assistance Program; the Energy, Environment
and Natural Resources Clinic; the International Human Rights Clinic; the Entrepreneurship and Business Law Practicum; and a Local Government Assistance Practicum. The College of Law has been recognized by Pre-Law Magazine for providing outstanding practical training opportunities for students and communities around the state and beyond. “My experience in the Civil Legal Services Clinic has undoubtedly been the best part of my legal education,” says Brinae Sanders of Evanston, Wyo., who now works for the law firm of Long Reimer Winegar LLP in her hometown. “As a student in the clinic, I participated in a trial, introducing evidence, eliciting testimony of witnesses and persuasively advocating for our client.”
UWyo Winter 2024 • 19
The College of Arts & Sciences offers a diverse and well-rounded education in Fine Arts, the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Interdisciplinary Programs. Whether you're interested in pursuing a degree in A&S or looking for ways to unlock your creativity, nationally-ranked degree programs and courses with A&S provide an opportunity to gain valuable education and skills. Our programs involve work in the creative fields, using data, learning new languages, understanding the world around you, and much more.
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A Creative Hub
Student groups use the new Neltje Center near Sheridan for intensive mini residencies.
By Micaela Myers
During its first year, the new Neltje Center for Excellence in Creativity and the Arts hit the ground running, hosting events and establishing a strong foundation. The center is named for Neltje, a renowned painter, art collector and philanthropist who died in 2021, bequeathing a major estate gift to the University of Wyoming. The center includes an expansive facility located 20 minutes southeast of Sheridan near the Bighorn Mountains, where Neltje resided. Neltje founded the Jentel Artist Residency Program in 2001, and the one-month residencies continue to welcome writers and artists from around the world who share their work with the local community in monthly presentations. Neltje’s former home on the site is filled with art and artifacts. It offers large and small spaces to meet
and create. Utilizing these facilities, the center is expanding in a number of areas, led by Executive Director Beth Venn. For example, UW faculty can apply to bring students there for mini residencies on a range of topics. “I can’t convey how inspiring, creative and generative this space can be for student groups,” Venn says. In one such mini residency, a music instructor took a group of cellists to learn a new instrument. There, they were inspired to practice for up to 10 hours a day, accomplishing a great deal in just a few days. In a recent crossdisciplinary project, plant science students and creative writers worked together there. The center also partners with Sheridan College and hosts visiting writers, artists and performers, with events open to the public. Another exciting development — a Wyoming Innovation Partnership grant — kicked off the center’s work to become a resource for entrepreneurs
in the creative economy. “The creative economy can be any way in which people access creative endeavors, like starting a gallery, a record label or a traveling theater company,” Venn says. “Ultimately, the Neltje Center will be a hub for the development of and investment in the creative economy of the state.” A series of workshops for entrepreneurs is planned at locations throughout the state. Venn came to UW with an impressive resume as an arts leader, curator and writer. “I am thrilled to lead this new initiative that will expand creative opportunities for students and faculty, build strong partnerships across communities and disciplines, and advance Neltje’s legacy of providing time and space for artists of all types to thrive,” she says. “The potential of the Neltje Center to foster and support a robust creative ecosystem is great, and I look forward to ensuring its success.”
PHOTO BY BETH VANDERBORGH
PHOTO BY BETHANN GARRAMON MERKLE
THE NEW NELTJE CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE IN CREATIVITY AND THE ARTS EXPANDS OFFERINGS FOR STUDENTS AND RESIDENTS.
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HANDS-ON LEARNING AND SUPPORT FOR THE STATE’S TEACHERS FORM THE BACKBONE OF THESE IMPORTANT UW PROGRAMS. BY MICAELA MYERS
SCIENCE INITIATIVE OUTREACH Jobs that require knowledge in science, technology, engineering and math — known as STEM careers — remain on a high-growth trajectory. However, many Americans are entering the workforce without a basic grasp of STEM facts and approaches. Engaging children in STEM education early offers a host of benefits for academic and career success. The University of Wyoming’s Top-Tier Science Initiative is making sure Wyoming’s children have ample hands-on opportunities to learn about STEM and become excited about creating, innovating and solving problems. One key offering is the Science Initiative Roadshow, which is made up of graduate and undergraduate students. WATCH A VIDEO “We travel across the state, collaborating with K-12 teachers, afterschool program coordinators and any other community groups that are looking for some active learning in the sciences,” says Director Outreach and Engagement Karagh Brummond. Currently, they conduct close to 20 visits
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a year. In addition to working in individual classrooms, they also host school-wide STEM days. “We’re here to support our K-12 teachers in the state and help them achieve their goals,” Brummond says. “The engaging activities also give the teachers an example of curriculum they can use in subsequent classes.” In addition to the Roadshow, the Science Initiative puts on a STEM Carnival in Laramie every fall, with approximately 500 students from across the state attending. The 2023 event showcased the new Engineering Education and Research Building, where 40 interactive STEM stations were hosted by departments and entities across campus. In addition to the hands-on learning, the students and their chaperones also get great exposure to campus and UW offerings. “I think it’s very important that, as the only four-year institution in the state, we are out there supporting students and communities and sharing our energy and enthusiasm,” Brummond says. “Nothing is better than giving back to the Wyoming community!”
LATINA YOUTH PARTNERSHIP Latinos/as are the fastest growing population in Wyoming and one of the fastest growing populations in the United States, yet their college attendance lags behind that of white and Asian populations. The Wyoming Latina Youth Conference introduces fifth through 12th graders to all the university has to offer while also bolstering a sense of community and teaching valuable life skills. “The conference allows girls from around the state to come to UW, be on the campus and see other women like them as their workshop leaders,” says Associate Director Jacqueline “JJ” Shinker, who is a professor in the Department of Geology and Geophysics. “Representation really does matter, and it’s empowering.” Each October, about 300 Latina youth from around the state come to Laramie. The conference kicks off with a keynote speaker and banquet Friday night. On Saturday, the youth attend workshops on campus. Ann Redman started the conference in Cheyenne in
2000. When it moved to UW in 2016, Department of Theatre and Dance Professor Cecelia Aragon took over as executive director and has expanded the conference to include mentorship, leadership, community service and outdoor programs for conference graduates who attend UW. Together, the programming is known as the Latina/o Youth Partnership under the recently established Wyoming Latina Youth Center. “Something we’re really proud of is that the college students stay with us all of their four years,” Aragon says. With funding, organizers hope to continue to expand programming across the state by hiring a statewide outreach coordinator. They are already strengthening partnerships with the community colleges, and Shinker earned a National Geographic Society grant to expand outdoor educational opportunities. This past summer, in coordination with Wyoming State Parks, they hosted a campout at Sinks Canyon. This year’s conference invited
the attendees to participate in the National Geographic Society Slingshot Challenge, in which youth create videos featuring solutions to environmental problems. Other workshops cover pillars of knowledge, including arts, humanities, financial literacy, STEM, and mental and physical well-being. The youth also enjoy a resource fair with information on colleges and careers. “We added financial literacy and work readiness to the pillars of knowledge for the conference, preparing young women on what to expect in the working world after they graduate from college — building up their soft skills and people skills,” Aragon says. Shinker is motivated by the impact representation and mentorship makes. “There aren’t a lot of women of color in STEM,” she says. “I have had conference graduates in my class say things like, ‘I never thought I could be a scientist.’ I’m very committed to helping young women meet their potential in fields they may not normally see themselves in.”
Wyoming Latina Youth Conference attendees take part in a variety of workshops and experiences on campus.
Nikki Baldwin directs the Wyoming Early Childhood Outreach Network.
WYOMING TRUSTEES EDUCATION INITIATIVE Like many rural areas, Wyoming faces a shortage of trained teachers. To address this, UW launched the Trustees Education Initiative with an emphasis on the “four Es” — exploration, experiential learning, embedded practice and entry. This translates to career exploration, experiential learning for pre-service teachers, embedded practice in Wyoming school districts and continued support during entry into the profession. A number of innovations and programs have emerged from the initiative, including the Wyoming Early Childhood Outreach Network (WYECON), which brings UW expertise and resources to early childhood educators around the state. This focus is key because, from birth to age 5, a child’s brain develops more rapidly than any other time. High-level abilities such as communication, problem solving and self-esteem form during these early years, making quality early education imperative.
“WYECON was created to increase collaboration with statewide early childhood partners and to support the early childhood education workforce to improve the quality of early learning experiences for Wyoming’s youngest children,” says Director Nikki Baldwin. As a partner in a federal Preschool Development Grant, WYECON recently led the development of Wyoming’s Coherent Path to Quality — a statewide guide to quality early childhood education — and the revision and publication of the Wyoming Early Learning Standards. “WYECON has made a huge impact on our instruction and the success of many students,” say Afton Elementary School kindergarten teachers Lisa Garner and Angela Burton, who have worked with Baldwin extensively, especially regarding active learning. “Now, instead of sitting at a desk doing paper-pencil work, students are designing, building, making and testing hypotheses, all while exploring and learning about a wide range of topics. Nikki has given workshops, helped us to set up learning centers, taught us how to interact and document the progress that children are making, all while aligning to the rigorous standards expected of our young students. An additional benefit of this paradigm shift to play-based learning is the growth that we are seeing in children’s social-emotional growth. Most importantly, the influence of this shift has brought fun into learning, and the students are exceeding our expectations in meeting the standards.” The College of Education also offers three early childhood certificates and endorsements to educate those in the field. In a partnership with the Departments of Workforce and Family Services and the Ellbogen Foundation, WYECON created the Wyoming Early Childhood Professional Learning Collaborative in 2019, which provides free professional development for the early childhood workforce. Nicole Philbin, director of education and programming at Children’s Learning Center in Jackson, has partnered with WYECON and finds this help invaluable: “WYECON has really elevated the early childhood field across the state and created a network of professionals who are dedicated to the essential work of early education teachers in Wyoming.”
WYECON was created to increase collaboration with statewide early childhood partners and to support the early childhood education workforce to improve the quality of early learning experiences for Wyoming’s youngest children. — Nikki Baldwin 24 • uwyo.edu/uwyo-mag
UW Libraries financially supports access to scholarly and popular resources and materials for the residents of Wyoming and is a proud partner to the Wyoming State Library, WYLD Network, county and local libraries as well as Wyoming community colleges. GoWYLD provides residents access to databases and other resources that support research, lifelong learning, business and career development, early literacy and more. Access these resources and more with any Wyoming library card at GoWLYD.net or scan the QR code.
You Belong Here.
IMPACTING EDUCATION ACROSS WYOMING
RESEARCH, SERVICE, AND OUTREACH Trustees Education Initiative (TEI) Literacy Research Center and Clinic (LRCC) Early Care and Education Center (ECEC) WellSpring Counseling Clinic Science, Math, and Teaching Center (SMTC)
uwyo.edu/education edquest@uwyo.edu
SCIENCE AND MATH TEACHING CENTER Studies show that effective teachers can significantly raise students’ performance. What’s more, teachers who receive substantial quality professional development learn valuable skills and often receive a boost in confidence and retention. The UW College of Education’s Science and Math Teaching Center (SMTC) was created in 1970 to facilitate high-quality research-based support and professional development for teachers across the state. “The ongoing professional learning provided to our Wyoming teachers — individually, at the district level or through formal degree programs from the SMTC — is a valuable state asset supporting excellence in science and mathematics teaching and learning,” says Science Consultant Bobbi Eichhorst of the Wyoming Department of Education. Current SMTC projects include K-12 teacher professional development to support science instruction, support for a rural district creating digital science labs and a universitylevel EPSCoR grant that connects researchers and K-12 teachers to bring Wyoming data into the classroom. “We have a professional development team that does statewide outreach and engagement,” says SMTC Associate Research Scientist Martha Inouye. “We offer a suite of professional development opportunities for in-service teachers across the state, with the primary goal of providing relevant researchbased instruction and support to those teachers.” The SMTC also offers four master’s degree programs to allow teachers to further grow their endorsements,
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expertise and income. Colter Huhn, a seventh-grade integrated science teacher at Sheridan Junior High School, researched instructional practices within the new science standards and made connections with other science teachers in the state during his master’s degree program. “The SMTC has helped me build excellence in science and mathematics education by building my background knowledge in the different fields of science through intensive summer graduate programs,” he says. Cheyenne science teacher Amy Schick recently earned her master’s degree in middle-level science from SMTC. “The program made it possible for me to earn my degree in Wyoming while continuing to teach full time,” she says. “It was very low-cost to me as well. I know that in the future I can continue to count on the SMTC for high-quality up-todate professional development, and I frequently recommend the SMTC to colleagues for both professional development and the master’s programs.”
MALCOLM WALLOP CIVIC ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM Teaching is a valuable and challenging profession. With added demands, teacher shortages are mounting. In 2023, 55 percent of teachers reported reduced planning time due to staff shortages and other factors, and teachers work an average of 400 hours of overtime each year. But thanks to the UW Wallop K–12 Curriculum Project, the state’s teachers have a plethora of high-quality, standardsaligned lessons and multimedia materials to draw from for their social studies and English language arts classes. Last school year, 133 middle and high school educators representing 64 schools in 19 counties and the Wind River Indian Reservation accessed Wallop catalog content. The project is a partnership between the UW College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Education. A grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities helped fund an continued on page 28
July 8, 2023 - may 18, 2024 featuring guest curator: Robert martinez
This exhibition is made possible through support from the Terra Foundation for American Art. Additional funding provided through the generosity of Genesis Alkali, Pence and MacMillan LLC, Roy and Caryl Cline, and the Ron and Patti Salvagio Endowment for Art Museum Programs.
Dana Claxton (Hunkpapa Lakota, b. 1959), Hip Hop NDN, 2022, inkjet print, 54 x 72 inches, Robert M. & Judith Redd Knight Endowment for Collection Conservation & Acquisition, 2022.8.1
Harold Garde at 100 The Unseen Works in Two Acts Act I: February 24, 2024 Act II: June 1, 2024 Conclusion: February 22, 2025
Hand Puppet, 2006, acrylic on canvas, 43 x 55 inches, W. Sherman and Dorothy Burns Estate Fund, 2021.4.1
expansion to the free catalog of resources, and the program also hosts a summer workshop for teachers. Daniel McLane, a social studies and computer science teacher at Riverton High School in Fremont County School District 25, attended the summer 2023 Wallop Professional Development Teacher Workshop. He has been using the Wallop K-12 catalog materials for the last two years, which he says “has been by far my favorite way to cover the Wyoming standards in American government courses, and I do this with each of the three branches of government. The students respond well and thoroughly enjoy this activity.”
Professor Jean Garrison co-directs the program with fellow School of Politics, Public Affairs and International Studies Assistant Professor Jason McConnell. “I believe it’s a national imperative that our students not only understand how their government works from the local to national level but also how it can work for them,” she says. “To me, it’s as important as reading, writing and arithmetic. We live in a society that requires involved citizens. It’s the reason our forefathers created a free public education — it’s the understanding that the health of our society relies on the health of our citizens.” A grant from the Wyoming
DataHub (see page 36) helped the Wallop program launch the Profiles in Wyoming Resilience interactive map. The photo-voice project invites users, including K-12 students, to submit photos and share what they mean to them, including the opportunities and barriers they experience in their communities. The Malcolm Wallop Civic Engagement Program was inspired by former Wyoming U.S. Sen. Malcolm Wallop who, in his distinguished career serving in the U.S. Senate for three terms and in the Wyoming Legislature, is remembered for his commitment to civil discourse, public education and public service.
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Athletics
Next-Gen Athletes
UW ATHLETICS HOSTS SPORTS CAMPS EACH SUMMER THAT WELCOME THE NEXT GENERATION OF UW STUDENTS, FANS AND ATHLETES.
Cowboys basketball players help coach youth summer camps at the start of every season. Left: Caden Powell and Kamryn Williams. Below: Kobe Newton with Austin Eisenhauer.
By Micaela Myers
Every summer, hundreds of children from around Wyoming — and the country — descend on the University of Wyoming campus to learn from the university’s coaches and athletes at basketball, football, golf, volleyball, swimming, tennis and wrestling camps. “It’s the biggest form of outreach we can do,” says Tim O’Flannigan, director of operations for men’s basketball. “Giving folks the opportunity to come here and experience Laramie and UW is great.” O’Flannigan himself attended sports camps at UW when he was growing up. Camps range from day camps to multi-night camps. Some camps are open to all ages and skill levels, while others target middle or high school students. In addition to upping their game, O’Flannigan says it’s the ideal way to introduce youngsters to UW during Laramie’s beautiful summers. “Kids this age are starting to think about what’s next after high school, so it’s a great time for them to come here and see UW,” he says. The largest basketball camp they host is four days and three nights, and kids age middle school and up stay in the residence halls and eat at Washakie Dining Center.
PHOTOS BY COBE WASTLER
“I think it’s really good for the university at large and great exposure for kids around the state,” O’Flannigan says. While many universities have stopped offering overnight camps for kids, UW’s programs are going strong. This summer, men’s basketball hosted 200 students at the annual overnight camp. “It’s how we as a team kick off each summer,” he says. “It’s an introduction to the community, the university and our program. The student-athletes get here, get their bearings, then dive in. It’s two weeks of working camp because we also offer a day camp that’s geared toward younger kids. The second week
we do the overnight camp. We get kids from all different backgrounds. The guys do an awesome job with the kids. They were once one of those kids, so they cherish the opportunity to do a bit of outreach and make a good impact on the kids who come through.” The men’s basketball program also offers a camp at the Boys and Girls Club of Cheyenne for children who can’t travel to Laramie. O’Flannigan says these camps are the perfect way to give back to the dedicated UW athletics fans — and nurture the next generation of fans and athletes. UWyo Winter 2024 • 29
From agriculture to conservation, UW programs support land management efforts across the state.
By Micaela Myers
Wyoming Conservation Corps members Keith Johnson, Chad Browning and Sophie Bove work on a buffalo fencing project in coordination with the Eastern Shoshone Tribe.
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Wyoming Conservation Corps Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933, enlisting young people in work programs to improve America’s public lands, forests and parks. Since 2006, the Wyoming Conservation Corps has partnered with the AmeriCorps national service program to connect students to natural resource and environmental experiences while promoting leadership. The nonprofit corps is located within the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources — one of the few corps in the country to be located within a university — allowing it to offer academic credit to participants who also earn a living stipend. In addition, participants can earn WATCH A VIDEO industry-leading certificates in wilderness first responder, S-212 chainsaw, first aid, leave no trace and others. “We partner with state, federal and local agencies and nonprofits to accomplish tasks that are conservation based,” says Interim Director Tyler Carroll. “A lot of the work we do is trail maintenance, removal of trees and habitat restoration.” Approximately 50 crew members, including crew leaders, work throughout Wyoming all summer long, and crew groups include an all-women’s group, a veterans trail crew and traditional coed crews. The shoulder seasons of spring and fall are used to write grants and proposals, recruit, partner and educate. The program is an important resource for land managers and agencies in Wyoming that may not have the manpower or funding to conduct this work otherwise. “All the work we do is designed for the residents of Wyoming and its visitors,” Carroll says. “Recreation is such an important part of our economy in the state, and that’s what we’re focused on.”
Dr. Kurt S. Bucholz Irrigation Science Excellence Fund In early 2023, the Gretchen Swanson Family Foundation announced a gift to UW in honor of rancher, large-animal veterinarian and legislator Kurt Bucholz. The gift supports ethical water rights management and hydrology research in Wyoming and the West. “Kurt would have been so excited and supportive of this program,” says Laura Bucholz, president of the Gretchen Swanson Family Foundation and surviving spouse of Kurt Bucholz. “Water was so important to him, and I think this will have a lasting impact across the state.” The major gift from the Gretchen Swanson Family Foundation supports the Dr. Kurt S. Bucholz Irrigation Science Excellence Fund, which fosters excellence and provides financial support to the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management. A majority of this gift benefited from state matching dollars, and so the impact of this fund will be even larger. Bucholz was a well-known Saratoga rancher, veterinarian and Carbon County legislator who was involved in water administration and supply concerns facing the Upper North Platte River Basin. He was the founding member of the Upper North Platte Water Users’ Association and served as president of its board for eight years. In 2002, he was elected to the Wyoming House of Representatives. He died in 2006. The Bucholz ranch is nestled in the valleys of southern Wyoming among a patchwork of many large ranches whose survival rests on the precious amount of water they can use to irrigate their crops. With help from UW researchers and administrators, as well as those in the Legislature, members of this sprawling community are not only learning more effective methods for water management — they also are paving the way for complex conflict resolution across Wyoming and other drought-prone areas throughout the American West. The Brush Creek Watershed Project is a model program for irrigation science, technology, management and conflict resolution within the state and beyond. This shared project of UW and the ranching community advances cooperative and effective administration of water rights among ranchers and other users of the watershed. It has allowed the Brush Creek WATCH A VIDEO water rights to move from paper to a real-world digital model. The Brush Creek Watershed Watershed Hydrology Graduate Project Assistantship, also established by the Gretchen Swanson Family Foundation, is a vital part of the Brush Creek project. UWyo Winter 2024 • 31
Extension Educator Jeremiah Vardiman studies alfalfa to find varieties resistant to the alfalfa weevil at the Powell Research and Extension Center. Right: IMAGINE Director Brian Mealor works with students at the Sheridan Research and Extension Center.
Research and Extension Centers The UW College of Agriculture, Life Sciences and Natural Resources operates four research and extension centers in the state that conduct applied research, extension and outreach activities. “The concept of having research in different parts of the state goes all the way back to 1891 when the agriculture experiment stations were started,” says Brian Mealor, director of the Sheridan Research and Extension Center. “The geographic diversity across the state means different weather, soils and crops.” The centers can absorb more risk than local farmers and ranchers, trying new technologies, approaches and crops to evaluate them in a local setting and then sharing that knowledge. Residents approach personnel with needs and questions, and the centers host workshops on areas of interest. UW students also play an active role at the centers. Here’s a brief overview of some current activities at each of the centers. The Sheridan Research and Extension Center supports both dryland agricultural research at its original 300-acre site near Wyarno and irrigated land at the 400-acre Adams Ranch. One of the center’s focus areas is evaluating and improving plant materials, such as edible beans, field peas and
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popping beans; forage crops such as sunn hemp, perennial warm and cool season grasses; and native plants for wildlife habitat and restoration. The center is also a site for studying invasive grasses in cooperation with the IMAGINE program. At 7,220 feet above sea level, the Laramie Research and Extension Center is located at the highest elevation of all land-grant university research stations in the U.S., says Director Scott Lake. As such, it emphasizes high-elevation research in cattle and sheep. Facilities include the Cliff and Martha Hansen Teaching Arena and the 5,500-acre McGuire Ranch. Current cattle nutrition projects look at how diet may help combat brisket disease and the impact of microbiomes on production systems. In 2023, the center and the Department of Animal Science partnered to launch UW’s inaugural High Altitude Bull Test and Sale. Using GrowSafe boxes, it continues to advance feed efficiency research in sheep as well. The center also runs an annual ram test and the Wyoming Wool Initiative. The 220-acre Powell Research and Extension Center focuses on irrigated row crop research, including barley, corn, sugar beet and dry bean producers, says Director Jim Heitholt. “Our stakeholders seek information about variety
Institute for Managing Annual Grasses Invading Natural Ecosystems
performance, fertility, irrigation and weed management, and we have projects addressing each of those needs.” The researchers also collaborate with campus partners. For example, they’re working with the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences to investigate new lines of popping beans. The center works closely with Powell’s UW Seed Analysis Lab and the Wyoming Seed Certification Service. The James C. Hageman Sustainable Agriculture Research and Extension Center near Lingle comprises 1,522 acres of dry cropland, 349 acres of irrigated cropland, 1,880 acres of rangeland, 19 acres of irrigated organic cropland, 40 acres of dry land organic cropland, a feedlot and a livestock research laboratory. It offers research opportunities in rain-fed and irrigated cropland as well as grazing and confinement livestock systems. The center also offers an annual bull test. Other areas of research include grass and legume forage production, weed management in irrigated cropping systems and forage-based crop rotation studies, according to Director Steve Paisley. The center is also developing a cooperative precision agriculture program with Eastern Wyoming College. The Laramie Research and Extension Center launched a bull test and sale in 2023.
PHOTO BY UW EXTENSION
Native to the Mediterranean, cheatgrass was introduced to the Denver area in the late 1800s. This highly invasive species now infests more than 101 million acres in Western states, pushing out native perennial grasses that are better for livestock and wildlife. Recognizing the need to control these invasions, Gov. Mark Gordon announced an invasive species initiative in 2019, and the University of Wyoming responded by launching the Institute for Managing Annual Grasses Invading Natural Ecosystems (IMAGINE) in 2021 after extensive stakeholder feedback. IMAGINE focuses on engaged research that directly impacts land management. Since its launch, IMAGINE has conducted 12 research projects, 20-plus presentations and three peer-reviewed publications in collaboration with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other partners. A $500,000 gift from the Joe and Arlene Watt Foundation helps support IMAGINE. “Cheatgrass affects just about anyone dealing with wildlife habitat or livestock and rangeland ecosystems,” says IMAGINE Director Brian Mealor. “These invasive grasses create reduced forage quality and quantity for wildlife and livestock. They can also increase fire risk, and they can change the way the soil ecosystem works. In the most extreme cases, they can change the nature of the ecosystem to where animals that depend on those ecosystems no longer have what they need to survive and thrive.” Each summer, a team of UW students helps IMAGINE collect data, and the center works with cooperative programs across the state. The IMAGINE team is also working with national partners to help give landowners the tools and knowledge to make effective management decisions. The team found that focusing on restoring sites in danger of degradation and expanding out from there is more effective than focusing on highly damaged areas. The applied research also looks at best management methods such as herbicides to target geminating seedlings and various grazing strategies. Mealor is not just an expert on this issue — it’s something that impacts him personally, as his family farms in the state. “Seeing the negative impacts that invasive plants have on the natural ecosystems in Wyoming and the West is very stark and striking,” he says. “If our team can help reduce those impacts and conserve the natural systems, that’s very important to me.” UWyo Winter 2024 • 33
Wyoming Bird Initiative for Resilience and Diversity
Graduate student Erin Stewart takes part in a bird banding project west of Laramie as part of WYOBIRD’s field program.
Birds are not just for bird watching — they play an essential role in our ecosystem. They reduce pests, pollinate plants, spread seeds and much more. However, since 1970, we’ve lost more than a quarter of our bird population in the U.S. and Canada. This makes ornithology, the study of birds, all the more important. To increase handson student opportunities in this field, Corey Tarwater, an associate professor in the Department of Zoology and Physiology, and fellow faculty working on bird research at UW launched WYOBIRD (Wyoming Bird Initiative for Resilience and Diversity). WYOBIRD aims to advance knowledge, appreciation and conservation of birds locally and globally. The initiative achieves this by conducting novel research on birds, training a new generation of scientists at UW through hands-on training, and sharing science through networking, public outreach and seminar speakers.
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“WYOBIRD is an exciting new initiative because it benefits our students both through hands-on experiences and development of new skills. It also creates a greater sense of community among our students and faculty,” says Tarwater, the Robert B. Berry Distinguished Chair in Ecology and director of WYOBIRD. A key aim of the initiative is to provide UW undergraduate and graduate students with direct experiences in the field of ornithology. Traditional coursework often lacks a field component where students can develop marketable skills that will prepare them for graduate school or employment, Tarwater says. For example, students involved in WYOBIRD had the opportunity to lead and assist with projects in Albany County, including tree swallow nest
box monitoring during the summer and a migration bird banding station this past fall. Students gained experience with field techniques, including bird banding and nest checks, fieldwork logistics and data management. Additionally, UW graduate students practice their teaching and communication skills, as they are responsible for hiring, training and supervising UW undergraduate students. Some undergraduate students are supported by “avian internships.” “While at the university, gaining experience in the field I want to pursue makes my UW experience so much better,” says Howarth White, a UW junior from Rawlins majoring in wildlife and fisheries biology and management. “Working on projects like this makes me want my degree all that much more.”
EARN A DEGREE IN PLANT PRODUCTION & PROTECTION Small class sizes • Real-world experience
uwyo.edu/plantsciences
THE WYOMING INSTITUTE FOR
HUMANITIES RESEARCH The Humanities Research Institute strives to be an engine for producing interdisciplinary research in the humanities; a community for faculty, students, and the public; and a model of democratic education fit for our land-grant university. Please join us!
For an exciting list of activities and programming, visit our Website: uwyo.edu/humanities and our Facebook page: Facebook.com/UWYOWIHR
Research
Big Data DATA CENTERS PROMOTE RESEARCH AND INFORM SMART DECISION MAKING.
By Micaela Myers
Analyzing large data sets created by modern research can reveal important patterns, trends and associations and inform smart decision making. To stay ahead of the curve, the University of Wyoming launched the Data Science Center in 2018, and the UW’s Wyoming DataHub initiative was established by the Wyoming Innovation Partnership in 2022. Wyoming Data Science Center The UW Data Science Center started as part of a $20 million research infrastructure improvement award from the National Science Foundation. In 2023, the center joined the new School of Computing. “Data science is an in-demand career path as companies, research labs, national defense units, nonprofits and other private and public organizations struggle to take advantage of the massive and growing data in the world,” says School of Computing Director Gabrielle Allen. “The center will work to enhance data science offerings for students across disciplines and contribute to building a broader data science initiative with other UW partners and initiatives.” School of Computing Associate Director Jeffrey Hamerlinck says the center will encourage innovative
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research. Philanthropic contributions such as those from the Trent and Mary McDonald fund further support this aim, with funding for graduate student research and career preparation, as well as faculty research, teaching and engagement. Wyoming DataHub The vision for the DataHub is to develop and promote a community of users around data-driven science, ultimately serving as a central stop for all sectors to access data tools to spur economic development, strengthen Wyoming’s workforce, support industry and promote research collaborations, including with the state’s community colleges. Infrastructure will include digital storage and management resources. Providing centralized access to data will enable future innovation in machine learning and artificial intelligence. “We see the DataHub — as a component of the Wyoming Innovation Partnership — as being a way to make researchers’ data more discoverable, sharable and reusable for teaching and research and to integrate and discover new uses for that data,” Hamerlinck says. Projects that were initially funded included creating an interactive map for the Malcolm Wallop Civic Engagement Program’s Profiles in
Wyoming Resilience, integrating plant data between the Rocky Mountain Herbarium and Wyoming Natural Diversity Database, digitizing the American Heritage Center’s Anaconda Company (copper mining) collection, and coalescing wildlife and weather data to inform wildlife management decisions. In partnership with the 9H Research Foundation, UW students are also using drones to map invasive species and computer vision to track cattle. “One of 9H’s goals is to do things on a working ranch that can then be made accessible to other ranchers across the state,” Hamerlinck says. “There’s a great outreach and tech transfer potential with this partnership.” The state is funding a new set of derivative data from lidar to generate new terrain models and contour maps. The hub also funded the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment for the Center for Advanced Scientific Instrumentation at UW, including a plant phenotyping machine. “One of the great things about the School of Computing is the emphasis on applied computing and data science to solve real-world problems,” Hamerlinck says. “The fact we can build the Data Science Center and DataHub under the school’s umbrella makes it that much more impactful.”
K-14 STEM EDUCATION
OuTReacH
The University of Wyoming College of Engineering and Physical Sciences looks forward to the opportunity to engage students and teachers in hands-on learning to build knowledge and understanding in the field of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Strength in K-14 education can enhance the quality and quantity of students who pursue STEM programs at the University of Wyoming and ultimately pursue high-impact careers in Wyoming and beyond.
MATHCOUNTS COMPETITION SERIES Registration now open: mathcounts.org/programs/competition-series ENGINEERS WEEK
February 18 - 24, 2024
LAND SURVEYOR & GIS OUTREACH
CLASSROOM VISITS
March 17 - 23, 2024
FIELD TRIPS TO CEPS
Our team of CEPS Student Ambassadors can visit classrooms, virtually or in person, to encourage the exploration of the engineering design process.
Led by current engineering students to provide an introduction to our programs. Enjoy tours of the engineering buildings, interactive learning in our makerspaces, hands-on activities, world-class drilling simulator demonstration, and much more!
CONTACT US FOR MORE INFORMATION! Cindy Jones, Ph.D. (307) 766-6433 | cynthia.jones@uwyo.edu
UWYO.EDU/CEAS
Growing Business The Wyoming Business Resource Network and UW’s IMPACT 307 support businesses and entrepreneurs across the state.
By Micaela Myers
PHOTO BY MARY RICE
Wyoming’s investments in supporting entrepreneurial activity are paying off. The Digital Project Manager ranks Wyoming sixth in its list of the most entrepreneurial states, with 12,357 small businesses and nearly a 120 percent increase in business applications from 2019 to 2022. The Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office
Derrek Jerred
shows a 25 percent increase in revenue from business filings in the last fiscal year compared to the previous year. The University of Wyoming plays a critical role in this success. UW’s Research and Economic Development Division and the Wyoming Business Council collaborate on the Wyoming
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Business Resource Network to assist businesses throughout the state. The network includes the Wyoming Small Business Development Center Network, IMPACT 307, Wyoming Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Manufacturing Works, Technology Transfer and Research Products Center, Wyoming Apex Accelerator, and Wyoming SBIR/ STTR Initiative (see page 42). “The Business Resource Network is a grouping of programs designed to help entrepreneurs across the state — every shape, size and industry,” says IMPACT 307 Senior Director Derrek Jerred. “Some resources are also designed for companies looking to pivot, change direction or find a new course.” UW’s IMPACT 307, formerly known as the Wyoming Technology Business Center, launched in 2005. Its mission is to advance the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the state by developing successful startup and early-stage ventures. With a physical presence in four counties and actively expanding its presence into all 23 counties, IMPACT 307 works to build a pipeline of smallbusiness activity through local startup challenges, mentorship, seed funding, business incubation and
office space, and other economic development services. “In five years, we want to be nationally recognized as a leader in incubation across a distributed statewide network with excellence in community college collaboration and input in local markets across the state,” Jerred says. He also sees great potential to expand commercialization of UW’s research. “We can help take the research and intellectual property being generated by our faculty and commercialize it in a tangible way,” Jerred says. Often that requires industry partnerships, which is where IMPACT 307 plays a big role. Read on to learn about two businesses assisted by IMPACT 307.
WATCH A VIDEO
UplinkRobotics also benefited from IMPACT 307
BAST Manufacturing a hemp tractor air filter and entered her creation in science fairs. Clapper and Auzqui met while taking classes in UW’s entrepreneurship program, and Clapper knew Keller from childhood. The three decided to form a team. Clapper heads up sales and marketing, while Auzqui focuses on the finance and accounting side of things. Currently, BAST is finishing up PHOTO BY CALEB COCKRUM
Even college students can successfully start a business in Wyoming — in fact, they are encouraged to do so. Three students did just that to form BAST Manufacturing, which utilizes hemp to create sustainable high-performance air filters for tractors, HVAC units and other filtration needs. The team includes Carly Keller, a student from Torrington majoring in veterinary
Clayton Auzqui, Carly Keller and Jared Clapper competed in the College of Business’ John P. Ellbogen $50K Entrepreneurship Competition.
technology at Eastern Wyoming College; Clayton Auzqui, a recent UW graduate from Clearmont who studied economics and agriculture business; and Jared Clapper, a UW senior from Veteran studying finance. In 2022, they won the Goshen County Start-Up Challenge, and in 2023, they went on to win the UW College of Business’ John P. Ellbogen $50K Entrepreneurship Competition. All three grew up in agricultural settings, and Keller came up with the idea due to her allergies. She played around with creating
the research and development phase and working on its supply chain, which the team hopes will eventually be 100 percent Wyoming. “We hope to leverage local resources and producers,” Clapper says. “If everything works out, we could have a very short supply chain that begins and ends in Goshen County. That’s the dream.” They plan to launch a Kickstarter fundraising campaign this spring and hire student interns to help. Luckily, the competitions they entered gave
them a big head start. “The Ellbogen was greatly beneficial,” Auzqui says. “Jared and I had been through a lot of entrepreneurship classes, so it was a big step to apply to the competition. It took us through multiple rounds and forced us to put the time in, learn to make a pitch presentation, develop public speaking skills and understand what investors are looking for in a startup. It also did a great job bringing in external resources and pairing us with mentors from the community.” The BAST team is being mentored by IMPACT 307 Assistant Director Brian Young, Laramie businessman Gustave Anderson and three folks from the nonprofit Silicon Couloir in Jackson. “We definitely couldn’t have come this far without IMPACT 307,” Clapper says. “Doing those two competitions back-to-back really helped us,” Auzqui says. “A big thing for startups is losing momentum. These competitions held us accountable. The resources were also invaluable for getting us to where we are today.” Both recommend students “just go for it.” As College of Business Professor of Practice Corey Billington told them: “The world will help if you let it.” “Now is the time,” Clapper says. “There’s never been more opportunity in Wyoming than there is now. The whole state is focusing on entrepreneurship and giving entrepreneurs the resources to be successful.”
UWyo Winter 2024 • 39
COURTESY PHOTO
Infinite Outdoors Sam Seeton grew up on his family’s ranch in Colorado but always had ties to Wyoming, including his cousin-inlaw, UW track coach Bryan Berryhill. After college and a multiyear climb of the corporate ladder, Seeton chose to start his own business and move it to Wyoming. “The amount of resources that are available for us and the doors that opened to us here are incredible,” Seeton says. “Those resources aren’t afforded to you in any other state. We didn’t have any support from universities or the state when we were a Colorado company.” Seeton describes his business, Infinite Outdoors, as similar to an Airbnb site but for hunting and fishing land access with extreme focus on conservation. “It allows a new way for landowners to make money without giving away rights to their land,” he says. “They can still let their friends hunt or fish but also make some money, all while having free access to Infinite’s team of conservation biologists. From an outdoorsman perspective, it created a new market for the do-it-yourself outdoorsman to access these properties without having to pay a high yearly lease or to pay an outfitter. The mobile app helps facilitate the interaction between the outdoorsman and the landowner. It also has additional advanced mapping features to help folks find public land around the country.” Since launching Infinite Outdoors three years ago, the company is the biggest private land app with over a million acres of private land across a dozen states on the platform. Seeton and his team plan to go nationwide
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Sam Seeton (left) wants to expand hunting and fishing land access with the Infinite Outdoors app (below).
while growing their base in Casper. “The Casper community has been awesome,” Seeton says. “I don’t think our company would be close to where it’s at without IMPACT 307. They accelerated our growth by several years.” Infinite Outdoors connected with IMPACT 307 during the 2022 Casper Start-Up Challenge. “It opened our eyes to the fact there were other ways to grow our business and grow faster than just bootstrapping,” Seeton says. “Tapping into those resources and using the experiences of others really helped. Winning the Start-Up Challenge opened a lot of doors to people who are now investors and connected us with the incubator, where we now have our offices.” It also led to Infinite Outdoors becoming a corporate partner for UW’s Center for Professional Selling, which helps students learn essential skills such as developing customers and managing a pipeline of business. Infinite Outdoors works with UW students on joint projects and hires interns and alumni. The company also partners with Visit Casper, which sponsors a layer of its app map for free public land use. “It’s been a great partnership to open access to the outdoors and put a spotlight on our headquarters here,” Seeton says. While he works harder than he ever did, Seeton wouldn’t have it any other way. “The biggest thing I like about being an entrepreneur is being in control of my own destiny,” he says. “If I succeed, it’s because of myself, our co-founders and the team we surround ourselves with. If something doesn’t go well, I have no one to blame but myself. I like having control of my future.”
CONNECTING WYOMING TO THE WORLD
| Intercultural community engagement | Education abroad opportunities | Grants, fellowships, awards | Transdisciplinary exploration | Workshops | Faculty resources | Student & scholar immigration support | Language classes | International research | Global partnerships
Supporting the international students and faculty of today. Preparing leaders for the challenges of tomorrow’s world. Creating life-changing international experiences. Building Wyoming’s global community.
| Student leadership opportunities | Outreach Learn about our programs at www.uwyo.edu/global
APPLY FOR A SCHOLARSHIP! CONTACT US TO LEARN ABOUT FULBRIGHT OPPORTUNITIES.
International Students and Scholars
Education Abroad
Connect with us on our LinkedIn Global Alumni Group #WyoGlobalAlumniNetworkGroup
English Language Center
Center for Global Studies
Join the WyoGlobal Alumni Network
Wyoming Business Resource Network In addition to IMPACT 307, the Business Resource Network offers many programs to help businesses (uwyo.edu/research/business-resource-network.) The Wyoming Small Business Development Center Network provides no-cost full-service small business advising, training and education; works with startups and existing businesses; provides market research and digital marketing analysis; and offers advisers throughout the state. Manufacturing Works offers broad technical assistance and engineering solutions for manufacturing businesses; assists clients with continuous improvement strategies, cybersecurity measures, quality management, prototyping, supplier scouting and more; and has advisers throughout the state. The Technology Transfer and Research Products Center helps UW personnel and students secure intellectual property rights for inventions and innovation concepts based on university-sponsored research activities; supports technology transfer of inventions and innovations to industry; and provides
general support regarding intellectual property statewide through educational outreach. Wyoming Apex Accelerator provides assistance and advising for those who want to contract with the U.S. government as well as state and local government contracting opportunities; offers no-cost advising, training and educational opportunities; and helps navigate the government contracting learning curve. Wyoming SBIR/STTR Initiative offers assistance and advising to help entrepreneurs and small business owners research, develop and commercialize their innovations; offers information and assistance on applying for the $2.5 billion awarded each year by the federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs; and hosts education and training programs to help in applying for federal funds. Wyoming Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation aims to coordinate, collaborate, promote and strengthen the entrepreneurship mindset across the state while making UW a leader in the innovation sector.
The Wyoming Institute for Disabilities
Empowering Wyoming’s workforce through teaching, research, and service supporting full community inclusion & social participation
www.uwyo.edu/wind
SSS PROVIDES THE RESOURCES YOU NEED FROM ENROLLMENT TO GRADUATION. •
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Interested in applying? Contact us at sss@uwyo.edu or scan this code >>> Success starts here.
Interested in applying? Contact us at sss@uwyo.edu.. Success starts here.
We’re part of the TRIO family of federal programs founded in 1964. Find out more at uwyo.edu/sss Student Success Services is 100% federally funded by the U.S. Department of Education at $445,410 annually with a scholarship contribution from the University of Wyoming. SSS is in the office of Student Educational Opportunity at the University of Wyoming.
The John P. Ellbogen Foundation supports programs across campus. Pictured: Trey Wright tutors Jude Sigel in the College of Education’s Literacy Research Center and Clinic.
Public service is the University of Wyoming’s mission, just as it’s the mission of Wyoming’s foundations. That’s why the partnerships between the university and foundations are particularly impactful. Their expertise comes together to have long-lasting impacts that ripple through future generations. Below are four foundations that, in partnership with UW, are making the world a better place.
John P. Ellbogen Foundation Every child is pure potential. That’s the belief that drives Mary Ellbogen Garland and the John P. Ellbogen Foundation. Its mission is to benefit the people of Wyoming, and to say that the foundation has had an impact is a huge understatement. It has supported every corner of UW as well as initiatives across the state. The Ellbogen Foundation was founded by John P. “Jack” Ellbogen, a Wyoming entrepreneur, oilman and Worland native who believed strongly in education. On his passing, daughter Mary took the helm and has made it what it is today — a force for good in the state.
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The foundation has given over $13 million to UW that has benefited more than 60 programs and units across campus and the state. The foundation’s focus began on education but has expanded to all areas of campus. “Our best work is done in partnership,” Garland says. As Jack believed, education is key to reaching a child’s potential, but even before kids are educated, they need a healthy family support system. “We realized that we have to give attention to basic needs — food, shelter, clothing, physical health, mental health, connectedness, community, feeling loved and having that support system,” Garland says. A great example is the Ellbogen Opportunity Scholarship, which began as a pilot program at Laramie County Community College for nontraditional student scholarships and then was extended for three years and then to all community colleges and UW. In five years, approximately 280 scholarships were funded for nontraditional students, all while collecting data to present the effectiveness of the program to the Wyoming Legislature. “The data is proof of impact both academically and in
Foundations partner with UW to nurture Wyoming’s future. By Tamara Linse
The McMurry Foundation has given more than $30 million to UW, including support for athletics and the Western Thunder Marching Band.
positive daily living outcomes,” says Garland. “The scholarship can support a degree program or certificate or a credential — whatever it is that gets them a job that creates financial stability and that allows them to stay in the community where they have roots.” The Ellbogen Foundation then took that data and presented to communities and legislators across the state, showing how effective the program is. The Legislature is now building an endowment with the goal of continuing this vital investment. “It started as an Ellbogen Opportunity Scholarship,” Garland says. “But we want the state to take the reins in a significant way for nontraditional student support. This is an incredible return on investment for the state of Wyoming in terms of family workforce and overall community wellbeing and health.”
McMurry Foundation Mick and Susie McMurry of Casper believed in the power of community, and that’s why they established the McMurry Foundation. Their goal was to build a better Wyoming, and
build a better Wyoming they did. Both Mick and Susie were from Wyoming and graduates of UW. After graduation, Susie was a school teacher, and Mick was a businessman and entrepreneur. Through “luck and guts,” Mick successfully developed the Pinedale Anticline and Jonah Field in southwest Wyoming with business partner John Martin. “They helped change the way people give in Wyoming,” says Trudi Holthouse, director of the McMurry Foundation and their daughter. “I’m really proud of them. They were two UWyo Winter 2024 • 45
people who set the example for what philanthropy can look like and the strong impact it can have.” To UW alone, they gave more than $30 million for the Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center, UW Athletics, Western Thunder Marching Band, UW-Casper, the School of Nursing, the College of Business, the College of Education, the College of Law, University Plaza and Conference Center, the Wyoming Technology Business Center and more. “Personally, philanthropy goes way beyond just the dollars and is about the relationships we get to create with each other,” says Holthouse. “It’s just a blessing to be a part of something bigger than yourself.” Most recently, the McMurry Foundation gave the kickoff match of $500,000 for UW Giving Day, UW’s annual celebration of philanthropy. Gifts of up to $5,000 were matched 2:1. The match was used up within minutes of going live, and in total almost 9,000 people gave over $3.6 million in just 24 hours. “It is fun to be part of the motivation for other people to give,” says Holthouse. “Every dollar counts.” The mission of the McMurry Foundation focuses on Natrona County but also includes UW because of UW’s impact across the state. Holthouse says: “Supporting UW is a priority for us. We only have one university, and it’s an excellent place for students to get a wonderful education. It is awesome that we can help create an experience at UW through the scholarships, programs and facilities that entice our youth to stay in Wyoming.” Holthouse misses her parents terribly: “Creating memories was a goal of my mom’s. My dad worked so much that she had to take advantage of the time that we could spend all together, and so we had meals every night. We waited until my dad got home. My fondest memories are when she would invite everyone and anyone who needed to be a part of a good old-fashioned Sunday family dinner. She was a master at creating relationships and doing what has to be done.”
Watt Foundation People work hard in Wyoming, and no one works harder than Wyoming ranchers and farmers. Joe and Arlene Watt of Sheridan were just such people, but they were also kind and generous, staunch supporters of the things they believed in. Their Watt Foundation has supported generations of UW students and had a big impact on Wyoming in other ways — a befitting legacy. “Joe was a consummate gentleman, a handsome devil,” says Richard Hammer, president of the Watt Foundation. “They were the most approachable people. They remembered
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The Watt Foundation made a recent gift to the IMAGINE program to fight invasive grasses. Pictured: UW Sheridan Research and Extension Center Assistant Farm Manager Mike Albrecht and Ph.D. student Jodie Crose.
your name and always had time for a bit of advice. They were just sage, warm, wonderful people and just so generous with their time — and, of course, their money.” Joe and Arlene’s family homesteaded in Moorcroft and Gillette. The couple attended UW in the 1920s, marrying in 1928. They established the Triangle T Ranch and built it into one of the most efficient cattle operations in the industry, retiring in 1984. “The money (for the foundation) largely came from their minerals,” says Hammer, “but Joe and Arlene always called themselves ranchers. They never said they were oil people.” Over the years, the Watts served the state in many ways. Joe was a member of the UW Board of Trustees and director of the UW Foundation Board. Arlene served as president of the Wyoming and the National Cowbelles, which honored her as a lifetime member in recognition of her contributions to the cattle industry. One way the Wattses gave back was by establishing scholarships at UW. The first was the Watt Brothers Scholarship established in 1962 with one of the most unusual gifts ever presented to the university — 238 head of yearling Hereford cattle given by Joe and his brother Robert. The profit from the sale of these cattle established this scholarship. After Arlene passed away, Joe established the Watt Foundation in her memory in 1999. The Watt Foundation established scholarships in colleges across UW as well as the Joe and Arlene Watt UW Presidential Scholarship, the first presidential-level scholarship of its kind at UW with the goal of keeping the best and brightest in the state. Collectively, these scholarships have benefited hundreds of students. “Joe was just very clear about what he liked to benefit,” says Hammer. “The main beneficiary is northeast Wyoming,
but Joe had a very big spot in his heart for UW.” Hammer continues, “I think Joe and Arlene will be proud of what we’re doing, and we really appreciate the university and the opportunities and the good stewardship that the university does with those funds. To feel that connected to an institution — that means something to us and meant a lot to Joe and Arlene.”
Natrona Collective Health Trust The Natrona Collective Health Trust’s mission is to advance the mental well-being of young people. As part of this mission, it is dedicated to nonprofit capacity building and community development. “Our focus is youth,” says Beth Worthen, CEO and fifth-generation graduate of UW. “In the area of mental and behavioral health, there are a lot of issues that impact a young person’s ability to learn and to grow and to be successful in life.” These include adverse childhood experiences, unmet economic and social needs and lack of a safety net. The trust began in 1977 as the Wyoming Medical Center Foundation. When the Wyoming Medical Center was purchased by Banner Health three years ago, the foundation converted to its present form, a private health foundation that has grown quickly both in size and mission. The trust uses an approach called trust-based philanthropy. Worthen says, “Our nonprofits are on the front lines of delivering services and solving problems in our community.” The trust gives multiyear grants that are not focused on a particular program but rather on general operating support. The only question asked on the application is, “How do you plan to use the money?” One of the trust’s current projects is working with other funders on a report on the impact of philanthropy
in Wyoming. The Legislature has been considering how best to support mental health in the state, and out of these discussions came the idea for this report. The report shows where philanthropy is having an impact, what issues are being addressed and what is the role of the government versus the role of private funding. Another project that is having a big impact is a scholarship program, the Natrona County Non-Profit MPA Fellowship, which is open to any staff member of a Natrona County nonprofit pursuing a master’s degree in public administration at UW. “One of the things that we heard from our nonprofit partners is that they wanted to take advantage of UW’s nonprofit governance track within the MPA program to really build skill sets that they didn’t have, and so we began offering the scholarship,” Worthen says. The scholarship has been so successful that the trust is now working to support scholarships in mental and behavioral health infrastructure for master’s degrees in social work and licensed professional counseling at UW-Casper. “I’m just grateful for the partnership that we have with UW,” Worthen says. “It’s a very fruitful partnership. We value the expertise that comes from faculty and administration, and we’re really excited about what the future could bring.” The Natrona Collective Health Trust offers scholarships to students pursuing select master’s degrees at UW-Casper, among other things.
PHOTO BY WM ARTIST SERVICES
Art Museum
The New West
TAKE A FRESH LOOK AT THE ART OF THE AMERICAN WEST AT THE UW ART MUSEUM WITH GUEST CURATOR ROBERT MARTINEZ. By Michelle Sunset, Curator
COURTESY PHOTO
To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the University of Wyoming Art Museum is looking both inward and outward, exploring its Western American art collection with guest curator Robert Martinez. Funded by the prestigious Terra Foundation for American Art, “The New West” exhibition is modeled after artist Fred Wilson’s iconic “Mining the Museum” (1992) installation at the Maryland Historical Society. In this exhibition, Wilson placed historical objects in new contexts to invite dialogue about the role of museums and their representation of race and culture through collection, display and interpretation. He intervened in the space by devising stark juxtapositions, such as placing slave shackles in a vitrine alongside a silver service set to call attention to racial disparities that were not previously explored in the institution. Because many visitors arrive at the UW Art Museum expecting to see Western American art — cowboys, mountainous and prairie landscapes and wildlife — curators worked with Martinez to develop an exhibition that challenges the viewers to
Top: The New West exhibition at the UW Art Museum is on display through May 18. Above: Robert Martinez.
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interrogate their perceptions of what Western art is and broaden their understanding of the region. Martinez was born in Riverton, Wyo. He grew up a part of many different cultures, as his lineage is Spanish, Mexican, Scotts Irish, French Canadian and Northern Arapaho. Martinez’s own work uses the historical imagery, myths and stories of the West and Indigenous cultures combined with modern themes to create dynamic thought-provoking images. Not only have his paintings and drawings garnered acclaim across the country, but Martinez also has dedicated time and energy to supporting arts education through mentorship and workshops across Wyoming. UW Art Museum curators collaborated with Martinez to develop themes, select objects and design interventions that would inspire visitors to reconsider their understanding of Western art. The resulting exhibition spans several galleries, the Rotunda and the Wyoming Gallery Theater. Works of Western art that are considered historical or traditional are paired with contemporary works, and several artworks are presented with alternative titles. Museum preparators brought Martinez’s vision to life through installations such as the transposing of a teepee and a pumpjack over Kerswill’s romanticized landscape painting “Land of the Big Sky.” Martinez says: “The perspective of Indigenous people is most often homogenized or completely omitted. There are many tribal nations who call ‘the West’ home. They have a wealth of specific knowledge and individual stories about their cultures, the land, the wildlife and the ecosystem. That authentic knowledge was — and continues to be — ignored in most mainstream art venues. ‘The New West’ challenges you to change your mindset and note whose perspective is missing — whose story was not being told and why.” Visit the UW Art Museum to explore “The New West: The University of Wyoming Art Museum at Fifty,” on view through May 18, 2024.
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Statewide events led by alum and UW AVP Chad Baldwin bring the university to small towns across Wyoming. By Micaela Myers
One of the first songs Chad Baldwin ever learned was “Ragtime Cowboy Joe,” which is no surprise considering his family legacy with the university. As a youngster, he attended the University of Wyoming Prep School (now Lab School) while his father earned a graduate degree. Baldwin’s parents, siblings, all three of his children and many aunts, uncles and cousins all attended UW. His paternal grandparents met here as students in the early 1940s, and his grandfather was a member of the UW wrestling team and a conference champion. After earning his journalism degree from UW in 1988, Baldwin worked in journalism in Wyoming for 25 years. When a job came open to run UW’s Institutional Communications team, he gladly returned to his alma mater and now serves as associate vice president of Institutional Marketing and Communications. “I think the university is the most important institution in Wyoming from the standpoint that it’s an engine for helping the state move forward on economic, social and other fronts, and at the same time, it helps preserve the things we hold
dear in Wyoming — things like open spaces and wildlife. It’s been fun to help tell the university story around the state.” In 2019, Baldwin came up with a new way to tell the university’s story in a personalized manner befitting Wyoming’s “small town with long streets” mentality. In partnership with the UW Alumni Association, he came up with a series of events that brings UW into Wyoming’s small towns in all 23 counties and the Wind River Indian Reservation. “We were looking at a way to close the gap between the perceived ivory tower of Laramie and the rest of the state,” he says. “We have alumni in each community of the state who are pillars of their communities. That was an obvious and meaningful connection.” The first state tour was themed “The World Needs More Cowboys and So Does Wyoming” and featured a standout alum in every county. The alumni were featured in written profiles and videos and also spoke at the in-person events. Assemblies were held at the local high schools during the day to help recruit the next generation of students. In the evening, the entire community was invited to hear about UW’s activities as well
as to meet UW President Ed Seidel, local UW student ambassadors and faculty over appetizers. “We’re in the middle of a second round called ‘UW in Your Community,’” Baldwin says. “It’s always positive to get out and meet with the people of Wyoming and hear from them. They love their university.” This time, instead of featuring a local alum, the events highlight UW activities in that county. “There are engagements UW has around the state that are very meaningful but perhaps not widely known,” Baldwin says. “It’s a chance to shed a light on those things.” For example, the town of Newcastle engaged UW’s Center for Business and Economic Analysis to generate a report on the impact of a proposed new park. The event there was a chance to highlight this partnership. Each county has multiple UWrelated projects going on within its boundaries. In Kemmerer, residents learned the age of a nearby fossil bed lake, while in Torrington they heard about a precision agriculture project. Community college partners are also invited to present at events. Even in the small town of Afton, over 100 people turned out for the event. “There’s a cadre of
Top: The September UW in Your Community event at Gruner Brothers Brewing in Casper. Middle: Chad Baldwin with Robert Kayser at the event in Douglas. Lower: UW President Ed Seidel speaking at a community event in Wheatland.
passionate UW supporters even in that valley a long way from Laramie who were happy to come see us,” Baldwin says. Meeting with residents is his favorite aspect: “The interactions with the alumni make me feel like I have a whole new network of friends around Wyoming. People care about UW. When you have that to build on in common, you can have conversations. The people are the best part.”
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UWAA Building a Better Wyoming Award
D. MICHAEL THOMAS
By Kaitlyn Polley
D. Michael Thomas is a living embodiment of what it means to be a Wyoming Cowboy. Born and raised in our great state, Thomas experienced the Wyoming way of life from a young age. In recognition of his work as a sculptor, Thomas has been awarded the Building a Better Wyoming Award from the UW Alumni Association. Thomas graduated from UW in 1977 with a degree in animal science and pre-veterinary medicine. After graduating, he worked in the agricultural sector as both a loan officer and a manager of a feed and ranch supply business. In 1993, he turned to his passion for sculpture and used it as a way for telling the stories of Wyoming.
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“Art is something that came to me through osmosis,” Thomas says. “My mother was a fantastic wildlife oil painter, and coming home from school every day there was the smell of turpentine in the air and something wonderful on the easel. My dad was a game warden around Big Piney and Jackson, and as a young boy, we’d go on pack trips up in the Wyoming and Teton ranges. Then, in college, I found myself spending an unbelievable amount of time messing with wax and making little sculptures. I finally took the big leap when I was asked to create a sculpture to go outside of a bank in Buffalo.” In 1994 — just one year after turning his passion into a full-time career — Thomas was recognized with the Wyoming State Historical Society Award. He won the award again in 1996 and has received a number of other prestigious awards, such as the Wyoming Governor’s Art Award (1996), the Museum Purchase Award at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Western Art Show (2007, 2010), and the Wells Fargo Gold Award at the Buffalo Bill Art Show and Auction (2010). At UW, there are two notable sculptures by Thomas. The first, “Talk About Your Cowboy,” which is along Grand Avenue on the lawn of the Alumni House, depicts a classic cowboy riding a horse, waving his hat to salute current UW students, campus visitors and alumni as they pass by. The second piece, “Breakin’ Through,” stands tall at the south entrance of the War Memorial Stadium parking lot and depicts a Wyoming cowgirl riding a bucking horse while breaking through a brick wall. It is meant as a tribute to women of the West and their contributions to the Western way of life and the glass ceilings they shatter. Thomas has also created other notable pieces throughout Wyoming — “Johnson County Cattle War in Buffalo,” “Good Ride Cowboy” honoring the life and work of Chris LeDoux in Kaycee, and the “Just LeDoux It” sculpture in Cheyenne that also honors LeDoux’s contributions to the state. “In thinking about what the Building a Better Wyoming Award has meant to me, I’ve realized it’s not about what I’ve given to Wyoming but what Wyoming has given to me,” says Thomas. “I wouldn’t be where I am today if I wasn’t raised the way I was, working on cattle ranches at a young age, learning from the old cowboys — the salt-of-the-earth types. That’s what Wyoming has given me.”
UWAA Rising Alumni Award
ERICKA PATTEN By David Stotzer
The University of Wyoming Alumni Association is proud to recognize Ericka Patten, a ’16 graduate in marketing, with the 2024 UWAA Rising Alumni Award. Patten’s journey — from a dedicated student to holding influential roles in the global marketing domain with her time at Ogilvy and now producing at Code and Theory, a creative agency based out of New York — underscores the spirit of professional excellence and community engagement that this award recognizes. Before she graduated from UW, Patten’s marketing career was already underway. As the digital marketing
manager for Cheyenne Frontier Days, she was gaining valuable experience in the fields of copywriting, photography, web design and e-commerce. “I just fell in love with the concept of making something from scratch,” she recalls. To Patten, there is nothing more rewarding than seeing a client realize how their brand can evolve from a complex problem to a precious object in a person’s life. As a project manager and creative for the marketing agencies Look Listen, Ogilvy, and Code and Theory, she produced projects from sales enablement at IBM and American Express to her most recent digital work with Morgan Stanley, Microsoft,
Zappos and the NFL. As Patten continues to ascend in her career, her story serves as a testament to the value and opportunities that a UW education fosters. When receiving this recognition, Patten had this to say: “The University of Wyoming means the whole world to me, and this award means so much. I owe my entire career to the relationships I have been able to cultivate from the university and doors those relationships have opened for me.”
UWAA Life Member Service Award
MARK MADER By Michael Blaney and David Stotzer
The UWAA Life Member Service Award is a symbol of unwavering dedication and enduring impact on UW and its alums. This year, the award finds its rightful place with Mark Mader, a ’71 graduate in business administration and pillar in the UW community whose financial acumen and leadership have enriched the experience for all who call our university home. When reflecting on how he got involved with the UWAA, Mader says, “I actually wasn’t that involved
with the Alumni Association until my son got involved. That got me really interested, and then I got on the board, and I’ve been real involved since then.” Mader’s journey from board member to board president brought about key changes that significantly improved the financial landscape of the UWAA. With a sharp eye for financial management and the ability to bring people together, Mader did more than just crunch numbers — he laid the foundation for a secure and prosperous future for the UWAA. Mader’s story exemplifies the UWAA Life Member Service Award. Individuals such as Mader are the force that drives the UW community forward, and that is why we are proud to honor him as the recipient of this year’s award.
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UWAA Network Leader Award
DILNOZA KHASILOVA By Kaitlyn Polley
The UW Alumni Association takes great pride in presenting the Network Leader Award annually to notable alumni who have showcased exemplary leadership and active engagement within a UWAA network. This year’s honor gracefully lands with Dilnoza Khasilova, a ’14 master’s graduate in education and a ’20 Ph.D. graduate in curriculum and instruction whose contributions have not only embodied the spirit of this award but also have significantly enriched the UWAA community. Through her World Language and Culture Program, Khasilova has opened avenues for UW alumni and community members to explore many of the world’s languages at no cost. Her unmatched networking skills, demonstrated by her pivotal role in founding the WyoGlobal Alumni network, have fostered a deeper connection among international alumni, epitomizing the true meaning of what it means to be an alumni network leader. Khasilova’s efforts have not only enriched linguistic diversity at the university but also strengthened the global bonds within the alumni community, making her a deserving recipient of this award. Reflecting on the honor, Khasilova says, “My work with the University of Wyoming has made Wyoming a home for me. The UW community is one of the most genuine, supportive and caring communities, and I am so happy to be a part of it.”
steamboat S T O R I E S
AN ALUMNI ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
Join your University of Wyoming Alumni Association for our exciting new Steamboat Stories, where you can share the extraordinary moments, experiences, and friendships—that shaped your time at UW. Learn more about how to tell your story and be a part of this remarkable journey.
uwyo.edu/alumni/steamboat-stories
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MEET THE NEW TEAM MEMBERS Madison Marces By Kirby Federocko
For Madison Marces, a ’23 graduate in kinesiology, community and family have always been incredibly important factors in her life. Building relationships that last means building a stronger community. Growing up in Cheyenne, Marces knew that, in the small towns spread throughout Wyoming, treating one another with dignity and maintaining the strength of the community were essential. That’s how she knew after she graduated from UW that she wanted to stay involved with the UW community. “I am so focused on wanting to help people,” Marces says. “I knew that benefiting the university
Kirby Federocko By Michael Blaney
Kirby Federocko, currently a junior at UW, is pursuing a degree in communication and journalism. In his new position as the digital marketing intern with the UWAA, Federocko uses his creativity and passion to connect alumni and tell their stories. When Federocko started at UW, he was an undeclared student — but an introductory photography class became the catalyst for his academic and career journey. Now, Federocko serves as a mentor to photography students in
was something that I really could find a passion in — helping make the university the best school that it can be for other people.” Helping grow the university and making it the best that it can be are what help Marces in her daily life. The motivation of knowing that she is helping future Cowboys and Cowgirls drives her to be the best she can be. Aside from her responsibilities in the offices of the UWAA, Marces serves as the board liaison for the association. Bridging the gap between the board and the UWAA team was intimidating when she first started her role, says Marces. However, the kindness and the welcoming nature of the board transformed her fear into excitement. “Working for the board of directors is nothing like you would expect,” she says. “They are so humble, down to earth and just kind. They really care that you are having a good time.” The UWAA and the UW community are lucky to have Madison and are happy to welcome her to the team!
his position as a teacher’s assistant here at UW. Federocko loves capturing moments, whether that’s through photographs or writing. To him, it’s more than just capturing a static moment — it’s about weaving a narrative and sharing a story. Beyond his studies, Federocko enjoys exploring Wyoming’s vast outdoors and its various recreation opportunities, so much so that he became president of the Cowboy Climbing Club. Thinking about his future, Federocko sees himself in Wyoming, either working for UW or working toward a law degree here. Within his role at UWAA, Federocko looks forward to integrating his love for photography with the fundamentals of digital communication. He sees this experience as more than just skill-building — it’s a unique avenue to combine his personal passions with professional aspirations. The UWAA is very excited to welcome Federocko to the team.
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CAREER CELEBRATIONS By Kirby Federocko Alumni, we want to hear about your professional successes! Mail career, publication, art, certification, and other professional accomplishments to: WyoGrams/Career Celebrations, UW Alumni Association, 222 S. 22nd St., Laramie, WY 82070, or email us at uwalumni@uwyo.edu. Photos may also be sent to uwalumni@uwyo.edu for consideration. Please note that WyoGrams/Career Celebrations with “Exp.” next to a name mean that an alum was expected to graduate that year.
Cassandra Castillo, M.S. ’22, natural science education and environment and natural resources, is the co-founder and development associate for the Latino Outdoors chapter in the San Diego region. As the program coordinator, she spearheaded outdoor experiences through a social and environmental justice perspective to reconnect Latinx communities to land and nature. Castillo graduated from the Teton Science Schools place-based education graduate program in June 2021. Before that she dedicated close to 15 years working for San Diego’s public media station. Castillo has been an active organizer within Latinx and queer communities since 2005, amplifying actions and voices through various modes of art, dance, theater, outdoor experiences and storytelling. For Castillo, family, community, y la naturaleza (and nature) are motivations for finding joy in life, creating healing spaces, inspiring curiosity in nature and influencing a better future for the land and the next generations. As the development associate, Castillo maintains and develops the organization’s donor stewardship and appreciation program. She provides creativity, vision and commitment to the mission to support fund development efforts as Latino Outdoors continues to grow. Chris Bessonette, M.A. ’11, education, has been selected as a Fulbright Distinguished Award
in Teacher Research participant. Bessonette is a second grade teacher at Munger Mountain Elementary School in Jackson, a K-5 dual-language immersion school where students learn in both English and Spanish. As a Fulbright recipient, Bessonette has been given the opportunity to research bilingual education in Taiwan from January to June 2024. Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 400,000 participants in over 160 countries with the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions in their communities and the world. Bessonette, selected to be one of 20 participants in the upcoming Taiwan trip, will return with the knowledge to help provide his students with a more wellrounded educational experience. Christina Hassija, Ph.D. ’11, psychology, has been named dean of the California State University – San Bernardino College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. She will also hold an academic appointment as a tenured full professor in the Department of Psychology. A licensed clinical psychologist, she earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from UW. Hassija has held several leadership positions since joining CSUSB in 2013. Most recently, she served a oneyear term as interim dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, where she oversaw 10 academic departments and two schools and provided
IMAGES FOR CAREER CELEBRATIONS ARE COURTESY PHOTOS
administrative leadership to 11 research centers and institutes. Hassija’s previous leadership positions have included chair for the Department of Psychology, director of the Office of Student Research and director of the Community Counseling Center. She developed and launched the CSBS Student Success Center, expanded opportunities for faculty development, created the CSBS Dean’s Student Advisory Board to channel student voices and increased student participation in research by more than 100 percent. Hassija has also written dozens of
publications and is the scholar support coordinator for a $1 million Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program grant. Her day-to-day duties tend to vary, but Hassija spends a lot of her time focusing on ways to engage and support students, faculty and staff and to create a sense of connection and belonging within the university.
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CAREER CELEBRATIONS Christian Lasher, B.S. ’95, broadcasting, has recently joined The Group Inc. as a partner specialist. When he was a senior at UW, Lasher was deep in his broadcasting courses and working an internship at the CBS News affiliate in Cheyenne. He had dreams of being an on-air television sports anchor and reporter, and so his first job out of UW was as a weekend news photographer at that station. Lasher spent the next four years moving up the ranks and ultimately earned himself the title of sports director, where he says covering the Pokes daily and reporting on all of the professional teams in Denver was
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nothing short of a dream. After a move to central Oregon to report and anchor the evening news at an NBC affiliate, it was time to settle down and have children, leave the TV world behind and shift to a real estate career. He has been in the real estate world since 2001 and currently is the recruiter for The Group Real Estate in Fort Collins, and he serves on the board of directors for the UW Alumni Association representing Colorado. Lasher, along with his wife and four kids, often host watch parties for the Pokes games in Northern Colorado. Recently, he started writing articles for pokesnews.com. Lasher says that UW not only
taught him the skills to perform in his career at a high level with hands-on instruction but also what to expect throughout the job hunt right out of school and further along in his career. His advice to current UW students: “Get to know as many people in your field as possible. Become the trusted adviser.” Gina Prosch, M.A. ’90, English, has published her new book, “Joy! You Find What You Look For,” a story meant to help children find the bright side in every situation. She makes the point that kids often fixate on
the negatives throughout the day, but helping them to focus on the positives as well can help them to fix their overall outlook. Written for children ages 5-11, this story can be purchased at boystownpress.org or anywhere books are sold. Hailey Dungan, B.A. ’17, English, recently was named the director of development for the UW Foundation. Dungan feels so fortunate to advocate for education and philanthropy to further enrich this campus. UW prepared Duncan for a career in service because it believed in her. A first-generation transfer student with an attitude,
Duncan didn’t always believe in those who believed in her, but UW’s challenges and the attention of her professors were transformative. The energy given from them she now tries to give back with service to campus. Duncan’s career has provided some personal growth moments. She worked in the admissions office, recruiting students from Laramie County School District 1 and 2. Being a graduate of Burns, she was amazed stepping back into the halls where she’d spent junior high and high school. At one point, Duncan said she stepped into a bathroom and found she was washing her hands at the same sink basin she did so from seventh to 12th grade. It was a total Twilight Zone moment, spooky but enlightening, she says. When asked what advice she would give to current UW students, Duncan responds, “If you’re always talking, take some time to listen; if you’re always listening, start talking.”
J.D./M.A. program through the College of Law and Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources. That degree program set Evers on his career path, where he’s been able to work on issues involving every form of natural resources in Wyoming. Evers had the benefit of tremendous mentors throughout his career, many of whom are UW graduates. During every phase of his career, Evers called upon these mentors for advice and to bounce ideas around. Each professional opportunity has been facilitated by a UW alum opening a door for him. Some of Evers’s best friends were made in Laramie during his time at UW. He is fortunate to have continued these relationships. He says it has been an honor to watch those people become successful spouses, parents, professionals and people. When asked what advice he would give to current students, Evers says, “Don’t underestimate the power of connections you make, especially if you join the UW Alumni Association. There are successful UW alumni across the globe in every profession you can imagine, all you must do is ask — they will go above and beyond to help you.”
Joe Evers, B.S. ’09, finance, M.A. ’13, environment and natural resources, and J.D. ’13, law, has just joined the general counsel at American Rare Earths Limited. He came to UW knowing he wanted to work in the energy industry. After graduating from the College of Business, he stayed in Laramie and completed the joint
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CAREER CELEBRATIONS Josh Holland, B.A. ’12, criminal justice, has recently been promoted as the chief of the UW Police Department. He says his career journey started like many of his classmates’. His senior year at UW, he wasn’t certain what career field he wanted to pursue after graduation. Truth be told, he avoided considering law enforcement, as he thought it would be too
repetitive or somehow limited in opportunities. The UW Department of Criminal Justice’s senior office associate at the time encouraged Holland to apply for an internship with UW police during his last semester. That simple conversation set the compass for one of the most rewarding careers Holland could fathom. He’s been very fortunate to serve in a variety of areas, including patrol, K-9 and special response team. Each assignment
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has held limitless opportunities for growth and service to the community, and each has afforded Holland an opportunity to work with truly incredible people from all over the world. A useful piece of advice shared with him early on: “Know your job, and be a good person.” Ken Keefer, B.S. ’02, wildlife biology and management, has just published his newest book, “Knowing the Trees: Discover the Forest from Seed to Snag,” an educational and charming look at our forest’s life cycle. Modeled after the life cycle of a tree, Keefer uses beautiful illustrations to guide the reader into a wide range of topics, such as the vast network of root systems, the importance of treetop canopies and the unique reproductive strategies of plant species.
Keefer goes on to explain a rather convincing argument as to why the health of humanity depends on the health of the trees. Published by Mountaineers Books, this book can be purchased at mountaineers.org.
Kenna Blaney, B.S. ’20, management, and J.D. ’23 law, started with local firm Nicholas and Tangeman LLC as an associate attorney. Blaney grew up in Wyoming, and so the choice to attend UW was a natural one for her. She embarked on her legal journey at UW, where she pursued her Juris Doctorate. It was not just a law degree she earned during her time at UW but also where she met the love of her life, her husband Michael. Blaney treasures her high-quality education and meaningful connections she made at UW. Her message to current students is, “You’ll make so many special memories here. UW is the launchpad for the life you’ve always wanted.” Blaney’s new role has her specializing in property and natural resources law. Her passion lies in helping people navigate legal challenges and working with clients to help achieve their goals. “My UW experience opened doors I wouldn’t have found elsewhere. I’m proud to serve the people of Wyoming through my legal work.”
F FINAL RA
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e u t a t S y o b Cow r u o Y t u o Talk Ab 1 TICKET
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$20
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The 100th Talk About Your Cowboy statue is up for grabs! For the last time, the UW Alumni Association is offering you the chance to win a Talk About Your Cowboy statue! This 14” bronze statue by D. Michael Thomas is valued at $3,500. A portion of the raffle proceeds helps to fund the UWAA scholarship program. Purchase Raffle Tickets
Raffle ticket sales will end at 12pm MT on Monday, April 8, 2024. The winning raffle ticket will be drawn on Thursday, April 11, 2024.
Mark Leichliter, B.A. ’84, English, and M.S. ’86, English, was a faculty member from 1986-89 and has his fourth published novel forthcoming from Regal House Publishing. The novel, titled “Man, Underground,” is a fast-paced dark comedy about the transformative power of random acts of kindness. Jamie Ford, the New York Times-bestselling author of “The Many Daughters of Afong Moy,” captured the premise of the book succinctly in a recent review: “A dark comedic parable of resilience and camaraderie between a reclusive man who finds solace in an unconventional home and an audacious teenager who inserts herself into his hidden world. An unlikely bond forms, unearthing laughter,
comfort and a captivating journey that defies societal norms.” The book is being published under the pseudonym Mark Hummel and can be found wherever books are sold. Oscar Lilley, B.A. ’13, history and social studies secondary education, is now the vice president at Robbie’s House in Laramie. This organization provides a nurturing environment for individuals navigating mental health challenges. Through art workshops and other opportunities, Robbie’s House empowers members to regain control of their lives. Oscar’s new position reflects his ongoing dedication and service to his community, truly embodying the Cowboy spirit.
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CAREER CELEBRATIONS Toby Marlatt, B.S. ’94, journalism, started a new position as the vice president for strategic initiatives and communications for the UW Foundation. As a first-generation college student at UW, Marlatt initially pursued a degree in business. However, after a challenging semester, he changed direction — he decided to follow his heart. He pursued journalism, finding his purpose during an internship with Professor Eric Wiltse at the Medicine Bow Post, a community newspaper once affiliated with UW. Marlatt’s time at UW provided him with valuable hands-on learning experiences and rigorous academic challenges, paving the way for a purpose-driven career. “UW instilled the importance of
embracing challenges and seizing opportunities,” says Marlatt. Soon after graduation, he embraced a full-time role as a reporter at the Saratoga Sun in Saratoga. Marlatt anticipated a lifelong career in journalism and the world of storytelling. Life, however, had other plans. Circumstances led him back to UW, where he initially worked in distance education for eight years before transitioning to the UW Foundation, where he has spent the last 16 years in marketing and strategic planning. In the end, Marlatt’s passion for storytelling continues. Whether sharing the stories of students, faculty or donors, he finds joy in connecting people’s passions with UW. “It’s a privilege to contribute to a place that holds such
significance in the hearts of so many,” Marlatt says. “My journey from student to staff member has been a blessing, allowing me to continue telling remarkable stories and fostering meaningful connections.” When asked for advice for current UW students, Marlatt had this to say: “Show up on time. Listen more and talk less. Do your best. Make things better.”
Distinguished Alumni and Medallion Service Award Nominations THE DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD recognizes alumni who are distinguished in their business, profession, or life’s work; are persons of integrity, stature, and demonstrated ability; reflect upon and realize the importance of their UW education.
THE MEDALLION SERVICE AWARD recognizes alumni or friends of the university who have given unselfishly of their time, talent, or support to the university, and are a person of integrity and stature. This award may not be given annually, but nominations are accepted each year, and MSA nominees need not be UW alumni to be eligible.
Completed nominations must be submitted online by Feb. 28, 2024, to be considered. Nominations can only be submitted online at www.uwyo.edu/alumni/about-the-uwaa/da-msa
Discovered and summarized by Emmett Chisum Special Collections staff and Jennifer Kirk
ents for their roles as teachers The College of Education prepares stud student work ing with child ren in a is Here s. rator inist adm and education School), which allows students Lab the (now the Universit y Prep prog ram tions on UW ’s campus. situa to work with child ren in actual classroom Wyo. Hebard LD62 The University of Wyoming 1967 ial Collections UW Libraries Emmett Chisum Spec
68.W86 V.54 1967 pg. 31.
RETROGRAMS
The College of Engineering (now the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences) has helped significantly with research projects that benefit its industry, the state and the nation. At the time of this yearbook, research projects included a weather modification study dealing with cloud seeding to cause snow and a NASA project to build a device to portray data sent from satellites. Here is an engineering student working on coal hydrogenation in the high-pressure laboratory. The University of Wyoming 1967 Wyo. Hebard LD6268.W86 V.54 1967 pg. 32. UW Libraries Emmett Chisum Special Collections
“State benefits from Ag College instruction , resea rch projects,” reads the section title about the UW College of Agric ulture, Life Sciences and Natu ral Resou rces from this publication of the WYO yearbook. According to the piece , resea rch projects this year included “susceptibility studies for lice in cattle , revegetation methods for overburden ed land and development of new varieties of mum s for high altitude areas .” Here is a student work ing with a young steer at the university stock farm.
The University of Wyoming 1967 Wyo. Hebard LD6268.W86 V.54 1967 pg. 25. UW Libraries Emmett Chisum Special Collections
UWyo Winter 2024 • 63
By Amy Morgan
At the core of the three UWAA service awards are outstanding service to UW, making a difference in the lives of the people of Wyoming and exemplary service on behalf of or for the UW Alumni Association and UW community. The Building a Better Wyoming Award, the Medallion Service Award and the UWAA Life Member Service Award are three awards given to both alumni and friends of the university in recognition of their unselfish commitment of their time, talents and loyal support to the university. The UWAA Life Member Service Award takes a more central view and goes to a UWAA Life Member whose service has been voluntary and of direct benefit to the UWAA and its related engagement activities. Awardees have been engaged in service to members of the UWAA and have been active in program development and student impact. The Medallion Service Award goes to a person who has demonstrated unyielding and uncompromising integrity in support of the highest standard of excellence for the UW community, whether that involves faculty, staff, students, alumni or often a combination of all. Awardees have been involved in the growth of the university and the recruitment and retention of top-notch faculty and staff as well as ensuring the highest quality education
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UW Board of Trustees Chairman John McKinley and UWAA Executive Director Jack Tennant with 2023 Distinguished Alumni and Medallion Service Award winners Philip Nicholas, Charlotte Hearne Davis, Caitlin Long and Hamid Khan, along with UW President Ed Seidel and UWAA Board President Terry Moss.
program for its students learning and futures. The Building a Better Wyoming Award encompasses a full vision of the state of Wyoming. This awardee is recognized for making a difference in the lives of the people of Wyoming and is a source of UW strength and pride. They are recognized for success in their particular fields and personal contribution to not only their respective communities but all communities across Wyoming. The inaugural award was given to First Lady Jennie Gordon in recognition of her work through the Wyoming Hunger Initiative to end food insecurity across Wyoming. The awardee also receives a $15,000 check from the UWAA, sponsored by the McMurry family, to make a gift to a Wyoming nonprofit of their choice in alignment with the values of the McMurry family. Amy Morgan, who oversees special projects and awards for the UWAA, says, “To see the generosity of these awardees to the University of Wyoming and its community often takes my breath away. The level of passion and pride in all things UW fuels their unselfish service.” Nominations for these service awards can be made through the UWAA website.
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Special Events Coordinator 307-766-4168 lmoniz@uwyo.edu
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Office Associate & Board Liaison 307-766-4166 mmarces2@uwyo.edu
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Special Projects Manager 307-766-4166 amorga19@uwyo.edu
become a MEMBER TODAY!
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''WYOMING COWBOY'' by Chris Navarro
‘’Wyoming Cowboy’ ’SOLD OUT
WYOMING COWBOY bronze relief (wall hanging) bronze H- 24'' $2100.
COWBOY TOUGH H - 62'' $24,000.
Money Clip $90.
Bracelet $280
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‘’COWBOY TOUGH'' bronze H - 17'' PRICE $2200.
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Giving
A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats PHOTO BY CALEB COCKRUM
SPARKTANK ENCOURAGES STUDENTS TO PASS IT ON.
nominations of nonprofits, invitations to submit elevator pitches, finalist selection, due diligence site visits, Q&A sessions, guidance for presentations, and then the event itself. This initiative not only allows students to make a significant impact on the community, but it also fosters a deeper understanding of ethics in business. A sample of nonprofits that have benefited include the following. • The Unaccompanied Students Initiative provides a safe and stable home so that students ages 16-20 experiencing homelessness can be supported in their development of sustainable independence. • Climb Wyoming supports low-income single mothers as they develop self-sufficiency through career training and placement. • The Downtown Clinic, active since 1999, offers R.J. Pino presents on comprehensive health care services to over 500 the Unaccompanied WATCH A VIDEO Students Initiative. uninsured individuals annually. The SparkTank event has been supported by hundreds of individual donors and organizations such as the John By Tamara Linse P. Ellbogen Foundation, Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative, Scarlett Family Foundation, American Truck Business The No. 1 goal at the University of Wyoming is student Services, Powder Horn Realty, OtterBox, Walmart, and success. One way UW accomplishes this is to help Martin Family Foundation, among many others. students use their power for good. UW helps students Prior to SparkTank in 2015, the UW Foundation become active citizens in their communities — to lead but also to founded UW Giving Day. This annual UW philanthropic join with others to give back and to pay it forward. tradition went from raising thousands of dollars in 24 hours its Just as UW and nonprofit foundations team up to promote first year to raising millions — funding that directly supports student success and the greater good, the UW College of student success. The Ethics Club fundraising campaign Business’s SparkTank initiative teams up with foundations and quickly became a model for organizations across campus. They donors to help area nonprofits with vital funding. enthusiastically promoted the event, reaching hundreds of donors SparkTank is a yearly event hosted by UW’s Ethics Club, a and raised significant funding that they could then pass along recognized student organization focused on developing student through the SparkTank event. character and conscience and promoting ethical decision-making. “It is impossible to overstate the importance of our relationship Over the past six years since it was founded, it has raised over with the UW Foundation and all it has done to support SparkTank $400,000 that supported 20 nonprofit organizations. Funding and our nonprofit community,” says Kent Noble, Daniels Fund from the James Orr Willits Ethics Award, created for UW by the Ethics Initiative Faculty Fellow and the Ethics Club adviser. philanthropy of the Garber family, helped the group create its SparkTank also teamed up with the students from the Sales website (uwsparktank.org). Seminar program. These students immersed themselves in this The event is a Shark-Tank style competition for nonprofits for real-world sales experience. They managed the sales pipeline, which the students of the Ethics Club serve as the jury and decide generated leads and successfully closed deals. Including matching how to distribute the funding. The process includes calling for dollars, sales students raised nearly $90,000 for SparkTank 2023.
UWyo Winter 2024 • 67
By Micaela Myers
UW research and development helps support industries across the state.
New Plant Growth and Phenotyping Facility Last year, UW launched the Plant Growth and Phenotyping Facility, an innovative research center aimed at helping researchers and students better understand plant response to the environment. Cutting-edge, highly applicable research requires fine regulation of environmental parameters, such as humidity, light, temperature and carbon dioxide to create the desired growing conditions. This UW core facility located in the new Science Initiative Building offers a 6,000-square-foot complex of fully automated greenhouses and two
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large walk-in chambers for tight environmental control, as well as adjacent laboratory spaces to support research activities. The presence of Facility Manager Michael Baldwin, a controlled environment agriculture specialist, ensured additional deployment of hydroponic and vertical growing systems at the facility to further students’ experiences in modern agriculture and help address research questions in this field. As a part of the UW Science Initiative, the facility will enable interdisciplinary research and education to form a skilled workforce,
strengthening Wyoming’s economy. The state’s Wyoming Innovation Partnership funded the facility’s phenotyping instrumentation, a system of cameras to monitor plant response to the environment, as part of a larger effort to boost controlled environment agriculture development in the state. The partnership also funds curriculum development for UW and community college students in this field. “Nowadays, imaging phenotyping allows for high throughput — measuring a lot of plants in a very short time,” says facility Director Carmela Rosaria Guadagno. “For instance,
COURTESY PHOTO
UW-Casper student Caitlyn Edwards prepares DNA samples for analysis.
Wyoming IDeA Networks for Biomedical Research Excellence
The new Plant Growth and Phenotyping Facility in the Science Initiative Building offers 6,000-square-feet of high-tech greenhouses and laboratories.
you can monitor plant response to changing environmental factors, pests’ outbreaks, microbial interactions or nutritional imbalance, and answer relevant biological questions via images. Our facility is equipped to perform convergent research. Teams from plant sciences, botany, molecular biology, plus engineering and computer science students and other disciplines can efficiently collaborate here, working together to tackle pressing research problems related to plantenvironment interactions.” Visit www.uwyo.edu/scienceinitiative/plant-facility/index.html.
The Wyoming IDeA Networks for Biomedical Research Excellence Program, or Wyoming INBRE Program, is funded by the National Institutes for Health’s National Institute for General Medical Sciences and Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Program to help Wyoming build its biomedical research and education infrastructure — in partnership with the state’s community colleges. “The grand goal of the INBRE program is to help states that need it build their biomedical research and education infrastructure so that they are competitive for research grants, can support the development of the biomedical technology sector of economies and can help students move into the biomedical workforce,” says Director Scott Seville. INBRE’s strong community college partnerships over the past 20-plus years resulted in each college providing research-committed laboratories where students receive hands-on experience. INBRE purchases state-of-theart equipment and trains the faculty. “The resources in these labs are used to modernize the experiences students are having in their courses,” Seville says. This includes access to things such as DNA technology in biology labs. When students transfer to UW, they are eligible for transition awards that provide financial assistance and further research experiences. INBRE also purchases needed research equipment for UW labs, supports UW researchers and students, and provides data science infrastructure and training to community colleges and UW, which is now critical for the large data generated by genomic, proteomic and metabolomic research. INBRE serves as the biomedical and biotech partner for the Wyoming Innovation Partnership and is involved in many other grants, programs and partnerships at UW and around the state. WATCH A VIDEO Seville says, “There’s a real interest in how we can better serve the underserved populations, including the rural parts of our country like Wyoming, as well as opening up opportunities for young people to create jobs and businesses in our state and providing opportunities for our health-care professionals to engage in the biomedical research enterprise.” INBRE
Undergraduate Research Fellow Max Packebush
UWyo Winter 2024 • 69
PHOTO BY CHRISTINE REED
View of Dry Fork Station in Campbell County from the Wyoming CarbonSAFE Project, which will be the first permanent storage site for CO2 in the state. Below: Director of the Center for Economic Geology Research Fred McLaughlin at the same site.
Wyoming’s CarbonSAFE Projects
Each year, human activities release more carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere than natural processes can remove, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. By doing so, we supercharge the natural greenhouse effect, causing global temperatures to
PHOTO COURTESY OF FRED MCLAUGHLIN
rise. A variety of technologies can help combat this issue, including carbon capture and storage. “Gov. Mark Gordon has challenged Wyoming to become net negative CO2,” says Fred McLaughlin, the director of
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the School of Energy Resources (SER) Center for Economic Geology Research. “You can’t do that without addressing a lot of carbon management challenges. The technology that is commercially proven and can reduce CO2 emissions is carbon capture and storage. The carbon came from underground, and we can put it back underground. Wyoming is a leader in this.” The Wyoming CarbonSAFE Project, which stands for Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise, is one of 13 original carbon capture, utilization and storage project sites in the U.S. funded by the Department of Energy (DOE). The initial Wyoming project is located in Campbell County and will become the first permanent storage site for CO2 in the state, providing carbon management for coal-fired power plants. Recently, SER was awarded a second project under the CarbonSAFE program — the Sweetwater Carbon Storage Hub. Led by Center for Economic Geology Research Program Manager Zunsheng “John” Jiao, this project builds upon the lessons learned from the first project and is UW’s largest grant in history. The hub will provide carbon management options for the trona industry among other
sources. A third project, the HERO Basalt Mineralization CarbonSAFE project is located in Oregon in a region that uses Wyoming natural gas, while a fourth project was recently announced in the Echo Springs area of southcentral Wyoming. “This is federal money coming into the state, and we do our best to spend it right here in these communities,” McLaughlin says. This includes millions of dollars in services, drilling wells and Wyoming-focused research, leading to jobs and revenue in Wyoming. The project also involves outreach, education and workforce development, including collaborating with community colleges to develop related curriculum. SER created a first-of-its-kind carbon capture, utilization and storage certificate for undergraduates in conjunction with the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences and the College of Business and has led public policy efforts so that the technology can be safely regulated. McLaughlin finds the applied science aspects of this work especially rewarding: “You can really see the impacts and quantify the difference these projects are making.”
Center for Biogenic Natural Gas Research and Cowboy Clean Fuels The School of Energy Resources Center for Biogenic Natural Gas Research was created to provide groundbreaking research and development that adds value to Wyoming’s vast energy resources by keeping them viable in the energy economy of the future. “The primary focus of the center is to develop technologies that enhance the production of biogas in deep geologic reservoirs, such as coal seams using indigenous microorganisms,” says Director Michael Urynowicz. “Engineering these vast subterranean systems for biogas production can also provide large-scale opportunities for carbon sequestration and the decarbonization of existing fossil fuel resources.” Currently, the center’s researchers are working on a number of projects, including developing standard methods for differentiating between fossil-based natural gas and renewable natural gas using stable and unstable isotopes. Another project involves determining the carbon intensity associated with various hydrogen production methods. “Hydrogen is often viewed as an important energy carrier in a future decarbonized world,” Urynowicz says. “Currently, most hydrogen is produced using the steam methane reformation process, which also releases large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere. Researchers at the center are working to develop more innovative methods for hydrogen production.” A spinoff company, Cowboy Clean Fuels, is using the center’s patented technology to sequester carbon and produce renewable natural gas from economically
depleted coal-bed methane wells in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin. “The Cowboy Clean Fuels process leverages the anaerobic microbial systems present in coal seams and the ability of the microorganisms to convert sugar beet molasses and other biomass-derived substrates into methane and CO2 while sequestering carbon,” Urynowicz explains.
the CO2 remains below. The coal’s high affinity to absorb CO2 results in a long-lived form of carbon capture. In addition, the methane is brought to market as renewable natural gas. “When at full scale, our project is expected to produce over 700 million cubic feet of renewable natural gas annually, while also permanently sequestering approximately 180,000
Director of the Center for Biogenic Natural Gas Research Michael Urynowicz shows off well equipment that records data to help correlate parameters of renewable natural gas production and carbon capture and storage.
“The process starts with the direct capture of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis during sugar beet production.” The company takes the resulting molasses mixed with water and delivers it into the coal seam, where the indigenous microorganisms play a vital role in converting it into methane and CO2 . When the reservoir is depressurized by pumping gas and water from the wells, the methane surfaces while
metric tons of CO2 per year,” says Chairman and CEO Ryan Waddington. “That’s enough renewable natural gas to heat 10,000 typical U.S. homes for a year and the equivalent of taking 28,000 passenger vehicles off the road.” This work helps preserve energyrelated jobs and create new jobs. Furthermore, the patents held by UW generate royalties that provide support to students and the institution.
UWyo Winter 2024 • 71
Popo Agie Falls near Lander, Wyo.
Outdoor Recreation and Tourism
Tourism is the second largest industry in Wyoming, generating $4.5 billion in 2022. What’s more, it’s the largest private employment sector in the state, employing over 33,000. To further support this industry and provide a trained workforce, UW’s Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources in partnership with the College of Business launched the outdoor recreation and tourism management bachelor’s degree program in 2018. Expanding this effort, the Wyoming Outdoor Recreation, Tourism and Hospitality (WORTH) Initiative was launched in 2022 with a focus on applied research, educational offerings, and extension and outreach. The interdisciplinary degree program now boasts 80 enrolled students. Experiential learning plays a key role in their education, including senior capstone projects in partnership with state and federal agencies and businesses. “Not only are students getting involved in things that are directly impactful and important to the state, but those projects can lead to future employment,” says WORTH Director Dan McCoy. For example, in 2022, student groups worked on three major projects. For the Wyoming Office of Tourism, they completed tourism WATCH A VIDEO asset assessments for 14 counties looking at main attractions, hidden gems and local recommendations for recreational, cultural, lodging and food options. Other students worked with Visit Laramie researching a tourism ambassador training program to enhance front-line tourism
and hospitality employee knowledge of Laramie history, culture, recreation and other attraction information. That project now benefits Albany County with an online Certified Destination Expert training program. The third project took place in Fremont County, where students worked with the Wind River Visitors Council to seek the Continental Divide Trail Gateway Community designation through the Continental Divide Trail Coalition for Lander and South Pass City. This designation ensures that gateway communities have the ability to support Continental Divide hikers. “The work of students in this space helps elevate these partners and makes a difference in asset development for tourism and outdoor recreation,” McCoy says. Wyoming Outdoor Recreation Manager Patrick Harrington has mentored these students and seen firsthand how their capstone projects benefit them and the state. “The students are getting hands-on experience with the skills it takes to be successful in this industry, and this couldn’t come at a better time for Wyoming,” he says. “As this field continues to grow, having a pipeline of knowledgeable workers will be critical to keep the industry moving forward.”
Coal-Based Asphalt You’ve likely seen charcoal toothpaste and soap at the drugstore, but those products only scratch the surface when it comes to alternative uses for coal. UW’s School of Energy Resources Center for Carbon Capture and Conversion aims to find new alternative uses for Wyoming coal, including building materials recently used to create a demonstration house. The center also teamed up with Laramie’s Western Research Institute (WRI) to develop a coal-based asphalt. “Coal-based asphalt has many benefits, such as a lower CO2 footprint due to lower emissions from extraction and transportation Jeramie Adams of the Western Research Institute and Trina Igelsrud Pfeiffer of the School of Energy Resources are working together to develop coal-based asphalt.
continued on page 74
Our classroom is planet Earth. Haub School students are the next generation of environment and natural resource professionals and leaders. Our students bring creativity, innovation, and collaboration to natural resource and environmental challenges, beginning with a strong sense of place and open-minded curiosity. Field courses across the West and around the world: • Medicine Bow National Forest • Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem • Colorado River Basin and Grand Canyon • French and Italian Alps • Queensland, Australia • Patagonia, Chile • Canary Islands, Spain • Coastal Belize
Find your future with the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming.
uwyo.edu/haub
There is a lot of support and excitement about a possible coal-based product with a lower CO2 footprint, especially considering that Powder River Basin coal is abundant, cheap and a domestic feedstock. — Jeramie Adams of Powder River Basin coal compared to conventional crude oil and the fact that a significant amount of CO2 can be stored in a coal-based pavement because of the biobased reactive solvents that are used to produce the product,” says Jeramie Adams, vice president of WRI’s RenuMAT group (Renewable Upcycling, Materials and Asphalt Technologies). “The product is being carefully developed to meet industry practices and performance standards so that it can be easily and safely applied, is cost effective, and will be a long-lasting and durable product in the field.” This past summer, the asphalt was
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a featured product at a number of conferences, and UW’s researchers have received multiple requests from major roofing and paving companies for samples. “There is a lot of support and excitement about a possible coal-based product with a lower CO2 footprint, especially considering that Powder River Basin coal is abundant, cheap and a domestic feedstock,” Adams says. These positive outcomes are leading to new funding opportunities. Coal-based asphalt carries great economic potential. Adams says approximately 30 million tons of asphalt
are used each year in North America, and 110 million tons are used globally. “Our lab is working in tandem with WRI on scaling up the solvent extraction processing technology to meet the increased demand for sample testing from potential investors,” says Center for Carbon Capture and Conversion Director Trina Igelsrud Pfeiffer. “We have a lot of great industry partners in the basin as well as a potential host site adjacent to the mines for easy access to coal. At this stage, the field demonstration scaleup is entirely dependent on available funding but, with the coal-based asphalt being such a promising product on the downstream side, we hope there will be a lot of interest and investment in driving both projects toward commercialization.”
Designed for working professionals or current students
Provides a cross-section of disciplines covering the technology, economics and policy of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) Designed for a broad, multidisciplinary audience with an interest in energy, sustainability and climate change mitigation Can be completed online synchronously or in person
NEW Certificate Program
Utilizes existing courses from the School of Energy Resources and the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, and leverages expertise from research professionals at the University of Wyoming working to deploy CCUS technology in Wyoming.
CARBON CAPTURE UTILIZATION AND STORAGE Learn about the program www.uwyo.edu/ser
55
$300,000
The Wyoming Community Navigator Program helped Wyoming entrepreneurs launch 55 new businesses and create over 200 jobs, earning it the Wyoming Economic Development Innovation Award from the Wyoming Economic Development Association.
A $300,000 award from the U.S. Department of Energy will support the establishment of a nuclear chemistry core facility on campus.
$5.2 million Bryant Smalley, associate vice president for strategic research initiatives and executive director of the Wyoming Rural Health Institute within the UW College of Health Sciences, has been awarded a $5.2 million grant from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration to launch the Wyoming Maternal Health Innovation Program to reduce maternal mortality.
$999,999 CellDrop Biosciences Inc. — founded as a spinoff of UW’s Oakey Biomedical Engineering Laboratory — has been awarded a National Science Foundation Phase 2 $999,999 Small Business Technology Transfer grant.
$30,000 A $30,000 gift from NextEra Energy Resources LLC will support the growing Professional Land Management program in the School of Energy Resources.
$750,000 UW researchers, led by Shawna McBride (director of the Wyoming NASA Space Grant Consortium and NASA EPSCoR), received a $750,000 NASA grant for a project titled “Global to Regional: Origins of Water Stress (GROWS).”
Finalist Green Dot — UW’s bystander intervention program — was among four finalists for the Clery Center’s 2023 Campus Safety Impact Award.
$3.6 million In just 24 hours, UW’s 2023 Giving Day almost doubled the donors of last year, raising $3.6 million that goes directly to students and the faculty and programs that support them.
Top 100 UW was ranked 91st on “Top 100 U.S. Universities Granted Utility Patents in 2022,” a list published by the National Academy of Inventors to highlight and celebrate American innovation.
2 UW is a participant in two of 31 projects across the nation selected by the U.S. Economic Development Administration under the Regional Technology and Innovation Hub Program. The designated tech hubs are in regions across the country that show potential for rapid growth in key technology sectors.
13,000 More than 13,000 pounds of potatoes were donated to Food Bank of Wyoming from the James C. Hageman Sustainable Agriculture Research and Extension Center’s harvest.
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