utah state magazine winter 2011

UTAHSTATE www.utahstate.usu.edu VOL. 16, NO. 4 WINTER 2011

As do futureriver managers

RIVERS RUN THROUGH HIM

Craig Whyte BS ‘04 MBA ’06Lifetime Sustaining Member

Utah State UniversityAlumni Association

1-800-291-2586www.usu.edu/alumni

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*NEW BENEFIT - It’s time to celebrate the grand opening of the USU Alumni Association Print Store Website! Ordering personalized occasion cards, announcements or thank you notes is as easy as a few clicks. With your purchase from the store a portion of the proceeds will benefit the USU Alumni Association.

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Sustaining Membership dues help sustain and enhance the programs of the Alumni Association. Join today and help provide financial support for Homecoming, Aggie Family Day, Student Alumni Association, Young Alumni networking events, Aggie Chapter events and more! Sustaining Memberships also directly support Alumni Association Chapter Scholarship program. Last year more than 100 scholarships were awarded to children and grandchildren of Aggies!

Not only will you be supporting the continued excellence and growth of Utah State University, you get great discountsgreat discounts on everything from athletics events to alumni travel to shopping and more!

You can help ensure the Aggie experience for future Aggies! Make a difference and become a Sustaining Member Today! Visit www.usu.edu/alumni for full details of benefits and how to join.




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Sustaining Membership dues help sustain and enhance the programs of the Alumni Association. Join today and help provide financial support for Homecoming, Aggie Family Day, Student Alumni Association, Young Alumni networking events, Aggie Chapter events and more! Sustaining Memberships also directly support the Alumni Association Chapter Scholarship program. Last year more than 100 scholarships were awarded to children and grandchildren of Aggies!

Not only will you be supporting the continued excellence and growth of Utah State University, you get great discounts* on everything from athletics events to alumni travel to shopping and more!

You can help ensure the Aggie experience for future Aggies! Stand up and become a Sustaining Member Today! Visit www.usu.edu/alumni for full details of benefits and how to join.


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UTAH STATE (ISSN 1542-2712) is published quarterly by Utah State University Advancement, Logan UT 84322-1422. Periodicals postage paid at Logan, UT, and at additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Utah State University, Development Records, 1422 Old Main Hill, Logan UT 84322-1422.

Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the official position of the university.

Utah State University is committed to equal opportunity in student admissions, financial assistance, and faculty and staff employment.

2 NEWS@USU Laurie McNeill is engineering exceptional experiences

for USU students, and educators across the nation and beyond are taking note. She was recently named a 2010

Carnegie Professor of the Year.

26 A TEAM Merlin Olsen dreamed big, played big and lived even

bigger. Now there he stands, as he ever has, larger than life and in the very place where he set about enlarging

our own perspectives, every one.

28 ALUMS@LARGELeaving your legacy. Once an Aggie, always an Aggie.

Join us in reliving Utah State University Homecoming 2010.

UTAHSTATE

CONTENTS

Vol. 16, No. 4 l WINTER 2011www.utahstate.usu.edu

RIVERS RUN THROUGH HIM 12USU river scientist Jack Schmidt recently became the recipient of the National Park Service Director’s Award,the agency’s highest honor. But, he says, the prize better celebrates his current and former students, their thesis research and their cooperative efforts so relevant to ongoing river management decisions.

BECAUSE THE PAYOFF IS GOOSE BUMPS 20Craig Law seeks and stands in places forgotten by modern man; intriguing places, maybe even sacred places. He’s documenting them using the best methods he knows how because some are being lost. And any effort less than his best would somehow seem profane.

C O V E R P H O T OJack Schmidt, recipient of the National Park Service Director’s Award. Photo by Donna Barry

WINTER 2011 I UTAHSTATE 1

122 26

20

P U B L I S H E R F. Ross Peterson

Vice President for University Advancement

M A N A G I N G E D I T O R Jared Thayne

A R T D I R E C T O R Holly Broome-Hyer

U S U P R E S I D E N T Stan L. Albrecht

U S U F O U N D A T I O N B O A R D Stan L. Albrecht, Richard W. Anderson, Gail Bedke

Jeannine Bennett, Michael C. Bingham Brian R. Broadbent, David T. Cowley

Marshall Crawford, James F. DavenportDouglas S. Foxley, Clark P. Giles

Patricia A. Halaufia, Annette Herman-Harder M. Scott Harries, Kaye T. Jorgensen

Jason B. Keller, Stan Meyrick, Larry W. Miller David G. Moore, Steve C. Mothersell

F. Ross Peterson, Suzanne Pierce-MooreMarvin J. Roberts, W. Brent RobinsonRichard L. Shipley, Kathleen Stewart

Randall J. Stockham, T. Peter ThomasCraig Thorley, George D. Tribble

George R. Wanlass, Stephen A. WestJohn W. Williams

U S U B O A R D O F T R U S T E E S Ralph W. Binns, David P. Cook

Robert L. Foley, Douglas S. FoxleyRonald W. Jibson, Susan D. Johnson

Frank Peczuh, Jr., Suzanne Pierce-Moore Richard L. Shipley, Tyler L. Tolson

Scott R. Watterson

Contact

Jared Thayne

Utah State University

Advancement

1440 Old Main Hill

Logan UT 84322-1440

or [email protected]

2 UTAHSTATE I WINTER 2011

NEWS@USU

Engineering exceptional experiences It is not every day that your college professor begins a lecture by highlighting National Toilet Day or the birth of one Thomas Crapper (make the link between the two refer-ences yourself )! Then again, Utah State University engineering professor Laurie McNeill is not an ordinary professor. McNeill is one of 46 national winners named as this year’s Carnegie Professors of the Year. McNeill participated in a special awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., hon-

oring her as the solo 2010 pick represent-ing Utah. She is an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environ-mental Engineering at USU. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education named McNeill one of the nation’s top university teachers, selected from more than 300 professors who were finalists. McNeill’s selection makes the count 10 of the last 16 picks in Utah to come from USU. “Dr. McNeill has a deep dedication to teaching and to service learning, and she brings meaning into every contact she has with students,” said USU President Stan L. Albrecht. “She is an exceptional educator and deserves this highest honor, and we are proud, once again, to count a USU professor among the very best university teachers in the nation.”

Laurie McNeill: Counted among the nation’s top university teachers

UTAHSTATEwww.utahstate.usu.edu VOL. 16, NO. 4 WINTER 2010

As do futureriver managers

RivERS RUn THRoUgH Him

FALL 2010 I UTAHSTATE 3FALL 2010 I UTAHSTATE 1

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McNeill has received accolades from students and colleagues alike for her innovative approaches to teaching and mentoring. She tries to broaden the context of lecture materials and to get students to think outside the lecture/equation box. Her reference to National Toilet Day, during a class this semester that covers wastewater treatment, was an attempt to cultivate awareness of sanitation issues in a world in which 2.5 billion people don’t have access to any sanitation at all, not even to pit toilets. She believes in getting students to see and experience real applications of what they are learning in class, and her nearly 100-person class session included two “clicker-technology” class surveys of hands-on projects student teams were involved with in the community. Her teaching techniques have evolved, she said, to where she now uses new and unique demonstrations, new technologies and new types of assignments — writing assignments, in particular — designed to keep students focused on the complexities of the world of engineering they will face when they walk out the door at graduation. “Facts they’ll forget, but if I can teach them to approach a problem and evaluate it more broadly, they will learn what it takes to confront a lot of issues they will face,” she said. “That is my ultimate goal — to get them to learn how to learn.”

— Tim Vitale ’92

UTAH S TATEGREATSEach year the university compiles USU highlights from the previous 12 months into an exciting and easy-to-read package that puts the spotlight on memorable moments of the year.

WORLD EXPERTS: The 2010 “Greats” focuses on dozens of extraordinary accomplishments, including some of USU’s distinguished researchers known around the world.

NEWS@USU

Arriving with your Spring 2011 issue of Utah State magazine.


NEWS@USU

On the move“But you know you meet all occasions with grace; it was a lovely day and we had fun.” Dorothy Marlowe ’29 has a story upon which to affix wings. Her tri-umphant return, home to Logan from Washington state, a float ride with soror-ity sisters in the big parade, 15 or so years ago when she was 88 or so, and wouldn’t you know as soon as they start rolling the thing freezes up somewhere around Needham Jewelers — somewhere, a few feet from their delightful start, a couple

the Home Ec Cottage, right at the foot of the hill, and we stayed there for an entire quarter for our training and that was wonderful training, hmm ummm. And my days at college, oh, I think prepared me wonderfully. I taught school for four years during the Depression and I came up to go to summer school at the University of Washington and I went to church, which I should do, and there I met my husband. He was born in Washington — this was always his home — and he started his practice in dentistry and I’ve been here ever since … 77 years … hmm ummm. But that Utah State magazine, I really have read it and enjoyed it. There for a while, quite a long while — of course I have out-lived most of them — it was people I knew, the professors and all, to the next generation and pretty much to the next after that and we stayed in such close touch … and oh, well, that beauti-ful photography, I should mention that, what’s in that magazine is very nice and I enjoy it, so keep on with that … but that’s one fault, sometimes that magazine is a little too shiny, but I had my cataracts removed 10 years ago and Oh yes, my goodness yes, that helped a lot … and well of course I always used to look at the obituaries but now you don’t go back as far as I do. And what am I looking forward to in the year to come? Oh, I think pretty much the same, I hope. I wish I could

have told people a long time ago what would be happening,

but they wouldn’t lis-ten to me. But I’m

moving in with my daughter soon and I

thought I’d like to keep on getting that magazine

of yours and that’s what I asked her: if she could

change my mailing address. I do love to read, that’s my

pastime and well … thank you. Thank you.

miles from their glorious finish. That was the extent of our excitement, she laughs. But I got to see some of my old friends, hmm ummm. But that was 15 or so years ago. Now at 103 Dorothy’s got a few more stories needing flight: Pres. Peterson at the college, his door always open, what a wonderful man … small classes in clothing and textiles, maybe 25 people at the most … and oh that freshman year was such a fun year, I was in the fresh-man play and in the sorority, Sorosis and Theta and then Theta became a national thing and then the year after I graduated Sorosis became national, too … and the buildings, the only buildings were the Main building (we didn’t call it “Old”) and the President’s Home and the Home Ec building and the engineers had one around to the south and then they built there by the quad the agricultural build-ing and that was pretty much it … and there were trails going up to the A.C. and I was telling my family the other day we walked everywhere, except on the one street where we rode the streetcar for five cents … then there was another trail from

Dorothy Marlowe, 103, doesn’t want to miss an issue of Utah State. Inset: Dorothy as a staff member of The Buzzer, 1929. For more see Page 30.

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Blanketing the place …Utah State University marked an enrollment milestone in its 122-year history with a record fall headcount of 25,767 students, up 702 students from a year ago. That includes a record number of first-time students entering college on the Logan campus. But the numbers do not reflect the 21 percent growth at Utah State University – College of Eastern Utah, which merged with USU in July. USU-CEU saw an increase of nearly 500 students for a total of 2,634. USU’s Logan campus marked 16,472 students, up 860 from a year ago. Enrollment rose eight percent at regional campuses and distance education centers, including Brigham City, Southeastern Utah, Tooele and the Uintah Basin. Students at these sites total 12,109 — a record high.


NEWS@USU

Study Abroad expanding through seed-grant fundsUtah State University has an active Study Abroad program, with student opportunities available in more than 150 partner institutions around the world. The program is expanding more every day, it seems, and the university’s International Education Office of Global Engagement is pitching in more money to tap into the relationships faculty already have around the globe. For the second year now, seed-grant funds were awarded to help faculty establish new study-abroad options and international curriculum programs, according to Mary S. Hubbard, vice provost for International Education in the Office of Global Engagement. Faculty members served as a committee to work with the vice provost on the development and guidelines for the new USU Seed Grant Programs. The committee members made recommendations, and Hubbard coupled these recommendations with programmatic and strategic considerations before making final decisions on the funding. The result again is an effort to provide opportunities in a variety of countries around the globe and for majors from all of the USU colleges. The team also considered regions where USU is working to establish a strategic presence. Following is a summary of projects funded:

STUDY ABROAD SEED GRANT AWARDEES 2010-11

Alan Blackstock, Department of English

Dr. Blackstock will take students to England to study English literature. In addition to reading classical works, students will visit iconic sites, homes of noted authors and attend theatrical performances.

Li Guo, Department of Language, Philosophy, and Speech Communication

Dr. Guo will investigate university partners in China who could host Chinese language students as part of a summer study abroad program. This program will offer an introduction to

Aggies Ariana Rundquist (lower left), Braden Jensen (upper left), Bill Munns (upper right) and Shannon Moore (lower center) visit Xian, China, as part of USU’s College of Agriculture outreach to Chinese university students.


NEWS@USU

them to further develop their language skills while gaining an introduction to Brazilian culture.

Dr. Martha Whitaker and Dr. Cinthya Saavedra, Teacher Education and Leadership

Drs. Whitaker and Saavedra will develop a student experience in Cuernavaca, Mexico, at the Tlahuica Center of Language and Cultural Exchange. This center is grounded in the philosophy of the critical theory movement of Paulo Freire.

CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT SEED GRANT AWARDEES 2010-11

Dr. Chris Conte, Department of History

Dr. Conte will travel to Tanzania to the Gombe School of Environment and Society to capture oral history accounts from the region. This content will enhance his course on Africa and the World.

Chinese culture in addition to further coursework in Chinese language.

Dr. Dan Holland, Department of Management

Dr. Holland will develop a program called “Launch.” Non-majors and majors will get to see how entrepreneurialism can lead to product development. Students will visit several sites in the U.S. as well as manufacturing sites in China.

Dr. Shannon Hughes, Department of Sociology, Social Work, and Anthropology

Dr. Hughes will travel to several sites to explore the possibility of a study abroad experience with social work content. She will look into existing social work programs in international settings that could accommodate students for a two to four week period.

Dr. David Liddell, Department of Geology

Dr. Liddell will visit Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique to investigate the potential for student research and study abroad experiences with a focus on the geosciences in the southern reaches of the East African Rift System.

Dr. Abdulkafi Albirini and Dr. Shannon Peterson, LPSC and Economics and Finance

Drs. Albirini and Peterson will travel to the Middle East to develop a study abroad opportunity that will provide students with further instruction in the Arabic language and an introduction to Middle Eastern cultures. Proposed destinations are Jordan, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates.

Dr. Cacilda Rego, Dept. of Language, Philosophy, and Speech Communication

Dr. Rego will develop a study abroad experience in Brazil. USU students have a strong interest in the Portuguese language, and this opportunity will allow

Dr. Jon Gudmundson, Department of Music

Dr. Gudmundson will visit sites in Europe to learn about Jazz music in the European context. This content will be incorporated into his course on the History of Jazz.

Dr. Patricio Ortiz, Teacher Education and Leadership

Dr. Ortiz plans to transform his course on Foundations of ESOL/Bilingual Education by traveling to Chile to visit sites where schools and communities work with populations with an indigenous language and culture.

Dr. Matthew Sanders, Dept. of Language, Philosophy, and Speech Communication

Dr. Sanders plans to spend time adding an international perspective to courses on Organizational Communication and Organizations and Social Change. He will review the literature on this content and incorporate material where appropriate.

Angela Trumbo, a student in USU’s Jon M. Huntsman School of Business, visits with children in Handan, China.

CAMPAIGN UPDATE


Old Main Society Bestows Highest HonorsUtah State University’s Old Main Society capped off its annual gathering this fall by bestowing its highest honors on three more couples who have once again deepened the meaning of what it is to be an Aggie. Established in 1967 to recognize alumni and friends who bring to pass the fulfillment of Utah State’s mission, the Old Main Society celebrates the university’s philanthropic support at the highest levels. Its honorees this year include Fred and Sharon Hunsaker, who received the Spirit of Old Main Award; Gene and Ruth Miller who were presented the Spirit of Old Main Emeriti Award; and Paul and Rebecca Parkinson, the recipients of the Spirit of Old Main-New Generation Award. We’re humbled by both gesture and commitment.

2010 Spirit of Old Main AwardFred R. and Sharon W. HunsakerIt might be difficult for fellow Aggies to remember where they first met Fred and Sharon Hunsaker, recipients of the 2010 Spirit of Old Main Award, because both have been such an integral part of the university for so many years, making generous, life-long commitments to USU along the way.

Fred was a first-generation college graduate after having been raised on a farm in Box Elder County and helping to sup-port his mother and two siblings. After graduating in 1965 with a bachelor’s degree in finance from USU, Fred continued with post graduate studies at USU and the University of Utah. He received a master’s degree from the University of Washington’s Graduate School of Banking. He spent 26 years in the banking industry, starting off as a loan officer and ascending to CEO of First Federal of Logan. He came to USU in 1991 as vice president of Administrative Affairs. From 1997-99 he took leave to work as the associate commis-sioner for Finance and Facilities for the Utah System of Higher Education. He returned to USU in 2000 picking up where he left off. He has also served in the Utah State House of Representa-tives for over 14 years. Fred received the 2002 USU Leadership Award, the 2004 USU Robins Achievement Award and the Innovation Campus Contribution to Development Award. Fred has served in numerous community and church func-tions, including the Cache Valley Council Boy Scouts, the Cache Valley Health Foundation, the Sunshine Terrace Foundation and the American Cancer Society. He also served a full-time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Denmark and enjoys golfing, fishing and farming. Sharon received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in elementary education at USU and spent much of her career as an advisor to elementary education student teachers. She has been a member of the A.C. Women’s Club, USU Community Associ-ates, and with Fred is a Performance Hall seat donor. Sharon also is a past PTA president. Sharon’s father, Elmer “Bear” Ward, was an extremely loyal Aggie. He was USU’s first football All-American. Fred and Sharon knew each other during high school and were married in the spring of 1963. They have three children, all graduates of USU’s Jon M. Huntsman School of Business. Sharon and Fred are members of the Big Blue Touchdown Club and the Old Main Society-President’s Circle and have made gifts to USU every year for as long as we have been keeping records.

CAMPAIGN UPDATE


2010 Spirit of Old Main Emeriti AwardGene W. and Ruth E. MillerFor their lifelong dedication to education, Gene and Ruth Miller have been named the first recipients of the Spirit of Old Main Emeriti Award. They are grateful to Utah State University for the opportunities they were given to obtain a high-quality education and for the enrichment it has provided throughout their lives.

Sometimes the view from the outside helps us better understand the inside. Lectures from visiting professors and people in industry can greatly enhance a student’s experience, as they provide new insight and a different point of view. Dr. Bruce Bugbee, a faculty member in the Department of Plants, Soils and Climate (PSC) in the College of Agriculture, has seen that effect firsthand as a guest lecturer at universities around the country. Now he is helping to ensure that opportunity for more USU students. Bugbee is president of Apogee Instruments, Inc., which recently made a gift to create the Apogee-Campbell Scientific Lecture Series in the PSC department. Known as a “term endowment,” the gift is the first of its type at Utah State. The term endowment created by Apogee’s gift will provide funding to bring outstanding speakers to campus for a period of 10 to 12 years until it is exhausted. During that time, the fund will earn investment income that will enhance the program. “We hope that others will see value in this lecture series and make additional contributions to it,” said Bugbee, who began Apogee in his garage in 1996. Three years ago the company built a passive solar

facility next to Campbell Scientific, Inc., in Logan. Apogee manufactures unique environmental monitoring equipment for cus-tomers around the world. Dr. Teryl Roper, department head of PSC, indicated that a department committee will select and invite the speakers to cam-pus. “Bringing in outside speakers has been a priority for the department. The Apogee-Campbell Scientific Lecture Series will be a great advantage. We are grateful for the gift and we look forward to being able to bring in interesting and timely speakers.”

Gene started classes in 1946 and received both his bache-lor’s and master’s degrees in soil chemistry. He earned a doctorate in biochemistry from North Carolina State University. A plant physiologist/biochemist, he later returned to USU as a faculty member in botany. He was also the first head of the Biology De-partment, serving for 12 years prior to retiring as associate dean of the College of Science. His greatest interests over the years were research and teach-ing. More than 25 students received their doctoral degrees under Gene’s direction. After retirement from Utah State, Gene and his family started BAICOR, Inc., a manufacturing business producing spe-cialized plant nutrients for agriculture, golf courses, home and garden. As the company evolved, it was recognized as one of the fastest growing companies in Utah. Ruth returned to USU after having five children and re-ceived her bachelor’s degree in languages, specializing in German and Spanish. She was deeply involved in school activities and functions as her children grew up, and she also served in various capacities as a volunteer in her church and community.

New type of gift brings experts to campus

Bruce Bugbee, right, has facilitated a new lecture series at USU.


Their first son, Wayne, received his bachelor’s of science in biology, and their second son, Michael, completed his bachelor’s in marketing from USU’s Jon M. Huntsman School of Business. As a newly married couple Gene and Ruth worked part-time and are thankful to USU for support in the way of schol-arships and assistantships. They are especially grateful for the faculty members who went out of their way to help the strug-gling newlywed students make ends meet while at USU. The Miller family has established endowed scholarships in Marketing; Languages; Biology and Plants, Soils and Climate. They are also proud to support the USU library, and they are ardent supporters of the USU athletics program. The Millers also have helped to create grants for basic research in biology and chemistry through BAICOR. Gene and Ruth are members of the Old Main Society Presi-dent’s Circle.

2010 Spirit of Old Main-New GenerationPaul D. and Rebecca J. ParkinsonIt is an understatement of epic proportions to say that Paul and Rebecca Parkinson, recipients of the 2010 Spirit of Old Main—New Generation Award, have deep connections to Utah State University.

Paul and Rebecca met at USU their sophomore year, just after Paul’s return from an LDS Church mission to northern Argentina. The next three years they were side-by-side, Paul earn-ing a bachelor of arts in humanities and social sciences/liberal arts and sciences and Rebecca graduating with a bachelor of science in elementary education from the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services. Both graduated cum laude, June of 1993, just two weeks after their first son was born. Rebecca and Paul were both members of the USU President’s Leadership Council (now known as Ambassadors) for four years. Both were inducted into the Student Ambassador Hall of Fame in 2009. In 1992-93 Rebecca received the Outstanding On-Campus Student Award from the Elementary Education department. After graduation, Paul worked for Medline Industries, Inc., where he received the Rookie Representative of the Year in 1997, Sales Representative of the Year in 2000, and where he became regional manager in 2004. Paul has been heavily involved with the university, serving as the Alumni Association Executive Board President and as a mem-ber of the Alumni Chapter Board. He is also a former member of USU’s Board of Trustees. Rebecca was raised in an agricultural family of seven chil-dren. She graduated from North Sevier High School with high honors. She and Paul have been members of Mortar Board, USU Community Associates, the Big Blue Scholarship Club, are Perfor-mance Hall seat donors and are members of the Old Main Society at the Tower level. Paul’s family legacy is rich: his mother, Leah Dunford Parkinson Christensen, also an Old Main Society member, was Dean of Women from 1959 to 1966 and later Alumni Association President (1974-1977). Both sets of parents attended Utah State as did all of their siblings and their siblings’ spouses. “Both of us came from homes of modest means. We both received four-year scholarships to Utah State University and were beneficiaries of someone else’s generosity,” they said. “Since that time, we’ve always had the desire to somehow perpetuate that generosity.” In 2001, the Parkinsons established the Paul and Rebecca Parkinson University Ambassadors Endowment, in appreciation of the financial assistance they received while serving as USU Ambas-sadors. They are donors to USU Athletics, the Caine College of the Arts, the USU Library, Alumni Scholarships, and other areas of the University. Paul and Rebecca have six children who are all slated to become third-generation Aggies.

FALL 2010 I UTAHSTATE 11

STORY BY MARY-ANN MUFFOLETO ’95 MA


Recipient of the National Park Service’s prestigious Director’s Award,

USU’s Jack Schmidt is the source from which preparation

flows for the next generation of river managers

RIVERS RUN THROUGH HIM


On an excursiOn acrOss the cOlOradO Plateau, Australian Thomas Keneally, author of Schindler’s List, called the American Southwest “the place where souls are born” and gave the name to a 1992 book he wrote of the experience. It seems an apt title for a region, with its unique beauty, revealing vestiges of ancient communities and beguiling rivers, that rarely leaves its visitors unmoved. Famed 19th century explorer John Wesley Powell waxed poetic on his experience of traveling through the Colorado River watershed. As his party prepared to traverse the Green River’s white-water through the Canyon of Lodore, Powell wrote: “This morning we are ready to enter the mysterious canyon, and start with some anxiety. The old mountaineers tell us that it cannot be run; the Indians say, ‘Water heap catch ‘em’; but all are eager for the trial, and off we go.” It’s those very words Utah State University river scientist Jack Schmidt reads to his students as they travel the same waters. Schmidt alum Randy Goetz ’08 MS recalls listening to that passage around a late night campfire after, earlier in the day, negotiating the very rapids Powell described. “Jack is a big picture thinker and tries to help his students conceptualize river sys-tems physically, biologically, historically and socially,” he says. “For me, that moment at the campfire closed the gap on 150 years of exploration on rivers in the West and gave me a starting point on the road that led from those early explorations to the time of hydro-power dams and today’s legal battles.” Heartbeat of the PlanetViewed from above, the Earth is a patchwork of winding rivers and streams, an ebbing and flowing network bringing lifeblood to land and carving geographic wonders through forests, plains, rocks and desert. “Rivers have existed on this planet as long as there has been rain on continents,” says Schmidt, a professor in USU’s Department of Watershed Sciences, director of the univer-sity’s interdisciplinary Water@USU initiative and director of the USU-led Intermountain Center for River Rehabilitation and Restoration. “A river that we experience today is fundamentally a pulse of water.” Schmidt is arguably one of the foremost scientific authorities on the Colorado River Basin and other major river systems of the American West. He’s also a leading advocate for river conservation. “The Colorado River system carries this enormous pulse of snowmelt from the Rocky Mountains across this great, vast desert of bed rock canyons we call the Colorado Plateau to the Sea of Cortez,” he says. “That is, by nature, what it does. What has hap-pened is that human society has built dams that have fundamentally changed the system.”

This morning we are ready To enTer

The mysTerious canyon, and sTarT wiTh some anxieTy.

The old mounTaineers Tell us ThaT iT cannoT be run;

The indians say, ‘waTer heap caTch ‘em’;

buT all are eager for The Trial, and off we go.

— John Wesley Powell

“”


Nearly 30 million people in the southwestern United States depend on the life-sustaining and electricity-producing waters of the Colorado, which flows through some of North America’s most iconic landmarks, including Grand Canyon National Park. The river and its western counterparts are caught in a pre-carious tug-of-war between competing, unrelenting interests. It’s up to us, Schmidt says, to decide what kind of rivers these waterways will ultimately become. “We want it all but we can’t have it all,” he says.

A Revered Scientist, Collaborator and TeacherIn the tight academic and professional circles of fluvial geomorphology – the

“”

study of the origin, characteristics and evolution of rivers – Schmidt’s name garners solid respect. “Every fluvial geomorphologist I meet, along with other people involved in river management, have high praise for Jack’s work,” says Goetz, who is employed with Inter-Fluve, an Oregon-based envi-ronmental engineering firm. “I think this comes from the quality of his scientific work and his unwavering dedication to the preservation of western river systems.” Schmidt is a 2010 recipient of the National Park Service’s Director’s Award, the agency’s highest honor. For more than 20 years, the New Jersey native has studied the large rivers of the NPS’s Intermountain Region that cross national parks in New Mexico and Texas and in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and Arizona.

“Throughout his long body of work in Intermountain Region parks, Schmidt has demonstrated outstanding collabora-tion, interaction and dialogue with edu-cational institutions, agencies including the U.S. Geological Survey, the Bureau of Reclamation, the National Park Service and the Greater Yellowstone Inventory and Monitoring Network,” says Michael D. Snyder, regional director of the NPS Intermountain Region, who presented Schmidt with a regional award in January 2010 and nominated the USU researcher for the national honor. Schmidt seems humbled, even a bit embarrassed, by the accolades and is quick to credit his students for their role in his recognition. “The award is really a testament to the hard work of my current and former

Jack is a big picTure Thinker and Tries To help his sTudenTs concepTualize river

sysTems physically, biologically, hisTorically and socially. for me, ThaT momenT

aT The campfire closed The gap on 150 years of exploraTion on rivers in The

wesT and gave me a sTarTing poinT on The road ThaT led from Those early

exploraTions To The Time of hydropower dams and Today’s legal baTTles.—Randy Goetz ’08 MS


students,” he insists. “It’s recognition of their thesis research and efforts to move that research forward to publication, their contributions to professional meetings and work in cooperation with NPS staff to make that research relevant to ongoing management decisions.” While Schmidt’s expertise is repeat-edly sought by federal and state water agencies, a good portion of his time and energy is reserved for students. He also devotes significant time to his growingly popular Stream Restoration Courses, which draw academics and professional water managers from throughout the na-tion and beyond. Rebecca Manners, one of Schmidt’s current doctoral students, calls her mentor an exceptional field scientist who is deter-mined to instill excellence in his students.

“Jack has an incredible ability to both detect the fine-scale patterns of flow and sediment deposition and identify the larger-scale patterns of landscape change,” Manners says. “And he’s dedicated to pass-ing along these skills to his students.” Field visits, she says, are where Schmidt’s teaching shines and, when he can, the professor drops everything to join his students at their field sites. “Numerous times, I’ve sat in Jack’s of-fice as he checks and rechecks his calendar to see if he can join me in the field,” says Manners, who received a prestigious 2010 National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant to pursue research in the Colorado River Basin. “With his demanding schedule it’s not often feasible, but the opportunities I have to walk around the floodplain or along

Jack Schmidt preps his Fluvial Geomorphology students before setting them free to make their own river measurements.

gravel bars with Jack and talk about our observations are what it’s all about.” Though his students talk about their good fortune in becoming “Schmidt students,” studying under the formidable professor’s tutelage, they say, isn’t always easy. “Jack expects only the highest level of effort and production from all of his stu-dents,” Goetz says. “Complacency, narrow-mindedness and laziness are characteristics he won’t tolerate.”

Studying Troubled WatersIn addition to his work in the Colorado River Basin, Schmidt has developed and guided studies and management plans for the Upper Snake River in Grand Teton National Park and Utah’s Provo River.


“

”

choices made by socieTy decades ago have

creaTed The currenT siTuaTion.

we have To ask ourselves,

‘is iT possible To reTurn The river

To iTs pasT condiTion

or do we JusT Try To mainTain

whaT’s lefT?

—Jack Schmidt

Doctoral student Susannah Erwin, who is mentored by Schmidt, has worked on both of these projects, which involve assessment of manmade impacts and recommendations for restoration. For her work on the Snake, Erwin received the NPS Rocky Mountains Coopera-tive Ecosystem Studies Unit’s inaugural Student Award in 2007. For her work on the Provo, Erwin was honored with the first-place research poster award at the 2010 Federal Interagency Sedimentation Conference. Schmidt is also involved in federally funded research on the Rio Grande (or Río Bravo del Norte, as it is known in Mexico) in Big Bend National Park along the U.S. and Mexico border. He serves as a science advisor in efforts between the two countries to bolster preservation of Big Bend and Mexico’s bordering areas of Maderas del Carmen, Cañon de Santa Elena and Ocampo. “Big Bend is a hauntingly beautiful place,” Schmidt says. “But the condition of the Rio Grande is an almost hopeless and intractable situation.” Once a wide, sandy river, vast stretches of the waterway now resemble an irrigation ditch and are choked with invasive vegetation, he says. Not much water makes it beyond the thirsty, border-ing cities of Juárez and El Paso and their northern neighbor, Albuquerque, New Mexico. At Big Bend, where the river cuts through the Chihuahuan Desert, the Rio Grande is entirely dependent on water flowing from the Río Conchos, its Mexican tributary. The river’s transformation makes it vulnerable to menacing floods, such as those this past July, when rains from Hurricane Alex unleashed torrents of water causing deaths and destruction of property. “I think it’s tough to accept the state of a river that we know we directly impacted,” says David Dean, a master’s student who has conducted NPS-funded research on the Rio Grande with Schmidt since fall 2006. Dean received a first-place award in the student poster competition at the

2008 Binghamton Geomorphology Sym-posium, one of the world’s largest and oldest annual gatherings of geomorpholo-gists and physical geographers. “The river’s unique ecosystems are suffering — both instream and in the riparian corridors bordering the river,” he says. With Schmidt, Dean has employed a variety of methods to gauge the mag-nitude of the river’s changes, including excavation of large trenches to determine how high and how fast the flood plains have grown. Though the region’s popula-tion, fueled by NAFTA, has surged in recent years, widespread human diversion of the river began more than a century ago, as water was siphoned for irrigation and development. Humorist Will Rogers, who died in 1935, made the wry and portentous observation, “The Rio Grande is the only river I ever saw that needed irrigation.” “Choices made by society decades ago have created the current situation,” Schmidt says. “We have to ask ourselves, ‘Is it possible to return the river to its past condition or do we just try to maintain what’s left?’” Efforts toward rehabilitating the diminishing river channel could be on the horizon. In a joint statement issued May 19, 2010, U.S. President Barack Obama and Mexico’s President Felipe Calderón expressed their commitment to work through appropriate national processes to recognize and designate Big Bend – Río Bravo as a natural area of bi-national interest. “The Rio Grande’s underlying problems aren’t unique,” Schmidt says. “We face these challenges on other rivers, including the Colorado and its tributaries.”

Saving the Colorado WatershedLike the Rio Grande, the Colorado River and its tributaries flow through iconic na-tional parkland and are a critical source of power and water for millions of people. Yet man-made structures have altered the watershed, including the flagship Colo-rado, a 1,500-mile waterway that has its

headwaters in the Rocky Mountains and flows southwesterly to the Sea of Cortez. The diversions threaten some of the South-west’s most celebrated natural wonders. “We want to preserve our national parks but we’ve transformed the natural watershed of the Colorado River into a vast plumbing system of dams and diver-sions and that is a conundrum,” Schmidt says. Among Schmidt’s areas of study are the Green and Yampa Rivers, two of the least touched and wildest tributaries of the Colorado. Both are under development pressure; eyed as sites of future dams to supply water for Colorado’s growing Front Range and downstream communities. Interest in the area’s potential for oil shale development is also increasing. Schmidt’s student Manners is in-vestigating sediment, water and climate factors that have allowed tamarisk to drastically alter stretches of the Green and Yampa Rivers in northwestern Colorado and the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. Her research is concentrated at two study sites within Dinosaur National Monument: one on the Green River in Whirlpool Canyon, just west of the river’s confluence with the Yampa River; the other further east on the Yampa in Yampa Canyon. Even without manmade diversions, she says, the rivers are undergoing signifi-cant change attributable to tamarisk, a shrubby import from Asia that has spread throughout the Colorado River Basin and is crowding out native willow and cottonwood trees. Brought by European settlers in the 19th century to reduce ero-sion, stands of the persistent tree suck up moisture with a surprising voracity that, some contend, rivals the thirst of Colorado River-dependent Las Vegas. Manners suspects that tamarisk growth is creating a feedback cycle that accelerates channel narrowing, with dense vegetation inhibiting sediment transport, fostering even more tamarisk growth. “Less flow and increased vegetation have altered both rivers, reducing back-water habitats on which endemic fishes rely for survival,” she says. “The rivers are



STORY BY MARY-ANN MUFFOLETTO ’95 MA

becoming less complex in terms of biodi-versity, which doesn’t bode well for native plant and animal species.” Further downstream, after tributaries converge with the Colorado, narrowing channels, lack of sediment and loss of habitat-critical sandbars, as well as altered water temperatures reveal the legacy of dams.

High-Flow Experiments on the ColoradoTrapping of sediment behind Glen Can-yon Dam since its construction in 1963 has hampered natural replenishment of sandbars, which provide vital habitat for native fish species and plant life. Schmidt was among a handful of ad-visors to the Department of Interior who conceived a series of controlled floods on the Colorado — just below Glen Canyon Dam and upstream from the Grand Canyon — as attempts to emulate spring floods and restore the river’s natural ecosystem. The initial attempt took place in 1996, with subsequent releases in 2004 and 2008. Schmidt is among a group of advisors recommending future releases. Schmidt describes the 1996 high-flow experiment as an “ambiguous suc-cess.” The flood failed to build sandbars to a sufficiently large size because an insufficient amount of sediment was available on the river bed to be redistrib-uted into eddies. An invited guest at the much-herald-ed event, Schmidt looked on as then-In-terior Secretary Bruce Babbitt turned the valve that triggered the impressive release of water. As other witnesses gasped in


Tony Kusbach, a USU geography major, makes notes on his team’s river measurements during a lab session with professor Jack Schmidt.


astonishment at the water’s mighty force, Schmidt, who had advocated a much greater discharge, made his infamous com-ment, “This is a pretty wimpy flood.” The sound bite was deftly snagged by a nearby Los Angeles Times reporter and quickly swept into the international media stream. “Me and my big mouth,” laments Schmidt of his unguarded and blunt as-sessment of the calculated inundation that failed as a restoration project but, as an experiment, yielded a deluge of valu-able data. The second attempt, in 2004, built sandbars but only in the first 30 miles downstream from the dam. Schmidt and fellow scientists are still analyzing results from the 2008 experiment, which was carefully timed with higher than usual sediment accumulation from natural tribu-tary floods. Schmidt alum Paul Grams ’97 MS, who also completed a postdoctoral stint with Schmidt, serves as the physical sci-ence and modeling program manager with the USGS Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center in Flagstaff, Ariz. The center is working collaboratively with the Bureau of Reclamation and other federal agencies to conduct and interpret the high-flow experiments. Grams says Schmidt’s mentorship and contacts helped him secure his current position. “Jack insists on including his students in his interactions with the land manage-ment agencies he works with,” he says. “His willingness to ‘share the spotlight’ provides students with great experience

interacting with agencies and in commu-nicating science with various publics.”

The ‘Transforming Power’ of EducationSchmidt came of age during the tumultu-ous 60s and, along with his peers, had his sheltered world views shattered by the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement and the assassinations of the Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King, Jr. “I hitchhiked down to D.C. along with everyone else to protest the war,” says Schmidt, who completed undergrad studies in political science at Pennsylva-nia’s Bucknell University. He initially planned to enter law school but concluded that the world didn’t need any more lawyers. “I was going to do something to improve the Earth,” Schmidt says. Studies in geography at the Universi-ty of California-Berkeley followed, where he was introduced to a series of mentors who would shape his future pursuits. After leaving academia and pursuing con-sulting work for several years, Schmidt entered Johns Hopkins University, where he completed a doctorate in 1987. He joined USU in 1991 after serving on the faculty of Vermont’s Middlebury College. What keeps the sought-after scientist in academia, when he could immerse himself in lucrative consulting pursuits? “I could still be a full-time consul-tant but I believe in teaching and educa-tion,” Schmidt says. “During field trips and labs, I sometimes just stand back and watch the students. I can see the trans-forming power of education.”

The 2004 high-flow experiment at Glen Canyon Dam.

Grad student Rebecca Manners conducts field research at Dinosaur National Monument. Ph

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GOOSE BUMPSBecause the Payoff is

“Any place they might have walked,

we try to walk,” says internationally

acclaimed USU art professor Craig Law.

“We’re in pretty deep … several days …

a week.” He can slog 100 miles on foot

through the deserts of Southern Utah and

around the Colorado Plateau carrying

70 pounds of gear because the payoff

is goose bumps — “arriving at treasure

troves of human artistic endeavor.”


Holy Ghost Group, Great Gallery, Canyonlands National Park

His work has defined the Barrier Canyon style of ancient record on the rock — paintings mostly, with some

pecking — of figures, some 9-feet tall, waiting to tell their stories of cultures and traditions lost to time and to

forgotten landscapes. And he’s compelled now. So far he’s documented 353 of these sites, curious panels, maybe

even sacred places. He documents them because some are being lost, to vandalism or to the elements. He gets

physically sick when he sees one that’s been damaged. And for Law it’s humbling work. It deserves respect. It’d be

easier to use point-and-shoots, but that somehow seems profane. Documenting these gifts for the next 1,000 years

demands sacrifice; the finest images possible from bulky large-format cameras offering exceptional resolution. But,

oh, those payoffs!


Castleton Site 1, Grand Staircase/Escalante National Monument

Pair Of Figures, San Rafael Swell


Castleton Site 1, Grand Staircase/Escalante National Monument

Buried Panel, San Rafael Swell

Trio Plus One, Grand Staircase/Escalante National Monument

Large Panel, Western Canyonlands Area

Pair Of Figures, San Rafael Swell


High on a cliff side in the Needles District of

Canyonlands National Park, Law puts lunch on

hold to grab his binoculars. It wouldn’t be seen

from below, it couldn’t, but from this vantage

point, from this perfect angle, Law suddenly

realizes he’s staring cross-canyon at a 5-foot

panel of ancient art previously undocumented

by modern man. Another story of creation?

An illustrated belief system? A classroom of

instruction for the next generation? Deity

figures? The preservation of life? Fertility

panels? Mere hand prints as historic record?

Law will venture a guess (and after 18 years it’s

a really educated guess), but right now, he has

another photograph to make, another piece of

mesmerizing art for future generations to ponder.

“Ancient Painters on the Colorado Plateau,” by Craig Law and David Sucec, opened at USU’s Merrill-Cazier Library and is now a travelling exhibit sponsored by the Utah Arts Council. Law was interviewed for Utah Public Radio’s Access Utah on Sept. 2, 2010.

Red Panels, San Rafael Swell

Book Cliffs From Ten Mile Wash, Eastern Canyonlands Area

Ten Mile Wash, the space between the cliffs and the foreground, seems to have been a travel route for many generations of Native Americans, including the Barrier Canyon, Fremont and Paiute/Ute people.

Giant Killers: Aggies win first ever WAC Tournament ChampionshipThere was a giant bellowing about the land and the Utah State University volleyball team felt compelled to kill it. It took 13 precision-force shots from sophomore opposite side hitter Shay Sorensen and another 12 from junior outside hitter Liz McArthur but the formidable, massive, legendarily unconquerable Hawai’i took one between the eyes and fell backward, stunned, at the WAC Tournament championship in Las Vegas. The Rainbow Wahine, who entered the match having won 62 straight sets and 23 straight matches were also in possession of all of the WAC Tournament champion-ship spoils from the previous 10 years straight. Ten years! BYU, which won a couple tournament titles years and years and years before that, had been the only other team to ever touch the trophy. But not now. Not this time. Not this exceptional year. When the bravado was silenced and all the dust and the sweat and the pre-written endings lay flopping on the floor, the Aggies unfurled a 24-8 banner year, the seventh most wins in school history and the most unforgettable season since the 1982 group went 28-19. The Aggies secured their hardware, paused just long enough to be immortalized and then left for the NCAA Tournament where they themselves fell to fourth-ranked California to end at 24-9 on the season. But what a season, and one especially sweet for seniors Katie Astle, Chelsea Fowles and Christine Morrill, who had swept the Rainbow Wahine off the Islands back in 2007, stamping out what had then swelled to a 108-conference match home-winning streak for Hawai’i, proving giants could indeed be rocked and set-ting things up so perfectly for The Fall of 2010.

A T E A M


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A T E A M



Reverently shrink-wrapped and lying in the bed of a plain white pickup he makes a colorful October run from artist Blair Buswell’s studio to his new home outside Romney Stadium, which splendidly and brilliantly — precisely — faces his old home on the Island in Logan, a spot that is now a new city park across from the old city park that bears his name. Even bronzed his heart warms the day and all players in it and the brief and hushed conversations of artist, installers and onlookers evidence an immeasurable respect. Merlin Olsen dreamed big, played big and lived even bigger. Now there he stands, as he ever has, larger than life and in the very place where he set about enlarging our own perspectives and capacities, every one. It took a crane to handle his legacy — creativity, strength and ingenuity to cement it in — and so as, even if just momentarily, he floats above this now literal pedestal, we have no difficulty imagining that this Aggie, above all Aggies, was heaven sent.

You can view the Merlin Olsen statue unveiling ceremony in its entirety at: https://podcasts.usu.edu/MediaPlayer/player.html?filename=class/USU/MerlinStatueCeremony

See a photo album at:http://www.usu.edu/campaign/gallery/2010/statue_unveiling.cfm

And hear an installation-day interview with sculptor Blair Buswell at:http://www.utahstate.usu.edu/winter2011/ateam2.cfm

Larger thanand FACING HOME

LIFE


Patriots and politicians, marching bands and Santa hats, Scottish kilts and Saudi shemaghs, sparkling ballroom dancers and bearded Harley riders — and that was just the parade. Something for every-one? Well, yeah, it was Homecoming. We packed a year’s worth of livin’ into one colorful week. The All Aggie Reception with its snappy food and entertainment, the Dignitaries’ Breakfast with Alumni of the Year Gary and Marjorie Anderson and Margaret Anderson, the heroic Distin-guished Young Alumna Joey Blanch and


the 1960 and 1961 breathing icon Aggie football teams as Grand Marshals, all getting their 15 minutes on the stage of fame. The always fascinating Mr. USU contest and Powder Puff Football Game, under the lights at Romney Stadium this year, and then of course True Aggie Night where everyone and their whatevers were getting kissed on the A. And lest we forget the big dance and those pre-game parties and after-game parties and that humbling cause-to-pause statue unveil-ing for Merlin that ended in teardrops tumbling from the sky. And they stopped for a while, those teardrops, and we Aggied-up and game-faced too, but in the end it rained. At Homecoming 2010, on the field newly stamped with his name, it rained and it rained and it rained. What else could it do but rain?

emember when......photographers favored profiles because the detail in the coiffure was just so very captivating? And when sisters Lee Ora and Faye and Bessie, Erma and Orpha and Gwendolyn, LaMar and Edna and Hazel, Elva and Melva and Truth — among oth-ers — all graced the Sorosis House and times were lean but days at the A.C. — which would later became Utah State University — were ever splendid? Of course you don’t … unless you are 103-year-old Doro-thy Watkins Marlowe ’29, featured on Page 4 of this very issue of Utah State. That’s Dorothy, fifth one from the left on the top row of the 1927

Sorosis sisters page of The Buzzer, and this Remember When is dedicated solely to her and her inspiring grab-the-bull-by-the-horns approach to Aggie life: freshman play, Home Economics Club, Beaux Arts Guild, Kampus Kaprice, junior class officer, Ladies’ Glee Club, Buzzer staff, Big Sister’s Club, Phi Upsilon Omicron and … well, we’ll take a breath there. But well done Dorothy. Well done.

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Send your news to: Utah State University Utah State Magazine1422 Old Main Hill

Logan UT [email protected]

A L U M S o f N O T E

’60s George Welch ’67, ’71 MS, was

recently inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame in San Diego, California. He becomes only the seventh individual in the State of Utah since 1982 to be so honored, joining Aggie legend Merlin Olsen, who was inducted in 1987. Welch becomes only the third person inducted in the area of Fine Arts since 1982. He was inducted into the Utah High School Activities Association Circle of Fame in 2006.

’80s Layne Anderson ’81 has been named

the new president of Intermountain Farmers Association, a farmer-owned cooperative serving Utah and southeast Idaho. While still a student at USU, An-derson began his IFA career in 1981 as a management trainee at the Logan branch. After graduating summa cum laude, he was named branch manager and later dis-trict manager. Since 2002 he has served as vice president of agronomy operations and earlier this year assumed additional responsibilities over feed and nutrition. He was raised on a dairy in Lindon, Utah, and continues to participate in the family operation of raising purebred Clydesdale horses.

Rob Lilieholm ’83 has co-authored Wildlands and Woodlands: A Vision for the New England Landscape, published by the Harvard University Press. The report provides a scientific rationale to protect 70-percent of New England in forest over the next 50 years and is being received as a model for regional land conservation.

Law. Originally from Paul, Idaho, Okun currently resides in McLean, Virginia, with her husband and two daughters.

’90s Jacob A. Santini ’99 has joined

Parsons Behle and Latimer’s Salt Lake City office as a member of the litigation department, concentrating his practice on general commercial litigation and environmental litigation. Before join-ing the firm, he was a law clerk to Chief Justice Christine M. Durham of the Utah Supreme Court. He graduated with a J.D. from the University of Utah College of Law in 2009 and was admitted to the Utah State Bar the same year.

’00s Brandon Chapman ’05 MS has

published Culture in Anthropology, which brings together a variety of methodologi-cal, ethnographic, and writing styles cen-tered around the core concept of anthro-pology: culture. Covering an assortment of regions and ethnic groups across the globe, the textbook features first-hand writings from leading current and classic anthropologists. He is an instructor with the general education program at the University of Idaho and has conducted fieldwork in Trinidad/Tobago, several fishing villages across Latin America, and in communities of the Rocky Mountain West.

Shelly A. Owen ’07, ’08 MA, CPA, has been promoted to Audit and Business and Advisory Services Senior at Tan-ner, LLC. For the last two years she has focused on the hospitality, service, retail, and not-for-profit industries. She also audits employee benefit plans and SEC reporting companies. She is a member of the AICPA and UACPA and resides in Midvale, Utah.

The E.L. Giddings Associate Professor of Forest Policy at the University of Maine, Lilieholm is one of 20 ecologists and historians from institutions across the Northeast who released the report at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government to a regional audience of 150 scientists, conservation professionals, state agency leaders, educators and the media.

Kate Kitchell ’86 MS has been named director of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Southwest Biological Science Center in Flagstaff, Ariz., where she has been serving as acting director for over a year. Before joining the USGS in 2005, Kitchell was the Bureau of Land Management’s Deputy State Director for Resources in Utah, serving 16 years with the Bureau and the previous 10 years with the National Park Service. Kitchell’s interest in better integrating science in the public resource management process led her to the USGS, where she has been actively engaged in building partnerships with federal resource management agencies.

Deanna Tanner Okun ’85 is serving as Chairman of the United States Inter-national Trade Commission (USITC) by operation of law. The senior Republican on the Commission, she became Chair-man when outgoing Chairman Shara L. Aranoff’s term expired on June 16, 2010. Okun will serve as Chairman until Presi-dent Barack Obama designates a Chair-man of the Commission. A Republican of Idaho, Okun was nominated to the USITC by President William J. Clinton on November 10, 1999, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate nine days later. From 1993-1999, Okun served as counsel for international affairs to Senator Frank Murkowski (R-AK) and was previously an associate attorney and member of the International Trade Group at the Washington, DC, law firm of Hogan and Hartson. She received her J.D. with hon-ors from the Duke University School of


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emember when...

Civil War Battlefields with Dr. F. Ross PetersonApril 9-15, 2011Next April, join USU Alumni and Dr. F. Ross Peterson on a tour of Civil War Battlefields and much more. High-lights include visiting the

Washington, DC area; Gettysburg; and Colonial Williamsburg.

Explore Gorongosa National Park in beautiful Mozambique! September 2011One Aggie family from Idaho Falls, Idaho, is busy making a difference in Mozambique. Brothers Ken, Steve, and Greg Carr have become major contributors to the restoration of Gorongosa National Park. In 1999, Greg founded The Carr Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to “the environment, human rights, and the arts.” The Carr Foundation has partnered with the government of Mozambique to rebuild, restore, and preserve the 4,000-square-kilometer park.

Aggie Travel


Details at www.usu.edu/alumni/travel

Aggie Travel ’30sChrystal A. Christensen (Allen) ’37, Nov. 6, UTAllez Morrill Ashmead ’38, Oct. 21, UTVerle E. Peterson (Poulson) ’38, Oct. 10, UTElmo Garff ’39, Oct. 15, UTMadge C. Larsen (Cannon) ’39, Oct. 27, UTErma Schiffman Steed ’39, Oct. 15, FL

’40sElvera Bird Cooley ’40, Sept. 20, UTAndrew L. Gardner ’40, Oct. 4, UTBeth Porter (Sargent) ’40, Oct. 20Palmer B. DeLong ’41, Oct. 19, UTMae J. Davis (Jensen) ’43, Oct. 15, UTColleen Burnham (Redd) ’47, Oct. 25, UTHelen C. Ford (Denning) ’48, Oct. 17, CADona Burgoyne Hansen ’48, Sept. 23, UTLeland E. Jacobson ’48 Att, Oct. 14, UTLeland J. Winger ’48, ’50MS, Oct. 2, UTShirl J. Hone ’49, Oct. 20, UTEric B. Johnson ’49, Oct. 22, UTEva L. Miller (Moore) ’49, Mar. 9, UTRobert L. Newey ’49, Sept. 29, UT

’50sDonna Andersen ’50 Att, Sept. 22, UTWilliam E. Barkdull ’50 Att, Nov. 19, IDGeorge J. Bodven ’50, Oct. 7, WIPaul K. Cahoon ’50 Att, Sept. 28, UTJohn W. Emmett ’50, Sept. 27, UTWilliam E. Fox ’50, ’52MS, Dec. 26, VABrian M. Riggie ’50, Sept. 19, VTBetty Andersen (Baldridge) ’51 Att, Oct. 11, UTCharles G. Peterson ’51, Sept. 26, UTE. Kent Strate ’51 Att, Oct. 11Merrill D. Beal ’52MS, Sept. 21, ORWillard L. Lindsay ’52, ’53MS, Sept. 26, UTGuy R. Pulsipher ’52, Oct. 31, UTJohn D. Tarter ’52, Mar. 11, TXRulon Hancey Cook ’54, ’62MED, Nov. 3, CAW. Keith Garrett ’54, Oct. 29, AZNorm G. Ainscough ’56, Oct. 31, UTLois A. Everton (Morrison) ’56, Oct. 6, UTAdrian B. Grill ’56, Jul. 29, NYJohn F. Krusi ’56, Oct. 24, UTDennis M. Peck ’57 Att, Oct. 28, UTIra M. Fisher ’58, Oct. 17, UTRodney Albert Roper ’58, ’68MS, Sept. 25, UTJoseph A. Friel ’59, Mar. 30, MDRalph Horace Green ’59, Oct. 28, UTRobert R. Perkes ’59, ’67MS, Oct. 7, ID

’60sKelly L. Gates, Sr. ’60, Oct. 26, UTRobert D. Morrow ’60, Jul. 11, NVElson J. Leavitt ’61, Oct. 28, UTNeil J. Adams ’62, Oct. 6, IDSteven F. Sara ’62, Oct. 6, UTRobert V. Sheleski ’62, Oct. 28, WIDee J. Wamsley ’62, Oct. 25, NVVernon D. Wiberg ’62, Oct. 11, UTLee J. Morris ’63, ’66MIE, Sept. 28, UTCarol Ann Thornock ’63 Att, Oct. 1, UTGary Edwin Elliott ’65 Att, Oct. 10, UTJay Otis Cheney ’66, Oct. 10, UTBelden B. Durtschi ’66, ’68MS, Oct. 3, UTShanna Rae Mezek ’66, Sept. 6, UTLinda K. Sheakley ’66, Sept. 24, COJames Burke Wagstaff ’67, Sept. 28, IDMelvin L. Wright ’68, Jul. 13, UTEvan S. Brossard ’69MS, Jul. 1, UT

’70sJack W. Leifson ’70MED, Sept. 29, UTColleen R Carroll (Russell) ’71 Att, Jul. 17George H. Wilson ’71 Att, Oct. 21, UTVerl L. Frehner ’72EDD, Oct. 19, NVJean Christensen Keetch ’72, Oct. 8, IDMichael C. Richardson ’72, Oct. 30, SDPhyllis M. Linford (Moncur) ’73, Oct. 12, UTMark Joseph Fowers ’75 Att, Oct. 17, UTChristine Webb ’77, Oct. 7, UTMichael R. Evans ’78, Oct. 7, TXBrent G. Laws ’78, Nov. 4, UTCecil Orlando Balls ’79 Att, Oct. 16, UTGladys Pinney (Daly) ’79MS, Sept. 25, UT

’80sStanley E. Tolman ’83, ’86MS, Oct. 7, MDBonnie J. Julander ’84, Oct. 3, UTJames Scott Gerry ’86MFA, Dec. 17, MIStephen G. Goldberg ’89PHD, Dec. 17, WA

’90sEric J. Hatch ’97, Sept. 28, COMatthew Wagstaff ’97 Att, Sept. 21

’00s Lani K. Lemoine ’02MS, Sept. 17, MNEmaJo Bascom ’03MED, Oct. 11, UTT. Shane Mitchell ’09, ’08, Sept. 24

AttendersEleanor L. Ashcroft (Luthy) , Oct. 14Dee Carver Brown Att, Oct. 4Ralph Ray Brown Att, Oct. 28Jordan M. Byrd Att, Oct. 13, UTMichael Bladen Dix Att, Sept. 20Varnell E. Haws Att, Oct. 16Frank C. Hulse Att, Oct. 16Craig Boyd Lofthouse Att, Nov. 5, UTDorothy D. McClure (Devey) Att, Oct. 16Carl L. Norris Att, Oct. 28Richard Melvin Savage Att, Sept. 29Richard Kent Sellers Att, Oct. 15Ramona Barth Smith Att, Oct. 6Calvin Thorpe Att, Oct. 29Ruth Ann Woods Att, Oct. 3 FriendsRuth Anderson (Moser) Nov. 1, UTWilliam F. Campbell Oct. 23, UTLeland E. Cook Oct. 5, UTPaul M. Crosby Oct. 13, UTGary D. Cue Oct. 17, UTGilbert C. Fite Jun. 13, FLAlbert J. Haslam Oct. 23, UTEthel M. Higginson Feb. 28, IDHelen R. Jensen Oct. 10, UTRuth T. Johansen Oct. 25, UTClyde L. Juchau Sept. 28, UTBlaine A. Laub Oct. 18, UTErvin Little Oct. 4, UTJohn B. Lupton Mar. 14, AZCarl E. McCrory Aug. 2, CAJoyce U. Miller Oct. 26, UTRobert J. Nelson Apr. 5, UTVirginia Olague Oct. 18, UTJeffrey K. Phelps Nov. 1, UTEliza J. Ranck Nov. 1, UTLawrence Reineke Oct. 26, UTClay Roberts Apr. 17, KSChuck J. Shelton Oct. 6, UTJohannes Storz Oct. 1, CODorleen W. Talbot (Williams) Jul. 18, UTLela E. Teton Dec. 9, IDStewart L. Udall Mar. 20, NMCharles L. Wiener Sept. 25, OKReo L. Williamson Oct. 2, UT

I N M E M O R I A M

“We can help you save energy and money.”

You don’t have to save the world.

Just turn the bathroom lights off.If we all make simple changes, we can make a big impact. Turning off lights when you leave a room is a good start. You can also install energy-saving compact fl uorescent light bulbs, lower your thermostat, replace energy-craving appliances with Energy Star® appliances and much more. You’ll save energy, money and you’ll be doing your part. You’ll fi nd plenty of energy-saving answers at rockymountainpower.net.

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