Saint Mary's Newsroom

The Saint Mary’s Public Relations/Business Club hosted an event on April 29 that gave students the chance to have lunch with a business or public relations professional who are also Saint Mary’s alumni. The Lunch with a Pro event welcomed seven alums, who discussed the keys to a successful and fulfilling career, including:

• Tony Gruenke ’04, senior account executive, Metro Sales, Ricoh dealer
• Tera Bollig ’07, senior brand marketing specialist, Children’s Minnesota
• Ashley Dingels Gossen ’06, controller and HR director, Americana Community Bank
• Maggie Sonnek ’07, freelance writer and owner, Mill City Creative
• Nathan Semsch ’04, construction project manager, Sullivan Day Construction
• Kathy Munns ’02, finance officer, Catholic Church and school in southeastern Minnesota
• Toni Nigrelli-LaFleur ’07, director of client service, Quasius Construction

Thanks to all athletes, alumni athletes, benefactors, and families who joined us for our baseball clubhouse grand opening (including Marilyn Stigler, daughter of the legendary coach Max F. Molock ’35). Max coached baseball for 40 seasons before retiring in 1983, and we’re glad his family could join us. See more photos at smumn.edu/photos.

Eleven students from Ms. Katie Halvorson’s Environmental Science class from Cotter High School visited campus on May 2. They teamed up with five Environmental Biology majors (Paige Swanson, Erin Hettinger, Kayla Boetcher, Madalyn Bollig, and Mitch Plonka) to survey fish, invertebrates, and water chemistry in Gilmore Creek. The Saint Mary’s students were able to demonstrate their knowledge of environmental assessment techniques to help reinforce ideas and concepts the Cotter students were studying.

Eleven Saint Mary’s women attended the 2nd annual Women of Color Summit: Empowering Together at Gustavus Adolphus College on April 13. The Women of Color Summit is similar to the annual Kente Summit for Collegiate Black Men — both offer an environment to build community. It is designed to help women of color, trans feminine people of color, and indigenous women find affinity with one another, help them embrace their intersecting identities, and offer an environment for them to discuss current issues of race on their campuses and nationwide. In addition to Saint Mary’s, there were students from Mankato State University, Century College, and more.

DeLaura Jordan, junior biochemistry and Spanish major, attended the event. She said, “My greatest takeaway from the WOC Summit was an improved self-image. I feel at home in a room of strangers knowing that wherever we are from, we share similar experiences: both positive and negative. I learned that I am fully supported and loved by people who have never even met me. I know now that I’m not alone.”

Jordan is vice president of the Black Students and Allies club and encourages others to attend the summit. “You have the power to make your voice heard and empower other people that are struggling just like you are. Don’t miss this blessing.”

In early April, GeoSpatial Services (GSS) staff began what is going to be a busy spring and summer of traveling for fieldwork to support their wetland mapping projects. Dave Rokus, GIS analyst, traveled through Utah and New Mexico as part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Wetland Status and Trends program. Rokus then met up with Andy Robertson, GSS director, and John Anderson, GIS and Natural Resources analyst, in western New Mexico for fieldwork related to a project with the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED). That same week, Andy Nadeau, Natural Resource specialist, was at Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northwestern New Mexico, meeting with National Park Service staff about a digital file conversion project. This week, Robertson, Kevin Benck, GIS analyst, and Al Rabine, GIS technician, are at Fort Berthold in North Dakota, working on a wetland project with the area’s tribal government.

During May, the following field trips will take place:

• Kevin Stark, assistant director of GSS, Nick Lemcke, GIS analyst, and Darren Omoth, GIS technician, will travel to North Dakota for a project with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
• Eric Lindquist, GIS analyst, Peter McColl, GIS analyst, and Stark will travel to Wyoming for a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) project.
• Robertson, Anderson, and student intern Zack Ansell will travel to central New Mexico for another project with the NMED.

Trips occurring later this summer include:

• Lindquist, Nadeau, and Stark will travel to Idaho in June for the BLM project.
• Stark and Lindquist will travel to east-central Alaska in July, also for the BLM project.
• Robertson and Jeff Knopf, GIS analyst, will travel to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northern Alaska in July for a project with the Fish and Wildlife Service.

On April 28, a Mass was celebrated on the Winona Campus to celebrate the Sacraments of Initiation. Congratulations to Amy Bach who was baptized and received confirmation and first communion and to Erin McElligot who was confirmed. Pictured above are Bach and McElligot with their sponsors, Kaycie Beissel and Gabby Pederson.