Grad Story #20]]>

Moussa Nombre

PhD, Criminal Justice

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Moussa, you are a PhD student in Criminal Justice from Burkina Faso in West Africa. How did you come to study in the United States?

I was teaching law at the university in Burkina Faso. About 3 years ago I felt I really needed to add another dimension to my law background. I decided to do more research on crime and punishment, and so I needed to further my education. I had a choice between the United States and France. Comparing the education systems I felt that the US would be the best fit for me.

 

So, you did your law degree in Burkina Faso. What attracted you to the University of North Dakota?

I did my Masters in Law in Burkina Faso and my initial plan was to do a PhD in International Law. But my desire to expand my background led me to do my Masters in Criminal Justice and I enrolled at St Cloud State in Minnesota. Later I discussed my wish to do a PhD with some of my professors at St. Cloud, and they encouraged me to look at UND. When I looked into the program I discovered UND is one of the best universities in the midwest, in terms of quality of education, scholarship opportunities and competitive tuition for international students.

 

Our Criminal Justice program here is collaborative program with Minot State University. Have you had the opportunity to work with faculties across the university lines?

Yes, we have a very good collaboration with Minot University.  Some of classes, depending on the concentration, can be taken through Minot State. So you can either take them in Minot or through the live, ITV system from here. I am in my 2nd semester right now, and haven’t had the chance to do that yet, but I have seen some classes there that interest me.

 

Our program has two emphases Criminal Justice Administration and Criminology. Which track are you most interested in pursuing for your research?

My Interest is in the Criminology track.  I always have been fascinated by the criminal phenomena and I’m interested in doing research on criminal behavior.

 

When I was doing my Master’s degree I was really interested in transnational organized crime and white-collar crime. But when I came to UND, which is a research university, I realized that I could take that much further – I can try to understand the substance of criminal behavior. So I am developing my interests to looking at the biological perspective of crime. We have different theories about criminal behavior. Some say it is learned, so that is the social perspective. Others say it is due to psychological problems. But when I started my program here I started thinking that criminal behavior is probably linked to some mental and biological constitution. When you look at those who commit crime, you can see that most of them didn’t want to but something drove them. So I feel like we need to look at human evolution, genetics to understand the etiology of crime.

 

It sounds like you need to have some expertise in a variety of disciplines, from Law to Sociology to Psychology. How multidisciplinary is the program?

Absolutely. Criminal Justice is very interdisciplinary a program. For instance, you need to know a lot about statistics to do quantitative research; also, if you are looking at the biological perspective of crime you need to understand how human behavior can be linked to certain mental, psychological, and physical conditions.  Those who studies forensic criminal justice, need to know basic Chemistry to undertake their research. And since we all are human and live together in society, we need to understand social settings, we need to understand social theory. It’s very, very fascinating.

 

Can you describe the academic and social environment at UND for an international student?

Before coming here I talked with some friends, who told me that it’s very cold and this could be a challenge for me as an international student. But since coming to Grand Forks, the people I have met and who I work with have made me forget about the cold. When I talked to my professors about my interests and research they are very interested in helping me to get there and this helps a lot in coping with any challenges out there.

 

Describe the importance of mentor relationship or graduate committee

In my department, I feel every professor is like a guide to me. They talk with me about what I am doing, offer ideas and suggest best ways to do it.  So when I put my graduate committee together, I feel like I will have many people to draw from.

 

What should a prospective student know about the Criminal Justice program?

The Criminal Justice department is very well organized. You are going to find professors with different perspectives in the criminal phenomenon, so studying in the department will give you many perspectives to develop your own interests. The second thing is, you need to be organized with your own work – classes, research, study. It’s very important to be organized and it is the key to your success.

 

What do you hope to do with your degree?

The first thing I want to do is teach. I love teaching. At the same time I would like get involved in helping my country’s higher education. So I would love to see a criminal justice offering in the university and give the other perspectives on crime and punishment, in my country.

 

 

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Grad Story #12]]>

Bob Caulkins 

History, PhD



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Q. And that doesn’t leave you much time for going to classes.

Right. It’s not like you're in one place long enough to do that effectively. I took courses on and off wherever I could. And I was really fortunate...I had a professor, a mentor, who really sparked my curiosity in history. And I read a lot, after those days. When I had the opportunity to go back to school using my GI bill, I knew I wanted to do history. And that’s how I started out here. I’ve done my undergraduate work here, my master's and now I am doing my PhD.

Q. You must have seen some changes with working with the faculty.

Absolutely, the changes that I have seen and experienced are, in a sense coming up through an apprenticeship, up through a journeyman’s level and now hopefully I am approaching the “Master level” with this PhD. The relationships that you form with the faculty here are great. Every member of the History faculty has been supportive in helping me achieve my goals. I found that if I am willing to put in the work, and make the effort, that they have extended themselves. I can’t say enough about the entire department. The history department is a group of dedicated professionals. The levels of experience are so diverse and what each member brings to the department has allowed me to really explore different areas.

Q. Can you talk about your master’s thesis topic which I understand was primarily focused on North Dakota. Was it your experience in the military and your interest in North Dakota that brought those two pieces together?

That’s a good question. My thesis topic initially started out as an inquiry into the state of civil rights and liberties in WWI and, generally speaking, in America. WWI has a unique history and I believe it was a watershed event for a lot of events that have perhaps reoccurred – say during WWII, during the McCarthy era, during the Vietnam War, and perhaps even during this current war on terror. But North Dakota throughout the patriot hysteria of WWI had a record that went totally against the predominant trends in the United States. Where every other state in the union was seeking to prosecute people for what was perceived disloyalty to the nation, for what would now seem almost absurd reasons – for voicing any dissent against the war. In North Dakota, the state government here took measures to enforce the civil rights and civil liberties of people, and tried to protect them and shield them from this kind of almost hysterical behavior. I was able to bring some new and previously unused historical sources to this and build upon the previous excellent histories that had been written on Minnesota’s role and North Dakota’s role. I really enjoyed it and it was a really worthwhile endeavor.

Q. How important do you think it is to present your work as a graduate student at conferences or workshops?

Absolutely. This university, itself, facilitates a lot of opportunities. As a matter of fact we're sponsoring the annual Northern Great Plains History Conference this Fall. But the History department has also facilitated opportunities for grad students, me being one of them, to attend conferences both in the region and further afield. So the opportunities are here.

Q. Earlier you mentioned having a mentor in the early days. How important is the mentorship role for graduate students?

Oh, it’s huge. Huge. And the faculty here is second to none in that aspect. You find that any graduate students interest, even if the faculty interest isn’t an exact match, the associations are close enough that you will find a mentor here. There isn’t a single faculty member here that won’t guide you, and in some cases provide the critical analysis and the motivation to become a better historian and a better student. Dr Jim Mochoruk, I can’t say enough about him. Dr Albert Berger and Dr Kim Porter, all three were on my committee and honestly, I couldn’t have done it without them. And I must also mention Dr Cliff Staples in Sociology. I minored in Sociology and he was a great help, too.

Q. That’s an interesting point you bring up and it’s a common theme that no discipline works in isolation. So many students are working across campus lines in terms of collaborating with other departments.

I think you are absolutely correct, and I’ll say this: Now that I have finished my Master’s I am more aware now of what I learned as an undergraduate in cross disciplinary studies. My studies in Economics, Sociology, Indian Studies – it is now the foundation that I am working upon.

Q. Where do you want to be in 5 years?

In 5 years, I’d like to be standing in the front of a classroom full of undergraduates trying to show them the glories and wonders of History. And at nights I’d like to be home bugging my wife and writing the manuscript of my first book. (laughs)

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Grad Story #13]]>

Ken Cabarle 

Biology, PhD



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Q. What kind of research are you conducting on salamanders?

That focuses on genetic variation in response to environmental stress in salamanders. So, utilizing salamanders as an indicator of environmental conditions – it’s called bio-monitoring.

I have chosen a bunch of sites in the field and one of them happens to be on Turtle Mountain Reservation. It’s a pond that’s at the bottom of their landfill. So we expect we might see differences there because of stress from toxicants in the landfill. 

I have another site that I surveyed last year that The Graduate School fellowship helped me go to which is a super fund site, called the Twin Cities Army Ammunitions Plant. It’s had $52 million in clean up over the last several years. I went there with the cooperation with Ramsey County and the Army and I collected salamanders. So we have two sites in the field that we would hypothesize are affected, or environmentally disturbed. 

Then I collected samples in the Sheyenne National Grasslands and that would be my reference site south of Fargo without any obvious effects from environmental toxicants. We're looking at the differences between a disturbed environment and what we would consider a non-disturbed environment.

Q. As a recipient of travel and research funds for Doctoral students, how did that money help you further your research?

The travel money sent me to a regional meeting – the Dakota Amphibian Reptile Network. It’s a coordination meeting for research that's going on with herpetological species. I presented some of my initial laboratory experiments and I made really good connections. 

And then the fellowship money allowed me to visit one of my research sites to collect the samples. I also got money for research – reagents, equipment, or whatever else it will need to go to. That money will pay for reagents to pay to do my molecular work. I literally couldn’t have done all the work this past summer without the support of The Graduate School.

Q. How important is that mentor relationship, as a grad student?

It’s the most important relationship that you have as a grad student. I have at least three people that I am indebted to for the rest of my academic career – Bob Newman, Chris Beachy and Brett Goodwin. There are others, of course, but these guys have really helped me. 

Bob Newman, my advisor, has allowed me to find my own way. But he's always there if I need to talk to somebody. It's the most important relationship you have.

Q. Any advice for an incoming grad student in Biology?

I think it's a great program. It would be beneficial for anyone coming in to have an idea of what they want to do with their degree. If you know what you want, and you know what your focus is, you can seek out an ongoing research program, or take advantage of funding opportunities.

Q. What does the future look like?

I want to get a job teaching and pay off my education! My education is geared towards the classroom and teaching. I don’t think I’ll ever give up research because I am just inquisitive in general and I love field biology. So I can’t see a time when I am not out in the field trying to track down some frog, toad, fish or whatever. It’s just part of what I do, and I‘ve been doing that so long. 

I’d love to get a World Wildlife Fund fellowship to go to Mexico to study the axolotl in it's natural environment, and get some samples. Then come back up here and work with all the cooperators I have been working with and compare those with the wild populations. So that’s what I am searching for. To have a teaching career and to continue my research.

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Grad Story #29]]> Grant Williams

PhD, Counseling Psychology

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Where are you from?

I’m originally from Kansas City. I’ve lived on both the Kansas and Missouri sides. I did my undergraduate and Master’s degrees at the University of Missouri, Kansas City.

 

Tell me about your Master’s degree.

My Master’s was a counseling program and I emphasized in Couples and Families counseling. It was more of a practitioner degree. I did a practicum and internship which really prepared me for the field. But one of the reasons I wanted to do the Ph.D. was to develop my research skills. My Master’s gave me a good foundation for being a good clinical worker in my counseling skills, but not research oriented.

 

What drew you to the Counseling Psychology program at UND?

Well there were a lot of things, actually. One of them was my advisor, Dr. Cindy Juntunen. She’s amazing and really active in the APA (American Psychology Association). Her interests and mine really coincided. I am really excited about vocational psychology and she is a big player in that field.

Also, I have some family history here in North Dakota. My mom stayed up here when my dad was in Vietnam. My grandfather actually taught Geology here and in Bismarck. He was a “wildcatter”, evidently, and was in the oil fields a lot. He said the problem at that time was they knew the oil was there they just couldn’t get to it.

 

What was your first winter like?

You know, my wife doesn’t like snow! And our last year in Kansas City we got more snow than here but it is usually gone within a day or two. But once it comes here in North Dakota it pretty much stays. That first winter I liked the snow. - I liked getting snowed in with my family - that was fun for me. I was offered admission to a school in Florida as well as UND, but I am actually glad that I came here. I tell everybody because if I were in Florida, I’d probably be learning how to scuba dive and sail and would be on the beach all the time. Here, I do a lot of studying and get a lot done.

 

Can you talk a little about your research?

I am researching ageism and how racism and ageism affect employment interviews. I am just getting ready to present my dissertation to my committee…fingers crossed. So that is really exciting. I am going to be looking at employment managers and polling them for information by giving them a couple of different scales to measure each construct. It’s a population that psychology as a whole doesn’t look at very often.

 

You are working on your dissertation proposal?

Yes, I’ve done a lot of the writing. You have to get your introduction and start on your methods before you do your proposal. Then, that’s where the committee takes a sledgehammer to it and tells you all the things that you need to work on. But also that your project is a good idea and that makes it stronger of course. It’s just a little nerve wracking. After that, I can start on the data collection.

 

Is everyone on your committee from Counseling Psychology or do you have people from different departments?

My department requires that there be one person from Psychology, not just Counseling Psychology. There also must be one member-at-large (from outside the discipline). My understanding is that they are there to make sure that everything is on the level. They may not understand the subject material, but they understand the procedures and make sure everything is going the way it should be.

 

When did you start at UND?

This is the end of my second year here and I will be done with the majority of my coursework in December, which is a really fast timetable. I am starting to feel the burn. It’s at the end of the semester when all the fun stuff starts with the writing. But the program is great for that and allowing me to push through rather quickly and to go at my own pace – (so long as they approve my dissertation!).

 

You have a graduate assistantship in Career Services here at UND, which sounds like great fit for your research.

Absolutely. I was really fortunate to be a graduate assistant there, the people are amazing and it’s a wonderful opportunity to help students. Which I really love doing. I think Career Service offices are the biggest secrets on campus, which is strange because they are so helpful! I mean a student can walk in and get expert help on how to find a job, making a resume and even get hooked up with an internship that could really help launch their careers. It’s an amazing resource for students and the people that work in the office are an amazing bunch of folks!

 

What kinds of opportunities have you experienced at UND since you arrived?

There are lots of opportunities to expand my professionalism and professional or clinical portfolio. But because of my family obligations I have to be selective of what I take on. My situation is a little different from some of the other students because I have a wife and two young children. I have a 9 month old and a 3 year old, so I have to be selective about what else I take on.

 

You speak about having a young family and a spouse. How do you find a balance?

It’s a great question. My program is amazing because they have allowed me to be what I need to be so long as I meet the requirements. And the requirements are intense because it is a doctoral program. But the faculty allows me to meet them in ways that I can. So I block off time. From 5pm-7pm is when the kids get home and its bath time. It’s where I need and want to be. I think there is a narrow age range when kids want you around and pretty soon that is gone. And you’ve got a little time to make a difference in their lives and that is really important to me. I just move heaven and earth to be there as much as I can during that time. And on the weekends as well and that means a lot of sleepless nights and missing naptimes. I study during their naptimes. And if it is really intense I may have to take a day to go to my office and study all day while my wife takes care of the kids. It’s tough, but that is what you have to do. Like I said that the program has been amazing to allow me the space to be there. For my family’s and my own sake I have to be at home from 5pm-7pm and I’m not sure a lot of programs would do that.

 

This is a very competitive program. Give me a piece of advice that you would offer to a prospective student for the Counseling Psychology program.

Absolutely, and becoming more so with North Dakota being the only state that is making money right now. The one piece of advice for someone in the program is that whatever you take on: follow through on it. It is really easy to be blinded by all the fun and amazing opportunities that get thrown at you and to say yes to lots of things, then suddenly you are underneath a mountain of stuff you need to do. Be selective about what you accept and when you accept it, make sure that you finish it and follow through. From my experience, professors and faculty will respect that. Even if you don’t take on everything, they will appreciate that you take things seriously.

 

You mentioned your advisor, Dr. Cindy Juntunen, can you speak about the importance of mentorship and the importance of having a good fit with faculty?

It’s been top notch in my experience. I’ve been very fortunate in my advisors. As I said before, Cindy is amazing, and I say all the time that it’s their world and I just live in in. But because of that, a big part of what I came here for is mentorship. That personality match is really important. Something a lot of people gave me advice on before I came was that you will not change grad school but grad school will change you. That is part of the mentorship process. Cindy has been amazing - she has been very accommodating with my children and my wife and in exchange I work my tail off for her. I think that is kind of the deal that we didn’t really discuss, but that is how it worked out for us.

 

Where do you see yourself in five or ten years?

Currently the federal government will do federal loan reimbursements of $10,000 or $20,000 a year for a certain number of years every time you work for them, so I plan to repay my debt to society or UND doing that. Afterwards I would be really interested in teaching.

 

Have you had an opportunity teach while you have been here?

Yeah, its another great thing about this program. If you are interested in something, they’ll throw an opportunity or two your way. That is once again one of the difficulties because there are so many great opportunities and there is only so much time. I have an interest in teaching and so right away the first year I was teaching UND’s undergraduate career course for undecided students. It was two 8-week courses a semester for two semesters and I was a GTA through Career Services so I could use the office’s resources.

 

Anything I haven’t asked you that you want to share?

Before I came here I was working full-time job, started a private practice, and was writing for a newspaper, and teaching. So you know, UND forced me to slow down. The pace of life here really allowed me to slow down and focus on our family and what I am doing. It was difficult at first but now it’s really great. We went back to Kansas City, we couldn’t watch the news, we were so inoculated against the violence. We come back here and WalMart and Target are 15 minutes away. It’s a really nice city.

Another great thing about this program is its rural emphasis. It is something we don’t talk about very much. There is a great push in psychology to reach rural communities because there is a definite need. I cannot imagine a more rural place than around here. So it has been a great opportunity for me, coming from Kansas City, there is almost 3 times as many people in Kansas City as there are in the entire state of North Dakota. It has been an interesting transition and I have learned an immense amount. And this program has been great about focusing on its rural communities around us and learning about rural issues. And it follows that up with practicums and internships in the rural areas.

In our program we have an amazing school counselor program that is a distance program, and from what I know, that is hard to find. Dr Dory Walker does a great job at servicing those students, visiting the sites, and making it possible for there to be a counseling presence in some of these rural communities.

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Grad Story #32]]> Changyeon Yoo


Physics, PhD

 

 

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What is your hometown?

I’m from JinJu City in South Korea. It’s a small city about the same size as Grand Forks. I lived there until I went to university for my undergraduate degree. I did my bachelor’s degree in Physics at Seoul National University  - Seoul is a city of about 10 million, so it was quite a change. I like Grand Forks because it is a similar kind of place to where I’m from – a small town environment – I’m close to everything.

 

When did you realize you wanted to pursue Physics as a career?

During high school I took some physics courses and thought I might be good at it, so I chose it for my bachelor’s. I really liked it and wanted to get better and build my career so I came to the US and did my Masters’ degree at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.

At that time my main field was doing experiments with Femtosecond Lasers. Others in my group were mainly dealing with interactions in silicone but I was mostly interested in glass materials and polymer materials. Once I finished that degree I was looking for a university for my doctoral degree and I learned that Dr. (Kanishka) Marasinghe at UND was working on atomic structure of novel rare earth phosphate glasses using X-ray, which I thought was related to my Masters. So I applied with the hope of joining that research group and was accepted.

 

Can you talk about your summer research experience? You attended a rather prestigious program for graduate students.

Yes, it was NXS 2013 (15th National School on Neutron and X-Ray Scattering). The first week was at the Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago, and the second week was at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.

At the time I was submitting my application I didn’t realize it was that good, because others from our group had been there before. But when I went there, it was a really, really great experience. Everything was provided and there was a tight scheduled from 8.30 – 6PM each day for the two weeks. The mornings were lectures and in the afternoons we’d work on small experiments related to the morning lectures.

There were only 60 students representing 47 US states – all graduate students from Physics, Chemistry and Engineering department. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I think it is really difficult to get accepted so I feel we were all so lucky to be there.

The Argonne National Laboratory does mostly X-ray related experiments and we talked with researchers and professors there, learned about the equipment and conducted three different experiments. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory does research using neutrons and we did four different experiments. We got to choose three main experiments we want and usually we got to do two of them and five chosen from the school due to scheduling issues.  Before I went, I didn’t have much knowledge of or background related with neutrons but I learned that X-ray is good for some experiments, neutrons are better for others, and by comparing the two, we get a much better picture.

It was such a privilege to be able to go to these labs – the researchers gave their time to us and allowed us to take over their laboratories for a week while helping us with lectures and experiments. I feel so lucky.

 

What was it that you learned at the NXS 2013 School that you brought back to UND and applied to your own research?

My main research is EXAFS (Extended X-Ray Absorption Fine Structure) technique. Our group did a couple of experiments at Argonne for X-Ray diffraction and X-Ray absorption. But we only had a week to conduct and we do most of our analysis at UND afterward. I would love to have had more time to get a deeper knowledge on that subject. There is so much to learn, and it’s not possible to get all of that from the books or the lectures. Seeing and doing the experiments related to it helps to understand the knowledge. There are several techniques that are not learned from books or lectures. I am still going through all the lecture notes, videos and files so I am still learning! I hope to go back to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and take some of the new knowledge with me to do some new experiments.

 

Can you describe your research?

It’s related to x-ray absorption – we are trying to find the complex atomic structure of zirconium-doped silicate glass-ceramics. In this glass, the main component is zirconium since zirconium distribution within the glass plays a major role in determining the properties of the glass ceramics. This is a very expensive glass ceramics that is used in high-precision opto-electronic devices, next-generation of mega telescopes, and instrumentation for satellites and spacecraft.- it doesn’t expand much, because the temperature doesn’t effect the glass so it is very good for mirrors designed to work in space telescopes to name only one of the uses. We’re interested in finding the main role of the zirconium in the glass ceramics. You could add a different amount of zirconium and then examine to understand the different roles in designing glass for different purposes.

Samples were prepared by Dr. (Richard) Brow’s group at the Missouri University of Science and Technology and sent here so we could do the X-ray absorption studies. This technique (EXAFS) sends X-ray with certain energy to interact with the zirconium atoms. After the absorption, the left over energy will be turned into an electron wave outward from the zirconium. Then atoms surrounding the zirconium will reflect it back to the source, the zirconium, in a pattern. By analyzing that pattern we can determine the interference and measure the amount of oxygen atoms, or silicones etc are around the zirconium. From that we can learn what will affect the glass in different ways. We could try to find which temperature or environment is good for certain purposes.

Other research we are interested in is the Rare Earth doped Phosphate Glasses which Dr. Marasinghe and some of the other graduate students have done a lot of experiments. We’re also using the EXAFS technique for certain rare earth materials – the main interest here is to find whether certain environments have very high efficiency lasing properties.

 

Where would you like to be in 5 years?

I would like to teach. I like working in the lab, but I also enjoy interacting with students. My plan after getting my PhD will be to work as a researcher or a postdoc for a couple of years and then after that, become a professor. Currently, I’m teaching Physics labs for undergraduates which I really like. It’s a really good experience and I get joy from helping students understand the application side and the theoretical side of Physics.

 

What advice would you give to a student considering a graduate degree in Physics?

It’s a broad subject so you have many paths. If you are interested more in the application and experiments, you can go down the path related to the chemistry or engineering side, or you could go more into the theory or explanation of the phenomena related to the mathematics and computer programming.

Our department’s main focus in the experimental side is general areas of condensed matter Physics and Astrophysics so if you are interested in space, dark energy, galaxy clusters and Supernovae Explosions there’s also that path.

Also we have very good faculty members (professors). All very kind, friendly, and listen to what you want to do and they will advise, guide and provide if you need help. So if you are interested in fields mentioned I strongly recommend our department.

 

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School of Graduate Studies, University of North Dakota]]>
Grad Story #34]]>  

Atif Mohammad

Scientific Computing, PhD

 

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Where you are from?

I was born and raised in Pakistan where I did my undergraduate degree and my first Masters degree in Computer Sciences at the University of Karachi. That was focused on software engineering . I then moved to Canada in 2001 to explore what the world has to offer, and after a number of years I realized I had become legacy  - everything was changed in the computer world.

 

In 2006, I decided to go back to school and I did a Masters degree focused on Database Management Systems. That was at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. I also had a chance to do a full semester load course at MIT at Cambridge, MA in Systems Architecture Design, to be a certified Systems Architect from MIT, by itself is a great deal for me as well.

 

Can you describe the research you undertook for that degree?

I was working with Pervasive computing which is embedded in our daily environment: everything from our phones, computers, to even our cars and stoves, which we can program. I created a personal information environment for an individual who is dealing with multiple devices. This was before the idea of Dropbox was even conceived by a student at MIT. I designed in 2007 an environment where an individual could access their information by logging into one of the services I designed, over the Internet.

 

So a single sign-on for all my devices?

Yes, whether it is your phone, your iPad, desktop, laptop etc. Google, iCloud, Dropbox can all do this and there are other variations – my version was much more controlled. Due to privacy and security, some environments cannot allow you to access others, for example – a school or library computer with my work computer. It meant that on my personal computer I was able to have all the data syncing back. My office work was agnostic with my school work and vice versa.

 

How does this differ from the other cloud environments where I can access any of the information I put there from anywhere?

The difference is that my environment belongs only to me and is done purely in my own domain. Whatever you put in the cloud, whether it be Dropbox, Google Drive or something similar, it is no longer owned by you, the user, and it can even be used against you as we see in some current lawsuits.

 

Is this what you are working on for your PhD?

This is one part and I have converted that to a larger version I have called DOMBA (Distributed Objects Management Based Articulation). It’s an enhancement of my Personal Information Environment work however it has now gone beyond the individual, it now a NOSQL word – a Not Only Structure Query Language.

 

I’ve been invited to talk on this at several places including Washington State University at Tacoma, Colorado State University, and Washington Industrial Technology Forum in Seattle. However, since I’m also working towards my own patent, I had to be careful about how much I could discuss. That’s where the secure session (NOSQL) takes place which is platform agnostic. ETL (Extraction Transport Load) is already built in and the size of the file, which is the DOMBA operating system, is only 16MB.

 

Cloud secured gateway – when you are working in a cloud, how can you be sure that it is secure enough to bind with your device and no one else can access it.

So, it has a bit of threat intelligence involved so that someone can’t be sneaking in another door.

I have created a three level security protocol– initially you are given a handwritten password – a human is involved in that step. It’s not given to you on a machine. You sign in with that password which is coded back. Because this has never been extracted and sent over the Internet, it is not vulnerable. This will create the third key, which is tied to your device’s physical address, and this device is provided to you for your official use.

 

When you are developing this, how are you seeing it applied? Is this for Government offices, educational institutions?

It is not necessarily for everyday use but rather for any restricted domain. For example, if you wanted me to edit a document using your device rather than uploading it to the cloud, you would give me permission to use it within a UND domain, but if I tried to edit it from outside that domain, whatever the domain is that’s approved, I’d be blocked.

 

So it is for anyone, any organization or any industry that wants to use it because it is self-administered in-house. It is purchased and therefore owned rather than sharing it with a third party.

 

As I mentioned earlier, I went for certification of Systems Architecture at MIT in 2007 and while I was there I created my own methodology, which I named SOA3.0 (Service Oriented Architecture) and that’s a combination of UML, RUP, object process methodology. I brought all the good aspects to one methodology and this is what I have used.

 

The Scientific Computing PhD program is designed to be collaborative across disciplines or other departments. How are you using your research to collaborate?

 Yes, Information Management Systems in the department of Information Systems and Business Education. They are my second department on my doctoral committee and that’s why it is Distributed Objects Management Based Articulation. So the scientific aspect is working with computer science and algorithms and software engineering, and the collaborative side is finding ways to make it accessible so anyone can use it.

 

Why did you choose UND?

Dr. Emanuel Grant suggested I join UND. I started my PhD at Florida Tech, but I could never go there because of my job and my Masters’ degree was lingering on.  I met Dr Emanuel Grant at a conference in 2007 where we were co-chairing a panel in a conference.  We started collaborating on research and papers, and he invited me to apply to UND since they were starting a new PhD program.  It’s been a fantastic experience. We have good faculty.

 

Where do you want to be in 5 years?

I’d like to be either running my own technology business, or at level 5 in the executive leadership most likely somewhere on the West Coast as CTO or Vice President Technology. I definitely want to be in the industry, but I might also like to teach a class at a nearby university.

 

 

 

 

 

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Grad Story #35]]>  

Heidi Connahs
Biology, PhD

 

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What is your hometown?
Originally, I’m from Chester, which is in northwest England near Liverpool. When I was about 19, I moved to the south coast to attend the University of Brighton where I did my undergraduate degree. It was a new degree in Forestry and Biological Sciences. It was a split degree meaning you could successfully graduate after 3 years with a Higher National Diploma, which gives students a vocational qualification, or stay on as I did with one other girl for another 18 months to complete a bachelors’ degree.

 

Then you came to the United States for a Masters degree at Tulane University in New Orleans. How did that come about?
While I was doing my undergrad, I became extremely passionate about tropical forests, and I worked at a tree nursery during the summer, and saved enough to go on an Earthwatch project in Costa Rica working with caterpillars and their parasitoids. It was a dream come true for me because I’d been reading about explorers and the tropics, and then I had a chance to go there and experience it. It blew me away – the diversity of the insects, the vegetation. While I was there I met a professor who was involved with the Earthwatch project and was also connected to a project I found myself working on the following year in Ecuador. He brought an Earthwatch group to that project and through talking with him, he invited me to get a graduate degree at Tulane University and in 2009 I obtained my Masters degree.

 

It’s quite a journey to UND for your PhD - this is by no means the Tropics!
I’d spent a lot of time doing fieldwork in the tropics, and had taken time out to work there –a year in Ecuador and a year in Panama and traveling back and forth to the UK. I’d spent quite a lot of time doing this type of work - studying insects and their natural enemies and I really wanted to delve in and get to the root of these interactions by looking at what was going on at the level of the DNA. I also recognized that, increasingly, Biology jobs were moving very much towards these specializations like molecular biology or chemical ecology. UND had both funding and training in molecular biology. Our department has three main groups – wildlife biology, ecology and molecular biology – so it makes for interesting research across the department.

 

Congratulations to you for successfully earned an Adele Lewis Grant Fellowship for Graduate Women in Science earlier this year.
I put the application together over the Christmas break last year and thought, “We’ll just see what happens…maybe I’ll get a little something…” I knew that the decisions were to be announced in July, and in late June I was working on dissecting some butterfly wings and got a call from a representative of the Graduate Women in Science and she congratulated me and told me I was the highest scoring applicant! I couldn’t believe it! I later learned the award is open to all female scientists – graduate, postdocs, faculty etc. There were over 200 applications, so I just couldn’t believe it! And they funded me 100% of my application. It opened so many doors to me in terms of my research, and also participating in committee meetings for the Graduate Women in Science – I was really honored and extremely grateful.

I’ve been lucky this year with funding, getting this award, an APSAC and Wheeler award from the Biology Department, an EPSCoR Doctoral Dissertation Award and I’m preparing another for the Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant for NSF (National Science Foundation). I’m always thinking ahead – the thing about molecular biology is that it’s expensive. You need equipment, reagents… so I’m constantly thinking about how to fund my research. I’ve written lots of grants - it takes a long time to learn how to write a good grant.

 

I imagine that the further you get into your research project, the clearer you are able to determine and articulate your funding needs?
Yes, and when I’m writing a grant I always try to imagine the reviewer and ask myself whether, “Is it clear? Is the story logical? “And hopefully make their decision to fund an easy one!

 

So you have a couple of pools of funding for your dissertation research?
Yes, and this has allowed me to present my research at the Entomological Society of America conference in Austin, Texas and the EPSCoR funding really helped along with travel funding from the Graduate School and an intercollegiate academic award.

 

Tell me about your dissertation research.
Broadly speaking, my research seeks to understand how animals develop – what are the genes involved, and how do the genes function to produce all of the diversity of animals that we see in nature. My study organisms are butterflies as they exhibit a lot of morphological variation in their wing color patterns, and plus they are stunningly beautiful animals to work with. So my goal is to identify some of the genes that are involved in wing color pattern development but also to examine how the environment can alter gene expression leading to differences in wing color patterns.

Specifically what I am interested in is the question whether epigenetic mechanisms are involved in regulating wing color patterns. Epigenetics literally means “above the genes” and it refers to the molecular mechanisms that alter gene expression without actually changing the underlying DNA sequence. During development there are molecular tags that get added on either to the DNA or the proteins that DNA wraps around. And when these tags get added on, they can result in genes being switched on or switched off. It’s a dynamic process, and these tags can be influenced by development cues – and what we’re learning more about now is that they can also be influenced by environmental cues. These tags are heritable, and can be transmitted from parent to offspring.

Even though epigenetics has been around for a while, recently there’s been a surge of interest in this area. For a long time, biologists thought that an organism’s genotype was determined strictly by the genes it inherits. But we now know it is a lot more complicated than that – for example twins can have different susceptibilities to disease even though they inherited an identical genome due to environmental influences on epigenetic mechanisms. So epigenetics has profound implications for our health and determining an organisms’ phenotype. We’re really only just scratching the surface in understanding how these interactions work.

 

You mentioned earlier that you’re always thinking ahead. What is down the road for you in 5 – 10 years?
My passion is in research – I live and breathe my work. Ideally, I’d like to do some postdoc work, which could be 2-5 years. I’d really like to use my research in molecular and developmental biology to understand why there is so much diversity in the tropics. Although my research is with butterflies, the great thing about molecular biology is that once you learn how to study what’s happening at the level of the DNA, you can study any organism.

Ideally I’d be based in the UK so I could be closer to my family, but have a fieldwork project somewhere in the tropics. My dream job would be as a staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama where I worked previously. It is an amazing facility, and you’re surrounded by tropical biologists who are all equally passionate about their work. You never take it for granted because you are always learning and discovering something new - a new insect or new bird. I love being around that intellectual excitement. There are always seminars going on, and mentorship opportunities.

 

We highlight the role that mentorship plays in graduate education, but you play a part in both mentoring undergraduate students and being mentored by your own faculty.
Yes, it is critical. In our department there is a lot of opportunity to work with undergraduates and they have all been fantastic. I couldn’t get through my current research without help from my undergraduate student. It is important to me that they feel like they are collaborators and are not just there to do grunt work. I love taking on a new student who knows nothing about my project and watching them grow and develop to the point where they can work independently. It’s so rewarding to see.

But I also learn so much from the faculty whom I assist. I’m working with Dr Carmichael as a teaching assistant in the new SCALE-up room. I love working with him, he’s really organized and has been doing it a long time. I’ve learned so much and will be able to adopt some of that style in my future teaching.

 

What advice do you have for a student who is considering a graduate degree in Biology?
Finding someone that you feel comfortable working with, because you need to work closely with that person for 5 years. My advisor, Dr Rebecca Simmons, is so wonderful, and fun and positive. She gives me freedom to do what I want with my research but is always right behind me encouraging me and many times has gone out of her way to help me.

I have a wonderful committee, actually. I have learned a tremendous amount from Dr Turk Rhen. He has spent many hours teaching me how to do micro dissections and transcriptomics, and we’ve had many interesting conversations about epigenetics – he’s one of the most patient people I’ve ever met! Dr Diane Darland is a fountain of wisdom. She’s helped me prepare my cv as well as grant writing. Dr Brian Darby paid for me to attend the Ecological Genomics conference last year and is very generous letting me borrow things from his lab! I’m lucky to have a really great committee. I get to work and learn from faculty with a variety of strengths and expertise.

Secondly, you have to be passionate. Doing a PhD, you need to be very self motivated, which is easy if you are passionate about what you do. It is very stressful and there are immensely long hours, so you have to be doing something you love. I feel like a PhD is what you make it. I’m also very ambitious so I set the bar high for myself, which also puts me under a lot of stress! I know where I want my research to go and I recognize that there is a lot of work to do to get there. I think I’ll always be very driven to do my work, but who knows? Maybe when I get to do post doctoral work I can find more of that work-life balance. I might take up playing the violin again!

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Grad Story #36]]>  

Tim Logan
Atmospheric Sciences, PhD 



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Where is your hometown?

I was born in New York City and raised back and forth between the Bronx and northern Virginia. I consider my hometown the two hundred and forty mile I-95 corridor between the Bronx and Virginia because I have family along that whole stretch.  So home, for me, is basically any city between the District of Columbia and the Bronx.

Why did you choose Atmospheric Sciences at the University of North Dakota?

I have been interested in the atmosphere since I was a little kid.  My undergraduate degree was in Geochemistry, where I studied the chemistry of rocks and minerals.  One of my professors was the state climatologist at that time, and that’s when climate change was really starting to generate some steam. After graduation, I taught high school earth science and climate change was one of the big topics that we studied. I figured I would like to get into the whole climate change debate to offer my two cents, do some research, and someday be a college professor. Atmospheric Sciences seemed like a logical progression from Geochemistry and the professors here at UND took a chance on me.

Congratulations in receiving the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute Grant, can you share a little bit about that?

It started in 2010 with a visiting professor, Wei Gong, who gave a seminar on using LIDAR (light and radar) on clouds, aerosols, and vegetation.  Dr. Gong heads one of the many State Key Laboratories in China and is the head of the lab at Wuhan University.  He liked the research I did on the 2006 Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment-Phase B (INTEX-B) that involved Asian aerosol transport to North America.  He mentioned that if I ever got a chance to come to China, he would gladly host me so I could study aerosols in Wuhan. It turns out that Wuhan is dubbed as one of the seven ovens of China.  The temperature in the summer is at or around 100 degrees from June to August with insane humidity.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) East Asian and Pacific Summer Institute (EAPSI) is a program that sends roughly two hundred graduate students on a two month research excursion to seven participating host regions in Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.  In 2011, when the NSF put out a call for grant proposals, I applied and was accepted.  I was in a group of sixty students that went to China.  It was nothing short of adventurous from the first day until the very last day.   While I was there I continued my research with INTEX-B data and assisted Dr. Gong's students in testing rice shoots for environmental stress by using LIDAR.  His group works on applications of LIDAR and creating mathematical algorithms to study both aerosol optical properties and vegetation health that can be applied to ground-based and space-based instruments (like satellites).

In addition to working with his whole group, I collaborated with one of the doctoral students on an aerosol LIDAR detection algorithm that can give precise estimates of the boundaries (top and bottom) of aerosol and cloud layers. The name of the paper is "Linear segmentation algorithm for detecting layer boundary with LIDAR".  I was also able to publish another paper, “Classification and investigation of Asian aerosol absorptive properties”, based the results from the INTEX-B data.

You also received the best student poster presentation award from the Organization Committee of the Sixth Symposium on Aerosol-Cloud-Climate Interactions at the 94th American Meteorological Society annual meeting. Can you talk a little bit about that?

My topic presentation was titled "Aerosol Physical and Chemical Properties and Their Relationship with CCN at the AMF-Azores Site".  In this poster, I merged my previous NASA funded aerosol study and a recent Department of Energy (DOE) field campaign using the DOE’s mobile facility in The Azores to measure aerosols and marine cloud properties.  In addition to funding from NASA, my advisor secured funds from the DOE which made this current study possible.

I had a very short amount of time to complete the research.  My advisors gave me the task during the summer semester and I had to present results in late November.  The results were very interesting in that continental aerosols like mineral dust, pollution, and volcanic ash were found to have diverse influences on marine cloud formation processes and it was decided that we could write a paper off of these results.  I initially presented our findings at a Department of Energy Conference and then decided to present everything at the American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting. Several DOE people stopped by the poster and gave constructive criticism but also added that they liked the way that the research was done.  The awards committee saw the poster, and I guess they liked it too. I made changes to my paper after the meeting based on their suggestions.  The paper is now fully accepted for publication in the next issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research.

Can you discuss the importance of mentorship and faculty advisors?

With having a graduate advisor, it’s a more personable relationship than with your undergraduate advisor.  At the graduate level, advisors are really beneficial because they can see potential in their students.  My advisors have kept me focused, leaned on me a lot, and have been very result-driven, which I am very thankful for.  As a result of the goals and challenges they have set I have gone to Asia twice, presented at numerous conferences, and have written five science journal papers.  My graduate career is one of the best experiences that I have ever had.

What is your best advice for a graduate student who is looking to Atmospheric Sciences?

Find out where you lie in the spectrum between the two schools of thought in Atmospheric Sciences: the modeling or observation communities.  You can have a preference but definitely acknowledge that both sides are needed.

Never be afraid to come up with some zany idea that you know you can support using different types of research methods and data platforms.  You may stumble across something that no one has ever thought of and you could be writing papers off of that idea. You are also going to get knocked around a lot. The more darts that people throw at you the more you know that you’re onto something great.

 

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Grad Story #38]]>  

Enaz Mahmoud
Teaching & Learning, PhD
Specializing in Instructional Design & Technology

 

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What is your hometown and what brought you to the University of North Dakota?

My hometown is Amman, the capital of Jordan, a city of 2.5 million and growing. My decision to come to the University of North Dakota was based on many factors. The first was that I wanted to concentrate on a university in the United States.  The University of North Dakota has a very high rank in many majors, including aviation and engineering.  To me, that meant that UND is a very respectable university and their education program would also be very good.  

Secondly, they offered my major, Instructional Design and Technology.  Then I compared tuition rates to other schools in the United States and found that the rate here is very fair and inexpensive. 

Once I found out that Grand Forks is a very safe place to live, I told myself “Okay, this is the right place that I should apply and focus my attention on.” Once I arrived here, I realized that the people are very nice.  Everybody is smiling and happy to say hello and talk and help. 

What is the biggest adjustment that you have had to make in moving from Amman, Jordan to Grand Forks, North Dakota?

There are two main adjustments that I have had to make. First of all, improving my English language skills.  I need to be able to deliver my ideas, my emotions and what I want to say effectively.  Since I am a doctoral student the main thing that I have had to focus on is to develop my writing skills.

The second adjustment was the weather.  In the summer, Jordan is around 100-120 degrees and the minimum in the winter is 35-40 Fahrenheit.  It is possible to receive two or three inches of snow during the year in Amman.  It was very nice when I arrived in Grand Forks in August, but the weather can change very rapidly, from 80 degrees to minus two or minus five in a short amount of time.

You are a Graduate Research Assistant with the College of Education and Human Development, what research projects are you currently involved in?

I’m working on a collaboration called The STEM Project which is federally funded.   This project calls for the comprehension of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. We are currently helping the students of the Grand Forks schools to develop their way of learning those subjects.  The main project helps students design and construct a house that is completely sustainable.  The house generates its own electricity and grows its own food.  Students have to observe and measure the sunlight and convert it to electricity.  Once they have the electricity, they calculate how much energy they will need to use.  Essentially, they need to use all of the content that they will learn in science, technology, mathematics, to be able to construct the house.

What can you do with a degree in IDT?

There are two possible career opportunities. The first opportunity is to be a university professor, teaching courses in Instructional Design.

The other possibility, what I'm looking at right now, is to be a specialist in instructional design and technology. The specialist approach is much broader than the first goal because all the companies, all the universities, all the banks need an instructional designer. Amazon, Motorola, Adobe, and other companies, they need instructional designers to develop training courses for their staff as well as consumers to train them how to use their products.  

Do you feel that there is a strong international student community on campus?

Yes, strong and cohesive international community here. 

The UND Office of International Programs organizes many activities to help international students engage in their own communities and the larger UND community.  One of the events that they host is called cultural night, it takes place on Thursday nights at 6:30 at the Loading Dock at the Memorial Union.

All students from all nations are invited to come to the cultural nights. The host students from, for example, India, China, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Norway, they cook their traditional food and present in traditional clothes.                       

The Office of International Programs also helps new international students adjust to campus life and life in the United States. I thought that I was going to have to discover all of this on my own but I had a peer mentor, an international student that assists new international students adjust.  He picked me up at the airport, gave me rides to where I needed to go and helped me open a bank account.  I never imagined the help that I received.

What is your best advice for a graduate student who is looking to obtain a degree in Instructional Design and Technology? 

Research and conducting studies are very important. I plan to conduct one study every year, to be updated with new updates or a new information. The information and the knowledge grow day after day, so this is one of the reasons that I encourage students, after they finish their degree, not to stop doing research, continue. Even one study per year, this is the minimum.

 

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 Grad Story #19

 

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Ted Bibby

Geology PhD

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You are originally from Tallahassee, Florida and did your undergraduate degree at Florida State University. Why did you choose UND for your PhD? And how did you become interested in Antarctica?

I worked at the Antarctic Marine Geology Research Facility (AMGRF) at Florida State University as an undergrad and was immediately attracted to the remote and isolated continent of Antarctica. I chose UND specifically because of my faculty advisor, Dr. Jaakko Putkonen and at UND I am able to follow my two research passions: Geomorphology (the study of earth surface processes) and Antarctica.

Now you are undertaking your PhD. What is your main research interest?

I’m particularly interested in geological surface processes working in Antarctica today and in the past, specifically in areas where there is no snow or ice cover. These types of areas make up approximately 2% of the whole continent and are very unique places. 

 

You joined the small team of researchers from UND that travelled to Antarctica recently for two months. Can you explain what your research question is and the types of data you were collecting?

We want to understand how quickly ice free valleys in the Antarctic interior are evolving. How fast are rocks and soil moving, where are they going and at what time scales do these transport processes work? Almost no information exists about the valleys we were in. We placed several wind meters throughout the valleys, soil traps to catch moving surface soil, collected a ton of rock samples (literally) and took highly precise GPS measurements. We are also analyzing isotopes that accumulate in rock and soil samples over time to understand erosion rates over millions of years.

 

Antarctic research must be challenging, even during the Austral summer season. You were in a remote area for an extended period, leaving little or no footprint. How do you prepare for such a trip?

The United States Antarctic Program (USAP) was the logistical backbone of our field season. All our extreme cold weather (ECW) clothing, camping gear and transportation was provided by USAP. Our main concern was completing as much field work as possible and not forgetting some small yet significant piece of field equipment amongst all our other gear. The terrain in the valleys is extremely difficult to walk on. No trails or paths, just loose unforgiving rock everywhere and mountain slopes that seem ready to rock avalanche with every step. Very sturdy hiking boots are a must paired with a high level of fitness.

 

How does the weather/climate affect your day’s work? 

We had great weather this year. I couldn’t be happier with it especially since it was warmer than Grand Forks in the winter. You adapt to being outside 24hrs a day for 2 months and given that our team is from North Dakota we had plenty of practice dressing for the cold. Work goes on as usual despite the weather conditions. You learn to love the cold, the wind, and the intense sun that never sets. You’re always tired and you’re always hungry. I like to sleep and I like to eat so it was a perfect fit.

 

You presented at an international conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina last year. Can you describe what it’s like to present at such a conference among peers and colleagues?

Going to Buenos Aires was a great honor and opportunity thanks to grants by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and ND-EPSCoR. It was important for me to see all the great cross-disciplinary Antarctic science from around the world. It’s a little worrisome at first, preparing to present in front of highly respected scientists and your peer group, but everyone is very supportive. In the end I came away with lots of connections and a new view of Antarctica. I recently received an honor from that conference for best poster presentation in my session and theme.

 

What other opportunities have you had as a graduate student?

Because of our department I’ve been exposed to geology throughout the country and have become familiar with many industry technologies including LiDAR, a 3D laser mapping tool, seismic imaging techniques, geothermal energy in North Dakota, isotope analysis in our geochemistry lab, along with teaching undergraduate geology labs, and plenty of geology field trips.

Graduate students and faculty often talk about the importance of mentorship or having a collegial relationship with one’s advisor. Has this been your experience also?

 Absolutely, the relationship I have with my advisor is probably the most important one I have at UND and I couldn’t be happier. Having a rapport with other graduate students is also very important. They are the ones that show you the ropes and hopefully make life a little easier especially in the beginning.

 

Can you recall any funny or memorable stories about your time as a grad student at UND?

 My first winter in Grand Forks was interesting. I’m from Florida and only had a bicycle for transportation and still do. I learned what North Dakota is all about that winter!

 

Where do you hope your degree will lead you?

I’d like to continue doing research, teaching and fieldwork at the university level. I’m happiest with what I’m doing right now, so it seems like I should keep on doing it.

 

What advice do you have for new graduate students?

Ride a bike or walk to school as much as possible. It gives time for reflection, you get some exercise when you don’t have time to exercise and you get to see Grand Forks in a little more detail. 


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