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New McNair Faces
This past fall the McNair selection committee had a difficult decision to make when selecting the
new group of McNair Scholars, but in the end 23 new students were selected to join the program
this semester. These students come from a wide variety of academic backgrounds, and with a
wealth of experience and knowledge. While some of our new scholars will begin working with
faculty mentors right away in preparation for summer research, others will be focusing on attend-
ing workshops and learning more about the overall graduate application process. All of us in the
McNair office are excited to begin working with each of our new scholars this semester and to
see them grow and learn more about research, graduate school, and so much more.
Inside this issue:
McNair Graduates
Spooner Grant
2
2
Winter Workshops
Senior Retreat
3
3
Alumni Updates
Andrea Selmser
4
4
Tracy Pickering
Emily Sprengelmeyer
5
5
Five More Years of
Funding
6
Fall Conferences
Student Spotlight
7
7
Making the Grade
Table Manners
8
8
McNair Scholars Program www.nmu.edu/mcnair
Newly Selected McNair Scholars
Rebecca Allers Michael Flores Rachel McOwusu
Kurt Benckendorf Taylor Freund Troy Morris
Nick Bohn Willow Grosz Nicole Musi
Mark Cook Gabrielle Hoffman Emily Mydlowski
Chandler Countryman Rory Jackson Ryan Passino
Justin Cribley Kurt Kilpela Ethan Scott
Caleb Dean Cierra LaBelle Meghan Whitenton
Alicia DenHerder Michelle McGuire
Winter 2013
Volume 4, Issue 1
New and old scholars talk about their
academic interests at a McNair social in
December.
Congratulations to our graduates!
Each December, we have a small number of
students who graduate and leave NMU
mid-year. This year, four of our
outstanding students walked across the stage
on December 15 and became proud NMU
graduates. This fall, each of our graduates
were students of the biology program and
are currently planning on continuing their
education, either through NMU’s graduate
biology program or at another institution.
We are very excited for each and every one
of our graduates this semester and wish
them the best of luck in their upcoming
academic pursuits!
McNair Scholars Program www.nmu.edu/mcnair
Volume 4 Issue 1 Page 2
December 2012 McNair Graduates
Brittney Dodge: (pictured right) Brittney
graduated with honors from the biology program and has
applied to several graduate programs throughout the country.
Brittney hopes to start a program this upcoming fall.
Karla Kopp: Karla graduated with honors from the
biology program and has been applying to graduate
programs throughout the country. Karla will be taking a trip
to Disney World to celebrate her graduation while she waits
to hear from potential graduate schools.
Rachel Sines: Rachel
(pictured left) graduated with honors from the biology
program and is moving downstate in January. She will be
taking a semester off before applying to graduate schools
in southern Michigan.
Mandy Taisto: Mandy graduated with her biology
degree and will be starting her master’s in biology here at
NMU. For the past two years, Mandy has been actively
working in Dr. Erich Ottem’s lab and plans to continue this
research during her graduate education.
Charles Spooner Research Grant
As any researcher knows, funding is
essential. Emily Perdue, who has been with
the McNair program since 2010 and has been
an active researcher during her entire time in
the program, knows this all too well. So
when Emily was notified in late October that
she was the recipient of NMU’s Charles C.
Spooner Student Research Grant, she was
very excited and relieved to have additional
funds to continue the research that she loves.
The Charles C. Spooner Student Research
Grant is awarded to students every semester
through the grants and contracts office. In
order to receive the grant, students must
submit a research proposal outlining their
project. Emily, who had been working on a
project with Dr. Timothy Hilton throughout
the summer on her McNair project, was
hoping to receive this grant so she could
continue this project.
“This is the best thing that could've happened
to let me know that I am on the right track to
becoming a professional researcher; someone
who can contribute to society by finding
things out about how it works, understanding
what that means for people, and sharing that
information with people who want to know,”
said Emily. “Things like the Spooner grant
make this possible; and this is what makes
the Spooner grant so powerfully valuable.”
Coordinator Megan DelBello received her master of
public administration degree and McNair Scholar
Karla Kopp earned her bachelor of science degree.
Spooner award winner Emily Perdue
January 16 Welcome Back Workshop/Summer Research
(No GRE prep this week)
January 29 Financial Aid Questions Answered (with the assistant
director of financial aid)
February TBA Stress Relief and Semester Coping Techniques
February 27 Library Research (With library liaison SaraJane
Tompkins)
March 13 Graduate School Applications Process– tips from
those who just applied
March 27 Keeping the Research Rolling
April TBA Faculty Roundtable Discussion
April TBA McNair Graduation Reception
April 11 Celebration of Student Works– NMU’s Research
Conference
McNair Graduate Retreat
During the last weekend in September,
five NMU scholars took a trip to
Wisconsin to participate in the annual
McNair Senior Retreat. Hosted by Don
Asher, a well-known expert in helping
students apply to graduate programs, this
weekend allowed students to learn tips
and techniques to make their
applications standout, and put their best
foot forward when writing personal
statements. They also networked with
other McNair students from across the
Midwest.
For many of the students who attended,
it was an invigorating weekend that not
only allowed them to bond with other
McNair students, but also gave them the
extra application push they needed.
“The conference was necessary for me to
get re-excited about furthering my educa-
tion,” said scholar Karla Kopp. “Donald
Asher was so knowledgeable regarding
anything and everything needed to prepare
for graduate school. Because of the trip, I
have gained a new confidence for applying
to graduate school.”
This is the second time NMU has
Winter Workshop Schedule
Volume 4, Issue 1 Page 3
McNair Scholars Program www.nmu.edu/mcnair
This semester is going to be one of the
busiest semesters so far in the McNair
offices, with 23 new scholars who will be
taking part in workshops and learning from
their “older and wiser” peers who have
been in the program for a while. The
McNair staff has put together a workshop
schedule that provides a good mixture of
research preparation, graduate school
preparation and social activities.
Once again, Dr. Andy Poe will be hosting
GRE prep every Monday night for our
large group of scholars. With the GRE
being a necessary test for almost every
graduate program that our students are
considering, Dr. Poe’s wisdom on this test
has helped many students in the past and
will help many more this year as well.
In addition to participating in workshops,
our scholars will also be preparing to
present the research they did last summer
for the campus-wide “Celebration of
Student Works” research conference in
April.
Winter 2013 Workshop Schedule
All workshops and GRE prep will be held this semester in 2806 West Science at 6 p.m.
Ashley Schmeling and Taylor Johnson attended
the McNair Senior Retreat in September with
other scholars.
participated in this annual retreat and it is
just one of many opportunities provided to
students as they prepare for graduate school.
Alumni Updates Now that the McNair program has a few
years of success under its belt, we are
happy to report that we have numerous
scholars working in graduate programs
around he country. Although we miss
them greatly around the McNair offices,
we are always very excited to hear up-
dates about where they are now
Andrea Selmser graduated from NMU
and the McNair program in December
2011, in the midst of applying to many
graduate programs throughout the
country. Andrea was elated to learn in
April 2012 that she was accepted into the
Communicative Sciences and Disorders
masters program at Michigan State
University for fall 2012. What made the
acceptance even sweeter was that
Andrea’s twin sister, Jocelyn, had started
the same program in fall 2011.
After one successful semester at MSU,
Andrea contacted the McNair office to
update everyone on how the transition to
graduate school went. Not only was this a
big academic transition for Andrea, it was
also a huge life transition too. Being a
native of Ishpeming and moving 400
miles south was a big life change, but one
she has enjoyed.
Andrea noted that “her favorite class this
first semester was neuroanatomy because
I learned in-depth anatomy of the brain
and how it functions. It was very a
challenging and interesting class.”
“Some of the biggest differences she has
noticed between her undergraduate career
and graduate classes are the pace of the
lectures. At MSU, we cover materials at a
very high pace. It is important to read
Volume 4, Issue 1 Page 4
McNair Scholars Program www.nmu.edu/mcnair
the assigned materials before lecture,
because the lecture itself is fast-paced
and usually an overview of the
materials.”
In addition to the challenging classes,
Andrea will be starting an internship
this winter in her field to gain practical
experience. “I am looking forward to
starting my first speech therapy
internship at an elementary school here
in East Lansing,” she noted. “I will be
working with children that are three to
nine years old. The caseload is
primarily autism, but I will also see
children with other disorders. It will be
a busy semester, but I am looking
forward to it.”
Andrea offers a few words of wisdom
to current McNair Scholars who are
preparing to enter graduate school in
the upcoming months. “One great way
to survive graduate school is to get
involved in a study group. You can
bounce ideas off of each other an stay
motivate to study. Also, make sure to
pace yourself and don’t procrastinate!
Once mid-terms happen, everything can
really start to pile-up.”
From Wildcat to Spartan
The McNair office will be anxiously awaiting
updates on how Andrea’s upcoming internship
goes and we continue to wish her the best of
luck in graduate school at MSU.
living, what projects they are working on,
and much more!
Check out these updates from a few of our
scholars. For continual updates on these
individuals and others, watch our website
for the most up-to-date alumni updates.
2011 and 2012 McNair graduates
Michael Michalek and Andrea Selmser
Andrea showing her U.P pride at the
Ishpeming High School Football
championship at Ford Field in November.
Teaching Abroad
Tracy Pickering graduated from NMU and
the McNair Program in May 2012 and
prior to graduating already had
accomplished a great number of things.
She had completed an internship with a
non-profit in Washington D.C., had been a
member of the All Student Judiciary, was a
tutor for the Upward Bound Program and
much more. So, it was no surprise to any-
one when Tracy decided that she wanted to
teach abroad for a couple of years to gain
even more experience before she applied to
graduate school.
Tracy was accepted to teach abroad in
Korea and arrived in August to begin this
life changing experience as an English
teacher. Tracy spends her time teaching at
three different schools, and she has noted
that she is so far loving the experience.
“The students at my home school are
wonderful. I have six classes here, not
including two classes of Frisbee that I
teach every other Wednesday. Lesson
wise, I have a LOT of leeway– I can pretty
much teach whatever I want. I was very
nervous about the first week of classes,
but those went quite easily and now that I
know most of their English levels,
everything is going much smoother.”
In addition to greatly enjoying her time in
the classroom as a teacher, Tracy has
expressed that she is overall really
enjoying the cultural changes she has
experienced while in Korea. “I feel
exceedingly blessed and grateful for how
things have been working out for me
here,” said Tracy. “It could just be the
honeymoon period, but I’ve found I really
love Korean food! I have made several
good friends in my orientation group and
the largest city near me is only about an
hour away, so on the weekends it is very
easy (and cheap!) to travel there and see
people. There’s a good network of people
who have welcomed me into their fold
who have been here for at least two years,
and have been immensely generous when
it comes to helping me orient myself and
figure out how to get around and do some
basic tasks”
Volume 4, Issue 1 Page 5
McNair Scholars Program www.nmu.edu/mcnair
Tracy, having her palm read during some of
her time away from the classroom in Korea.
Northern Experiences
Emily Sprengelmeyer earned her
bachelor’s degree from NMU in May
2012 and made the decision to stay at
NMU to complete her master’s degree in
the biology department. “My decision to
stay at NMU was based on the guaranteed
financial support the university was
willing to provide through a graduate
assistantship,” said Emily. “I knew that I
wanted to first complete an M.S. degree
before tackling a Ph.D. program.”
Unlike many graduate students in the
biology department, Emily did not receive
a teaching assistantship. Instead, she
interviewed for and received a non-
teaching administrative assistantships that
are available on campus and offer the
same stipend and tuition benefits. “My
assistantship is through the grants and
contracts office,” said Emily. “So in
addition to the skills and professional
experience I am gaining through
coursework and my thesis research, I am
also getting professional research
administration experience.”
Emily just completed her first semester as
a graduate student and is happy to report
Tracy, who worked with Dr. Steven Nelson
while in the McNair Program, hopes to
continue her teaching experience for the
next two years in Korea and then plans on
applying to graduate programs in the United
States. The McNair Program continues to
wish her the best of luck on her overseas
adventures and can’t wait to hear more
updates soon.
that it was very productive. “I was able to
devote time to reading widely in order to
refine my research questions and methods. I
was also able to complete my research
proposal and begin some preliminary field
work. I am
looking
forward to
officially
beginning
data
collection this
spring.”
Five More Years!
This past October, the McNair office staff
was excited to learn that they had
successfully rewritten their program grant
through the Department of Education and
funded for another five years.
The competition for refunding was very
tight this year, with no new programs
funded and many long-standing McNair
programs losing their funding. The
McNair office credits hard working
students and dedicated faculty mentors
for helping show how great our program
has been over the last few years.
Thank you to everyone for your support
Volume 4, Issue 1 Page 6
McNair Scholars Program www.nmu.edu/mcnair
and assistance, not only during the grant
application process, but also over the last
three years. Your contributions to this
program have helped it be successful and
have helped our students do great things.
We look forward to working with the
NMU community for many more years to
come.
The McNair office has been able to help many students over the past three
years, and we are excited to be able to continue to help the students of NMU
do all of the things they’ve done in the past….and more!
Scholar Brittney Dodge presenting at a McNair
Conference in California– Summer 2012
Scholar Rozemary Howard attending
a McNair campus visitation day at the
University of Minnesota–
Summer 2012
Scholars Eva Statler, Hunter Harig, Andrea
Selmser and Linda Sirois at the McNair
Senior Retreat in Wisconsin– Fall 2010
Scholars Mike Michalek and Matt Cowling
enjoying the Fall 2011 banquet. Scholars visiting the University of
Wisconsin-Madison– Summer 2011
Scholars visiting Michigan State
University– Summer 2012
Student Spotlight: Karla Kopp
It was a busy fall semester for several of our
senior scholars who were not only
preparing to graduate and apply to graduate
programs, but also found time to present
their research at conferences throughout the
country.
In October, Ashley Schmeling’s research
examining working memory assessment
was accepted to be presented at the National
Neuroscience Conference in New Orleans.
Also in October, Brittney Dodge traveled to
Detroit to present her research on bird feather
DNA-barcoding to high school students at
the YES! Expo. In November, D’Juana
Jackson and Karla Kopp presented their
research at the National McNair Research
Conference in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
We are very proud of each of our scholars
who traveled and presented their research this
past semester and look forward to all of our
scholars presenting at this semester’s
“Celebration of Student Works” at NMU.
forward to graduate school more than
ever now and really have McNair to
thank for that.”
To learn more about Karla and what
she’ll be tackling post-graduation, check
out her full profile on the McNair
Scholars website at www.nmu.edu/
mcnair.
December graduate Karla Kopp was in
the McNair Program for two years while
earning her bachelor’s degree in biology
at Northern. During that time she took
part in a wide variety of McNair and
NMU related events.
Karla, who completed her McNair
research with Dr. Patrick Brown from
biology during summer 2011 examining
forest management practices, was also a
community adviser for Housing and
Residence Life for two years and was
very active in NMU’s annual Relay for
Life. It was during her experiences
working on research, though, that she
discovered her interests and became
serious about applying to graduate
school.
“Being part of McNair has been extremely
helpful and motivating for me,” said Karla.
“I have been able to really understand my
own interests and become more familiar
with the type of work being done in my
area of interest.”
Through her forest management research
with Dr. Brown, Karla noted that she was
given a unique opportunity and was really
able to build a project up from ground
zero. “The research gave me an
opportunity to become better experienced
in both field and lab research techniques.”
During her time in the program, Karla
participated in several graduate school and
conference trips. “The conference
opportunities have been a wonderful
resource for me,” said Karla “I am looking
A Fall Full of Conference Travel
Volume 4, Issue 1 Page 7
McNair Scholars Program www.nmu.edu/mcnair
Top left: Brittney Dodge made the long trip to
Detroit to present her research to high school
students at the YES! Expo at Ford Field.
Bottom left: D’Juana Jackson and Karla Kopp at
the 21st Annual McNair National Research
Conference.
Right: Ashley Schmeling at the 2012
Neuroscience Conference.
Going through the graduate school application process can be time consuming and
can have many different components, including an interview portion. To help our
students feel confident in the case of a dinner interview situation, the McNair
office hosted a dining etiquette workshop last September.
The workshop, which was hosted by John Frick, the associate director of housing
and residence life, taught the scholars proper dining techniques, what is and is not
acceptable dinner conversation topics, and much more. Everyone involved had a
great time and enjoyed a wonderful meal!
Table Manners
Congratulations to the following McNair Scholars who showed
exceptional academic performance during the fall 2012 semester
and landed themselves on NMU’s Dean’s List. Great job everyone,
and keep up the good work this semester!
Director: Heather Pickett
Coordinator: Megan DelBello
Secretary: Terri Williams
2804 West Science
906-227-2590
mcnair@nmu.edu
www.nmu.edu/mcnair
Facebook: NMU McNair Scholars
NMU Mc Na i r Sc h o la r s
Prog ra m
Volume 4, Issue 1 Page 8
McNair Scholars Program www.nmu.edu/mcnair
Scholar Emily Hansen presenting at the NMU
UNITED conference.
NMU is an equal opportunity institution
.
Making the Grade
Fall 2012 Dean’s List
Everyone was all smiles,
enjoying a great meal and
learning some great
dining tips!
Rebecca Allers Rozemary Howard David Seramur
Macrea Anderson Rory Jackson Meghan Whitenton
Kurt Benckendorf Taylor Johnson
Markus Cook Kurt Kilpela
Matthew Cowling Rachael Belmore
Justin Cribley Michelle McGuire
Caleb Dean Troy Morris
Alicia DenHerder Nicole Musi
Michael Flores Emily Mydlowski
Taylor Freund Ricki Oldenkamp
Willow Grosz Ryan Passino
Emily Hansen Emily Perdue
Ryan Haskell Ashley Schmeling
Gabrielle Hoffman Ethan Scott
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