It was on a January day more than two decades ago that Marco Dominguez stepped off a plane in Marquette and witnessed snow falling from the sky for the first time. The first-generation Mexican-American grew up in southern California, but boldly left his comfort zone—both in familiarity and climate—for a winter-semester initiation to Northern Michigan University.

A recent study found a dramatic difference between the microbial diversity in guts of female and male American minks, suggesting an unexpected sexual distinction in the gut microbiomes of carnivores. Diana Lafferty, assistant professor of wildlife ecology at NMU, was first author on the paper. She said the finding is critical to informing future study design. 

NMU Ripley Heating Plant Operator David Dahlstrom's innate passion for problem solving led him to coincidentally pursue a career doing just that. 

Northern Michigan University is one of three state institutions to receive grant funding to pursue accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Northern offers a fully online early childhood education master's degree program through NMU Global Campus.

William “Jake” Brown, a former Northern Michigan University student-athlete, has qualified for the U.S. Olympic team in biathlon, a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting.