Northern Michigan University Professor Sarah Mittlefehldt has been awarded the Grace Magnaghi Upper Peninsula Research Grant for her project, “Distilling the Forest: A History of Liquid Biofuels in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.” The project focuses on the production of methanol out of wood, the unintended consequences of doing so, and what can be learned from what was once the largest wood distillery in the world—the Cliffs Dow Chemical Company in Marquette, Mich.

NMU Trustee and alumnus Steve Lindberg may be familiar for serving as Michigan's 109th District state representative for the maximum three terms, from 2007-2012. He also gained international media attention more recently for his retirement hobby of wildlife photography, by capturing a rare image of a three-antlered deer that was widely circulated. But Lindberg's previous and primary vocation was in education. He taught briefly in Wisconsin and at the former women's Job Corps Center at NMU before embarking on a 28-year career as a teacher and guidance counselor with Marquette Area Public Schools.

Northern Michigan University students, a faculty member and an alumna recently completed a 10-day immersive experience in Puerto Rico. The trip complements a course that explores community resilience in the face of adversity and the intricate interplay of human needs, services and communications systems.

NMU resumed its faculty-led study abroad program to Spain this summer after a four-year interruption due to the pandemic. Twenty students participated in the four-week session, studying at the prestigious University of Salamanca, founded in 1218. 

Ryan Stock, assistant professor in NMU's Earth, Environmental and Geographical Sciences Department, was nominated to serve as the Vice Chair of the American Association of Geographers' Energy & Environment Specialty Group. In this capacity, he has led several initiatives related to diversity, equity and inclusion and is currently planning the annual Energy Geography Conference.