Research

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. 

Northern Michigan University's indoor agriculture program has received a special delivery to enhance education, research and partnership opportunities. A new shipping container that houses a state-of-the-art growing center is located just outside of the Jacobetti Complex. Its operation will be supervised by students and the produce it generates will be distributed to NMU's hospitality management program and campus dining facilities.

Northern Michigan University English Professor Robert Whalen has been awarded a $300,000 Scholarly Editions and Translations Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The funding will support George Herbert: Complete Works, now under contract with Oxford University Press, the world's leading publisher of scholarly editions. This is the project's fourth NEH award.

Protocols for diagnosing and treating concussions have improved significantly through enhanced education and training, expanded academic research, and more sophisticated technology tools. Maggy Moore of NMU's School of Health and Human Performance is dedicating more time to all of the above as the first five-year recipient of the Mark. R. and Eileen Lovell Endowed Professorship. 

Northern Michigan University professor James McCommons recently published a definitive biography of George Shiras III (1859-1942), the groundbreaking wildlife photographer who honed his techniques in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. But that work often overshadows perhaps Shiras' most notable achievement: establishing the legal foundation for what became the Migratory Bird Treaty Act while serving in Congress. 

A Northern Michigan University student is conducting research on how location can affect the availability of fair trade coffee.

NMU alumna Raven Mitchell ('18 BS) is featured in a magazine cover story that highlights individuals who have “devoted their lives to better understanding the physical world so the rest of us might learn how to protect it.” In conjunction with her master's thesis project, Mitchell is working with NMU alumnus Frederick “Fritz” Nelson ('73 BS) to monitor the changing thickness of permafrost in Arctic regions. Permafrost thaw can releas

The Upper Michigan Brain Tumor Center (UMBTC) has obtained a new microscope for its lab at Northern Michigan University that enables automated, high-quality fluorescence imaging. Faculty and student researchers will use the EVOS M7000 to more clearly distinguish biomarkers associated with glioblastoma, the most common and malignant type of brain tumor.

An awards ceremony kicked off Northern Michigan University's 24th Annual Celebration of Student Scholarship on April 11. Undergraduate and graduate students were honored in various categories of poster presentations. There were also awards for an essay competition, projects using Lydia Olson Library and/or NMU Archives resources, and technology innovation.