COLS
College of
Letters and Science
The College-at-the-Core
December 2012
UW-Stevens Point College of Letters and Science ● Newsletter
Harvard Selects
UW-Stevens Point Student
for Research
By Nick Boehm
When Samuel Knapp received an acceptance letter from a summer research
program at Harvard Forest, he could hardly believe it. Years of hard work and
dedication led him to a prestigious research program at Harvard University, a rarity for
any college student. However, Knapp credits part of his success to UW-Stevens Point,
a school that Knapp said, gave him the accommodations he needed as a student to
succeed.
Knapp proudly represented UW-Stevens Point in the 2012 summer program at
Harvard Forest by researching the phenology of fine root systems in temperate forest
Samuel Knapp in Harvard Forrest
trees.
The Harvard Forest is a long-term ecological research site located in central Massachusetts and is the last remaining vestige
of Harvard’s school of forestry. Aside from impressive research facilities, the Fisher Museum and influential professors, Harvard
Forest contains a remarkable 3,500 acres of land. It serves as a demonstration site and classroom, illustrating the effects of
human interaction with land. It also hosts biologists and ecologists from around the world studying everything from ecosystematmosphere interactions to the ecology of pollinators.
While studying at Harvard Forest, Knapp tracked the growth and mortality
of on-site underground roots by using specialized photography equipment. His
observations allowed him to quantify the amount and timing of atmospheric
carbon being allocated to fine root systems. The information Knapp gathered
can be used to inform current climate models and predict future fluctuations in
atmospheric carbon dioxide.
“My experience at Harvard Forest gave me a realistic idea of what work as a
research scientist actually entails,” said Knapp. “I certainly gained new technical
skills in engineering and data collection, but more importantly I learned to
interact effectively in a collaborative scientific community. It was a gratifying
experience to put skills learned in the classroom to use in a real world setting.”
UW-Stevens Point Biology Professor Eric Singsaas worked with Knapp on an
earlier project that measured the photosynthesis rate of moss as a model system
for a biofuels process. Over the 2012-13 school year Singsaas and Knapp will be
collaborating on a similar project with UW-Platteville and UW-Madison faculty
and students as they develop undergraduate labs in biofuels process.
“Sam has one of the key qualities I look for in a research student, the ability
to take charge of his project and explore on his own,” Singsaas said.
Knapp plans to graduate from UW-Stevens Point in the spring of 2014 with
majors in physics and chemistry and a minor in biology.
“Sam came to UW-Stevens Point to study basic sciences; biology, chemistry
and physics because these subjects will give him the background to build a
career that reflects his values,” said Singsaas. And those values are leading him
to a bright future.
Samuel Knapp testing underground roots
Research for Hospitals and Knowledge for our Community
By Nick Boehm
Collaborative research at UW-Stevens Point helps students
develop advanced learning skills and provides many with their
first real-world experiences.
Angela Lowery in the Department of Psychology is
mentoring students participating in bariatrics research.
Bariatrics is a branch of medicine that deals with the causes,
prevention and treatment of obesity. Brittany Iczkowski, Alissa
Nicolaison, Shirley Smith and Ashley LaFond collaborated with
Lowery on “Evaluation of a Decision Aid for Bariatric Surgery,”
a study that asked participants to make a treatment decision
as if they were a patient considering bariatric surgery using
either a decision aid or a comparison pamphlet. The results
of the study demonstrated that decision aids significantly
decrease decisional conflict and increase decision satisfaction
and knowledge of bariatric surgery.
Lowery and students worked closely with local bariatric
teams in creating the decision aid. Their hope is to make a
positive impact on the community by providing local hospitals
with a final decision aid that provides assistance for bariatric
surgery patients.
“We want to benefit people working on bariatric teams
so they have a product to give patients, “Lowery said. “The
research is ongoing; we are still collecting data before we
send the decision aid to bariatric administrations.” Additional
research will focus on personal characteristics that will be most
influenced by the decision aid.
Lowery also worked with students Ashley Majewski and
Lauren Golla on “Religiosity and Eating Behavior,” a study
that examined if the presence or absence of religious beliefs
and practices influenced eating behaviors by collecting
survey responses from UW-Stevens Point students. The study
found those
who believe in
God reported
significantly
less frequent
vomiting and less
consumption of
dieting pills than
those who did not
believe in God.
“Students
got experience (From right) Alissa Nicolaison, Shirley Smith and
Brittany Iczkowski present their research at the
creating a
study, collecting 2012 College of Letters and Science Symposium
data and
administering questionnaires,” Lowery said. “The student who
conducted the study is now in graduate school.”
The study was initially presented to Lowery by Golla, who
after taking a religion class at UW-Stevens Point began to
wonder if there was a relationship between eating disorders
and religious beliefs. Golla couldn’t find any previous studies
conducted on religiosity and eating behaviors so she took
the initiative to start her own study with Lowery and fellow
psychology students.
These studies are just a sampling of more than 100
presentations featured at the COLS Undergraduate Research
Symposium last spring. The community is invited April 26, 2013,
to meet students and faculty as they present their research
at the next COLS Undergraduate Research Symposium. Visit
www.uwsp.edu/cols for more information.
Students and Recent Graduates
Receive National Recognition
Tracey Oudenhoven celebrates a
Wisconsin cheese legacy after delivering
her 2011 commence­ment speech.
A rigorous academic school year for both students and faculty at the
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point has led to impressive results. Three
UW-Stevens Point history students were selected to take part in the Council
Undergraduate Research Posters on the Hill event held in Washington D.C. John
Lenz, Julienna Hagan and Michael Bixby presented “UWSP Archives on East
Asia: Analyzing Works from the Malcolm L. Rosholt Collection,” one of 74 projects
chosen from more than 850 applications and just one of 12 posters based on
humanities research.
UW-Stevens Point student Erica Swenson, a junior biochemistry major from
Hayward, Wis., received the Goldwater Scholarship, an award considered the
premier scholarship in science. The Goldwater Scholarship is given each year
to undergraduate students with exceptional potential for a career in science.
Swenson was selected from 1,123 students nominated by faculty members from
throughout the U.S.
Three recent alumni of UW-Stevens Point have been awarded funding
for graduate research through the National Science Foundation. Alina Ott,
Tracey Oudenhoven and Randall Siedschlag, all 2011 graduates now attending
graduate school, were among the 2,000 students selected from across the
United States for National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships.
We congratulate these students and recent graduates for their remarkable
achievements.
www.uwsp.edu/cols
Fulfilling the UW-Stevens Point
Strategic
Plan
Partnership
for Thriving Communities
Initiative
By Chris Cirmo, COLS dean
In all our activities, classes, meetings and events during the
academic year, we are guided by a very important document…The
UW-Stevens Point Strategic Plan. With the guidelines of this unique
and special document, created by the entire university community,
we can address the key aspects of the plan in everything we do.
In this issue of the COLS Newsletter the story of student Samuel
Knapp shows how we Advance Learning in his opportunity to work
with an unequaled academic partner at Harvard University. We
Leverage Resources through the Bariatrics Project of Psychology
faculty member Angela Lowery. We Honor Legacy through the
distinguished alumni honors bestowed this year on Fritz Wenzel
(UWSP Lifetime Achievement Award) and Franz Camenzind (COLS
Distinguished Alumnus). Through the academic year, we Enhance
Living through our Community Lecture Series, and this fall we Honor
Legacy through the wonderful donation from Arthur J. Pejsa and
the naming of the university observatory. In addition, we move
rapidly toward fulfilling the initiatives spelled out in the “Partnership
for Thriving Communities” through the college’s central role in the
“Healthy Communities Initiative.” These roadmaps have proven
invaluable as the College-at-the-Core fulfills its unique and critical
role at UW-Stevens Point.
Alumni News
With last year’s successful introduction of the University Strategic Plan, and the development of related goals, the
departments and centers within the College of Letters and Science have embarked on the mission of defining the tactical
initiatives each unit accomplishes to fulfill the goals of the plan. A retreat in the fall of 2011 was devoted to the
development of these initiatives, with each unit working to finalize their specific contributions to be displayed as part of the
unit’s strategic plan. These tactical initiatives are critical in that they are the actual on-the-ground ways each unit within the
college fulfills the mission of the university. As part of the university’s strategic planning exercise, Chancellor Bernie
Patterson charged the Deans and VCs with defining our “rally flag” for the university, or a set of initiatives which would
define our place in the community and region, and give us goals to fulfill the mission of the strategic plan. With laudable
work by Provost Greg Summers, his staff and the deans, we defined a rally flag as a Partnership for Thriving Communities
The Academy of Letters and Science recognized 34
students, two faculty members and one member of
the community at the annual Academy Evening on
April 21, 2012.
Frederick J. “Fritz” Wenzel (’56 Chemistry) was
recently awarded the UWSP Lifetime Achievement
Partnership for Thriving Communities Initiative
Award.
Wenzel is an executive fellow in healthcare and adjunct faculty at the Opus College of Business at the
University of St. Thomas, visiting professor at the Graduate School of Business, University of Colorado, and
a former visiting professor at the School of Medicine and Public Health, UW-Madison. He earned his MBA
Frederick “Fritz” degree from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and is a fellow in the American College
Wenzel
of Medical Practice Executives.
Throughout his career, he has held top administrative positions and served on boards for several
medical organizations and groups, including the Marshfield Clinic, the University of Wisconsin Medical Foundation, and others
in Colorado, Pennsylvania and Minnesota. He also chaired the Board of the American Cancer Society Midwest Division and
received many awards and recognitions for his work.
A charter member and current president of the UW-Stevens Point Academy of Letters and Science, Wenzel has authored or
co-authored 100-plus papers in addition to speaking and consulting throughout the country. He recently co-authored a book
on “The Future of Healthcare Leadership Competencies” as well as co-wrote and edited “Fundamentals of Physician Practice
Management” with Jane M. Wenzel, Ph.D.
Franz Camenzind (’66 Biology), an award-winning cinematographer, wildlife biologist and
environmental activist, was recently named the 2012 College of Letters and Science Distinguished
Alumnus.
Now enjoying retirement in Jackson, Wyoming, he began his life’s work as an environmental
consultant and advocate after earning a doctorate in wildlife sciences from the University of Wyoming.
He has served as a founding member of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition and for the past 26 years
he has served the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, first as a board member, then as its executive
director for 13 years. He continues to provide consultation on wildlife and environmental issues.
In addition, Camenzind has produced documentaries for ABC, PBS-Nature, Turner Broadcasting,
the World of Audubon and National Geographic Explorer. He has filmed endangered species around
the world and was the first person ever to capture China’s giant pandas in the wild on film. As a still
photographer, he was one of the first to film North America’s then newly rediscovered mammal, the
black-footed ferret.
Franz Camenzind
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
Non-profit Org.
U.S. POSTAGE
College of Letters and Science
130 Collins Classroom Center
Stevens Point, WI 54481
PAID
PERMIT NO. 19
STEVENS POINT
WI 54481
COLS Community Lecture Series
● December 13, 2012 – 7 p.m.
Let’s Play Tag with ‘JumpingGenes’: Soybean Research at UWSP
Devinder Sandhu, Biology
Pinery Room, Portage County Public Library
● February 14, 2013 – 7 p.m.
The Educational and Psychological
Benefits Of Study-Abroad Programs
Justin Rueb, Psychology
Pinery Room, Portage County Public Library
● March 14, 2013 – 7 p.m.
Acid Rain to Wood Smoke: Air
Quality Challenges in Wisconsin
David Snyder, Chemistry
Pinery Room, Portage County Public Library
● April 11, 2013 – 7 p.m.
Understanding Family Conflict at
the End Of Life
Amy Boelk, Sociology and Social Work
Pinery Room, Portage County Public Library
● May 9, 2013 – 7 p.m.
Life Story Legacies: Students
Document the Lives of Local Elders
Lynn Ludwig, English
Pinery Room, Portage County Public Library
The entire schedule and previously recorded
videos may be viewed online by visiting
www.uwsp.edu/cols/lectureseries.
www.uwsp.edu/cols
Nick Boehm, Newsletter Editor
Observatory Named after Arthur J. Pejsa
On Oct. 29, 2012, UW-Stevens
Point dedicated the campus
observatory to Arthur J. Pejsa
(’47). Pejsa and his wife, Jane,
were joined by family and friends,
university faculty and staff, and
community leaders to celebrate
the dedication hosted by COLS
Dean, Christopher Cirmo.
Pejsa grew up in Custer, Wis.
and began his collegiate career
in Stevens Point in 1940. He left
college to serve
Like Arthur Pejsa,
as a B-29 pilot in
current students
WWII and survived
are excelling in
thirty combat
mathematics.
missions over
UW-Stevens Point
Japan. After the
finished third in
war, he returned
the Wisconsin
to finish his degree
Mathematics
and remarkably
Modeling
taught two courses
Competition
in mathematics as
this fall.
an undergraduate
student. He
graduated at the top of the Class of
1947, with a degree in mathematics with minors in physics and history.
Pejsa’s storied career as a pioneering aerospace physicist included work
on the Apollo and Space Shuttle missions while working at Honeywell. Prior
to his work at Honeywell, he taught both mathematics and physics at the U.S.
Naval Academy. He is considered one of the foremost ballistics experts in the
country and is an accomplished author.
The Arthur J. Pejsa Observatory is located on the roof of the Science
Building and is open to the public for viewing during the school year.
Arthur Pejsa at the
campus dedication
For information on creating a legacy at UW-Stevens Point or creating one for a
friend, mentor or loved one, please contact Julie Smith at 715-346-2406 or email
julie.smith@uwsp.edu. Thank you for your consideration.