Students & Classes | Lynne Heasley

Archive of "Then and Now": This archival page featured professional and creative work from a sample of wonderful, long-ago students at Western Michigan University.

Michael Gregor, 2008, Environmental Studies and Political Science

Michael serves as an organizational development consultant at Future State. Prior to that, he was a strategist at The Work Department. He leads organizational transformation through participatory process, strategic communication, and design. He helps corporations, governments, and nonprofits achieve visionary results by authentically engaging diverse stakeholders. Using human-centered design tactics, Michael leads business and cultural transformation projects that result in lasting change.

At WMU, Michael majored in Environmental Studies, Public Policy, and Nonprofit Leadership. He also studied Spanish and politics in Mexico. As a student, Michael founded Kalamazoo's first group equity housing cooperative, Kalamazoo Collective Housing. The organization provides nonprofit, sustainable housing; empowers people to create democratic cooperatives; and strengthens our community through shared resources and education. Today, the organization houses over 50 members. Michael also held leadership positions at Students for a Sustainable Earth, Kalamazoo Metro Transit, Energy Action, the Sierra Student Coalition, and North American Students of Cooperation. In 2008, Michael was named a Morris K. Udall Scholar and a WMU Presidential Scholar in Political Science, and in 2009 he was inducted into the NASCO Cooperative Hall of Fame.

Remy Long, 2010, Environmental Studies and Global and International Studies

Remy is carrying out masters research in the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources. Prior to grad school, he served in Peace Corps Gambia, specializing in agroforestry and apiculture (bee keeping). His central project was to establish the Peace Corps Gambia Food Security Training Center. With a close Peace Corps friend he also raised funds for a folklore project, "Preserving the Oral History of Gambia."

At WMU Remy graduated Magna Cum Laude and received Environmental Studies' Academic Excellence Award. On campus he was coordinator of the Gibbs House For Environmental Research and Education. Off campus, Remy Wwoof'd in England, Scotland, and Ireland; interned in North Carolina at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems; and took on a Wisconsin apprenticeship in carpentry at the Little Sugar River Farm.

See Remy's photostream here!

Kourtney Collum, 2009, Environmental Studies and Anthropology;
2012, M.S. in Forest Resources, University of Maine

Kourtney is a Ph.D. student at the University of Maine in anthropology and environmental policy. Her dissertation research is on the ecological knowledge of New England farmers who specialize in blueberry, cranberry, apple, and squash cultivation. Kourtney’s study addresses the “pollination deficit” caused by the catastrophic decline of commercial honeybees. She and her research collaborators are exploring whether native pollinators can be an important agro-ecological solution to the crisis.

Kourtney's interest in sustainable agriculture began at WMU. For her Environmental Studies senior capstone, Kourtney researched the local foods of Kalamazoo, Michigan during the nineteenth century--their production, seasonal availability, preparation, and preservation. Her final presentation was a model nineteenth-century farm dinner at her home (she prepared everything herself, as authentically as possible). The project meal was hard for the vegetarians in our class, because it involved a lot of pork!

At WMU, Kourtney was Anthropology's 2009 Presidential Scholar. During summers, she was a conservation volunteer in New Zealand (http://www.isvolunteers.org/), a Student Conservation Association trail crew intern at Baxter State Park in Maine (http://www.thesca.org/), and a chainsaw crew leader in Colorado and Wyoming to mitigate the pine beetle epidemic (http://www.rockymountainyouthcorps.org/). Today, Kourtney volunteers with the Master Gardener program (http://umaine.edu/gardening/master-gardeners/).

Chris Siciliano, 2002, Environmental Studies and English

Chris is a community manager of Ignite Social Media, located in Detroit and Raleigh. He is also owner and head writer of Cadmus: Writing for New Media, a social media company in Grand Rapids that specializes in professional and creative writing and brand management. While Chris counts family among his first and major clients—he edits The Buzz: Siciliano’s Market News & Notes for his dad’s specialty store—his clientele now includes a diverse mix of companies, agencies, and non-profits.

Chris’ lifelong study of writing began in earnest at WMU; it continued in graduate school at the University of South Carolina, where he was a James Dickey Fellow in the MFA creative writing program. After earning his masters, Chris relocated to the wilds of southern Oregon, picking wine grapes in the Umpqua Valley, then teaching English at a small community college in the mountains. A year out West was apparently enough for Chris (for now)—he came home to Michigan in 2010.

See Chris' one-act play "The Fitting" published in Prick of The Spindle; and also this Mlive article quoting Chris on a Founders KBS Brew-ha in Grand Rapids.

Tristan Brown, 2005, Environmental Studies and Student Planned Major;
2007, M.S. in Economics, Cambridge University;
2014, J.D., Berkeley Law, University of California-Berkeley

Tristan completed his law degree from Berkeley Law at the University of California-Berkeley. He has worked at Van Ness Feldman PC, a law firm that specializes in energy and environmental law, and has a niche serving renewable energy projects. From 2008-2011 Tristan was legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota), with responsibilities for environment, agriculture, and energy. During that time Tristan participated in annual meetings of the Conference of the Parties (COPs) for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. In 2005 Tristan won an undergraduate Udall Scholarship from the Morris K. Udall Foundation, and the next year a graduate Gates Cambridge Scholarship to attend Cambridge University in the Department of Land Economy. In the photos above, Senator Klobuchar is introducing Tristan to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar (left); attending the confirmation hearing for Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsak (middle); and celebrating a Gates Scholars reunion at the British Embassy.

Check out Tristan's long ago WMU honors thesis project, the documentary Jaunt to Malaysia.

Lorah Patterson, 2010, Environmental Studies and Biological Sciences

Lorah graduated from WMU in 2010 with majors in Environmental Studies and Biology and a minor in Chemistry. As a student, she spent two summers working for the U.S. Herbarium at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, where she researched and wrote about the botany of historical expeditions for the Smithsonian's website. In 2009, she was named a Distinguished Senior in Biology. As a result of her dedication to learning about plants, Michigan Garden Clubs, Inc. awarded Lorah its 2010 Hazel Wirick Scholarship. Since graduation, she has taken two Student Conservation Association internships: the first working in the Yosemite National Park archives; and the second to restore degraded areas at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Lorah's love of exploring and writing about the natural world inspired her to embark on her own modern expedition for her honors thesis: following the historical routes of the Cass and Schoolcraft expeditions of 1820, 1831, and 1832. During her research, Lorah collected plants across Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, comparing her observations and adventures to those earlier explorers. Click here to see Lorah's thesis.

Aliisa Lahti, 2006, Environmental Studies and Comparative Religion

Today Aliisa is an organizer and trainer with ERACCE, an NGO dedicated to eliminating systemic racism and strengthing ties among community organizations in southwest Michigan. After graduating from WMU, Aliisa applied her training and personal vision to becoming a farmer and artist. She farmed at her home, Heron Homestead, where she used no petrochemical or synthetic pesticides or fertilizers (Aliisa loves insects, discovering them to be one of her favorite things about farming!). While attending WMU, Aliisa served as co-chair of Students for a Sustainable Earth, a member of Women's Equality, and a volunteer at the Swords Into Plowshares Peace Center. Having decided to settle in Kalamazoo, Aliisa remains extremely active in the community. She is the long-time chair of the board of directors for the People's Food Co-op and a board member of Fair Food Matters; she was also an educator for Girls in the Wild. Most recently, Aliisa has become involved in ERAC/CE, a non-profit organization formed as part of a local movement to eliminate racism.

See the Kalamazoo Gazette's feature article on Aliisa (above photo at left by John A. Glacko for the Gazette). You can also find some of her beautiful wearable art at http://www.etsy.com/shop/rhubarbpi

Ryan Koziatek, 2010, Environmental Studies and Geography

Ryan Koziatek is the stewardship field director at the Kalamazoo Nature Center. At WMU, Ryan majored in Environmental Studies and Geography/Environmental Analysis and Resource Management. During that time he founded the Student Environmental Co-op, an ongoing initiative of the Kalamazoo Nature Center. Ryan also created a registered student organization to provide hiking and camping opportunities for undergraduates, and became a college senator representing students in the College of Arts and Sciences. He was the 2010 WMU Presidential Scholar for Environmental Studies and the 2009 Outstanding Senior for Geography.

Soon to come: Ryan's documentary of Maynard Kaufman, one of Michigan's pioneering sustainable agriculture practitioners and advocates (completed for our rural history class).

Carrie Susemihl, 2008, Environmental Studies and Art (Photography and Ceramics)

In 2008, the Environmental Studies Program named Carrie its WMU Presidential Scholar. Today Carrie is a marketing specialist for Consumers Credit Union. With dual degrees in Environmental Studies and Art, her career route has not been conventional! "Art and Environmental Studies? How does that get you a job?" asks Carrie with a smile. Environmental Studies courses brought her to Tillers International, where she accepted her first post-graduate position as education coordinator and assistant to the director. During her time at Tillers, Carrie developed marketing strategies, coordinated courses, redesigned the website, and learned welding and oxen driving. At Consumers she brings her graphic design, writing, and marketing talents to community-based finance. Carrie's creativity and artistic training form the foundation for her work: "The written word and its various vessels are fascinating, be it hand-bound and printed books or marketing materials produced via one of my great loves, Adobe InDesign. And just to make things a little more interesting, I'm a bellydancer."

See the websites Carrie has designed and built: http://www.tillersinternational.org, http://www.sjvoea.org, https://mi.consumerscu.org. And visit Carrie's YouTube forum on bellydancing: http://www.youtube.com/bellydancebycarrie.

Andy Powrie, 2006, Environmental Studies and History

Andy Powrie is the archivist for the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development (IIC) in Guyana. Prior to this position, Andy was a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon, West Africa, where he worked with the NGO Green Care on agroforestry and sustainable agriculture projects. In the photos, Andy is with Green Care colleagues on a trek to a work site (left); helping with a road construction project (middle); and on his way to a village event with two chickens and wearing traditional garb and saber (right). At WMU, Andy worked in the Archives and Regional History Collection. His senior seminar for Environmental Studies involved a major project at Tillers International, after which Tillers hired Andy to its team responsible for historical timber frame projects.

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