Alumni News
Jonathan M. Hanes (Class of 2006) did his doctoral work at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and has accepted a tenure-track assistant professor position at Northern Michigan University.

Two alumni, Paul Schneider (Forestry major, GIS minor) and Adam Derringer (Geography major, GIS emphasis) won ESRI’s Special Achievement in GIS or SAG award. Of the over 350,000 organizations that ESRI works with, Paul’s work for the City of Marshfield and Adam’s work for Mapping Specialists, represented two of about 100-150 awards presented. Paul and Adam were the only Wisconsin awardees. Roger Tomlinson, who coined the term GIS, and Jack Dangermond, ESRI President, presented the awards at the ESRI International User Conference last week in San Diego. Approximately 13-15,000 people attended the conference.

Spring Banquet

Alumnus Anna Hess attended the 2010 Department May banquet (left, with parents and our Diane), after beginning her doctoral degree program at Michigan Technical University, working with advisor and alumnus Michael Falkowski. Anna’s dissertation project involves landscape and habitat evaluation of pine barrens in northern Wisconsin, an extension of her undergraduate capstone project and applied research for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and of her Master’s degree from the College of Natural Resources. Michael extended his capstone project in remote sensing into a Master’s degree and subsequent PhD in Forestry before taking a faculty position at Michigan Tech.


  • Alumnus Jonathan Hanes (2006) is finishing his PhD in Geography at UW-Milwaukee.
  • Alumnus Maren Lindow (2008) is an SCA intern working as a GIS/GPS specialist at Ice Harbor Dam in Washington State.
  • Alumnus Corinna Neeb (2009) is settling in as an Information System Technician, Portage County Emergency Management, WI.
  • Alumnus Cynthia Patulski (2002) completed a Masters degree in the Landscape Architecture program at the University of New Mexico, and works at a landscape construction design company in Albuquerque.
  • Alumnus Jeremy Jenkins (2009) is a Masters degree student and research assistant in the Geography program at the University of Idaho.
  • Alumnus Adam Heil (2006) is employed at US Trailmaps in Wausau, WI.
  • Alumnus Dana Dierkes (1989) is the supervisory park ranger for Catoctin Mountain Park, MD. The parkway includes Theodore Roosevelt Island, Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve, the Iwo Jima Memorial, Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove, Great Falls Park, Clara Barton National Historic Site.