May 11, 2009
UWSP alumna, a climate change expert, to
address May graduates
An alumna of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP) who is
an expert on climate change will address graduates and their
families at the university’s spring commencement ceremonies on
Saturday, May 16.
Jenny Baeseman, a 1998 alumna who is a founding director of the
Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) and has worked
with Al Gore as a member of The Climate Project, will speak to 1,220
graduates in the Specht Memorial Forum (Sundial) in two ceremonies.
The first ceremony at 10 a.m. will feature graduates with
associate’s, baccalaureate and master’s degrees in the College of
Letters and Science and College of Natural Resources. The 2 p.m.
ceremony will feature graduates with baccalaureate, master’s and
doctoral degrees in the College of Fine Arts and Communication and
College of Professional Studies.
This spring’s graduating class includes students ages 20 to 58.
In the case of inclement weather, the decision to move the
ceremonies indoors to the Quandt Gymnasium will be made by noon on
Wednesday, May 13.
The commencement programs will open with the presentation of flags
by UWSP’s ROTC color guard. The national anthem will be sung by
senior music education major Caitlin Last of Port Washington at 10
a.m. and by senior musical theatre major David L. Murray Jr. of
Kenosha at 2 p.m. Presiding over the ceremonies are Chancellor Linda
Bunnell, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Mark Nook
and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Bob Tomlinson. Bunnell will
give the welcome and charge to the graduates.
Representing the class of 2009, senior forestry
management major Kenneth Standish Price of Ogema will speak at the
10 a.m. ceremony and senior elementary education major Emily Bouché
of Dane will speak at the 2 p.m. ceremony.
Deans from their respective colleges will
assist the chancellor in the presentation of diplomas. Candidates
for graduation will be introduced by English Professor Rebecca
Stephens at 10 a.m. and by Music Professor David Hastings at 2 p.m.
Mary Westcott of Stevens Point, a 1975 UWSP graduate and
president of the UWSP Alumni Association Board of Directors, will
give the charge to alumni. Music will be provided by the UWSP
Concert Band at the first ceremony and the UWSP Wind Ensemble in the
second, both under the direction of Assistant Professor of Music
Brendan Caldwell.
Baeseman, who earned a bachelor’s degree in water resources
at UWSP, has researched the survival mechanisms of bacteria in the
coolest environments on Earth to find how their unique biochemistry
can benefit society. She has conducted research in the McMurdo Dry
Valleys of Antarctica, in Fairbanks, Alaska, and now in Tromsø,
Norway, where she resides and where APECS is based.
As a director of the international organization, she helps young
researchers with career opportunities that increase international
science efforts, trains researchers to communicate their research
with society and policy makers and develops a strong network of
researchers concerned about the impacts of climate change on the
melting Polar Regions.
Baeseman has also been a leader in the International Polar Year
efforts, working with scientists across the globe to increase
understanding of the Polar Regions. As a representative of Al Gore’s
“The Climate Project,” she presented the message of the film,
An Inconvenient Truth,
and climate change issues to people across the U.S., including a
group at UWSP last fall.
Baeseman continues to be active with UWSP, serving on the Alumni
Association Board of Directors since 2006 and giving presentations
to students. She is currently working with faculty in the College of
Natural Resources to create opportunities for UWSP students to
participate in a summer school on the Antarctic Peninsula.
She holds a master’s degree in civil engineering from the University
of Minnesota and Ph.D. in civil engineering with an environmental
emphasis from the University of Colorado.
