Biology Department

Greetings, Alumni

Have you looked at the current list of faculty? Although your favorite professor from years ago may have retired, we're excited to welcome a number of new and recent faculty. Our tradition of excellence carries on! We're especially looking forward to further strengthening our human biology classes, while maintaining our excellence in organismal biology and ecology.

It's always good to get re-energized with new faculty and updated facilities, but some things have not changed. We're still proud to offer a very high-quality education provided by faculty who love to teach. We're still proud to offer a set of programs that combines theory and concepts with plenty of hands-on experiences in labs, in the field and through the senior thesis research project. So we hope you like the changes you see and like the traditions we're upholding. We continue to hear from employers and grad schools to send them more of the kind of students that we've sent before. And we continue to hear from our alumni that they feel as well prepared for their careers and grad school as anyone. We hope you share our pride in our Biology Department and in Lake Superior State University. If you're not already a member of the Alumni Association, please consider becoming a member.

You can help ensure the continued success of the department by:

Talking up the program. If you know young people looking for a great place to come study biology, please point them in this way. The Admissions Office schedules College Nights around the state and other events. Contact them at (906) 635-2231 if you'd be interested in participating in such an event.

Becoming involved in the program. Let me know if you'd be willing to come talk to a class or one of our clubs about your career experiences, about any research, teaching or outreach experiences you've gained and what you've learned from then that our students would benefit from. Or, if you're not able to come up, share your thoughts electronically. Send me an email message and I'll post it to the Comments Board (I can make it anonymous if you'd prefer).

Hiring LSSU graduates. If your organization has job openings in which you could use one of our grads, send me the job announcement and I'll make sure the students see it. Or Contact the Career Center at (906) 635-2234 to arrange a recruiting event on the LSSU campus or to participate in the job fairs they hold.

Providing internship opportunities. Maybe your organization isn't in a position to provide a full-time, permanent position but maybe you'd benefit from bringing in a willing worker with some basic knowledge but who could benefit from on-the-job experience. You can contact me about arranging internship or a service-learning project.

Providing financial support. The education we offer does not come cheap. With more and more state budget cuts, we're hard pressed to continue to offer the rich lab and field experiences and one-on-one experiences such as senior thesis. Our costs escalate while our state funding shrinks. We would rather not simply pass on the costs to our students who already face high tuition and fees. You can donate to a scholarship fund, you can make 'restricted gifts' -- donations earmarked for specific purposes, or you can simply make a donation for general LSSU support. The LSSU Foundation would be pleased to explain all the various ways you can help financially.

Or simply get in touch with your old professors. We love to hear where you are now, what you're doing and how things are going.

Regards,

Greg Zimmerman, Bio Dept. Chair