![\"Cory](\"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/river\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/70\/2018\/08\/ButterflyFriend-243x300.jpg\")
Born on the equator and raised in Minnesota\u2019s Northwoods, Cory Dack<\/strong> decided to go investigate her Ecuadorian heritage by teaching English in Quito, the historic capital city of Ecuador. After a few years of rappelling down waterfalls, swimming with sharks in the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands, and climbing peaks throughout the Andes Mountains, the beauty of Lake Superior beckoned her home. Currently in her 11th year as a wilderness guide, Cory is incredibly excited to spend the next 100 days on the Mississippi River as both a Wilderness Inquiry expedition\u00a0leader and an instructor for Augsburg University. She looks forward to making some incredible memories over the next few months with all of the students and staff on The River Semester!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Joe Underhill<\/strong>\u00a0is the Program Director of the River Semester and has been teaching and engaged in environmental politics for the last 30 years, from the Hudson River to San Francisco Bay and now on\u00a0the Mississippi River. \u00a0 Ever since arriving in Minneapolis\u00a0he has been working on bringing students out on the river, leading to the first offering of the River Semester in Fall 2015.\u00a0 The students had a great time on that trip, learned a lot, and building on that experience\u00a0he is thrilled to be putting together this second offering of the River Semester.\u00a0 His\u00a0goal is to increase our understanding of the causes and dynamics of current social and environmental problems and help with efforts to decrease our impact on the environment, increase social justice, and move towards a more sustainable economy.\u00a0 These are big goals, but ones we can, and must, be working on in whatever ways we can. He sees the River Semester as\u00a0a model for how we can teach and educate college students in the 21st Century–experiential, interdisciplinary, applied, challenging, problem-based, and also a lot of fun.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Linda Buturian<\/strong> is in her 16th<\/sup> year at the University of Minnesota, where she teaches and designs curricula that integrates the humanities and sciences in order foster creative approaches to learning about social justice issues. She is the author of World Gone Beautiful: Life Along the Rum River<\/a><\/em> (2008) and The Changing Story: digital stories that participate in transforming teaching and learning<\/em> (2016).\u00a0 Prof. Buturian is be traveling with the expedition for 10 days and working with students over the course of the semester on their shared multimedia story-telling.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Prof. Reuben Heine<\/strong>, Geography Department, Augustana College, Rock Island, IL<\/p>\n Prof. Jessica Ennis<\/strong>, Physics Department, Augsburg University<\/p>\n Prof. Kristen Chamberlain<\/strong>, Communications Department,\u00a0Augsburg University<\/p>\n Prof. Bill Green<\/strong>, History\u00a0Department,\u00a0Augsburg University<\/p>\n Prof. Eric Buffalohead<\/strong>, American Indian Studies\u00a0Department,\u00a0Augsburg University<\/p>\n Prof. Henry Yoon<\/strong>, Psychology\u00a0Department,\u00a0Augsburg University<\/p>\n Prof. Evren Guler<\/strong>, Psychology\u00a0Department,\u00a0Augsburg University<\/p>\n Prof.\u00a0Lars Christiansen<\/strong>,\u00a0Sociology Department,\u00a0Augsburg University<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Demey Everett<\/strong> is currently in her third year at Augsburg. She is from the Minneapolis area where she was born and raised her whole life. Her major is Biology with a double minor in Religion and Environmental Studies. She decided to take part in the River Semester because of her love of nature and passion for the connection that can be drawn between natural resources and biology. She hopes that the River Semester will combine these topics and allowing for full immersion into nature and learning to take place.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Clayton Bodine<\/strong> is\u00a0Senior at Augsburg. Studying Business Management with a double Minor in M.I.S. and Environmental Studies. He plays on the Augsburg University Baseball team and enjoys spending time with family including his two younger brothers. Decided to go to Augsburg because of the amazing location and the educational and athletic opportunities presented. Is going on the River Semester because of the amazing outdoor experience and the opportunity to continue my senior year by spending a lot of time on the river. Hopes to gain some perspective about business on the river and how living on the Mississippi differs from region to region.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tanner Hi <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Faith Moua<\/strong> grew up in Minneapolis, MN where the dogs in her neighborhood influenced her interest in animals, which progressed toward her love for animals that solely derived from raising her family dog. This passion of hers lead to her vocation as a Veterinarian. She studies in Biology to pursue her goal. The River Semester program conveyed a message of being adventurous, gaining personal experiences, earning relationships and connections, overcoming challenges, intimacy with nature, and much more. All in which lead to her final decision to come on the trip.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Emile Mongiat<\/strong> will be attending the 2018 River Semester. Originally from the city of Saint Paul, he has lived relatively close to the river\u00a0his entire life but has never really explored it very much, which is something he regrets.\u00a0In summer 2018 he worked on the Padelford Riverboats and that experience really gave\u00a0him a chance to see the value and the importance of the river and what it has to offer. He wants to dig more into that this fall and learn the real importance of it. This fall, he will be doing an ethnography of the Mississippi River which means that he will be making observations about the river while on the river. Ethnographers make observations about people and places when they are in that place, which is exactly what he will be doing on my trip. He thinks it is going to be a really interesting experience spending 100 days on the river.\u00a0He has been camping and canoeing\u00a0his entire life and\u00a0is so excited to be able to do it for such a long period of time.\u00a0He looks forward to gaining a new perspective on what the river life is like because he only knows a small part of it from working on the riverboats for 4 months. He wants to try and make as many acquaintances with the people that he is going on the trip with. They all seem like really cool people and he wants to get to know them all.\u00a0 As he put it, “I think this is going to be a life changing experience and I\u2019m really looking forward to it.”<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nell Gehrke<\/strong> grew up in the small town of Good Thunder, Minnesota. Some of her first memories are of her mother teaching her to skip rocks across the Maple River that flows a mile out of town. When she was in high school, her family moved to Northfield and she became acquainted with the Canon River. She still goes back there to visit her family and she\u2019ll miss them very much while she\u2019s away. Nell came to Augsburg University in 2016 to study Environmental Studies, and she now calls Minneapolis and the Mississippi River home.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"Ann](\"http:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/river\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/70\/2018\/08\/Ann_Koler.jpg\")
<\/a><\/strong>Ann Koller<\/strong> is an avid explorer who loves to experience new environments and cultures. She grew up in Minneapolis with a family that only vacationed in tents. After graduating with a degree in History and French from the College of St. Benedict, Ann moved to Chicago for volunteer service working with young women in the public schools. She then moved to Europe to live, teach, and learn in both France and Scotland. Increasingly interested in experiential education and with a professional background in leadership and youth development, she returned to school to obtain a Master\u2019s degree in Outdoor Education.\u00a0 Ann has worked for 6 years with Wilderness Inquiry and has spent countless hours leading trips and paddling Voyageur canoes. Ann is thrilled to join the River Semester as both a guide and supplemental instructor as it blends her passion for teaching, paddling and spending time forming community. She is excited to continue to learn from the Mississippi and all of the students and staff joining the expedition!<\/p>\nPeter Carlson<\/strong> joins the 2018 expedition from his research position at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment in Uppsala.\u00a0 Originally from the Minnesota, Dr. Carlson grew up exploring and swimming in the Mississippi, and brings extensive experience in stream ecology and field research on the Mississippi, Ohio, and numerous other watersheds in the U.S. and Sweden.\u00a0 His research is focused on energy flows between stream-riparian habitats, in particular,\u00a0on quantifying important interacting influences of land use and microhabitat on pathways of resource transfers.\u00a0 He is also doing research on the ecological impacts of dam removal, and he is very excited to be sharing his love of stream ecology and field research with the students on the trip this year, as well as learning more about the river from all the people we meet along the way.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\naffiliated faculty\u00a0and Guest Lecturers<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nStudents<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>ntz<\/strong>\u00a0comes from Lino Lakes, MN, and is Majoring in Clinical Psychology and minoring in both French and Biology. At first she only wanted to do the River Semester because a study away\/abroad trip was required by the school, but after learning more information from her friend the River Semester began to sound like a lot of fun. She has never been camping or canoeing before. She thought it would be a lot of fun and a great new experience for her. She is hoping to learn more about how the Mississippi is affected by people and how other things affect the river. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nEspoir DelMain<\/strong> grew up in the Twin Cities and is a sophomore at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, and has spent a lot of time in the Northwoods of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Growing up paddling and camping, she has schemed up and gone on many wilderness trips but has been dreaming of paddling the Mississippi for a long time, and is so excited for this opportunity. She loves finding and cultivating the intersections of her interests in the arts, environmental activism and foreign languages and cultures. In the past this has looked like working on environmental issues during high school and now into college with community groups as well as campus organizations and more recently attended the UN Climate Negotiations last November in Germany. On the river the intersections of her interests will look many different ways but will include her independent place-based dance project and discovering how we can leverage our experience to work for justice and advocacy along the river.<\/p>\nLiam DelMain<\/strong> is a student at the University of Minnesota, in their second year pursuing a degree in Youth Studies. They grew up on the south shore of Lake Superior, and water has always been one of the most important parts of their life. It has long been a dream of theirs to paddle the Mississippi, and when they heard about River Semester from an alumni they met up in the north woods there was no question that they would apply. Liam is most excited about developing relationships with other young people who are stoked about expeditionary learning, and pursuing their independent research project on place names and narratives in public history.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Grant Berg<\/strong> is a Junior at Augsburg University. Born in Minneapolis and raised in Duluth, Minnesota, Grant had long had a passion for politics and history and has been studying political science and history at Augsburg. Grant is a trans student who has been transitioning for the past year and a half, and has given a TEDXUMN talk discussing his struggles with transitioning and living in the USA during the Trump era. He decided to join the Augsburg University River Semester to push against stereotypes about trans folks, as well as challenge himself with a new learning environment as well as new try new physical challenges. Grant plans on joining the United States Marine Corps post graduation to pursue a career as a judge advocate<\/p>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a>\u00a0Camila Payan<\/strong> is a senior at Augsburg, majoring in Biopsychology and is studying to become a medical doctor. She moved to the United States from Colombia with her parents and older brother at age 5, and grew up in Bloomington, Minnesota. Camila wants to go on the River Semester because she has wants to partake in a life changing experience, and when she heard about his opportunity she thought that this might just be it.\u00a0 She loves nature, camping, hiking, and just going with the flow. Although she is terrified of bugs, she is exited about being surrounded by nature, being more mindful, meeting new people, and experiential learning.<\/p>\n<\/a>Dwayne Williams<\/strong> is a 4th year student, currently studying Environmental Studies. He is from Saint Paul, Minnesota. He has always been interested in environmentalism, even before he started to develop an understanding of what environmentalism is, and the different aspects of environmentalism. This interest was sparked from being around elders in his community, who introduced activities such as camping, fishing, canoeing, kayaking, picking (different foods and medicines), hiking, etc. He chose to go on this trip because of the courses that are offered, and to have a hands on learning experience about the Mississippi River, and communities associated with the Mississippi River.<\/div>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Third-year Political Science and History major, Kristy Ornelas<\/strong> chose to adventure down the Mississippi because she needed a break from the big city. A newbie to canoeing and camping, Kristy hopes to rethink materialism and immerse herself to the teachings of the Mississippi River.<\/p>\n