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Evan Larson teaches Planet Earth at UW-Platteville.

“Teaching and the environment are central to my life,” Larson said. “I spent my childhood immersed in the natural world, paddling the lakes and exploring the woods of northern Minnesota, helping manage my family’s 80 acres of woods and traveling throughout the country on family vacations. These experiences grounded me with a strong appreciation for the complexity and beauty of the natural world and the connections that can form between people and their environment.”

“He is a very personable and animated when he is teaching,” junior business administration major Megan Hertzfeldt said. “I have never enjoyed learning about geography as much as I do with Professor Larson.”

Larson is in his first year as  an assistant professor of geography at UW-Platteville, but he started his higher education at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon.  After graduating with a bachelor’s in environmental and earth sciences, he was accepted to University of Tennessee-Knoxville where he received his masters degree in geography. His most recent educational achievement is a Ph.D. in geography from the University of Minnesota.

“When I was finishing my Ph.D. I knew I wanted to work at an institution where teaching was the focus but still afforded me the option of conducting research,” Larson said. “That led me to look at small- and medium-sized schools, but I was also fairly picky about where I wanted to work geographically. UW-P fit both of my desires – it is a student-centered school that is situated in a spectacular landscape. When I was offered the job it didn’t take long to make my decision and I’ve been happy with it ever since.”

Larson is working on a number of projects, including research on the dynamics of whitebark pine forest ecosystems, the ecological effects of European earthworms as they invade North American forests, and the use of tree ring samples from ancient whitebark pine and its close relative limber pine to reconstruct past climates in the Wallowa Mountains of Eastern Oregon.

Larson has also won a number of awards, grants and scholarships in his field of research. Some of these include: National Science Foundation Grant to study Climate and Forest Dynamics near Arctic Treeline in Northern Manitoba, Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, University of Minnesota; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Science to Achieve Results; Graduate Fellowship Graduate School Fellowship, University of Minnesota; and the Morris K. Udall Scholarship for Excellence in Environmental Policy.

Larson said he would like to get a thriving tree-ring research laboratory going while also getting actively involved in ecological restoration projects in the surrounding area while at UW-P.

“I’ve got thoughts rolling around in my head about developing a course in conservation biogeography, but that’s still a few years down the road,” Larson said. “Along that line of thought, I would also love to see UW-P take a leadership role on issues of sustainability in the region. I think UW-P is perfectly situated to have a really profound influence on the communities and environment of southwest Wisconsin. We have an excellent engineering program – there’s no reason we shouldn’t have a fleet of vehicles running on grease or wind turbines around campus. It would just make sense and I’d love to see it happen.”

UW-Platteville’s 11th annual traditional powwow was held in the Williams Fieldhouse on Oct. 31 .

Potatoes, dancing and eagle feathers may not seem to have much in common, but they all played a part in UW-Platteville’s 11th annual traditional powwow.

The powwow took place on Oct. 31 in the Williams Fieldhouse, with two colorful grand entries at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. The fieldhouse was filled with various vendors selling things from cedar boxes to authentic native jewelry. The tribes represented included, the Oneida, Anishinabe, Menomonee, Potawatomi, Cherokee, Lakota and Ho Chunk. There were even tribes from as far away as Mexico — the Chichimeca, and Jamaica — the Arawak.

The origin of the powwow is believed to go back more than 100 years, and is America’s oldest public festival. It is typically described as a gathering of people to celebrate the circle of life with feasting, dancing, singing and drumming. In celebrating this circle, the physical structure of the powwow setting is a circle. The drums are either on the interior or exterior of the circle depending if it’s held indoors or outdoors and the space available.

“I thought it was a really interesting experience to finally attend a powwow. I have never been to one before and now I have a better understanding of the Native American culture,” agriculture business and animal science major Eric Schulenburg said.

Dances preformed included grass dancing, traditional and fancy shawl. There were many opportunities for audience participation with various intertribal and dedication dances, as well as some interesting competitions. This included a personal style dance competition where spectators could use what they learned and infuse it with their own individual technique for a cash prize going to the most original. Another competition was the “Potato Dance” which required each participant and their selected partner to hold a potato without using their hands and dance around the circle until only one couple was left.

“My favorite part [of the powwow] was the first dance when everyone from the audience was invited to join in,”  animal science major Jake Stueber said.

“For the native people it is important to gather around the drum, which is the heartbeat, and feel connected to mother earth. It is also important to share our culture with others so they can have a better understanding of Native Americans and what we believe,” Lance Tallmadge, member of the Ho Chunk Nation and head male dancer of the powwow, said.

“Dr. Kinwa-Muzinga has been an outstanding mentor, both academically and personally, to the female students in agriculture, a predominately male field,” Kay Wilkins, assistant to the Dean of BILSA Duane Ford, said.

Kinwa-Muzinga achieved one of her dreams by taking a group of 12 participants, 11 female, to Ghana, Africa. While in Africa, she shared her own insight and experiences on culture and traditions, and the group explored traditional roles of women in agriculture and their everyday lives in Ghana.

Kinwa-Muzinga serves as Chair of the College of Business, Industry, Life Science and Agriculture Equity and Diversity Committee. Kinwa-Muzinga also wrote and received a grant to determine issues and experiences of faculty and staff because of their racial or ethnic minority status.

“Her contributions with this [BILSA Equity and Diversity] club have been very beneficial,” said Ford. “I’m impressed with her work.”

“This isn’t the end. I have a long way to go on improving myself to be a better role model for women on campus,” Kinwa-Muzinga said. She is also in the process of organizing another trip to Ghana set for December 2009.