Spectrum

Jared W. Reed (B.S. in geography, 2005) graduated in December 2009 with a Master of Arts degree in geography from Western Illinois University in Macomb, Ill. Since August 2008, Reed has served as development services coordinator for the city of West Burlington, Iowa, where he coordinates building, housing, zoning code inspections and enforcement. He is married to J. Andrew Walljasper and currently resides in historic Fort Madison, Iowa. Lauren (Griffin) Keeter (B.S. in industrial technology management, 2008) took a job with Northrop Grumman in Newport News, Va., after graduating from CMU. She currently works in CATIA in the product model designing battle-ready piping systems on aircraft carriers. Keeter was accepted into the master's program at Bemidji State University in Minnesota where she will pursue her Master of Science in industrial technology through distance learning this fall. She also was married in October 2009 and currently resides in Yorktown, Va., with her husband. Stephen Owens (B.S. in physical science, 1998; M.A. in school principalship, 2005) taught science for seven years in North Carolina, Tennessee and Michigan from 1998-2005. He then worked as an assistant principal in Tennessee from 2005-2008 and now is the principal at East Robertson High School in Cross Plains, Tenn. Owens is married and has two children. Robert Wheeler (B.S. in computer- integrated manufacturing, 2009) became a senior project engineer for the Production Engineering Department at Nissan Technical Center North America in Farmington Hills, Mich., in November 2009. He is married to fellow CMU graduate Miranda Laemers and has three children – Sadie (age 5), Savannah (age 5) and Molly (age 2). Wheeler currently lives in Clarkston, Mich. • All in a life's work CST alumna Boersma receives $100,000 Heinz Award The life work of one CMU graduate recently received prestigious recognition through a $100,000 award from the Heinz Family Foundation. Dee Boersma, '69, a professor and researcher at the University of Washington, was one of 10 Heinz Award recipients. The awards are given in honor of U.S. Sen. John Heinz to recognize individuals whose achievements have helped promote a cleaner, greener and more sustainable planet. Boersma has dedicated more than three decades of her life to extensive field studies on penguins and other seabirds. She has spent much of her time researching penguins in Punta Tombo, Argentina. Punta Tombo is a megalopolis for Magellanic penguins. Her research in Argentina has shown that in the last decade, climate-induced change has forced penguins to swim about 25 miles farther during incubation in search of food. Working with the Wildlife Conservation Society, she provided the data that resulted in the government moving tanker lines farther from shore to protect the penguins from petroleum pollution. "It's important for scientists to invest in decades of research so they can observe complex patterns over time, like the effects of global warming or the devastating price of pollution," Boersma said in a 2006 interview for Centralight, CMU's alumni magazine. She also has used her studies on sea birds to promote understanding of the human impact on marine ecosystems and for advocating conservation through education, research and policy. • 15 Dee Boersma, '69

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