2000s

Christopher Bolin ’00, Saint Joseph, Minn., recently published “Form from Form” with University of Iowa Press. Fanny Howe, author of “The Needle’s Eye,” writes: “Where is the stability in a world that is a victim of itself? Thomas Merton came to mind as I was reading this book, his being a person whose cold eye could be cast on everything in sight while his heart is all fire and depth. I think these marvelous poems wrestle with contradiction and so bring us to the possibility of change.”

Katie Knotek ’01, Missoula, became recreation resource manager for Lolo National Forest’s Missoula Ranger District in October. She worked for the U.S. Forest Service for 16 years and earned a master’s degree in recreation management from Colorado State University. Knotek also was a social science analyst for UM’s Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute and worked on projects for Gates of the Arctic, Wrangell-St. Elias, and Denali National Park and Preserve. She previously helped manage the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex.

Sherri Mason Ph.D. ’01, Fredonia, N.Y., received the prestigious Heinz Award and $250,000 from the Heinz Family Foundation for her research on microbeads, microfibers and microplastics in freshwater. Mason is chair of the geology and environmental science department at the State University of New York in Fredonia. She became first to research microplastics in the Great Lakes and her research helped lead to the enactment of the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015. Her studies have been reviewed by numerous countries, the World Health Organization and the United Nations in the quest to detect contamination in drinking water.

Christine Walchuk ’02, Leesburg, Va., joined the global law firm DLA Piper as a partner in Northern Virginia. She focuses on representing public and private life sciences companies in commercial and intellectual property transactions. Walchuk previously worked at Goodwin Proctor LLP, counseling clients in various sectors of agriculture biotechnology and plant sciences, as well as high-tech, software and internet industries.

Laura Dickinson Lee ’03, Algonquin, Ill., co-organized the Guinness World Record largest gathering of organ transplant donors at the Cloud Gate in Chicago on April 21 to help raise awareness of living donors. The 410 living donors were members of The Transplant Village, and the event raised more than $32,000 for a living organ donor fund at Northwestern Medicine. Lee writes on the blog Spare Body Parts: “At the end of the day, this event was about coming together, and we did it in a way that I know left an imprint on the hearts of the people who were there. My heart is forever inspired by all of the people who were part of this day, and my life is richer to have met so many kindred spirits on this journey.”

Matthew Kaler ’04, M.F.A. ’08, Missoula, made the 2018 BloodList with his screenplay “Bitterroot.” Entries for the BloodList are voted on by film and television executives as the “most liked” yet unproduced dark genre screenplays, and “Bitterroot” made the category dedicated to writers without industry representation. Kaler has worked as an English instructor at Bitterroot College UM for five years.

Jeff Ozimek ’05, Bainbridge Island, Wash., won the National Recreation and Park Association’s 2018 Robert W. Crawford Young Professional Award. As outdoor adventure programming manager at Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District, Ozimek created the Outdoor Adventure Program from the ground up, which offers activities from clamming to stargazing. A Chicago native, he became involved with logging while at UM and then worked in a variety of outdoor positions across the country after graduating. Ozimek says that he hopes he will inspire other outdoor recreation professionals at UM. “I’m proud to be an alum of UM and forever a Griz,” he said.

Anna Peterson M.S. ’05, Durango, Colo., is executive director of The Mountain Pact, an organization that works to empower local elected officials in 50 mountain communities across the American West. The Mountain Pact works to rebuild resilience in the face of environmental stresses and their economic impacts through a shared voice on policies related to climate, public lands and outdoor recreation. Peterson also is the founder and president of Conservation Communications, where she works with nonprofits, corporations and small businesses to expand their ability to make change on conservation-related campaigns.

Hank Green M.S. ’06, Missoula, recently made the New York Times No. 1 hardback best-seller list with his novel “An Absolutely Remarkable Thing.” Green is a prominent YouTube figure with his ever-popular educational science shows on the channel “Vlogbrothers.” Since 2007, Green and his brother John, author of “The Fault in Our Stars,” have entertained millions of viewers.

Genevieve Lind ’06, Ph.D. ’17, Missoula, earned a yearlong fellowship with the National Institutes of Health in Washington, D.C. After receiving her degree in communication studies, she worked in hotel management and then came back to UM for a doctorate in neuroscience. She has won multiple awards for her research on molecular pharmacology and drug development, organized ComSciCon-Rocky Mountain West in 2017 and co-founded 500 Women Scientists Missoula.

Jason Parke ’06, Boulder, won the 2018 Young Forester Leadership Award from the Society of American Foresters, the first employee from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. The award recognizes SAF members under the age of 40 who show outstanding leadership. Parke works for the Habitat Bureau of the Wildlife Division, as well as on projects for the fisheries and parks divisions and in forest management. He joined the SAF as a student at UM in 2002 and has worked in his role since 2015.

Monika Bilka M.S. ’08, Mesa, Ariz., won best scholarly article of the year on Native American history at the Western History Association’s annual conference in October with an article focused on natural resources and the Klamath Tribes of southern Oregon. Bilka is history lead faculty at Chandler-Gilbert Community College in Mesa, Ariz. She currently is revising her book, titled “Remaking a People, Restoring a Watershed: Klamath Tribal Empowerment through Natural Resources Governance, 1960-2015.” The manuscript grew out of research she conducted for her master’s degree in environmental studies at UM and her dissertation in history at Arizona State University in 2015.

Lisa Jarrett M.F.A. ’09, Portland, Ore., was just named a Joan Mitchell Foundation 2018 recipient of its Painters and Sculptors grants, which provide 25 artists with $25,000 each in unrestricted funds and eligibility to apply for a residency at the center in New Orleans. Jarrett served as interim director for the UM Gallery of Visual Arts after she received her master’s degree in painting and drawing. She now is as an assistant professor of art practices at Portland State University, and her artistic work focuses on her personal experiences as a black woman in America.

Nate Rott ’09, Missoula, is as a journalist for National Public Radio and has reported on everything from terrorist attacks in San Bernardino to changing demographics in the American West. He also has worked in wildland firefighting, commercial fishing, children’s theater teaching and professional show-shoveling for the United States Antarctic Program.