2010s

Katrina Hesser Feller ’10, State College, PA, graduates from Penn State Law this May and is excited to start a new chapter as a litigation associate at Moore, Cockrell, Goicoachea & Johnson, P.C. in Kalispell.

 

Katrina Hesser Feller

 


Jessica Rae Lee ’10, M.P.A. ’18, Whitefish, just became executive director of North Valley Food Bank in Whitefish. She earned the Master of Public Administration/Nonprofit Public Service Award for the 2018-19 academic year.

 


Jasper Miller and Fenn Nelson ’10, Hamilton, recently were featured in a Washington Post article for posting $1 million in sales after six years of Higherground Brewing Co. The two friends started the brewing company in Hamilton after graduating from UM and became the youngest brewery owners in the state. Miller holds a degree in microbiology, and Nelson has his degree in financial management.

 


Alina Elena Calianu ’11, Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Romania, published her first poetry ebook, “Soul Stiches.” The collection of more than 50 poems is described as “a dark carnival of poetry forms, lengths and rhyme schemes (including free verse), which lightens up toward the end, showing you that life does have some beautiful colors. Through her poems, Alina shares her past struggles with depression, suicide, confidence, abuse, pain and sin, as well as the lessons she learned from these experiences.”

 


Soul Stitches by Alina Elena Calianu

 



Brock Coyle ’13, Bozeman, just retired from his career in the NFL due to a back injury. Coyle was a linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks, who he played with for three seasons as an undrafted free agent from UM. “Brock contributed greatly to the culture we have been building over the last two years, and we are very thankful to have benefited from his presence,” 49ers General Manager John Lynch said in a social media statement.


Brandon Dodson ’14, Tulare, CA, returned to “American Ninja Warrior” for his third consecutive season. Dodson is a former Grizzly football player and now a fourth-grade teacher. He competed on the Ninja Warrior obstacle course in the Los Angeles qualifiers in 2017 and 2018.

 


Logan ’18 and Jordan Lefler ’14, Arlee, created a video as part of the Join The Warrior Movement to speak out against suicide. Last year, Jordan produced a video on mental health issues about the Arlee basketball team that went viral, and the team was honored for the video at a Griz football game. Jordan holds a degree in media arts, and Logan just graduated with his degree in business management.

 


 Logan and Jordan Lefler

 


Shenandoah Roath J.D. ’14, Helena, became an associate attorney at Luxan & Murfitt PLLP. She previously worked with a small general practice firm in Livingston before joining the Office of the Public Defender in Helena in 2017.

 


Sarah Castle Ph.D. ’15, St. Paul, MN, co-founded The Cairn Project in 2016, a nonprofit aiming to expand outdoor opportunities for young women in local community organizations, and the project has now provided more than $100,000 in grants. With a National Science Foundation grant, she has conducted research on microbial communities and glacier retreat in Washington, Alaska and Peru. A systems ecologist, she now works as a U.S. Department of Agriculture research associate at the University of Minnesota.

 


Sarah Castle

 


Dani Howlett ’15, M.A. ’16, Polson, became office and program manager for United Way. She also will help manage the new Missoula Nonprofit Center.

 


Madison Dapcevich M.A. ’17, San Francisco, was selected as a 2019 Science Communication Fellow with the Ocean Exploration Trust and will live aboard a research vessel in the American Samoa for three weeks in July. She works as a science writer for the San Francisco-based IFLScience and has traveled to places from coastal Oregon to Snowdonia, Wales, telling environmental stories.

 


 Madison Dapcevich

 


Kathryn Delans J.D. ’17, Missoula, joined a team of attorneys at Terrazas Henkel P.C. Her practice focuses on domestic relations, family law, personal injury, criminal defense, insurance, probate, real estate and real property and employment. She previously worked with the Critical Care Unit as a child protective investigator in Lee County, Florida.

 


Kathryn Delans

 


Jason Neiffer Ed.D. ’18, Missoula, just received the Northwest Council for Computer Education’s 2019 Eric Jensen Award, presented for excellence in educational leadership. Neiffer works as the assistant director/curriculum director for UM’s Montana Digital Academy and helps promote technology use in education. (Neiffer on the left)

 


Jason Neiffer

 


Betsy Pickhardt ’18, Missoula, serves in the Peace Corps in a small village of western Mongolia. She writes: “I had the great honor of holding this miraculous creature. Forever grateful to the family that allowed us to share in this incredible partnership. The golden eagles of western Mongolia are the largest subspecies of eagle on Earth. They are more incredible than the imagination can begin to fathom.”

Betsy Pickhardt