Author Archives: Jennifer Olson

Partway through Andrea Robinson’s undergraduate program, she suffered a stroke. She moved closer to family, and her degree was put on hold. At some point, a doctor told her she would not finish her bachelor’s at WNMU. She didn’t. But she did finish her degree remotely, and this spring, she also graduated from #WNMU with a master’s, customizing her degree plan to suit her interest in educational psychology. The Clarksville, Mississippi, native recognized some similarities between her home town and Silver City but also noticed that there isn’t much research available on small rural towns, which essentially “make up the USA,” Robinson said. She wondered, “Is there an association between social determinants of health and academic performance in marginalized communities within higher education?” and then methodically searched for the answer. She looked at self-regulation and related metacognitive strategies to explore how where people come from impacts their...

Fall 2021 graduate Natalie Wood, along with her faculty mentor Dr. Corrie Neighbors and WNMU colleagues Drs. Sam Schramski and Francisca Reyes, co-authored a paper published in the Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition in October. Funded in large part by the Western New Mexico University Student Research and Professional Development program, “Sociospatial Analysis of Food Pantry Access and Location in a Southwestern Frontier Community” explores the relationship between food insecurity and geographic position in Silver City. Using a survey of more than 100 respondents and desktop GIS analysis, they investigated whether distance, neighborhood and socioeconomic status have a bearing on access and use of food pantries. “A surprising result was that people who get government assistance do not frequent food pantries as often as people who don’t. You’d figure it’d be the opposite,” she said. Wood endured the “super time consuming” data configuration and...

A Call for Writers Mimbres Press of Western New Mexico University, the newest university press in the nation is open for submissions from writers. It is of little surprise that along with esteemed artists, many writers call Silver City and the Gila Wilderness their home. It is a place and space of inspiration and creativity. Mimbres Press is seeking to publish local writers alongside established authors from other parts of the world. According to Publishing Director, Dr. Marvel Harrison, "We are open to the genres of literary fiction, creative non-fiction, memoirs, historical fiction, poetry, children's books and academic works. Of particular interest are writings with a strong social message focused on the U.S. Southwest, including but not limited to works of history, reportage, biography, anthropology, culture, human rights, and the natural world. Selective works of national and global significance will also be considered. We are keen on publishing local writers who can bring depth...

Jennifer Douglass’ painting and drawing students at Western New Mexico University are learning about the process of public art while creating a mural design that ties in the university’s values of education, conservation and recreation. They began installation of the mural at the end of May. After an invitation from Diana Ingalls Leyba, who is Director of Silver City’s Youth Mural Program, WNMU students began the process of designing a mural for a wall at The Church of the Southwest. Considering the site borders the Silver City MainStreet Plaza and sits just above downtown’s Big Ditch Park, a riparian design concept was presented to the Historic Design and Review Committee, and the mural permit was granted. “We wanted to handle it just like a public art piece, where the students must take the idea from start to finish — doing initial research and developing the mural from the design concept through completion,” said Douglass, who is Assistant Professor...

Anneliese Kvamme’s “Marriage as Heroic Struggle in Milton’s Paradise Lost” was published in Confluence: The Journal of the Association of Graduate Liberal Studies Programs. The editor called it “very compelling, insightful, and beautifully written essay.” Kvamme said it was a 3,200-word condensed version of her roughly 8,000-word thesis, which she researched and composed with Dr. Debbie Heller’s “invaluable guidance and direction.” The Lordsburg resident loves exploring literature, and is fascinated by John Milton’s depiction of the characters and relationships in “Paradise Lost,” particularly in the character of Eve and the marital relationship of Adam and Eve. “Milton’s marriages had greatly influenced him in his lifetime, so it stood to reason that the attitudes toward marriage he had developed through these experiences would have influenced his depiction of Adam and Eve,” she said. “Delving into this and into the literary influences of the...

WNMU School of Nursing Clinical Instructor Mary McBrayer, RN, BSN, MAIS, won the 2022 New Mexico Nursing Education Consortium (NMNEC) Nurse Educator Endowment Award to honor the late Nancy Morton. Having worked as a nurse in acute care since 2011, she has experience as a bedside nurse, charge nurse, float nurse, clinic manager and clinical educator. McBrayer began teaching at WNMU in 2020 when she planned and implemented strategic approaches that kept students on campus for hands-on lab experiences. This award recognizes McBrayer’s resourcefulness and ingenuity that ensured the continuation of clinical lab skills courses for nursing students throughout the pandemic to this point. Dr. Kimberly Petrovic, who is Associate Dean for the WNMU School of Nursing, nominated McBrayer for the honor. “She created a blueprint of sorts in which students attended lab in groups of three to six, for instance, while remaining within taped-off areas of the lab,” she wrote. “As a...

Zoology major Maria Conklin and biology major Chantel Griggs studied how tree coverage affects the species abundance and diversity of rodents in Grant County, presenting their findings at the spring WNMU Academic Symposium. “As the order rodentia is a very diverse group within mammals, they are equipped with many different adaptations to handle different ecological factors. Observing where different species of rodents prefer to live could demonstrate these diverse specializations,” their poster read. Testing two hypotheses (tree coverage does impact diversity and abundance; tree coverage does not impact diversity and abundance), they set up humane traps throughout the surrounding area, including in Bayard, on the Pitchfork Ranch and in Pinos Altos. Each area had 20 traps and was divided based on tree coverage. For instance, they set 10 traps 50 meters apart from each other in a tree-covered area in Pinos Altos and did the same in a mostly tree-less area one mile away....

Spring 2022 edition of Twisted Vine Literary Journal debuted this week. The student-run journal curated by the WNMU graduate writing program is committed to publishing both emerging and established literary and visual artists. Twisted Vine seeks to represent an eclectic mix of ideas and values with a particular interest in pieces that challenge or redefine expression in new and inviting ways. The student staff — Taylor A. Russo, Jennifer Hardesty, Karl Blakely and Kathleen Mariel — produced the spring 2022 issue under the guidance and direction of WNMU Associate Professor of English/Writing and Interdisciplinary Studies Program Director Dr. Heather Steinmann. “It’s incredibly encouraging to see the creative process thrive in the face of a future unknown,” said Managing Editor Russo. “A clear thematic picture emerged from the pieces submitted to our journal, which reflect a contemplative examination of our past, present, and future. The works presented throughout...