Sierra has again named Northland College a “cool school” in its annual top-100 list of sustainable colleges and universities. Northland College ranked seventy-third out of 328 participating schools—and remains at the top in Wisconsin and in the Midwest. While each institution on Sierra’s list “demonstrates a deep commitment to addressing climate change, protecting the natural…
More than one hundred and fifty people attended a groundwater-focused panel discussion, “Aversion to Diversion: Groundwater, Bottled Water, and the Great Lakes Compact,” at the Big Top Chautauqua on September 27, 2021. Organized by the Mary Griggs Burke Center for Freshwater Innovation, Director Peter Annin moderated a discussion with leading Wisconsin water experts Todd Ambs,…
After five years of visioning and development, the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute is going big into the outdoors. Really big. The Institute has officially launched Outdoor Pursuits, which oversees outdoor recreation services and experiences for the campus community. This includes Outdoor Orientation, weekend outings and trips, the campus bouldering wall, a Nordic ski center and…
Hello and greetings from Northland! With August just around the corner, I know many of you are thinking about Fall Festival. I have been, too. And, I’m here to let you know that we are looking to 2022 for the next all-call on campus reunion. In 2022 we will celebrate our 130th Birthday and the…
I attended Northland in the early 2000 and as a student and later an alum, I played softball and pool for the Stagecoach Bar for several years. This was my spot. This is where I went, and I had no idea the rich history these walls held. I was surprised and delighted in 2015 to…
Dill grows like a weed in the garden hidden on the outskirts of Northland College’s campus. It grows like a weed because I put it there. As I settled into my first summer working in the campus gardens and living along the south shore of Lake Superior, I was comforted by the discovery of a…
I bent down, then knelt down, then finally sat down on the sun-warmed grass so that I would be eye-level with the dragonfly. Usually they dart off so quickly that I don’t get a good look, but this female calico pennant clung to the tip of a milkweed leaf even as she was buffeted by…
Kreher Park Beach has been closed twice this year so far due to high E. coli levels, which leaves local residents and visitors wondering—are the Ashland beaches safe to swim in? What is causing this—seagulls, geese, aging sewer pipes? Where is the bacteria coming from? The Wisconsin Coastal Management Program (WCMP) has awarded the Mary…
In 1932, Milton Sprague had only two ways to get from his home in Washburn, Wisconsin, to Northland College. Milton either hopped aboard a train or took a narrow dirt road thirteen miles to Ashland. The Spragues were a timber family. It was three years into the Great Depression, and Milton was the youngest of…
Lake Mead, America’s largest reservoir, is a lifeblood for 25 million people in the Southwest. But for the third time in six years, it’s about to hit a record low. Water levels have fallen more than 140 feet since 2000, leaving the reservoir only 36 percent full. Today, Mead is rimmed by a broad white…
