TOP OF THE CLASS: Men’s track and field was one of two teams to win sport-specific honors in the 2016 America East Academic Cup, a measure of student-athlete academic performance. For the second year in a row and the fourth time in the program's 21-year history, UNH claimed the overall Academic Cup (p. 18).
CHEERS: What could be better after a long, sunny day at the beach than a cold craft beer at your neighborhood brewery, its malt-forward flavor tempered with just a hint of — is it… seaweed? Over the summer, the Portsmouth Brewery teamed up with UNH Cooperative Extension and New Hampshire Sea Grant to incorporate sugar kelp into its latest offering, a Scottish red ale called selkie. UNH aquaculture specialist Michael Chambers was already growing sugar kelp as part of his ongoing research into integrated multi-trophic aquaculture and harvested some 60 pounds of the brown stuff, which the brewery’s Matt Gallagher boiled and extracted to create a “briny, salty profile” that offers just the right hint of the ocean. Bathing suit and sunscreen optional. Video
WITNESSING HISTORY: In August, while the rest of the country witnessed the nomination of the first female candidate for the presidency of the United States from their living rooms, Jesse Austin ’18, Tali Cherim ’17 and Julie Gabrielson ’17 were at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. The students were there as part of a for-credit seminar offered by The Washington Center, a D.C.-based nonprofit whose opportunities for students include spending two weeks volunteering at the Democratic or Republican Convention (no students applied for the RNC seminar this year). During the week of the DNC, the students attended lectures and briefings, learning about the history of political campaigns and conventions, convention procedures, the nomination process, campaign finance and media coverage. Article
A BULLHORN, A DRONE AND A BIG FIELD: That’s what it took to pull off a historic-times-two photo, as more than 3,000 new and returning students, faculty and staff assembled at Wildcat Stadium August 26 to honor UNH’s 150th birthday and christen the new athletic field. The logistics behind the photo op were overseen by MUB assistant director David Zamansky ’93, ’97G, who says the result was worth the work that went into it. “We couldn’t have done it without the UNH Marching Band, our dorm RAs, the ‘Catpack Captains and Nate Hastings ’03, ’05G, coordinator of student organizations and leadership,” he says. “It really was a great day to be a Wildcat!”
HOME OPENER: Football players gather for a pre-season practice at the new Wildcat Stadium, which welcomed fans for the team’s first home game of the 2016 season on September 10. Watch some highlights from opening night on the video below.
Learn more about how Wildcat Stadium is a zero-waste facility. Photo Gallery
AN OLYMPIC EFFORT: One of the youngest runners in a field of elite athletes vying for three spots on the 2016 Olympic team for the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Elinor Purrier ’18 finished 28th at the Olympic Trials on July 4. The performance, while not the outcome the Vermont native had hoped for, capped a stellar season for the rising junior, who has two full seasons of NCAA eligibility left — and a real shot at the 2020 Olympic games in Tokyo, Japan. Purrier is the first UNH track and field athlete to compete in the Olympic Trials since hurdler Alison Poulin ’93 ran in 1992, and one of three Wildcat runners to make their mark this year. Alumnae Keely Maguire ’13 and Erica Jesseman ’11 both competed in the Olympic Marathon Trials in February.
PAST AND PRESENT: Stepping into poet Celia Thaxter's garden on Appledore Island is like stepping into a piece of 19th century history. Each winter, UNH students and plant scientists cultivate seeds from Thaxter’s original plantings, which in spring are transported to Appledore to be planted following Thaxter’s garden map. The largest of the islands that make up the Isles of Shoals, Appledore is home to the Shoals Marine Laboratory (SML), jointly operated by UNH and Cornell University. The country’s first and largest undergraduate marine laboratory, SML celebrated its 50th birthday in August with a weekend of festivities featuring alumni from all five decades of the lab’s existence. Watch the video of the installation below. Photo Gallery
TRAILBLAZER: In May, Becky Baker ’16 became the first graduate of UNH Manchester’s new biotechnology program, which launched in fall 2015. Seven years after graduating from high school, Baker enrolled at UNH Manchester in 2013, intending to study chemistry. Upon realizing her own chemistry with the major was lacking, she switched to biology, then found her perfect fit when the biotechnology track opened up last year. Baker may have had the jump on her classmates, but she’ll soon be far from the only biotech grad; some 32 Manchester students are enrolled in the popular program for the coming academic year.
LIFTING THE SHADOWS: The first novel published by an African-American woman. A burial ground lost for decades beneath a city street. An eloquent petition from a group of enslaved men seeking freedom for all. The state’s first racially integrated, coeducational academy, ripped from its foundation by an angry mob. These are just a few of the heretofore largely untold stories highlighted in “Shadows Fall North,” a documentary film about the ongoing efforts to recover black history in New Hampshire. Produced by UNH’s Center for the Humanities and Atlantic Media Productions with research support from students Jonathan Constable ’14 and Alison Kessler ’16, the film premiered at Portsmouth’s Music Hall in May. An on-campus screening is planned for the fall.
Originally published in UNH Magazine Fall 2016 Issue
