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SCSE Joins Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

In July 2009, the ABC reality television series Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (EMHE) announced they were building a home to help a Twin Ports family. They needed volunteers. UMD faculty, staff, students and alumni stepped up to join hundreds of workers to finish a 2,300 sq. ft. home in less than 100 hours.

The Master of Environmental Health and Safety program played a vital role in providing the required safety professionals for every shift. Todd Loushine, Assistant Professor in the MEHS program, coordinated the fully-staffed schedule for 2 safety professionals to be on-site 24 hours a day for 6 days. Loushine, with the help of MEHS instructor Wade Roseth, safety consultant Mike Nilsen, UMD Public Health Specialist Laura Lott and Enbridge Sr Safety Coordinator Cheryl Urie (all graduates of the program), filled every slot of the schedule. Loushine assessed the site Monday and sent the safety professionals comprehensive instructions and issued the following directive: Our goal is to keep safety awareness at a high level, help workers communicate with each other, keep the site clean, and get this project finished on time and in the safest manner possible.

Additional MEHS alumni who staffed the safety teams include: Scott Norman, Katie Schofield, John Primozich, Dustin Wilman, Tammy Tang, Luke Sammon, Jackie Sutherland, Jay Gieseke, Mike Levar, Lynn Dunbar, Doug Anderson, Andy Biondich, Caitlin Anderson, as well as current MEHS student Mike B Nilsen.

Other SCSE volunteers included Tricia Bunten (SCSE Development Officer), Helen Sandwick ( Air Force ROTC Exec Ofc & Admin Spec), and John Ameel (NRRI - retired).

Large Lakes Observatory Released First Remote Electric Submarine in the Great Lakes

If you happen to come across a small yellow submarine off Two Harbors in Lake Superior, University of Minnesota Duluth researchers ask that you leave it alone. It’s theirs. (read more on the Duluth News Tribune website)