Features
Kat Braz
The Purdue Herbaria

An insider’s look at a university collection so valuable, the professor who built it once stole it back.

The earliest herbarium—a collection of plant samples preserved for scientific study—dates to 16th-century Italy, when the Bologna physician and botanist Luca Ghini (1490–1556) sought to make plant material available to his students in winter when the plants were dead or dormant.

The specimens were flattened between two pieces of paper to remove moisture. Once dried, they were mounted on paper sheets with notations on the plant’s name, where the plant was gathered, and any distinctive features. The pages were bound into volumes to enable transport from one location to another, thus making plant material from faraway places available indefinitely.

The Purdue Herbaria
Features
Kat Braz
A Window into Westwood Manor

The Stewarts at Westwood

Robert Bruce Stewart (HDR M’68), known as R.B., joined the Purdue University staff as controller in 1925. At that time, Purdue enrolled 3,000 students, the physical plant was worth $3 million, and the endowment totaled $340,000.

Stewart, who went on to become the university’s first vice president and treasurer, is credited by many with influencing the character and growth of Purdue University. He spent 36 years building the university both fiscally and physically.

A Window into Westwood Manor
Profiles
Kat Braz
A Story in Stones

Geochemist Marissa Tremblay ’12 analyzes Antarctic rocks to unravel Earth’s climate chronology and predict the planet’s future environment

A geologic field excursion to Death Valley during spring break her first year at Barnard set Marissa Tremblay ’12 on course to becoming a scientist. She entered college intending to pursue a law degree, but stepping foot on that vast, desolate desert landscape marked with sand dunes ignited a curiosity to uncover the stories in stones.

A Story in Stones
Features
Kat Braz
Call of the Wild

50 Years of Wolf Park

Founded by Purdue ethologist Erich Klinghammer in 1972, Wolf Park began as an experiment to study wolf behavior. The pioneering research conducted there over the past 50 years contributed to a better understanding of the apex predator and facilitated its reintroduction into the wild.

Call of the Wild
Profiles
Kat Braz
Come From Away

Twenty Years After 9/11 Longhorn Reflects on the Unexpected Detour—and the Subsequent Broadway Show—that Altered His Life’s Trajectory

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Kevin Tuerff and his then-partner, also named Kevin, were on an Air France flight bound for New York City. The couple had just wrapped up a European vacation and they were eager to get home. A sudden drop in elevation over the Atlantic Ocean was the first sign that something was amiss. Then came an announcement from the cockpit.

Come From Away

From the Gridiron to the Green Berets

From the Gridiron to the Green Berets

Silver Star recipient Antonio Gonzalez ’94 placed his trust in faith, football 

Children growing up in the predominantly Mexican-American neighborhood of Boyle Heights in East Los Angeles in the 1980s and ’90s lived on the razor’s edge between childhood innocence and gang violence.

Plagued by high violent crime rates, struggling public schools and poverty, those who yearned to escape the concrete jungle of Boyle Heights saw two options — go to college or enlist in the military. In time, Army Sgt. Maj. Antonio Gonzalez ’94 would do both, earning a football scholarship to Kansas State University and receiving a Silver Star Medal recognizing his gallantry in action.

Tree Segmentation

Tree Segmentation

New methodology may one day map forests around the world

What if we could map every tree on the planet?

It’s a question that drives the work of Joshua Carpenter (MS’20), a PhD student and researcher in the Geospatial Data Science Lab supervised by Jinha Jung, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering.

Just as the field of precision agriculture uses high technology sensor and analysis tools to measure the growth and health of fields of crops, Carpenter is developing methodologies that could one day be similarly applied to forests around the globe.

Sparking Success

Sparking Success

MATC launches bilingual welding program

Karen Feliciano says people are often surprised to learn she is a welder because “I don’t look like a typical welder to them. It’s very much a male-dominated field.”

Yet the MATC welding instructor sees herself in her students every day.

“My students inspire me,” Feliciano said. “I see the challenges I faced when I moved to Wisconsin from Puerto Rico. I see how much I struggled when I was first starting out in this career. But I see myself in their successes, too.”

Hazards Lurk in Fresh-Scented Cleaning Products

Hazards Lurk in Fresh-Scented Cleaning Products

Mopping produces pollutants similar to vehicle emissions

The fresh-scented products used to clean our homes and offices come with risks to our respira-tory health. The chemicals used to create scents such as lemon and pine pollute indoor air with nano-sized particles in similar ways that motor emissions affect the air we breathe outdoors, according to a new study published in the journal Science Advances.

Building a Better Computational Model

Building a Better Computational Model

Physics equations drive optimization of complex engineered systems

Computational models allow researchers to analyze and design complex systems, but development can be a slow process. Leifur Leifsson, associate professor and principal investigator of the Computational Design Lab, uses physics equations to optimize engineered systems for aircraft and space systems as well as microwave systems, nondestructive testing systems and food-water-energy systems.

Leading with Integrity

Leading with Integrity

Rear admiral Peg Klein anchors virtue and ethics at the center of decision-making

Raised near Naval Air Station South Weymouth outside of Boston, MA, Rear Admiral Peg Klein ’81, USN (Ret.), developed a passion for aviation at an early age. Her father, a professor of aviation science and a Navy reservist, frequently took Klein flying. 

“I remember when my dad got his private pilot’s license,” Klein said. “I would look over his shoulder while he was studying for ground school. I waited for him at the airfield while he took flight lessons. The first time he flew me over Cape Cod, it was thrilling. I loved being in the air. I loved what you could see from the air.” 

Ruling the Web

Ruling the Web

Mediavine co-founders credit collaboration and transparency for company’s rise to internet giant.

When Matt Richenthal ’02 resigned from his role as a writer for a Boston start-up to launch his own content company called iScribe — “a terrible, awful name” — in 2004, he had no idea the business would one day grow into Mediavine, one of “The 20 Internet Giants That Rule the Web” as declared by Visual Capitalist in January. He only knew he wanted Steve Marsi ’01 along for the ride.