NORTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY
- FARGO, N D
Dean Grier (1995) earned a M.S. in Soil Science at NDSU in 2000. Dean was a research associate and faculty lecturer in the Chemistry Department of NDSU, director of the Materials Characterization Laboratory, and eventually rose to the position of Assistant Director of the Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) at NDSU.
Paula Sunde (1995) is a Natural Resource Specialist for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation near Loveland, Colorado. Her office, located in the foothills of the Rockies, is often visited by elk, deer, geese, and bunny rabbits. When not observing the wildlife, Paula reports that she deals with environmental issues relating to the sale of federal water and water storage. She is also involved with recreation and wildlife management of Reclamation facilities. She works with irrigation districts, municipalities, and other water users in developing water conservation programs, such as coop and grant agreements. Locally, she is involved with outreach programs in water conservation.
After graduating from NDSU, Asuka (Tsuru) Forest (1995) earned her M.S. degree in 1997 at the University of Maryland. Her research there centered on characterizing the Os isotopic composition of the upper oceanic mantle, in an attempt to better understand the chemical evolution of the mantle through time.
Holly (Torpen) Kreft (1996) 
is Community Development Director and City Planner for Belle Plaine, MN. She oversees planning, economic development, and the daily operations of the city. After graduating from NDSU, Holly attended graduate school at the University of Iowa for a year. She then became Environmental/Zoning Technician with McLeod County in Glencoe and later worked for the Planning Department Hutchinson, MN.
Holly and James Kreft (1993) are parents to Alexus Cille, their daughter born in 1999. They are also loving parents to "Hero," their dog. Hero is a Shitz-tsu, who loves to eat sawdust, spends the day in the shop with Jim, and sleeps with Jim and Holly at night. They report that he's not spoiled, just overloved.
Mike Liljegren (1996) is working as a hydrogeologist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in St. Paul. Mike works on water quantity issues throughout the state, such as studying the
trends and analyses of data dating back from the early 1900's to the recent, running aquifer tests to calculate the parameters of such aquifers. Mike's work is especially importnat in the Twin Cities metro area, where the population keeps expanding. These studies will help with permitting issues in the future.
Ryan Mann (1996) is an exploration geologist for Amerada-Hess Corporation in Houston. In 1998, Ryan completed his M.S. degree at the University of Texas-Austin, where he worked on numerical modeling of salt tectonic processes. Ryan then joined Hess, and was part of a team that drilled 31 successful new wells in the Gulf of Mexico offshore. He also has assisted in evaluating many of the basins along the South Atlantic and Equatorial Margins. His work along offshore Brazil, where he worked to identify frontier hydrocarbon trends and extend discovered trends, inspired Amerada Hess to invest in a new area of the world. Currently, Mann is a mentor and leader within the International Exploration Group.
 Derek Felber (1997) is a Senior Staff Geologist for
Ninyo & Moore Consultants in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Currently, the company is involved with the expansion of the McCarren International Airport and a new monorail system being built from Bally's Casino/Hotel to the Sahara Casino/Hotel on the Strip.
 Casey Freise (1997) is employed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for in Buffalo, WY as a Natural Resource Specialist. He works on permitting and compliance of oil and gas projects, primarily coal bed natural gas. He writes that permitting consists of technical reviews, onsites, and the writing of an environmental assessment for plan of developments, and that compliance consists of verifying the project was developed according to the plan, and ensuring there is interim and final reclamation.
Brad Harris (1997) Brad Harris is a financial advisor for Waddell & Reed in Duluth, MN. After graduating from NDSU, Brad was a graduate student at Large Lakes Observatory at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Brad worked on the chemistry of the sediments around the Keweenaw Peninsula.
Michelle (Taylor) Heizelman (1997) obtained her teaching certificate at Minot State University and is currently teaching 7th and 8th grade Life and Earth Sciences at The Circle of Nations School, Wahpeton, ND.
Chris Lein (1997) is a geographer and project leader at Navigation Technologies in Fargo. Chris is in charge of a team of 12 working on Italian databases, as well as databases for the U.S., Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. His work has involved travel to Italy, the Netherlands, as well as several U.S. cities.
Amy (Lantto) Mann (1997) is a 9th and 10th grade physical science and biology teacher at Katy, Texas. She is in an alternative certification program, which allows her to obtain full teaching certification from a science degree background.
Kevin Ploof (1997) has opened an insurance agency in Minot, ND.
Jason Ruen (1997) is a Project Leader at Navigation Technologies' Fargo production facility. Jason is responsible for a team of 10 to 14 digitizers, building projects for European and North American digital map databases with Arc/Info creation tools. Jason's work has taken him to Austria, Hungary, and the San Francisco Bay area of California.
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