UNK TODAY
24 | SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 2024
Peterson From 18
Currently, Peterson’s research is focused on white-tailed deer behavior, antler growth and morphology. UNK COMMUNICATIONS PHOTOS
2023 we celebrated its 20th year of o ering high-quality gradu- ate courses. I assisted with the launching of the program, and at that time we were sending stu- dents boxes of VHS tapes that contained course lectures for the semester. We evolved with the times and shifted to CDs and DVDs and finally to streamed vid- eos on demand. Our variety of course options, program flexibility and availabil- ity of faculty and coordinators sets us apart from other online biology programs. We are always available, and just a phone call or email away. Biology is a broad subject and our students come from a variety backgrounds, with some being teachers and others working in the medical or eco- logical fields. We try to meet them where they are as we understand many of them may be nontradi- tional students with full-time jobs, families or other life obliga- tions. We keep in regular contact with many of our graduates, and this summer we will graduate our 1,000th fully online MS in Biol- ogy student. What do you most enjoy about your job? Foremost, I love working with our distance students. It is re- warding meeting graduates in person on graduation day. Prior to that point, many times they are a name, an email or a voice on the phone. Tracking these alumni through the years and hearing their testimonials regarding the program lets us know we are pro- viding them the education and the service they need to reach their ca- reer goals. I also love the biology depart- ment where I work because I earned my degrees from the same department at UNK. Many of the faculty have moved on or retired, but all of them were an integral part of where I am today. There are still a few faculty around who I have taken courses from and still collaborate with on research. I enjoy Kearney and the UNK campus. It is a true family af-
fair. My wife Holly also is a UNK graduate and is the student sup- port and project specialist for the associate vice chancellor of student a airs. We have two sons – Tyler will be a junior art education major at UNK, and Trevor will be a freshman at UNK, studying industrial dis- tribution and working with the football team this fall. Share a fun fact about yourself. While I am not as young as I once was, my free time is typi- cally spent playing sports – disc golf, pickleball, softball and basketball. During and follow- ing graduate school I played disc golf professionally. I have over 40 holes-in-one, was the director of several tournaments and assisted in the designing of several Ne- braska courses.
“I enjoy Kearney and the UNK campus,” Peterson said.
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