Pics of the Day

The Pic of the Day is featured on student and faculty pages, as submitted by members of the Augustana community. Here are some recent images. (Click on a photo to see a caption.)

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After having studied the diversity of beautiful invertebrate individual fossils in the lab, Dr. Kelsey Arkle's History of Life (Geology 201) class took to the field and examined the same marine invertebrate fossils and their community structure in situ at Devonian Fossil Gorge, Iowa, in order to interpret the paleo environment.

Students in the GEOG-306: Soil Science class visited with Monte Botten '95 on his family farm in Cambridge, Ill., to learn about regenerative agriculture practices.

Dr. Lena Hann and Beth Ford (third and fifth from left) joined public health students and alumni at the American Public Health Association's Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, Nov. 2.

Roberta Ferguson snapped this gorgeous autumnal shot on Nov. 6 while walking up the stairs between Bahls Leadership Center and Swenson Hall.

Transfer students Zack Beckman and Arundati Mourya (and Jude Rowell, Joren Weller-Vanhollebeke, Dona Adjahoungbeta and Hunter Smith, who are not pictured) gathered with Black Hawk College advisors to share their experiences transferring from Black Hawk to Augustana. In addition, BHC advisors met with admissions, advising and TRIO and took a tour of campus. They were very impressed with their day on campus!

The Men's 7v7 Flag Football Champions were TMG, comprising several members of the Augustana Varsity Baseball Team. On the roster (left to right): Ethan Sosnowski, Blake Nettleton, Jaden Weinzerl, Tate Aurich, Riley Hendren, Charlie Diiulio, Charlie Bergin, Carson Vitry, Hayden Boushele, Will Routh, Drew Bryant, Ben Gonzales, Remington Larson and Brian Fischer. Team TMG went undefeated on the season with a 5-0 record and have back-to-back championships in 2024 and 2025.

The Women's 5v5 Flag Football Champions were Delta Chi x Softball! On the roster: (back row) Charlotte Frere, Lilli Burton, Alexis Duke, Riley Kulaga, Emma Evans, Maya Viel, Alaina Diaz, (front row) Emily Gad, Olivia Osborne, Marley Behm, Georgia Holt. Not pictured: Coach Dylan Burton. The team went undefeated on the season with a 5-0 record!

Carolyn Yaschur's MJMC 310: Visual Storytelling class got into the Halloween spirit last week by dressing up for class. What's your favorite costume?

Phi Rho members Grace Gustafson ‘26, Emilia Frankiewicz ‘27, Grace Kemp ‘28, Elizabeth Johnson ‘28, Lydia Hall ‘27 and Alexis Richards ‘26 enjoyed a beautiful day on campus last week for their annual October photoshoot.

Have you seen any ghosts around campus? 👻 Have a great Halloween weekend, Vikings!

It appears that Michael Myers (Don Umland) got lost on his way to Haddonfield, Ill., and is trying to make his way there ASAP! Be careful, the "ride" may cost you! Trick or treat, Vikings!

Students rehearse for the weekend performances of 'Edges,' directed by Kaden Micklos '26. 'Edges,' a song cycle by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul ('Dear Evan Hansen,' 'The Greatest Showman,' 'La La Land'), is a witty and heartfelt exploration of coming-of-age, relationships, self-discovery, and the messy in-betweens of early adulthood. Pictured (top to bottom, left to right): Dev Reed, Austin O’Connor, Carter Denton, Jili Jones, Abby Malina, Sylvia Hughes, Fiona Brady, Maddy Overstreet, Reid Miller, Ella Conrad, V Bechtel, Brennan Hampton, Maya Cronfel, Jensen Stoneking.

Students rehearse for the weekend performances of 'Edges,' directed by Kaden Micklos '26. 'Edges,' a song cycle by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul ('Dear Evan Hansen,' 'The Greatest Showman,' 'La La Land'), is a witty and heartfelt exploration of coming-of-age, relationships, self-discovery, and the messy in-betweens of early adulthood. Pictured: Fiona Brady, Carter Denton, Maya Cronfel, V Bechtel, Jensen Stoneking, Jili Jones, Brennan Hampton, Ella Conrad.

Four recent Augustana interns, Brennan Haake '26, Kailynn Catalani '26, Mehzabin Ahmed '26 and Mitchell Galyen '26, served on a recent panel for the Texas Medical Center Summer Research Internship Info Session & Application Workshop. Juniors from all majors are encouraged to apply for this prestigious program to be held for ten weeks during the summer. The next info session will be held on Sunday, Nov. 9, at 6 p.m. in Old Main 223. Questions? Contact program director Dr. Heidi Storl at heidistorl@augustana.edu.

Eight students of the Student Investment Fund attended the 12th SMIFC Conference held in Chicago on Oct. 9-10. They participated in the poster competition and submitted two portfolio building projects. They also had site visits to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Money Museum and the CBOE. Pictured (from left): Simeon Ommen '28, Joshua Lim'27, Aymen Jadda '28, Brian Felleson '27, Aaron Rogers '26, Ronish Sangachhe '26, Ali Kalimat '28 and Grant Meyers '28.

Adam Kaul (left) recently travelled to Sweden, where he was a fellow at the Uppsala Forum for Democracy, Peace and Justice. He gave a lecture at Uppsala University about the book he is currently writing with Dr. Adam Hjorthén (right) entitled "Refracted Roots: Swedish American Heritage in a Polarized Society."

Fernando Peralta '25 and Aiden Heymann '22 battled it out for the IM Golf League Championship this past Monday at Fyre Lake Golf Club in Sherrard, Ill. Competition occurred amongst 20 golfers over a six-week period this fall, with the majority of the nine-hole weekly matches played locally at Saukie Golf Course in Rock Island. Peralta emerged victorious with a 3 and 2 (up three holes with two to play). Both had a great time despite the windy conditions and a challenging course!

TRIO students recently spent the day in Des Moines, Iowa. They had a tour of the Iowa Capitol building, a grad school visit to Drake University, and time at the Des Moines Art Center and Pappajohn Sculpture Park.

Thanks to Jamiah Riley's (center) merch, Dr. Kirsten Day spotted Riley '26 and Jenny Osei-Kofi '28 (right) while visiting the National Museum of African American History in Washington, D.C. Dr. Day was in the area presenting a paper at the Classical Association of the Atlantic States conference, and Riley and Osei-Kofi were there for the annual American Student Government Association (ASGA) conference.

Earlier this month members of the Student Prison Education Club made tie blankets in Old Main to donate to Family Resources, a local non-profit.

Augustana’s Pre-Health Club partnered with the Quad Cities HEARTSafe Coalition to train 40 students as Hands-Only CPR instructors. Through this workshop, pre-health students gained the skills to lead 30-minute CPR trainings on campus and throughout the Quad Cities community, empowering others to take life-saving action in an emergency. Interested in hosting a training or tabling event? Contact Pre-Health Club President, Aliza Salinas-Cervantes, at asalinas-cervantes22@augustana.edu.

Last week students in FYI-101 took a break and relieved some mid-term stress by blowing some bubbles.

Earlier this fall, Kent Barnds and his family hosted 24 of the 30 enrolled Spanish students. On a Sunday afternoon, the group gathered for a La Liga match, and students were invited to wear the jersey for the team they supported. The group secured or cooked a number of dishes to help them feel at home, including tortilla de patatas, paella, jamon serrano, boquerones en vinagre and a few others. One student wrote a thank-you that included the following: "I felt really good, because it felt like a normal Sunday in Spain having lunch with all my family."

Who needs PowerPoint and conference venues when you can hear from professionals and researchers about geologic formations in situ? Geology faculty and students spent the weekend attending the Tri-State Geological Field Conference in Wisconsin, networking with and hearing talks from professional geologists, researchers and faculty in the field and on the outcrops, like at this 2.9 billion-year-old gneiss (pronounced "nice") formation!

The students of PUBH-350 have been conducting site visits around the Quad Cities to understand the role of community organizations on promoting healthy behaviors for under-served populations. After a tour of NEST Cafe and guest lecture from Executive Director Laura Mahn (second from right), students enjoyed a lunch from NEST's "pay what you can" cafe. Learn more about NEST Cafe at www.nestcafeqc.org.

Students in the Brenda Barnes Leadership Academy put their networking skills into practice in the Wilson Center! Thirty first-year leaders participated in a speed networking session, building confidence and connections to support their future success. The session was led by Laura Kestner-Ricketts, Executive Director of Career and Professional Development in CORE, and the program is led by Dr. Wendy Hilton-Morrow.

Last week CORE kicked off the first monthly Student Employment Supervisor Lunch & Learn! The session focused on elevating the student employment experience for both students and supervisors across campus. The student employment team is grateful for the collaboration and energy in the room; here’s to many more!