Meet Your Peers: Rebecca Malewitz

“I like to think of my home state of Michigan as the hi-five to the Midwest. Growing up in the mitten shaped state has given me several very important things: my amazing family (mom, dad, and three brothers), an unparalleled love for the Detroit Tigers, and the ability to show people where my hometown is located just by pointing to my hand.

“My experience with photography began as a kid when I got my first camera using points from saving macaroni and cheese UPC’s. It was a 110mm film bright orange camera with a dinosaur sticker. (I’m almost positive they called him Cheeseasaurus Rex and that he probably lives down the street from the Kool-Aid Man.) Other than that, I had a typical childhood and high school was a bit awkward, so let’s just skip that part.

"I started college in the fall of 2003 at Valparaiso University in northwest Indiana. I spent a lot of time “on air” at the campus radio station as a DJ, news anchor, and sports broadcaster, but the campus newspaper was my true home away from home during my college years. I was the assistant photo editor my junior year and the photo editor my senior year. My four years at Valpo also contained a couple of Habitat for Humanity trips, weekend excursions into Chicago, an attempt at ghost hunting, and a lot of other stuff that can be explained after people have met me and embraced my weirdness.

“It’s been a year since I graduated from Valpo, and living at home and working in retail trying to save money was not so fun. On the bright side, I’ve become even more determined to have a career as a photographer. I really appreciate everything my parents have done for me, and working at a clothing store has given me excellent clothes folding skills which came in handy when I moved from Michigan to Montana. I should add that my guinea pig Ollie also made the trip to Missoula. His life story could probably summed up by his love for carrots, lettuce, and the Def Leppard song Photograph. (I swear I’m not making the last one up.)

“So that’s pretty much my life story minus some boring parts and a few embarrassing moments that I choose to block out. My best friend summarized me once by saying, ‘If your camera and I fell off the edge of a cliff and you had to save one of us, I'm pretty sure you would pick me, but you would have think about it first.’ I’m a little unclear of the meaning or her remark, but choose to assume it as positive.”

Welcome to the University of Montana

On behalf of the School of Journalism, welcome to UM and grad school. I've designed this site to help you learn about each other and the program, so I hope you find it useful. You'll need to register with Blogger.com if you want to comment on the posts, but that's easy and it helps keep the spammers at bay.

If you haven't submitted a photo and biographical blurb, please do so. We're eager to get to know you.

Meet Your Peers: Kip Sikora

“I was born and partly raised in Texas, and while I proudly claim my home state for the likes of Townes, Willie and BBQ, I denounce it for anything having to do with the fortunate son in the Oval Office. I moved to Missoula last summer after spending two and a half years in Saraguro, Ecuador, with the Peace Corps, and before that, I lived in New Mexico, where I settled down for a spell after six months in Central America following graduation from college. I did my undergraduate work in Sewanee, Tenn., where I studied religion and anthropology, but it was Guatemala in particular that really turned me on to photography, as it seemed there were manifestations of these fields in even the most ordinary moments.

“Photojournalists/journalists/travel writers I admire include Steve McCurry, Seanie Blue, James Natchwey and Eric Hansen. Thanks to Netflix, I have stuck my foot into the documentary pool recently, and while there is a lot of good stuff on there, two of my favorites have been ‘Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Impassioned Eye’ and ‘A Place Called Chiapas.’ The fusion of fine art, travel photography and photojournalism, especially as it relates to immigration and Latino issues, interests me quite a bit. I look forward to meeting y’all and learning a lot more about photographic technique and the profession of photojournalism.”

Meet Your Peers: Adrienne Barnett

“My name is Adrienne Barnett and I was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. I started taking photographs my freshmen year of high school and have continued shooting until the present.

“While an undergrad at The University of Texas, my biggest fear was that I was going to wind up in a job where I sat in a cubicle. My other great fears were having cockroaches, eating mayonnaise and owning furniture. So, after I graduated, I began my quest to avoid all of those things.

“My adventure began when I moved to London, where I learned that cockroaches are nonexistent and mayonnaise is even more prevalent in Europe than it is in the United States. After living and traveling overseas, my visa ran out and I returned home.

“During the next few years I was working part time for wedding/event photographers, and working retail while living at home with my parents. After hours of surfing the Web, I finally landed a photo internship at Glimmerglass Opera in upstate New York. When the internship was over, I ended up right back home in San Antonio with my parents.

“Two months later, I decided I did not want to turn 25 while living with my folks. Moving to NYC and living on my friend’s sofa sounded like a much better idea. So I did.

“Shortly after my arrival in NYC, my luck changed. I found a roommate and she knew of a job as a photo assistant for two theater photographers. So, for the next two years I worked in NYC and life was good. Eventually, I started to conquer my fear of owning furniture. I think this was due to living in an 8 X 10 bedroom and essentially having no personal possessions.

“I ended up moving to Austin, Texas, and there I began to figure out my photography goals and I started my own business. The past few years have definitely been an adventure involving weddings and portraiture.

“However, I realized I wanted to get back to photojournalism. The University of Montana is giving me opportunity to follow this dream. On this adventure, I am bringing my own dishes and a bed. I hear there are no cockroaches.”

Meet Your Peers: Laura Lundquist

“My primary passion in life has always been nature and wild places. Growing up in Montana, I spent a lot of time in the unpopulated spaces near Bozeman. As a Campfire Girl, I not only learned camping skills but an appreciation for the forest and its inhabitants. When my professional life saw me living in large cities (Chicago, San Francisco) and working in technical jobs (scientist, airline pilot), I felt something was missing. The opportunity to get away to the wilderness brought me back home to Montana where doing what I can to preserve wild places has become a personal mission.

“My other passion is music. I played flute and saxophone during my secondary education and later joined community bands. I always enjoyed Irish music but, until seven years ago, it had not occurred to me that I could play it. Irish music is characterized by a particular style that I needed to learn. Even with my classical training and experience, I have felt like a beginner as I work to develop the style. But it has become an obsession and I play whistle and flute in Irish sessions every chance I get. I have also been inspired to learn fiddle.”

Meet Your Peers: Melissa Jensen

“My name is Melissa Jensen. I’m a 1998 U of M graduate in broadcast journalism. I return to Missoula, rather unexpectedly, after spending the last 10 years working in various television newsrooms. I’ve done just about everything there is to do, from reporting to assignment editing to managing the newsroom. But my passion is producing and anchoring newscasts. I have a wonderful husband and an amazing 2-year-old boy. My husband was offered a job in Missoula last fall to do a job he loves for State Farm Insurance. So here we are… and the stars aligned to bring me back to U of M. I’m excited to get back into the classroom and further develop and expand my skills. My husband will be the first to tell you that I miss the day to day stress, deadlines and frantic atmosphere of being in a newsroom. It’s a great job that I love and I do miss. But I have no doubt there will be plenty more of that to go around once classes begin!”

Meet Your Peers: Drew Vetere

“I am Andrew Vetere, but you can call me Drew. I grew up in a small, coastal town in Massachusetts called West Newbury. I recently (May 15, 2008) graduated from St. Michael’s College in Vermont where I majored in journalism and mass communications with a concentration in language and linguistics. This past year I held the position of outdoors editor for the school newspaper. As a sophomore I was an intern with the Eastern Ski Writers Association where I travelled to different ski areas on the East Coast and created articles for different forms of media.

"During my junior year I lived and studied in New Zealand for the year at the University of Otago. I often think about my time in New Zealand.Skiing, surfing and stirring the rad pot are my passions. I like adventures. I hope to include my passion for the outdoors and travel into my life and career path. I look forward to meeting and getting to know my colleagues at the University of Montana and hope this year brings a lot of snow!”

Meet Your Peers: Kelly Rothlisberger

“I was born and raised in Evergreen, Colo. My passions include hiking, snowboarding, running, Frisbee, and pretty much anything outdoors. I have played the highland bagpipes for over 13 years and have traveled around the world competing with them. Through playing the bagpipes I became involved with St. Andrews Presbyterian College in North Carolina. While there I worked for The St. Andrews Press department where I discovered and pursued my true interests in writing, editing and publishing. This summer I plan on hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, which I hope will produce many adventures to write about in the future.”

Meet Your Peers: James Grant

“I was born and raised outside Denver, Colo., and in 2002 graduated from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., with a bachelor’s degree in natural resources. Since college I have held a variety of jobs that have not only kept me outdoors and challenged me physically, but have also immersed me in rural America. The work, little of which has directly pertained to my education in geology and forestry, has been largely agricultural- farming, ranching, and training horses.

“Most recently, I leased a ranch north of Dallas, Texas, where I established and ran a horse training business. I was there for four years, learned much of the trade and the land, and am now quite ready for the cooler Northern climes.

“Drawing from my education and my experience within the natural world, I intend to pursue environmental journalism.”

Meet Your Peers: Michael Webster

"Hello, I’m Michael Webster. I grew up in an old gold mining town in the Sierra foothills of Northern California. My childhood was spent in the surrounding woods fostering a love of the outdoors and exploration. Fascinated by human anatomy and physiology, I earned my bachelor’s degree in kinesiology in 2002 from Gordon College, just outside of Boston, Mass. After two years of ski-bumming in the winter, attending friends’ weddings seemingly full-time in the summer, and collecting a few stamps in my passport, I moved to Bozeman, Mont., in 2004. Primarily out of convenience and lack of a better plan, I earned a master’s degree in exercise physiology at Montana State in 2007.

"Many people are surprised that I’m making the change to journalism, but I’m a big believer in striving for a “D-plus” knowledge of the universe. It’s the idea of having a passable understanding-- or at least a vague comprehension-- of everything. I have too many interests to pigeonhole myself into a career limited in scope, so I’m excited about journalism’s potential to promote my love of researching and learning about many topics and then sharing those stories. I think any subject can be fascinating if its story is well told. I’m excited to move to Missoula and learn how to write those stories while enjoying an active, outdoor lifestyle in another Montana mountain town. My other hobbies include cycling, hiking, camping, photography, and, when I get a chance, scuba diving."

Meet Your Peers: Cate Oliver

“Hello, hello I am Cate Oliver. I'm 23 years old and was born and raised in Rock Springs, Wyo. Eighteen years there was much too many, and my desperation to get out brought me to Spokane, Wash., to attend school at Gonzaga University. I studied broadcasting and general business there and graduated last May. I was lucky enough to study abroad my junior year in Florence, Italy. Throughout those nine months I learned more about humanity, our world and myself than I could have EVER imagined! I visited so many different countries and experienced such diversity in each of them, and that experience changed the way I look at the world.

“I (obviously) love traveling and embrace extraordinary adventures. Occasionally this sense of adventure gets me in trouble, but it always develops great stories and memories! I dig the outdoors and outdoor activities (snowboarding, hiking, kayaking, biking, running…) which is part of the reason I came to Missoula.

“Music is also something I am very passionate about. When I am stressed, anxious, or just down there is nothing more soothing than putting on a great vinyl or sitting down and strumming my guitar. My summer plans basically involve attending various concerts and festivals, and spending time at the Gorge.”