Meet Your Peers: Tim Kukes

Well, let's see if I can give some reasonable information about myself without making this sound like a dating profile. I graduated from Central Washington University in the winter of 2008 with a degree in geography. During the last two years of my undergraduate career, I got the opportunity to be on the staff of the Observer – Central's weekly student newspaper. This experience created a love for writing for other people. In addition, I have worked at several jobs over the course of the last ten years that have involved natural resources.

I believe there is a magic in what we call the environment or nature. No hocus-pocus; just a pervading sense of rightness with the world. Nature is balance. It goes with the flow and it works with what is has. It doesn't surprise me that people feel a calmness or sense of being at one with themselves when in the woods or mountains. Nature provides an example of being.

You can even see it driving across Eastern Washington on I-90. A landscape that many would describe as desolate still catches my eye. Large expanses of land dotted by sagebrush or farm fields, broken by a periodic outcropping of basalt is the theme of this area. Yet you can't help but be drawn into the solidness of it all. There is a feeling of permanence to it that I find grounding.

And that is what has drawn me to pursue a graduate degree in journalism. It is a way to do something I love while paying homage to the natural environment we live in. I keep having the recurring idea that the health of a society is reflected in the health of the environment it lives in – both natural and cultural. That is what I want to talk about.

So if the above three paragraphs don't tell you I am something of a romantic, then I do not know what will. In addition to writing and being outdoors I enjoy reading, eating out, traveling, and exploring new places. I am also an avid gamer, mostly rpg's – both computer and tabletop – but I also enjoy various tabletop strategy games.

I view this move to Missoula and the University of Montana as an opportunity, not only to further myself academically, but to develop myself as a human being through the experiences I will have there. I am looking forward to it and to meeting you all.

Meet Your Peers: Carmen Daye Irish

"There is so much to be inspired by. And for this reason, photojournalism is the heartbeat of photography for me. Photography may be selective, but in a mysterious way it manages to incorporate what is outside the frame, before and after. There is no beginning and no end. In a world that I endlessly seek to understand and describe, it is in this instant of a photograph where I most often find the deepest meaning of life.

"I have spent hours upon hours in attics and museums, lost in time, while elbow deep in boxes of old photographs and archives. I have always been amazed by the powerful impact photography makes on my perception of humanity through the lenses of the photographer, the photographed, and myself, the viewer. This dynamic relationship has created such an excitement for storytelling, and I believe it to be both an honor and privilege to share the stories of people who otherwise might not be heard. I strongly believe in its ability to increase social awareness, and for this reason I am pursuing higher education within the field of journalism.

"For the last three years I have lived in Paradise Valley outside of Livingston, Mont., where I have worked as community and arts editor for the Livingston Enterprise, a fly-fishing guide, associate photographer for Montana Wedding Photographer, and have started a photography business that concentrates on wedding, product and editorial photography. I am a 26-year-old Montana native who loves the mountains and rivers, traveling, drinking wine, eating sushi, and of course, photographing it all!"

Meet Your Peers: Cody Bloomsburg

"Don't worry. I don't live on a compound or anything. The picture was taken after I finished an interview with some Idaho Army National Guardsmen. As it turns out, the government will let you hold a machine gun as long as you promise you're a good American. I grew up watching too much G.I. Joe, so I couldn't turn down a chance to put on my war face.

"I'm Cody Bloomsburg and I currently write for the Idaho State Journal in Pocatello.

"This is my first gig as a reporter. The short version of my story is I quit a job managing an insulation company and moved across the state because the managing editor of this paper said there was a chance I could do a little writing for them.

"After I moved to Pocatello, I didn't have anything better to do so I just kept showing up in the newsroom every day and asking to do stories. I don't have any formal training in journalism, but now that I've been here for 6 months I at least have a vague idea about how this business works.

"I'm from Lewiston, Idaho. Other than brandishing automatic weapons and wearing rock & roll t-shirts, I try to spend my time fishing, hunting, brewing beer or painting with watercolors.

"All of that is true except for the part about watercolors — I've never enjoyed painting.

"I look forward to meeting you all soon."

Meet Your Peers: Tetona Dunlap

"My name is Tetona Dunlap and I a member of the Eastern Shoshone tribe from the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. I graduated from Creighton University in 2004 with my bachelors in journalism. I am also a 2003 graduate of the American Indian Journalism Institute. I have had the opportunity to intern at several newspapers. I have interned at the Argus Leader in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; The Associated Press in Seattle; The Lincoln Journal Star in Lincoln, Nebraska and The Washington Post. I worked at the Kansas City Star in Kansas City, Missouri for three years as a photojournalist. I currently freelance for my local hometown newspapers the Lander Journal and the Riverton Ranger, as well as Reznetnews.org. My decision to attend graduate school stems from a desire to gain more knowledge and skills in the journalism world. It is my hope that by attending Montana I can learn about all aspects of journalism such as writing, editing, video, radio, in addition to continuing with photojournalism."

Meet Your Peers: Brandy Kiger

"Hello everyone! My name is Brandy Kiger. I was born and raised in North Carolina, and have been trying to get out of this state (as beautiful and wonderful as it is) for as long as I can remember, so I'm super excited to be moving to Montana this fall. I fell in love with Montana the moment I stepped off the plane in October 2008, and saw it in all its blustery early winter glory. My only fears about moving there are frostbite and grizzly bears. Other than that, I think it's golden.

I'm 24 years old and I love to laugh. I'm a very happy person, and when I'm excited about something most everyone else knows it, too. I think joy is one of the greatest gifts of this life, and I've been given an extra measure. I find it comes in handy, especially when the rest of the world seems to be falling apart. For fun, I dance (albeit badly), play guitar, write, hike, and am an all around river rat. I love being outdoors, especially if I can be on or near the water. Sun + Water + Hammock/Raft = an excellent life. I finished my undergrad degree at Western Carolina University in 2006,with a B.A. in English (Professional Writing) and a minor in Art. That fall I started teaching high school as a lateral entry teacher, and began working on my M.A. in English at WCU in 2007. I just complete that degree in May, and will have my teaching license by August. This is my last degree, I swear. (Except for maybe that doctorate ... but who's counting?)

"Over the past few years, I've been (in no particular order, and sometimes at the same time), a waitress, a teacher, a full-time student, a trip leader on the Nantahala River, a wedding coordinator/planner/caterer/photographer, an editor, and a writer. I've also gotten the opportunity to live in Spain and travel through France and most of the East Coast. I love traveling and opening myself up to new experiences and immersing myself in culture. I think we can only truly love people by getting to know them and accepting who they are, and it's my mission in life to try to love everyone I meet -- and yes, sometimes I fail miserably, but at least I try!

"Right now, I hope to work for an outdoors magazine and also photograph weddings once I graduate, but I learned a long time ago that when you make plans, God laughs, so I'm up for pretty much anything at this point. I think it's going to be a pretty awesome ride. I'm super excited to meet you guys, and I totally intend on having you over for dinner sometime! I love to cook, so if you're ever hungry, just come to my house!"

Meet Your Peers: Neil LaRubbio (and a friend)

Neil with his dog, Winsten Dan

"Six years have passed since my undergraduate studies, but they have been the most transformative and enriching of my life. I was born in Youngstown, Ohio, to blue-collar Slovak and Italian American lineages. My parents raised my three brothers and me in Houston, Texas, through the energy boom of the 1980s and 90s. These rather enjoyable years in suburbia familiarized me with tales of middle-America yet coaxed my mind to dream of exodus.

"In 2003, I graduated from the University of Texas as a film major, but a ramble through Europe after high school had convinced me that the world was vast, complex and in need of my explorations before I could adequately write about it. Since then, I have been a night porter in Yellowstone, a log home chinker, plumber, hospital chef and wildland firefighter in Montana, a foreign language instructor in the Czech Republic and South Korea, a sailor through the New York canal system and a ranch hand in Hawaii. During these years, I recorded the many people and places in tales of fiction and nonfiction.

"Montana, its wild spaces and culture, rooted in my heart the moment I stepped into its borders. I married here last summer to Jessica, who is a grower of organic produce and involved in local agricultural movements. We explore the forests and rivers together with our Australian cattle dog, Winsten Dan.

"Through my graduate work, I hope to establish myself within the professional world of journalism. I believe that UM’s J-School is uniquely positioned to influence the shape of our emerging media channels and to help guide the success of our future press. After six years away from academia, I am happy to be back in its halls.

"There are countless stories to scribe."

Meet Your Peers: Gillette Vaira

"Growing up in Lambert, Montana, I dreamed of becoming a broadcast journalist. I practiced news delivery skills by using flashlights and lint rollers as microphones. Later, with the support of my parents, Mary and Collin Vaira, I honed these communication skills through 4-H and Business Professionals of America, where I was successful in public speaking contests. As an undergraduate, I interned at KULR-8 Television, which further reconfirmed my goal to pursue broadcast journalism.

I graduated from Montana State University Billings in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication and a minor in International Studies. I have interned with the National 4-H Council in Washington, D.C. and the March of Dimes in Billings, Montana. I aspire to work as a broadcast journalist for a national news network and then move into public relations."