Karen Nyberg

Asteroids, planetary exploration suits, space ships, International Space Station cameras, eclipses, supernovae, dark energy, space law and the proliferation of space junk are just a few of the areas in which the University of North Dakota and its John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences’ Space Studies and other departments on campus have been working for the past 25 years.

In this issue of UND Discovery, we explore the extreme reaches of UND’s research enterprise, and few things illustrate that better than what’s been done in the Final Frontier.  And it’s only fitting that a leader in the study of space would have its very own NASA astronaut alum.  UND boasts of mechanical engineering graduate Karen Nyberg (above), who will make her second trip into space May 28 for a six-month stay aboard the International Space Station (story on Page 3). You can follow the mission through her personal tweets @AstroKarenN.

What better time than now to celebrate Karen’s high achievements and UND’s space-related research endeavors?  The Space Studies program is celebrating its 25th anniversary as a department.  Check out the story about Space Studies on Page 10 that will take you up, up and away from its infancy through the challenging times to the heights of its current success.

UND astrophysicist Wayne Barkhouse has developed software that may help prove the existence of “dark energy” in the universe. Photo by Jackie Lorentz.

Whether it’s through the microscope or through the telescope — or the myriad worlds in between — UND researchers, creative scholars, and alums have our universe covered.

They demonstrate every day how their work, sometimes in the laboratory and many times out in the field, influences the familiar and beyond, from inner space to outer space.

This issue of UND Discovery shows examples of how their impact transcends Grand Forks and North Dakota’s political boundaries to places as far away as Antarctica, the International Space Station, and distant galaxies.

We also look inward — closer to home, you might say — at UND biochemists Joyce Ohm, Archana Dhasarathy, and others who are trying to unlock mysteries within our own bodies’ DNA through dynamic new efforts in epigenetics research.

On the other side of the universe, we learn how UND physicist Wayne Barkhouse is helping fellow scientists around the world understand the phenomenon of “Dark Energy” light years away, all the while challenging the limitations of Einstein’s theories of time and space.

We also take time to celebrate milestones at UND.  The Space Studies Department — a first of its kind anywhere — and the newly renamed Women and Gender Studies program recently turned 25 and 30 years old, respectively.  Both programs have been invaluable catalysts for research in their own areas of influence.

Always bearing in mind how UND research is serving the state, we also include features about UND archaeologist Dennis Toom, our resident “Indiana Jones,” and how he is revealing and preserving North Dakota’s hidden past.   And finally, we learn how UND historian William Caraher is teaming up with Bret Weber of the Social Work Department and others to document life in the oil patch “Man Camps” of western North Dakota.

Find all this and much, much more in this issue of UND Discovery.  Enjoy!

David Dodds, Editor

***

UND Discovery is published by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development, with assistance from the Division of University and Public Affairs.  Editor:  David Dodds.  Contributors:  Juan Pedraza, David Dodds, Emily Aasand, Kate Menzies, Suezette Rene Bieri, Sandy Van Eck, Trish McGuire, and Brian Johnson.  Principal photography by Jackie Lorentz and Shawna Widdel.  Please send inquiries and comments to the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development, University of North Dakota, 264 Centennial Drive Stop 8367, Grand Forks, ND 58202-8367.  The University of North Dakota is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution.

UND.edu/research

Johnson

Transcending boundaries — no passports needed

“So who cares?”  That’s a question that I like to ask scientists and researchers, and I don’t mean it in an insulting way.  Fundamentally, if nobody cares about the work you did, you’ve probably just wasted time, energy, and resources in doing it.

How or why somebody cares is another question.  The results of research may “push back the frontiers of science,” leading researchers in a distant lab to change the way they plan or interpret their experiments, which leads to more research that influences other scientists to change the way they do things, and so on.   As the process repeats itself, we build new fundamental knowledge that eventually solves problems and often leads to new products for the marketplace, many of which were never anticipated at the beginning.

At the other extreme, the results of research may be very applied and lead immediately to the solution of a problem or the creation of a new product.

Regardless of how fundamental or how applied research is, getting students involved in it creates other benefits.  Students who are engaged in research as undergraduates are more likely to stay in school and graduate on time.

You have to agree, though, that if the answer to “who cares?” is “nobody,” that’s not good.  If nobody cites the paper you publish as a building block for their work, and nobody buys your new widget, then there might just be a problem.

At UND, we don’t hear that answer.

What we do hear is that the research and scholarly work done by UND faculty are important to people both within the state and around the globe.  The work done by our faculty transcends political borders, physical borders (the Earth vs. outer space), and biological borders (work done with cells or laboratory mice helps us improve human health).  This issue of UND Discovery highlights a variety of research and creative projects whose impact transcends all kinds of borders — and you don’t need your passport to read it.

Phyllis Johnson, Vice President for Research and Economic Development

In a style he calls both “chaotic” and “structured,” Tanner Pruess incorporated the UND logo colors of green and orange into a painting that was featured in the University’s “Spirit Week” celebration.

Tanner Pruess found opportunities at UND to mix interests and establish himself as an artistic entrepreneur

University of North Dakota graduate student Tanner Pruess had an interest in art at a young age, but it wasn’t until he arrived on campus here that he made his mark.

The 23-year-old from Pierre, S.D., is finishing up a master’s degree in business administration in the College of Business and Public Administration.  During his time at UND, he also explored other opportunities the area had to offer and found he had talent that hadn’t been tapped.

“My fiancé encouraged me to do some creating of my own,” Pruess said.  “She’s also an artist, and she definitely inspired me to start creating my own work.”

Pruess began building a unique style that combines “structured” and “chaotic” elements.  He created his first painting in the fall of 2011.

“I put a picture of it on Facebook, and I got some great feedback from friends and family,” he said.  “That was what started my second career.”

Pruess made his first sale in March 2012 to a friend who bought two pieces.  By the end of 2012, he had sold more than 50 paintings nationally.  Along with his sales, he has donated a variety of paintings to charities and fundraisers.

Pruess’ move to UND has paid off in ways he never expected.  His art career continues to flourish, and he is now part of a distinct group of artistic entrepreneurs.

“When you consider the size of the town, I think the art community in Grand Forks is pretty cool,” he said.  “It’s a great thing to be a part of.”

Pruess’ artwork was featured recently during UND Spirit Week in The Hugo’s Spirit Art Showcase & Silent Auction.  His abstract painting, “Discover the Spirit,” is up for sale.  The piece combines school colors in a way that reveals the innovative, creative, entrepreneurial and spirited legacy of the UND alumni, students, faculty, and staff.

“Having a painting featured in the University’s art auction is a huge stepping stone for many artists,” Pruess said.  “It also was extra special for me because UND has given me so many opportunities and connections.”

Brian Johnson

Holding examples of new Grand Forks maps are (left to right) Tara Dupper, Lutheran Social Services resettlement coordinator; geography student Garrett Jepsen; Michael Niedzielski, assistant professor of geography; and master’s degree student Bailey Bubach. The class undertook the project of creating maps that could be comprehended by users who are unfamiliar with the community, the culture, and even the language.

A service learning project taps student research and imagination to produce special maps of Grand Forks for new Americans

As anyone who’s been a stranger in a new town can tell you, just getting around can be difficult.  Now add to that the challenges of a new language, different customs and a foreign culture.

University of North Dakota geography student Garrett Jepsen and his classmates built a technology-based solution with paper and web-based products for a community of folks in just such a situation: New Americans.

Working with the Grand Forks office of Lutheran Social Services (LSS), the Geography 471 class — comprising students from a variety of majors besides geography — produced a series of handy community maps destined to help New Americans of all ages find the services they’re looking for.

“I think it’s a great idea,” said Jepsen, a Vermillion, S.D., native who was one of 24 students enrolled this spring in Geography 471–Cartography and Visualization.

“It started out as a class project, an assignment,” Jepsen said.  “We divided ourselves up into groups to work on this.  Each group selected a topic of interest to this community, such as low-cost and free activities for children and families, available social services, and food stores.  Then we did the research and gathered the data to design and produce maps for each of these needs.”

For Bailey Bubach, a geology master’s student at UND who graduated from Grand Forks Central High School, the project is a lot more than a course requirement:  “I think it’s a vital part of learning what geography is all about outside of the classroom.”  Bubach is minoring in geography as part of her master’s degree program.

How to help new residents

It’s that contact outside the classroom that makes this project special.

“This is, as far as I know, a truly unique program:  Lutheran Social Services partnering with a geography class to produce this much-needed service,” said Tara Dupper, a social worker who is coordinator of resettlement at LSS-Grand Forks.  “The students did fantastic work with these maps, really valuable for our clients.  We not only got the maps, we got the files so that we can reprint them as needed in the future.”

The refugee program that LSS is associated with is part of the national refugee resettlement program administered through the U.S. Department of State, noted Dupper, a Syracuse, N.Y.-area native who did similar work in Colorado and Alaska before coming to Grand Forks with her husband.  The LSS refugee program in Grand Forks resettles about 90 people annually, many of them members of family groups who try to join up here.

“UND Geography will continue to work with LSS in the future providing these maps with updates made by students,” said Michael Niedzielski, assistant professor of geography, who teaches this cartography class.

“We teach Geography 471 as a service learning class,” said Niedzielski, who grew up in Warsaw, Poland.  “Not only is this about the ins and outs of map design, we understand that maps are another form of communication.  So, the point is for our maps to fill a need, to make those maps for someone.  In other words, we’re making maps as a community service.”

In this case, it’s for a very specific community.

“In this community mapping project, students got to brainstorm instead of me telling them what they should do,” said Niedzielski.  Last year he was involved through the Center for Community Engagement in a similar community project with the Near Northside Neighborhood in Grand Forks.

Walk a mile in their shoes

“The students figured out what to do by putting themselves in the shoes of the community they aimed to help.  They asked, ‘What would I need in these circumstances?’ and designed maps to meet those needs.”

Bradley Rundquist, chair of the UND Geography Department, said the “learning by doing” model used by Niedzielski in his class is extremely effective, although it’s something many faculty struggle to implement.

“Cartography lends itself to such an approach because the only way to learn to make maps is to do it,” Rundquist said.  “Dr. Niedzielski takes that one step further because his students learn by making maps to address specific community needs.”

A typical question: where do I find inexpensive clothing and home furnishings?  The answer: low-cost retailers and thrift stores.  One map produced by the students details all such locations in the Grand Forks area.

This and other maps can be found on the Maps4Community website: http://arts-sciences.und.edu/geography/maps4community/index.cfm

“One key aspect of this project is that the maps live beyond the class,” Niedzielski said.  “Some of the students have even worked past the end of the class (term), updating the maps.”

Juan Miguel Pedraza

Dennis Toom (above) carefully sifts through the soil around the “On-a-Slant Indian Village” site near Fort Abraham Lincoln and Mandan. In 2001, this “dig” netted an abundance of artifacts, many yet to be prepared and cataloged.

Archaeologist Dennis Toom protects the region’s rich and hidden past from being forever lost to development

You might call University of North Dakota archaeologist Dennis Toom the Indiana Jones of the Upper Midwest, minus the swashbuckling adventurism of the Hollywood hero.

That’s not to suggest his work’s not exciting.

Toom, who’s been a member of the Department of Anthropology for the past 25 years, has spent the majority of that time investigating and sifting through some of the more significant archaeological locations across North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, and northeastern Wyoming.

He’s collected a treasure trove of artifacts that tell a story of America’s recent and prehistoric past.  Boxes filled with finds are stacked in the lower reaches of UND’s Babcock Hall, waiting to be examined and catalogued.

“I just kind of fell into it,” said Toom, whose love of archaeology was sparked as a student at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley.  “It all made sense to me, and it was easy for me.

“I’ve always wanted to know what went on here in the past.”

Toom

Toom first came to North Dakota in the 1980s to assist with archaeology work around the proposed Northern Border Pipeline Project, which originated in Canada and now runs west of Williston, N.D., southeast into Iowa.

In 1988, he joined the UND faculty as a research archaeologist, and has been hopping ever since.

Thanks to the National Environmental Policy Act and more specific language in the National Historic Preservation Act, whenever a federal project intends to move dirt or build something, a collateral damage study of archaeological and historic properties must be done.

That’s where Toom and his small team of investigators step in.

“Basically, you have to take care of natural resources as well as cultural resources,” he said.

A lot of Toom’s field work has centered on the village sites of the Indians of the Middle Missouri region in the Dakotas, along the Missouri River.  The descendents of these people are known today as the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation.

In 2000-2001, while working on a project that would establish and restore part of the original palisade surrounding On-a-Slant Indian Village near Fort Abraham Lincoln, south of Mandan, N.D., one of Toom’s digs revealed a fortification ditch “packed full of artifacts.”

“This was all quite surprising to us,” Toom said.  “We still have boxes full of artifacts from that one find.”  Eventually, once inspected and cataloged, those artifacts will be sent to the North Dakota Heritage Center.

Toom said the highest density of prehistoric artifacts in North Dakota can be found along rivers, which were important for resources and travel.

“North Dakota has some very interesting and well preserved archaeology,” he said.  “We are still a frontier state in a lot of ways.”

According to Toom, one well-documented North Dakota site is the ancient Knife River Flint Quarries where American Indians, long before western settlement of North America, mined flint that was excellent for tool making.  The highly sought stone was traded across the continent, with Knife River flint being discovered as far away as Ohio.  Knife River flint was the first North Dakota “export,” beginning over 10,000 years ago.  The people who first mined the flint, the Paleo-Indians, were also the first inhabitants of North Dakota.

“These people were the first North Dakota explorers,” he said.

More recently, Toom and colleague Michael A. Jackson, an associate research archaeologist and a GIS specialist, were given a grant by the National Park Service to conduct precision mapping of President Theodore Roosevelt’s old Elkhorn Ranch site, along the Little Missouri River in the North Dakota Badlands, about 35 miles north of Medora, N.D.  Roosevelt established the ranch when he was only 26.

Toom and students of the UND archaeological field school were able to document and precisely map the features of the former ranch yard, including the ranch house, blacksmith shop, barn, utility shed, and chicken coop.

Their findings were compiled and published in February 2010.

What’s amazing about Toom and his staff is that they receive very little, if any, internal  funding to do business.  Their shop is completely funded by grants and contracts from outside sources, such as government agencies and private industry.

“If we’re not doing projects, we’re not getting paid,” he said.  Like any business, sometimes Toom is forced to be creative and innovative to get the job done when grant funding doesn’t necessarily cover the cost of the work.

Toom and his crew perform two or three major projects a year, in addition to a number of smaller ones.

They also inject an educational component into their work most years by conducting an archaeological field school, giving students hands-on experience at actual research sites.  As many as 10 to 12 students, about half from UND, take part in the field schools each time, Toom said.

David Dodds

This program requires its volunteers to organize outreach events about space science topics for their local communities.

As part of their outreach events, Jackson and Wargetz designed a series for the spring 2013 semester titled “Outer Space in the Great Plains.”

Their public presentations have addressed topics such as “exoplanets” and Jupiter’s moons, underscoring their passion for sharing science and inspiring others to seek out new worlds of knowledge.

But from where do they derive their passions?

Wargetz

Annie Wargetz

Her email handle is “Annie Astra,” a super indicator that she’s into everything related to space.

Wargetz, who hails from Houston, Texas, is a space studies master’s degree candidate whose enthusiasm for this field burns as bright as a supernova.

That enthusiasm shines bright because of passion.  She explains that there is a big difference between “interest” in a subject and a passion for it.

“Interest is something that I can read about on the Internet for about five minutes, but I don’t necessarily feel anything,” said Wargetz.  “Passion is whenever I’m explaining something to someone about space, and I feel energized because it’s something that I want to share, something that I want to get the word out about.  You can’t sit still when you’re talking about it.”

Such passion comes, in part, from being inspired by the right people, Wargetz notes.

“My parents, for example, taught me that I could do whatever I wanted to,” Wargetz said.  “Another example was a teacher in college.  I actually thought that I wasn’t very good at math, but my first calculus professor sat me down and explained to me why I wasn’t getting it.  I ended up getting a minor in math because of the way that teacher talked with me.

“Inspiration is all about people who build you up, not pull you down.  Good teachers are vital to any career.”

Jackson

Katrina Jackson

Katrina Jackson likes to think of media and entertainment as a great source of inspiration.

In The Magic School Bus, a series of children’s books about science penned by Joanna Cole, Miss Frizzle and her class board a magical school bus that takes them on field trips into space and other impossible places.  The books were developed into a popular children’s television series starring the celebrated comedian Lily Tomlin as Miss Frizzle.

“It was one of my favorite TV shows,” said Jackson, who is from the Washington, D.C. area.  “My mom used to dress up as Miss Frizzle and do experiments for my birthday parties.  It inspired my passion in science, and contributed to my desire to inspire others through entertainment media.  I pursued this desire at the University of Arizona, where I studied planetary science, astronomy and media and theater arts.

“My mentor there, Dr. Dante Lauretta, told me about UND’s Space Studies graduate program because of its interdisciplinary nature and because multiple people from the University of Arizona have come to this program, like Dr. Ron Fevig.

“I would love to work with science-related TV shows, especially entertainment shows like The Big Bang Theory.  That way, I can combine my interests in space science, theater arts and communication to get the public excited about space and science.”

Wargetz and Jackson’s next outreach presentation will be an interactive segment on where aliens might find critical resources.

Solar System Ambassadors Program

Juan Miguel Pedraza

Participating in the signing ceremony for the University of North Dakota and the University of Bergen (UiB), Norway, were (left to right) UND’s Steve Benson, chair of the Petroleum Engineering Department; Hesham El-Rewini, dean of the College of Engineering and Mines; Pål Davidsen of UiB’s Faculty of Social Sciences; and Scott Johnson, principal adviser to UND’s Institute for Energy Studies. UiB is a leader in System Dynamics, applying conceptual and formal computer modeling to explore a wide range of complex issues.

Another energizing connection to Norway

The pipeline between the University of North Dakota and Norway just got a little wider with the signing of a student and faculty exchange agreement that centers on petroleum research and social sciences research.

On March 19, Hesham El-Rewini, dean of the College of Engineering and Mines, which oversees the Institute for Energy Studies (IES) and the Petroleum Engineering Program at UND, signed a memorandum of understanding with Pål Davidsen of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Bergen (UiB), Norway.  The signing paves the way for two academic and research powerhouses to collaborate efforts on teaching, learning, and research aimed at a wide range of energy opportunities and challenges.

The agreement promotes the exchange of faculty, research scholars, and students between the two institutions, and recognizes each institution as being a leader in their respective fields of interest.  UND’s IES and Petroleum Engineering Program are growing rapidly and are highly regarded for energy research and education of petroleum engineers for the oil and gas industry.  The Faculty of Social Sciences at UiB is a leader in “System Dynamics” education, research methods and technology.

What is System Dynamics?  The approach uses conceptual and formal computer modeling to facilitate communication, knowledge sharing and learning across the wide range of industry, state, community, and academic stakeholders involved with highly complex systems such as the energy industry.

Navarro

The System Dynamics approach looks for ways the petroleum industry can work synergistically with other societal facets to embrace opportunities and overcome challenges.

“If you are not looking for opportunities like this, that’s when you start to have problems,” said Davidsen, who represented Knut Helland, UiB dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, at the signing event.

UND already has a number of academic and cultural links to

Norway, including a popular faculty and student exchange program with the American College of Norway in Moss.  UND’s Chester Fritz Library Department of Special Collections also is home to the world’s largest collection of Bygdebøker, compilations of local Norwegian genealogical, cultural and geographical information, thanks to Arne Brekke, a Norwegian immigrant, retired UND languages professor, and successful tour business proprietor.

The agreement between UND and UiB is the initial part of what could become a much broader research and exchange relationship between the two institutions.

Light

Rachel Navarro

Rachel Navarro, assistant professor in the Department of Counseling Psychology and Community Services, was awarded the Henry Tomes Award by The Council of National Psychological Associations for the Advancement of Ethnic Minority Interests Jan. 16 in Houston, for her significant contributions to the advancement of psychology in minority communities.

Steve Light and Kathryn Rand

Steve Light, associate vice president for academic affairs and professor of political science and public administration, and Kathryn Rand, dean of the law school — UND’s resident experts on everything Indian gaming and casinos — are revising one of their influential books: Indian Gaming Law and Policy.  The book has become the de facto handbook on Indian gaming law at law schools across the country, so popular, in fact, that its publisher, Carolina Academic Press, recently asked the authors to produce a new edition.  They hope to see it in classrooms this fall.

Rand

Phyllis Johnson

Vice President for Research and Economic Development Phyllis Johnson has been reappointed to the national Invasive Species Advisory Committee (ISAC) by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.  This will be her second three-year term of service representing academics/researchers.  Johnson also is chairwoman of the ISAC Research Subcommittee.

“One of the niches I fill on ISAC is that I am an advocate for systematics and taxonomy — the science of naming and classifying all biological organisms,” Johnson said.  “It’s hard to develop controls for invasive plants, animals, insects, fungi, etc., if you don’t know exactly what organisms you are dealing with.”

Johnson has been UND’s vice president for research and economic development since August 2009.

David Dodds

Research on temporary settlements in North Dakota’s oil patch aims to improve workforce housing statewide

University of North Dakota researchers Bret Weber and William Caraher got to know each other while mapping out the remains of a late Roman city on the south coast of Cyprus.

The city was gone, of course.  The only things that remained were bits of pottery, fragments of walls, and hints of decoration suggesting previous settlement.

It’s a far cry from North Dakota, where workforce housing has sprung up across the state to accommodate local and out-of-town workers employed in the Bakken oil patch and related industries.

Caraher

“We had this idea that we could use some of the same techniques that I used in Mediterranean archaeology to document these ‘man camps’,” said Caraher, UND associate professor of history.

“The thought was to have Bret, who has a Ph.D. in history as well as a master’s degree in social work, bring in his experience doing oral history and qualitative research to capture the human stories while I document the material culture of the Bakken Boom.”

While driving from site to site, the two revised and articulated their research questions.  The project became more focused with Weber’s background in housing issues, as an academic specialist in social policy, a member of the Grand Forks City Council, and a founder of the Grand Forks Community Land Trust.

“With my interest in housing, we realized that the project took on a social policy angle,” said Weber, UND assistant professor of social work.  “We weren’t just going to document life in Bakken man camps, but we were going to think about how the state can make life in workforce housing better.”

Over the course of three trips to the Bakken oil patch, Caraher and Weber teamed up with Richard Rothaus, an archaeologist with Trefoil Cultural and Environmental in Sauk Rapids, Minn.; Aaron Barth, a Ph.D. student in the joint UND/NDSU history program; Kostis Korelis, an architectural historian from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa.; and two photographers, John Holmgren and Kyle Cassidy.

“We all see the world through a myopia fashioned by our circumstances — which is one reason it’s great to work with people from completely different fields,” said Cassidy, who provides an artistic vision to help capture the human experience of the Bakken.  “Together, we layer these different interpretations, and it’s that diversity of observation that I think makes this work so well.  We’re all waking up in the same place, but we’re seeing very different landscapes.”

So far, the “North Dakota Man Camp Project” has documented close to 30 man camps ranging from state-of-the-art housing provided by global corporations like Target Logistics to groups of campers neatly arranged in RV parks or clustered without power or water in shelterbelts.

Weber

“The range of housing in the Bakken is staggering right now,” Weber said.  “We created a typology of camps with the most elaborate modular camps managed by groups like Target Logistics as Type 1 camps.  RV park type camps with a diverse range of units, masted electrical hook-up, and connections to water and sewage are designated as Type 2 camps.  Camps without power or water in irregular settings are Type 3 camps.”

Weber and Barth have collected close to 50 interviews with man camp residents, operators, and staff.  Caraher has meticulously photographed the camps, Kourelis has prepared architectural drawings of representative units, and the team has developed careful descriptions of the space in the camps.

While the work has just begun, the team is starting to make some preliminary observations about life in the camps that weave together the personal experiences of people living in the Bakken and the material culture that constitutes the new settlements in the western part of the state.

“The most remarkable thing we have discovered is that a substantial part of the Bakken workforce does all they can to carve out domestic life in even the most humble of settings,” Caraher observed.  “One of the Type 3 camps, in a shelterbelt, built a horseshoe pit and an elaborate outdoor kitchen.  Type 2 camps often include fenced-in lawns, decks, mudrooms, gardens, and other amenities that you’d find in a suburban subdivision.”

Additionally, they’ve found that, despite the title “man camps,” all three types can include men, women, and children.  And all three include people earning high salaries and people struggling to earn enough to stay in the patch.

As the landscape of the western part of North Dakota continues to develop, Weber and Caraher plan to continue their work to document and analyze the changing living conditions in the Bakken.  Their work in the oil patch is — for the most part — a flip-side of their Cyprus research.  But there is, say Caraher and Weber, an eerie similarity between the vanquished Roman city and the open North Dakota prairie.

Brian Johnson

William Caraher and Bret Weber, UND professors of history and social work, respectively, contributed to this article.