Names and notables

Edie Schmierbach, The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.
·2 min read

Aug. 14—Western Technical College

Joshua Holicky, of Le Center, has graduated from Western Technical College at La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Holicky completed the college's emergency medical technician basic program.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Area residents were awarded stipends to participate in research with faculty mentors this summer.

Alexander Sandquist, of Mankato, and Austin Herold, of North Mankato, attend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Nebraska's Undergraduate Creative Activities and Research Experience Program supports undergraduates to work with faculty mentors in research or creative activities. Students receive stipends of $2,400 to engage in intensive research or creative activity for 20 hours per week.

Students from the Nebraska Summer Research Program and UCARE presented posters on their research and creative activities at a campus research symposium Aug. 5.

Sandquist's project was "Surface Modification of Polyurethane."

Herold's project was "Investigating Host Preference for Phoresy across Microhabitats in the Nebraska-Native Pseudoscorpion Dactylochelifer silvestris."

Minnesota Corn Growers Association

Nadia Phillips, a 2021 graduate of Mankato East High School, and Heidi Hoffman, a 2019 graduate of Cathedral High School in New Ulm, are two of the four winners of the 2022 Minnesota Corn Growers Association young-adult scholarship.

Each will receive $5,000.

Phillips is a freshman at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities studying plant science. This school year, she is working as a student assistant in the USDA Cereal Disease Lab in St. Paul.

In 2020-21, Phillips was the leader of the Mankato FFA Floriculture Career Development Event group. In an essay accompanying her application, Phillips said she plans to pursue a career in crop disease research.

Hoffman is a junior at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities studying animal science and agricultural communication and marketing. She has been a veterinary assistant and a member of the Gopher Dairy Club, the Pre-Vet Club and the Ag Business Club.

Last summer Hoffman was a communications and public relations intern with Minnesota Pork. She is now an insurance office intern with Compeer Financial. In an essay accompanying her application, Hoffman said she became passionate about educating the non-farming public about agriculture during her internship with Minnesota Pork.