New algae process for biofuel production earns patent for CMC instructor

By Nancy Genova

Nancy Genova, chief executive officer of Colorado Mountain College in Rifle and a college vice president

Nancy Genova, chief executive officer of Colorado Mountain College in Rifle and a college vice president

Colorado Mountain College’s Rifle campus strives to stay on the forefront of leading integrated technologies.

Dr. Dennis Zhang is one example of the outstanding faculty bringing this leading technology into classrooms. In March, he received approval for an exciting patent for a process used for biofuel production from algae.

Last August Zhang joined our talented faculty as the associate professor of integrated energy. In addition to having a background in teaching, he has also built his career on process engineering associated with energy.

Before starting at CMC, he served as a senior chemical engineer at Solix BioSystems, Inc., in Fort Collins, with a focus on downstream processes for algae biofuels and bioproducts.

His patent – U.S. Patent No. 8,399,239 – is a new process for separating biomass from algae for use in biofuels production and generation of related algae products. Algae production for biofuel occurs in four steps: the algae are grown Read more

Graduate Profiles: Jacqueline Kniss, Natural Resource Management

The Natural Resource Management degree program at Colorado Mountain College in Leadville provides valuable, on the ground training for students interested in natural resource work with government agencies. Graduate Jackie Kniss found a position with the Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife after graduating from the program, studying bighorn sheep and lamb survival rates in the Arkansas River Valley for the agency. Jackie shares her thoughts of the program’s value in the video below.

 

DU, CMC partner to offer master’s degree

Glenwood Center new home for advanced degree in social work

Dr. Walter LaMendola, professor in the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Social Work, and Dr. Brad Tyndall, senior vice president of academic affairs at Colorado Mountain College, are among those in the DU-CMC partnership bringing a Master of Social Work program to western Colorado. Photo Stefanie Kilts

Dr. Walter LaMendola, professor in the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Social Work, and Dr. Brad Tyndall, senior vice president of academic affairs at Colorado Mountain College, are among those in the DU-CMC partnership bringing a Master of Social Work program to western Colorado. Photo Stefanie Kilts

In a partnership that will strengthen the Western Slope’s network of social support services, as well as create career opportunities for people already living in the region, Colorado Mountain College and the University of Denver are working together to bring a master’s degree in social work to Garfield County.

The Graduate School of Social Work (GSSW) at the University of Denver has recently started enrolling students into its Master of Social Work (MSW) program in western Colorado. Colorado Mountain College will host the program at its Glenwood Center, which is located at 1402 Blake Avenue (behind the City Market) in Glenwood Springs.

Classes will start in fall 2013. Available spots are already being filled, so applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.

“By partnering with the University of Denver, we’re able to help empower our local residents with greater access, so they can earn an advanced degree from a well-respected university,” said Dr. Charles Dassance, interim president of Colorado Mountain College. “Not only will this degree prepare people for Read more

Eleven faculty promoted at Colorado Mountain College

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Colorado Mountain College is promoting four assistant professors and seven associate professors throughout the college’s nine-county service area. Portraits of the eleven faculty are in the slideshow above. Kelli McCall and Jeffrey Runyon at the Leadville campus and Connie Selzer and Rod Taylor at the Spring Valley campus (near Glenwood Springs) are being promoted to associate professor. Tal Hardman, Derek Johnston, Bruce Kime and Becky Loth Luetke at Spring Valley; Susanna Spaulding at Leadville; Lindsay Royce at Steamboat; and Carol Turrin at Breckenridge are being promoted to full professor.

Four associate professors at Colorado Mountain College’s campus in Spring Valley are being promoted to full professor. Dr. Kime has taught social Read more

Second language fluency: not an ‘all or none’ proposition

By Virginia Nicolai

Photo of Virginia Nicolai

Virginia Nicolai is an assistant professor of ESL at Colorado Mountain College.

I feel fortunate that English is my native language. English has become a global language; you can use it all over the world.

In fact, you don’t need to be completely fluent in a language to communicate with the people who speak it. When it comes to languages, you cannot categorize people into only two groups: those who are fluent in the language and those who do not know the language at all. There is a continuum of language acquisition, so that learners progress through many different stages of communicative development.

Before I came to the Roaring Fork Valley, I spent a year and a half teaching English in Japan. I only knew a few words of Japanese when I landed in the country, placing me very close to the “not knowing the language at all” side of the continuum. Since the Japanese language uses three character sets, instead of Read more

1000 Words

AB Scholars 2013-Veronica-Yesenia LaughSeventeen students from high schools within Colorado Mountain College’s district were awarded Alpine Bank scholarships last Friday, May 10th. CMC’s Youth Outreach Coordinator, Yesenia Arreola, pictured at right above, shares a light moment with scholarship recipient Veronica Mendivil after the ceremony.

Congratulations to Karina Marcela Carrasco, Yoseline Ayala Pineda, Arianna Lomeli, Jesse Monsalve, Luis Pelaez, Daniel Pena, Judith Ruelas, Georgina Martinez-Almeida, Veronica Mendivil, Bebly Machado, Jesus Garcia, Elizabeth Navarro, Briana Fernandez, Sandy Loera, Juliet Kennedy, Maria Teresa Puerta Giraldo, and Alexandra Lujano. We know you’ll go far!

1000 Words

Another image from our “1000 Words” series: Dr. Brenda Dann-Messier, assistant secretary for the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education, speaking at the graduation ceremony at CMC in Leadville last Friday. Congratulations to all of our graduates for a job well done!

Dr. Brenda Dann-Messier, assistant secretary for the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education, speaks at CMC Leadville's  graduation ceremony Saturday.

CMC students take helm of athletic shoe companies

Those in college’s first class to graduate with bachelor’s degrees score in top 100 in world

Corey Milar and his business partners decided to take a big risk with their athletic shoe business.

They sold all their plants and moved production to the Asia-Pacific region to take advantage of cheaper labor and higher efficiency. The risk paid off in the long run, leading their company to be ranked the 64th top company worldwide.

“We changed our strategy every year,” Milar said. “We have tried to forecast what other companies were going to do in the next year and differentiate from other companies.”

However, this wasn’t a real company. Instead of making the decision from an office in a big city, Milar and his teammates Kyle Bata and Kerry Lofy worked on their strategy from a classroom at Colorado Mountain College in Read more

1000 Words

They say a photo is sometimes worth a thousand words. Here’s one from Steamboat’s graduation last Saturday that we think captures it all, from photographer Ed Kosmicki.  Congratulations to all our recent graduates!

EPK_0606

CMC offers high-tech adventure for sixth- through eighth-graders

Registration opens for Colorado Mountain College Summer Technology Institute

By Kristin Carlson

As parents plan family vacations, they’re also looking for local opportunities to keep kids engaged and entertained during the long summer days. The Summer Technology Institute at Colorado Mountain College in Breckenridge offers young people a chance to explore the digital landscape with a group of experienced guides.

Founder and lead teacher of the Summer Technology Institute, Robert Cartelli, a technology and e-commerce instructor at the college, saw a need to support local schools in their efforts to stay ahead of the technology curve. So, with the help of several expert instructors, he launched the first Summer Technology Institute Read more

Switch to our mobile site