Advisory Board
Anne Dybsetter
Executive Director, Southwest Regional Sustainable Development Partnership
https://extension.umn.edu/regional-partnerships
Fun fact: My family (immediate and extended) includes 9 exchange students, who were hosted starting in 1998.
Dawn Hegland
Executive Director, Upper MN Valley Regional Development Commission
dawn.hegland@umvrdc.org
Fun Fact: I live on a farm in Lac qui Parle County where we have turned our barn’s second story into a recreation center where we have hosted concerts, parties, and lots of informal gatherings.
Jill Amundson
Innovation Strategist, West Central Initiative
jill39@icloud.com
Fun Fact: I am an award-winning washcloth knitter. In the early 2000s, I brought home a cash prize and a third-place ribbon from the Grant County fair, having entered a competition of three.
Denise Odello
Associate Professor of Music
odell059@morris.umn.edu
Fun Fact: I don’t like lemon bars, but I love making them for other people!
Miriam Gieske
Assistant Professor of Biology
gies0107@morris.umn.edu
Fun Fact: A fun fact about me is that I worked as a wildland firefighter in northern MN one spring after college.
Steve Just
Morris Area School Board
Fun fact: Just is a third-degree Tae Kwon Do instructor.
Bob Kopitzke
Stevens County District 1 Commissioner
Lex Lhotka
UMN Morris student—100 Rural Women
Fun fact: I love making earrings!
Kiley Rodarmel
UMN Morris student—Morris Intercultural Education Initiative
Fun fact: I lived in China for two years.
Emmy Swedlund
Pastor, Faith Lutheran Church, Morris
Fun fact: I love, love, love the MN State Fair!
Lydia Hurst
Communications and Outreach Intern
Fun fact: I grew up in Southern California!
Ed Brands
Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
Fun fact: I used to be pretty fast and have hair.