Pics of the Day

The Pic of the Day is featured on student and faculty pages, as submitted by members of the Augustana community. Here are some recent images. (Click on a photo to see a caption.)

Got a photo to share? Submit it!

Earlier this fall, Kent Barnds and his family hosted 24 of the 30 enrolled Spanish students. On a Sunday afternoon, the group gathered for a La Liga match, and students were invited to wear the jersey for the team they supported. The group secured or cooked a number of dishes to help them feel at home, including tortilla de patatas, paella, jamon serrano, boquerones en vinagre and a few others. One student wrote a thank-you that included the following: "I felt really good, because it felt like a normal Sunday in Spain having lunch with all my family."

Earlier this month members of the Student Prison Education Club made tie blankets in Old Main to donate to Family Resources, a local non-profit.

Who needs PowerPoint and conference venues when you can hear from professionals and researchers about geologic formations in situ? Geology faculty and students spent the weekend attending the Tri-State Geological Field Conference in Wisconsin, networking with and hearing talks from professional geologists, researchers and faculty in the field and on the outcrops, like at this 2.9 billion-year-old gneiss (pronounced "nice") formation!

Augustana’s Pre-Health Club partnered with the Quad Cities HEARTSafe Coalition to train 40 students as Hands-Only CPR instructors. Through this workshop, pre-health students gained the skills to lead 30-minute CPR trainings on campus and throughout the Quad Cities community, empowering others to take life-saving action in an emergency. Interested in hosting a training or tabling event? Contact Pre-Health Club President, Aliza Salinas-Cervantes, at asalinas-cervantes22@augustana.edu.

The students of PUBH-350 have been conducting site visits around the Quad Cities to understand the role of community organizations on promoting healthy behaviors for under-served populations. After a tour of NEST Cafe and guest lecture from Executive Director Laura Mahn (second from right), students enjoyed a lunch from NEST's "pay what you can" cafe. Learn more about NEST Cafe at www.nestcafeqc.org.

Last week students in FYI-101 took a break and relieved some mid-term stress by blowing some bubbles.

Students in the Brenda Barnes Leadership Academy put their networking skills into practice in the Wilson Center! Thirty first-year leaders participated in a speed networking session, building confidence and connections to support their future success. The session was led by Laura Kestner-Ricketts, Executive Director of Career and Professional Development in CORE, and the program is led by Dr. Wendy Hilton-Morrow.

Last week CORE kicked off the first monthly Student Employment Supervisor Lunch & Learn! The session focused on elevating the student employment experience for both students and supervisors across campus. The student employment team is grateful for the collaboration and energy in the room; here’s to many more!

Student ambassadors and alumni assist admissions by reviewing high school student art portfolios at the Figge portfolio review day. High school students came from all over the Quad Cities and Iowa City to explore college art programs and get feedback on their work. Pictured, from left: alumnus Liam Haskill with admissions ambassadors Rosie Sierra and Phoebe Fuller.

Students in Dr. Chris Strunk's FYI 101 food studies course got some hands-on experience with urban agriculture by spending class harvesting beans and peppers with Tapestry Farms, an non-profit urban farm system in the Quad Cities that supports refugee families.

The Class of 1975 enjoyed a President's Reception at last week's Homecoming and Family Weekend event. Pictured: Bill Telleen ‘68, Jeanne Olsen ‘68, Pam Telleen ‘68, Rick Sandway ‘68, Karen Roloff ‘68 and Paul Olsen.

At the Physics, Engineering, and Astronomy open house last weekend, students in the department gave presentations about research and internships they participated in over the summer: Sarai Bustamante '27 (automotive engineering intern), Lili Leatherman '27 ('Neutron Detection Patterns'), Emma Biskie '27 ('Radio Observations of the Eclipsing Cataclysmic Variable LX Serpens'), Luke Dalzell '26 ('Simulations of Neutron Interaction with Plastic Scintillators'), and Nhi Nguyen '27 (civil engineer internship). See more.

Augie alumni, family and friends will continue to celebrate Homecoming and Family Weekend through Sunday!

Dick Untch '71, Barb Broman '72 Untch, Bob Pritchard '70 and Marilyn Pritchard celebrate Homecoming and Family Weekend. The festivities continue through Sunday!

Thomas Tredway Library staff members Anne Earel, Madeline Kusar, Kaitlyn Goss-Peirce, Garrett Traylor and Micaela Terronez gathered students as they prepare to teach four FYI 101 classes about library resources.

Last weekend Drishtant Bhandari won the 'Student Showcase' award at the CCSC Midwest Conference for his project on development of the Audalis app for hyperacusis. This project is supervised by Dr. Forrest Stonedahl and the work is supported by the National Institutes of Health grant (Dr. Ann Perreau, PI).

Kai Swanson and his wife Jenni visited the restaurant Champor in Munich, Germany. The restaurant is operated by Kiren Alt, sister of CORE career coach Sumita Amrik. This photo of Jenni, Kiren and Kai shows that no matter how far you travel, you can always meet familiar faces and enjoy amazing food. Sumita says: "Thank you, Kai, for visiting my sister while in Germany. You made my day and I wish I was having dinner with you all!"

Career Mentor Paige Melton led a Resume Ready workshop for the Business Club ahead of the QC Career Expo on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 1-4 p.m. at the Bend XPO Center. Free transportation from campus is provided. Find details at careers.augustana.edu.

Students host their first college radio show last Saturday night. Tune in to hear them and others at https://waug.fm!

Dr. Kelsey Arkle (fourth from the right) and the Fryxell Geology Museum kicked off a dino-mite community collaboration with the Putnam Museum and Science Center. Dr. Arkle and her students accepted over 30 pieces of a ~66 million-year-old triceratops that were excavated in Lusk, Wyo., by Putnam staff, greater community members and Augustana student Niccolo Benvenuto '26 (right). Throughout the year, Augustana geology students will have the opportunity to prepare the dinosaur material, including parts of ribs, vertebrae, femur and frill in Dr. Arkle's paleontology lab, meticulously scraping and removing sediment from the fossilized bone in preparation to be installed in the Putnam's new triceratops skeleton exhibit.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by Viking Plaza yesterday for free donuts! Hope all had a great first day of classes.

Happy first day of classes to all, and a special welcome to all our new students!

Thank you to all who helped with student move-in, and a big welcome to all newly arrived students! Check out a short video recap of Move-In Day on Augustana's YouTube channel.

TRIO-SSS students helped facilitate a workshop on Thriving at Augustana! The workshop was attended by PACE students who are new to the college. Thank you all for your help in making this a great event. Pictured: Christiana Headley, Jamiah Riley, Magaly Huesca, Noelia Avila, Jaylen Clayton and Abigail Morales

Many students will arrive tomorrow for move-in day and Welcome Week. Yesterday a fawn was spotted walking though campus in the quiet before the exciting bustle of the coming days!

The Rock Island Fire Department was on campus last week to help the Community Advisors (CAs) practice putting out (literal) fires. They taught the PASS technique (Pull, Aim, Squeeze, Sweep).

After President Talentino experienced the Geology Summer Field Course last year, she encouraged the geology faculty to offer this amazing opportunity to Augustana alumni, too. With alumni spanning five decades and a variety of majors, the geology faculty launched the first dual student/alumni rafting trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon — a week and 190 miles of reminiscing about their college days and connecting to their present-day alma mater. The group shared camaraderie and adventure, learned about environmental and geologic issues throughout time, slept tentless under the stars, took day hikes through slot canyons, frolicked under waterfall plunge pools and swam turquoise tributaries.

CORE teed off the semester with its first presentation to the Augustana Golf Team! Career Coach Beth and Career Mentor Paige shared online resources, including SkillsFirst, the Viking Score program, and other tools to help students build strong resumes and stay on course with their career goals. Career Coaches and Career Mentors are available to present on a variety of Career Development & Vocation topics for classes, athletic teams, and student organizations. To schedule a presentation, email careerdevelopment@augustana.edu.

The Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center's second Sweden Tour took place July 2025, designed and hosted by Jill Seaholm. Attendees enjoyed education, sightseeing, shopping and free time, and several participants met new Swedish relatives along the way. There were seven Augustana alumni in the group (Jill Seaholm '88, Sharon Anderson '80, Laura Crumbleholme '89, Elizabeth Swenson '68, Carol Erickson '81, Jane Telleen '74 and Rob Lagerlof '83). Here, the group visits the Royal Palace in Stockholm, with the city's House of Parliament and Royal Opera among the buildings in the background.