Ken Parejko Biology Dept. UW-Stout |
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Ken Parejko Biology Dept. UW-Stout |
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Hi. Glad you're here. Sorry I'm not. It's just the virtual me, that's all. But like me, it's simple, not too bright, and already outdated. While here, you can learn a few things about the real me. So I extend to you my virtual hand in virtual greetings. Have fun! By the way, that's me, in the image above, pretending to be important. My son John took it while we were on a trip to Wyoming. It was on that trip that I realized I have a great affinity for crows (they're my "totem", if you like.) They're smart, know how to enjoy life, sometimes love to socialize and other times be alone, and they somehow manage to combine a savage independence with a fierce loyalty to their clan and family.
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(I've got a few crow poems linked, if you want to see what a biologist/poet can do with the help of Corvus.)
I teach biology at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, in Menomonie, Wisconsin. I'm an ecologist, really, trained in aquatic ecology at the Zoology Department of the UW-Madison, in Stan Dodson's lab. I study plankton (like the Daphnia shown here) and frogs, and other things.
I got all my degrees from UW-Madison, a great place. I had a minor in biochemistry with a real interest in things like molecular genetics, so I'm not just an ecologist. For example, I use molecular techniques (protein or DNA electrophoresis) to study the genetic structure of populations. Whew.
I teach Introductory Biology (Bio 122), Environmental Science (Bio 150), and Ecology (Bio 350). I have been involved in a summer program at Stout in which we explore, with upper-elementary and secondary educators, what science is, and contrast it with pseudoscience, such as astrology (see Stout Science for Educators link above). I have also co-taught a Gender Issues in Biology class at Stout.
I'm involved in local environmental issues (have been on the board of the Tainter/Menomonin Lake Improvement Association) and done research on nutrient migration into streams . I've got a small research project underway about deformed frogs. I'm a co-advisor of GreenSense, Stout's environmental club.
Stout has been kind enough to send me overseas for teaching and professional development. In the summer of l995 I was in Sao Paolo, Brazil for 10 days, at an environmental seminar. It was my first time in a truly tropical country, and I fell in love with it. I actually learned to samba. By the way, dancing is pretty close to flying.
In the fall of l996 I taught a semester at the study-abroad program in Dalkeith, Scotland. Classes and living space are in a beautiful early-18th century manor house, one of the largest in Scotland, on a 1000-acre estate. My son John came with me. We had a great time. We just loved Edinburgh, only 20 minutes away by bus. It's my favorite city, for now.
| This is a picture I took myself, of Dalkeith House. This is where students and faculty live and take classes while at the program there. It's 300 years old, has 365 windows, and is located on a 1000-acre estate. It's your chance to pretend you're a prince, or a princess. And earn credits at the same time! |
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If you have a chance, sign up for the Study abroad program in Dalkeith--you won't regret it.
In the spring of l996 I was fortunate enough to have an historical novel published. It's called Remember Me Dancing and is a fictionalized account of events which occurred in my grandparent's generation, when my mother was a young girl. It's a romance, really, which captures life on a Polish-American farm near Stevens Point, Wisconsin, in l922.
People who read it seem to really like it.
It was published by Badger Books. 
These days I'm also working on an historical novel based on the life of the great Roman soldier, writer and naturalist, Gaius Plinius Secundus, better known as Pliny the Elder.
This is the "Bar Plinio," in Stabia, Italy. It's built almost exactly on the spot at which Pliny died on Aug. 25, 79 A.D. during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.
When I tire of the sorry spectacle of human selfishness and disrespect for one another and other species on earth, which seems to be the norm as far back as we have a history, but especially common today, I retreat to the woods of northern Wisconsin, or hike along a mountain-ridge, or sit quietly beside the ocean. Wild nature needs to be conserved, so our spirits can be revived in places like that. So, do your part to make this fragile earth a better place for all of us. Please.
That's all, folks.Well, not really. If you want to contact me for any reason, I'm at parejkok@uwstout.edu
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