Wheaton College Alumni Magazine Winter 2014 | Page 18

Geological Survey last summer, Frances studied volcanoes of the
Pacific Northwest, specifically Mt. Hood, Mount St. Helens, and the
Three Sisters. She helped install a new seismic station on the south
side of Mount St. Helens. By helicopter, the team brought in a small
solar-powered hut and set up the buried seismometer, as well as radios
and transmitters. All seismic activity is now transmitted to a center in
Vancouver, Wash., that monitors for earthquakes and ground swelling—
triggers that could point to volcanic activity or destructive earthquakes.
“Natural disasters are very difficult to predict, but when we look for
patterns, growth in the dome, gas emissions, and other changes, we get
better at keeping people safe and informed.”
Frances began a graduate school program at Central Washington
University this fall to further her expertise in natural disasters. She will
likely travel to the Aleutian Islands for her fieldwork, and hopes to lead a
new generation of focus on tracking and preparing for natural disasters.

Kendall
Vanderslice ’13

Kendall Vanderslice ’13
PasTRy assIsTaNT IN The bOsTON aRea
maJOR: aNThROPOlOgy

on the outskirts of Boston, a farm that practices sustainable

techniques sells its produce in a small shop on the premises. Next to
fresh vegetables and preserves rests a tempting array of pastries made
from the farm’s fresh fruit in season. With her degree in anthropology,
Kendall bakes these pastries—when she’s not working at Zebra’s Bistro
and Wine Bar, a restaurant boasting sustainable and local ingredients.
Kendall entered Wheaton with all sorts of ideas of what she wanted
to be and do. She considered going to culinary school but decided to
earn a bachelor’s degree first. She contemplated a number of majors, but
then took the advice of advisor Dr. Brian Howell, who suggested a trip
to the College’s bookstore. Once there, she picked up whatever books
looked interesting, and then determined courses based on these choices,
which led to her major in anthropology. In this way, Kendall began her
journey to connect her loves: food and human nature.
Others may question the connections between culinary arts and
anthropological research—not Kendall. She weaves the two like a loaf
of challah. “The big questions for me are: How do we understand the
food we eat today? and What makes food ethical?” she says.
For her senior capstone project, Kendall worked with a group of young
women petitioning to add a campus house dedicated to sustainable living.
She taught these fellow students about ethical eating. Together they
developed strategies for partnering with the campus food vendor, Bon
Appetit, and educating the larger community about sustainable living.
She also taught them how to make some food from her own repertoire.
Upon graduation, Kendall thought again about attending culinary
school, but the executive chef of the restaurant where she now works
encouraged her to join his team, to bring her passions along with her to
learn and grow on the job. “My primary goal for the future is to work
toward making sustainable food available to all socioeconomic classes,”
she says.

Jeremiah cooGan ’13
gRaDuaTe sTuDeNT aT uNIveRsITy Of OxfORD
maJORs: aNCIeNT laNguages, bIblICal aND TheOlOgICal sTuDIes,
aND geRmaN

G

andy ryan PhotoGraPhy

raduating summa cum laude with a triple major, Jeremiah Coogan
is not your typical “Buswell bookworm.” He runs distance races, is a
qualified technical mountain climber as well as a certified lifeguard
and rescue swimmer, and achieved second place in the ROTC Cadet
Ranger Challenge in the fall of 2009. But his real love is language—
particularly languages that help us understand the Bible better.
“I hope that my research on the textual transmission of Scripture
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