Category: Features

Climate Change Tipping Points: When Gradual Warming Becomes Irreversible

Climate change is often discussed as a steady rise in global temperatures, tenths of a degree here, incremental carbon emissions there. But the more urgent concern among scientists is not just gradual warming. It is the risk of crossing crucial tipping points: critical thresholds in Earth’s climate system where small increases in temperature can trigger abrupt, self-reinforcing, and potentially irreversible change. 

A tipping point occurs when a climate system shifts from a stable existence into rapid transformation. Once crossed, feedback loops amplify the damage, making it difficult—or in some cases impossible—to reverse, even if temperatures later stabilize. 

These tipping elements exist across the planet: in ice sheets, forests, permafrost, coral reefs, and ocean circulation systems. Scientists warn that several of them are already under stress as global temperatures rise more than 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels. Crossing 1.5°C to 2°C could push multiple systems beyond their limits. 

One of the clearest and most immediate examples is coral reef collapse. 

Healthy Coral Reef (Left) versus Bleached Coral Reef (Right).
Left photo by Gary Bell / Oceanwideimages.com. Right photo by Greenpeace / Roger Grace.

Coral reefs are extraordinarily sensitive to temperature. A sustained increase of just 1–2°C can trigger coral bleaching, a process in which corals expel the symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae) that provide them with food and color. Without these algae, corals lose both their vibrant appearance and their primary energy source. 

The world has already experienced multiple global bleaching events, including severe episodes in 1998, 2010, and 2016–2017. In 2016 alone, approximately 29% of coral in the northern section of the Great Barrier Reef died in a single year due to extreme marine heat. 

Bleaching becomes a tipping point when it happens too frequently. If reefs do not have time to recover between heat events, they shift from vibrant, biodiverse ecosystems into algae-dominated rubble. Once that shift occurs, erosion accelerates, fish populations decline, and water quality worsens. Even if ocean temperatures later stabilize, the ecological structure needed for recovery may be gone. 

This matters far beyond marine biology. Coral reefs support roughly a quarter of all ocean species and provide food security, tourism revenue, and coastal protection for more than 500 million people worldwide. Their collapse would represent not just an ecological tipping point, but a social and economic one. 

Coral reefs are not alone in facing dangerous thresholds. 

The Amazon Rainforest presents another looming tipping element. Often called the “lungs of the Earth,” the Amazon plays a crucial role in carbon storage and rainfall regulation. But deforestation, drought, and climate change are pushing it toward a savanna-like state. 

Roughly 17% of the forest has already been lost. Scientists estimate that crossing a 20–25% deforestation threshold could trigger widespread dieback, as the rainforest would no longer generate enough moisture to sustain itself. Such a shift would release vast amounts of stored carbon, intensify regional drought, and disrupt global climate systems. 

Communities living in the Amazon are already experiencing longer dry seasons and more frequent wildfires. The tipping point is not theoretical—it is unfolding in real time. 

The Atlantic Ocean contains yet another tipping element: the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). This vast system of currents acts like a global conveyor belt, moving warm water northward and cold water southward. It plays a critical role in regulating the climate, particularly in Europe. 

Visual representation of the AMOC (Illustration by Eric S. Taylor, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Freshwater from melting Greenland ice disrupts the salinity balance that drives this circulation. Evidence suggests the AMOC has weakened by roughly 15% over the past half-century. Continued slowdown could dramatically alter weather patterns, disrupt food systems, and intensify regional climate extremes. 

Each of these tipping points is different. But they share a common feature: once these negative feedback loops take hold, change accelerates. 

Yet these systems are not beyond influence. The difference between 1.5°C and 2°C of warming may determine whether coral reefs survive in reduced form or largely vanish. It may shape whether ice sheet melt accelerates gradually or crosses into a runaway decline. 

Reducing global greenhouse gas emissions remains the most critical action. Limiting warming slows feedback loops before they spin out of control. This, of course, faces limitations as our government has recently limited its ability to regulate emissions.  

Local and regional measures matter as well. Marine Protected Areas can strengthen coral resilience by reducing overfishing and pollution. Coral restoration efforts—nurseries, selective breeding for heat tolerance, assisted gene flow—are being tested. Improving water quality reduces stress on reef systems. Early warning systems allow faster response to marine heatwaves. 

The concept of tipping points can feel overwhelming. The language of it all: irreversible, collapse, runaway, all suggest inevitability. 

But tipping points are thresholds, not set-in-stone prophecies. 

The climate system responds to actions, not despair. Slowing warming slows negative climate feedback. Stabilizing temperatures stabilizes systems. Action taken before thresholds are crossed carries far greater impact than action delayed. 

The lesson of climate tipping points is not that collapse is certain. It is that timing matters. The window for avoiding the most destabilizing shifts is narrower than it once was, but it remains open for now.  

Whether these systems cross their thresholds depends on decisions made in the present, not centuries from now. 

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PFW Graduate Students Lead Wildlife Conservation Efforts in Indiana

By Andrew Danielson / Photos by Lauren Lee and Justin Moore

A species of ground squirrels. A unique camera trap with motion-activated cameras. And the states of California and Rhode Island.

As it turns out, all those items have a lot in common, particularly when it comes to the wildlife biology laboratory of Dr. Scott Bergeson, associate professor of animal biology at Purdue University Fort Wayne in the department of biological sciences.

For over a year, two of Bergeson’s graduate students, Justin Moore, originally from Rhode Island, and Lauren Lee, who hails from California, have been working on separate but complementary research projects focusing on wildlife conservation and management.

Lee, who received her undergraduate degree in biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, is working on a project to survey and identify the variety of small mammal species that exist throughout Indiana.

“The goal is to survey the entire state for small mammals,” Lee said.  

Lee’s mentor, Bergeson, explained that the last time a survey of small mammals in Indiana was completed was around 2007. That means that wildlife conservation officials such as those at the Indiana Department of Natural Resources have no fresh statistics on the health and population figures for small mammals.

Mammals are good indicators of the health of a particular ecosystem. If there is a diverse population of mammals in the area, that ecosystem is probably healthy.

“All of these small mammals and all of the other things help maintain the health of these natural spaces,” Bergeson said. “Even our agriculture would suffer if we didn’t have the natural spaces that help filter the pollutants that would otherwise get into our crops. Everything is connected.”  

Smile – You’re on Camera

Lauren Lee and one of her technicians, CJ Klopfenstein, inspect one of the cameras used in the project
Graduate student Lauren Lee

Lee’s project, which is funded by a $150k grant from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, is ambitious to say the least. If she were to use traditional trapping methods to conduct her survey, as was done in the 1960s, her project would take many years to complete.

But Lee and Bergeson have a solution: camera technology and upside-down buckets.

Lee explained that she installs “camera traps” on publicly-owned property, at least 100 meters away from any trail or road.

Each camera trap consists of a temporary “wall” made of a plastic material that leads to overturned buckets. An upside-down bucket with entrance holes cut into the bottom houses the actual camera.

The traps don’t use any bait, relying instead on animals’ natural curiosity or scent. When an animal approaches the trap, the “wall” barrier naturally guides them to the hole in the bucket. Once the animal walks into the bucket, their photo is snapped.

The cameras are infrared-equipped and motion activated, so there’s no bright flashes when the camera snaps photos. The lenses used on the camera are designed to provide close-up, magnified views of the animals, providing easier identification of the small furry visitors.

Long-tailed weasel
Southern flying squirrel
Juvenile Virginia Opossum

Lee explained that she currently has 102 camera trap sites, spread across the entire state. To collect the photos taken from her cameras, she has to drive to each site, swap out SD cards in the cameras, and perform maintenance on the site as needed.

From those sites, Lee has collected 1.5 million photos, with hundreds of thousands of photo sequences.

To help collect and process all of that information, Lee is being assisted by two undergraduate technicians and an artificial intelligence software. The AI automatically sorts through the sequences of photos and provides Lee with some basic species identification. She then checks what the artificial intelligence has done, making sure that the identifications are accurate.

“So, the whole idea is that we have this huge database of photos from everywhere and then for the next 100 years we can start mining that data to figure out other sorts of things,” Bergeson said.

A Squirrel’s View on Indiana

Yet another of Bergeson’s graduate students, Justin Moore, is also undertaking an ambitious wildlife conservation project with the assistance of two undergraduate technicians.

Moore, who received his undergraduate degree in wildlife conservation from the University of Rhode Island, is working to help stabilize a population of ground squirrels here in Indiana, called the Franklin’s ground squirrel.

Moore explained that ground squirrels are similar to tree squirrels, but they’re actually separate species with different diets, preferred habitat, and behavior.

According to Moore, Franklin’s used to have a fairly wide range in Indiana. However, due to the loss of prairies across the state, the ground squirrel’s preferred habitat, that population has shrunk to just one natural population in the region.

Franklin’s ground squirrel leaves its burrow in a hay bale

“They are state endangered in Indiana, and they’re declining across most of the Midwest,” Moore said.

Moore’e project, which is also fully funded by a roughly $200k grant from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, is to help stabilize the Franklin’s population by re-locating healthy specimens from other states to Indiana. His project is a pilot study, so the techniques he is using will help in future re-location projects of either Franklin’s or other small animals that are endangered.

How to Move a Squirrel: Carefully!

Moore explained that, together with his mentor Bergeson, they identified a strong, healthy population of Franklin’s in South Dakota. Moore and Bergeson quickly formed an agreement between wildlife conservation officials in South Dakota and Indiana, enabling them to bring Franklin’s from South Dakota back here to Indiana.

But moving squirrels is no easy task.

“There’s a lot that goes into the trapping to make sure that the squirrels and we [the researchers] are safe,” Moore said.

Handling of a baby Franklin’s ground squirrel
Justin Moore holds a Franklin’s ground squirrel

The capture sites for the squirrels in South Dakota are designed to minimize stress and discomfort to the animals, including routine checks on the traps and special coverings to provide shade to captured animals in the traps.

Researchers receive rabies vaccines before interacting with the animals, and all captured animals are initially handled through special handling cones that keep the squirrels calm and unable to bite the researchers.

Once the animals have been captured, they undergo a thorough process of medical checkups, including treatments for any diseases spread by ticks or lice. A veterinarian check-up and a full 21-day quarantine period are also rigorously followed to ensure that diseased animals are not brought into Indiana.

Once Moore brings the squirrels to Indiana, he releases them into what are called “soft release” enclosures, allowing the newly translocated squirrels to get used to their new habitat before being fully released into their Indiana home.

Moore is assisted by technician CJ Klopfenstein as they collar a Franklin’s ground squirrel

To keep tabs on the squirrel population and its well-being, Moore uses small radio transmitters attached to the Franklin’s that allow him to track their movements using a small receiver and antenna.

The new Franklin’s ground squirrels being brought to Indiana are being released in Newton County on property owned by The Nature Conservancy, a non-profit group that advocates for wildlife conservation.

PFW Biology Students Having National Impact with Research

Both of these research projects are forging new ground in the world of wildlife conservation.

Dr. Bergeson said that Lee’s project has already resulted in a research protocol that is now being shared among various states engaged in wildlife research. That protocol, coupled together with her unique use of artificial intelligence, will provide other researchers with tools and techniques needed in today’s field of wildlife conservation.

Moore’s project is also making inroads into the field of wildlife conservation.

As he talked about his project, Moore said that the project will hopefully result in Franklin’s populations stabilizing. That means the population will, one day, grow strong enough to be removed from the state endangered classification.

And these projects are already paying dividends for their researchers, as Moore, Lee, and their technicians, all gain conservation experience from their projects.  

“I feel like any new experience with any kind of wildlife is really, really cool,” Lee said.

Moore agrees with that view.

“I couldn’t imagine doing anything else,” he summarized.

It’s a win-win situation for Lee, Moore, and their two undergraduate research technicians who assist them with their projects. They all gain valuable research experience and the opportunities to do future projects or write and publish their findings in research journals.

For the undergraduate technicians, the field research training they are gaining will help them strengthen their potential future applications to graduate school.

But perhaps the greatest benefit these projects are providing is the effect they have on wildlife conservation.

Bergeson said that projects like Lee’s camera traps and Moore’s squirrel translocations are having valuable impacts on Indiana’s conservation efforts.

“Our lab has actual impacts on that, which is super cool,” Bergeson said.  

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We (College Students) Are Not Climate Villains — But Our Choices Still Matter

College students are often quick to point out—correctly—that they are not the primary drivers of climate change. Corporations, governments, and fossil fuel industries bear the greatest responsibility for rising emissions.

But that reality does not mean student behavior is irrelevant. On college campuses, everyday choices made by thousands of students add up, shaping both a university’s carbon footprint and the culture around climate action.

Universities contribute to climate change through several types of emissions, often grouped into three categories or scopes.

There are Scope 1 emissions, which come from on-site fuel use, such as heating systems or university vehicle fleets. Along with these are Scope 2 emissions, which include purchased electricity that powers classrooms, dorms, and labs.

The largest category for many campuses, however, is Scope 3 emissions, indirect sources like commuting, air travel, food purchasing, waste, construction materials, and the goods students consume.

It is in this third category where student behavior matters most. Scope 3 emissions are shaped by daily habits: how students get to campus, what they eat, and what they buy.

While students often have lower per-person emissions than older adults due to smaller living spaces and fewer long-distance trips, those advantages can disappear quickly through heavy car use, fast fashion purchases, takeout packaging, and dorm-related waste.

Just as importantly, the habits and norms students develop during college often carry into adulthood. Choices that feel minor now can shape long-term patterns of consumption, transportation, and environmental responsibility, increasing the likelihood of higher-impact behaviors later in life.

At Purdue University Fort Wayne, this issue is especially visible. PFW is widely considered a commuter-heavy campus, with university leaders estimating that roughly three–quarters of students commute instead of living on or near campus.

Transportation alone becomes a major climate factor under those conditions. Using EPA averages: A student commuting 10 miles one-way, 4 days/week, over two semesters produces = 1 metric ton of CO₂ per year. When multiplied across thousands of commuters, even modest individual changes begin to matter.

Consumption patterns compound the problem. Overconsumption among younger generations has become normalized, fueled by social media trends, influencer marketing, and constant product cycling.

Trend-driven purchases, whether they be clothing or collectibles like Funko Pops (an especially wasteful product), may feel harmless, but they carry real environmental costs.

Electronics tell a similar story. Many students upgrade phones, tablets, and gadgets frequently, often without properly recycling old devices. Surveys show that a majority of Gen Z and Millennial consumers do not fully understand what electronic waste is, and many throw devices directly into the trash. This creates one of the fastest-growing waste streams in the world and embeds additional emissions into mining, manufacturing, and shipping replacement devices.

What makes this issue particularly frustrating is that students are not indifferent to climate change. Surveys consistently show that a majority of young people are deeply worried about the climate crisis, with many reporting anxiety that affects their daily lives.

Yet awareness does not always translate into action. Research has identified a persistent attitude–behavior gap: students may understand the environmental harm of fast fashion or excessive consumption, but continue to indulge in these habits because they are cheap, convenient, and socially reinforced.

This gap is not simply a failure of personal responsibility. It reflects structural pressures—limited transit options, affordability constraints, and digital ecosystems designed to encourage constant consumption.

As long as trend culture and algorithm-driven marketing dominate student spaces, climate concern alone will struggle to turn into consistent behavior change. However, institutional support—especially around transportation and food systems—can help shift habits in areas where students have the greatest opportunity to make lower-impact choices.

There are, of course, simple ways in which students can adjust their lives to reduce impact. Carpooling, combining errands, adjusting class schedules, or using transit where available can reduce emissions. Small energy habits, such as turning off lights, lowering the heat or air conditioning when away, and using energy-saving device settings, also add up. Choosing plant-forward meals occasionally, reducing food waste, and reusing textbooks or dorm goods can lower emissions without demanding major lifestyle overhauls.

Beyond individual choices, students hold real influence over institutional action. Universities often respond to student pressure, whether through climate action plans, renewable energy targets, or improved transit and recycling infrastructure.

On many campuses, including this one, students are already working, formally and informally, to push sustainability efforts forward, demonstrating that change is possible and that individual involvement contributes to a broader, ongoing movement rather than starting from scratch.

Student organizations, campus committees, and student government all offer avenues to push for transparency and accountability. Civic engagement, such as voting and participating in local community and governmental planning extend that influence beyond campus borders.

Students are not the villains of the climate story. But neither are they powerless bystanders. The reality lies somewhere in between. Our daily choices shape campus emissions, signal our climate stance values, and influence whether our climate concern becomes real action. At commuter-heavy schools like PFW, those choices matter even more. Climate progress does not begin and end with students—but it does pass through them.

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Star*Quest Observatory Helps Northeast Indiana Reach for the Stars

By Andrew Danielson

Just to the east of New Haven, Indiana, resides a window to the cosmos: the Fort Wayne Astronomical Society’s Star*Quest Observatory.

Located at 1730 South Webster Road, the Star*Quest Observatory houses telescopes and advanced technology that allow the user to gaze into the heavens with an unblinking eye.

“We are very pleased with the operation,” Gene Stringer said.

Stringer, a long-time member of the Fort Wayne Astronomical Society, led the society’s campaign to build the new Star*Quest Observatory, a modern facility packed with incredible technology.

Photo Credit: Russell Ainslie (Reproduction: Facebook)

The design process of the observatory includes an interesting anecdote tying the facility to local educational institution: Students from PFW’s (then IPFW) School of Structural Engineering assisted in creating a design for the new observatory.

Additionally, professors from both IPFW and Ball State University joined FWAS members and other committee volunteers to choose a final observatory design from architectural firms.

The final design for Star*Quest is what Stringer calls a “delta wing” design.

The building includes two main sections. The front section has swept-back “wings,” with room for up to four telescopes. A control room with additional technology and items makes up the other portion of the observatory.

To facilitate easy sky viewing down to the horizon, the delta-wing sections of the observatory split apart. The roof rolls backward in two different sections via tracks, allowing an uninterrupted view of the heavens for much of the sky.

In addition to the new 16” telescope, Star*Quest also hosts a large computer with 7 terabytes of data storage, computer monitors, and other equipment, as well as the society’s original 12.5” telescope.

The new computer technology, made possible by an approximately $15,000 grant from the Foellinger Foundation, allows the FWAS to host a variety of visitors, including school groups, and offer a diverse array of educational programming.

One of those items of high-tech gear Stringer mentioned was what he called a “spectroscope,” a device that enables scientific research with the telescope by splitting incoming starlight into its composite “spectra.”

“A spectroscope is one of the prime instruments that every observatory wants to have in order to do scientific work,“ Stringer explained. “Most of what we have learned about the sky has been through the use of the spectroscope in order to understand what it is we’ve been looking at.”

According to the Center for Astrophysics, analyzing the spectrum of light and the various colors of that spectra can provide great insight into celestial objects.

“The specific colors and relative amounts of each color reveal information about temperature, what atoms are present, and the speed of the astronomical object being observed, which reveals the distances to far-off galaxies,” the center states.

Star*Quest Observatory and Its Predecessors

Star*Quest has its roots with the origins of the society and their original observatories.

Stringer said that the Fort Wayne Astronomical Society (abbreviated FWAS) began in the mid-1950s. In 1959, the society was incorporated as a not-for-profit organization with 60 original members.

Shortly after the founding of the society, two members of the organization, Glenn Harnishfeger and Maurice Crow, led efforts to build a 12.5” Newtonian-style telescope and observatory for use by the society.

The new members document for the society records that the original observatory and telescope were completed in 1963.

Stringer said that the location of that first observatory is now the site of a grocery store, located off of Lima Road.

The FWAS’ website mentions that the society moved their observatory and telescope in the 1970s to a new location in Fox Island County Park which had been a Christmas tree farm in its prior life.

At that point in time, any trees on the former Christmas tree farm were only a few feet tall, and the society enjoyed great viewing conditions with low levels of light pollution and good views to the horizon.

However, over a 30-year period, the trees on the site grew up, gradually blocking the views of the observatory. This meant that celestial objects that the society wanted to view with their telescope, such as some select planets, were blocked by the growing trees.

In the mid 2000s, the FWAS undertook a project to find a new location for their observatory and telescopes.

“We started the project to build the observatory in 2006,” recounted Stringer, who served as the project manager for the Star*Quest Observatory project.

That project was complicated, as it included finding a new observatory site, fundraising and building a new observatory with modern technological equipment, and getting the word out about the new site to the public.

The FWAS found a new location for their future observatory in Jefferson Township Park. The park provides several desirable characteristics for astronomical observing, including fairly dark skies and clear views down to the horizon of celestial objects.

But a new location was only one of the challenges facing the society. A new observatory required funding.

Stringer said that the FWAS raised approximately $250,000 to build the new, modern observatory, which was completed and opened to the public in 2017.

Named the “Star*Quest” observatory, the facility sports up-to-date technology.

The new members’ document mentions the society’s new 16” Meade RCX400 telescope, which now is the primary telescope for the FWAS. The telescope is equipped with a GPS receiver as well as a 100,000+ object computer database of celestial objects.

Star*Quest Observatory Offers Educational Opportunities

But the new observatory and its technological muscle are available for more than just researchers or FWAS members.

The newsletter of the FWAS, The Eyepice, mentions that on every clear Saturday night, from April till November, the public is invited and welcome to come for star gazing at Star*Quest. Those public viewing hours start one hour after sundown and continue for two hours.

Stringer said that, if any person from the public wants advice on how to use their own personal telescopes, they can bring their equipment to the public-viewing times. Members of the FWAW will provide assistance and instruction in using the scope, all free of charge.

In addition to hosting the Saturday viewing times, the society has partnered with a variety of area organizations for astronomy-focused activities, including Canal Days, Fox Island Sol Fest, the Homeschool Fair, and other events.

The FWAS also enjoys hosting visitors for astronomical events, such as total solar eclipses.  

Stringer said that, during the April 2024 solar eclipse, the Star*Quest Observatory hosted an estimated 800-1000 visitors.

How to Get Involved

Anyone interested in attending events hosted by the Fort Wayne Astronomical Society has a variety of offerings from which to choose.

The society’s general meeting is typically held the third Tuesday evening of every month on the campus of PFW in the Walb Student Union. Meetings start at 7:30 p.m. and generally run till 9 p.m.

Annual memberships in the FWAS for individuals, including their family, are $40. Student memberships are $25 a year. Membership in the society comes with an automatic membership in the Astronomical League, as well as access to the FWAS’ online forum and members-only events. The society’s newsletter, The Eyepiece, listing current and future events can be downloaded from their website.

Although Stringer has spent over 60 years in the world of astronomy, he continues to enjoy sharing the cosmic views seen through a telescope with anyone interested in the heavens.

“Truly, what you see through the eyepiece of a telescope cannot be shown in any other venue,” he said. “You have to look through the scope live to see that sparkling star.”  

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PFW Esports – A Team Sport for the Digital Age

By Andrew Danielson

For Jordan Cunningham, computer games aren’t just a means of relaxation. They are an intensive sport requiring concentration, teamwork, and careful organization.

“It’s so accessible for anyone,” Cunningham said. “You just need a computer.”

A graduate of the Indiana Institute of Technology with a degree in psychology, Cunningham is starting his second year as coach of the PFW Esports team.

But he brings a lot of experience to the table when it comes to gaming and coaching.

Prior to PFW, Cunningham has been both a competitive player of games such as “League of Legends,” as well as an Esports coach, serving as the coach for Indiana Tech’s Esports team.

There’s a lot that goes into running an Esports team, and that digital world is continuing to grow in popularity among universities across the globe, with Esports programs and arenas being installed at the Purdue West Lafayette campus, Purdue Northwest, and PFW.

Esports Originates at Home

Cunningham explained that Esports originated with enthusiastic League of Legends players when they held a tournament for the game in one of the player’s basements. From there, a formal, global tournament was held in 2011, and the world of Esports gaming was born.

Cunningham said that around the year 2016, Esports teams were beginning to pop up at various universities, with smaller colleges and STEM schools generally being the ones most interested in starting Esports teams.

“They started getting this idea of smaller schools can do something that bigger schools aren’t able to do,” Cunningham said.

He explained that bigger schools with high-level division athletics probably aren’t going to offer Esports. For smaller universities, Esports are a way they can offer students a team experience without the expenses entailed with more traditional team sports.

“The maintenance is so low,” Cunningham said.

Cunningham said that the Esports team at PFW is self-sufficient. Once the basic computer hardware and peripherals like computer mice, headphones, keyboards and software have been purchased, there largely is no maintenance to be done.

Esports – A Team Experience

Cunningham said that when he came to PFW as the Esports coach, one of his first tasks was to write a policy handbook for the team.

That manual is largely based off of the manuals in use by the traditional sports teams at PFW.

“I’m going to run this like an athletics team,” Cunningham said.

Esports team members have the same grade requirements as the other sports teams at PFW. If student grades begin falling, they are restricted from participating in tournaments and games.

The Esports team mentality and camaraderie are reinforced in a variety of ways beyond grade requirements, including personal hygiene standards and practice sessions called “scrimmages” held once or twice a week. Scrimmages are simulated tournaments where Cunningham and his team play against other college teams in fake-tournament style competition, with each team trying out new tactics that they might use in the future.

Players on the team have the opportunity to travel to tournaments and stay the weekend. Such opportunities give the players the chance to both build team spirit with their fellow Dons and experience what it’s like to travel as a team to a competition.

Esports – Organized and Regimented

Cunningham explained that each player on the team has one game in which they specialize, such as Rocket League or Super Smash Bros. That speciality is the game at which the player is the most proficient and comfortable at playing. When that team member is playing their special game, they are competing in leagues and levels of comparably ranked players across the country.

If a player wants to play a different game in addition to their primary specialty, Cunningham will sometimes allow that player to be part of a lower-ranked team. That way, the player can maintain their skills in their primary game but also have the chance to play something else.

Cunningham said that each game, called a “title,” has its own days when competitions are held. For example, the Rocket League team will play on one particular day, while the Super Smash Bros team may play on a different day.

When it comes to what titles the PFW Esports team plays, there are several criteria that must be met.

“I’m interested in what the students are interested in,” he said.

If students are interested in playing a particular title, Cunningham will investigate and see if that title is worth the time and effort needed for a dedicated team for that game.

But the biggest factor deciding what titles are played by PFW’s Esports teams is whether the game is currently offered in tournament competitions. If there are no tournaments being held for that game, then there’s no point in adding a team for that game.

Esports Coaching Provides Big Picture

Cunningham laughed when he was asked what he does as an Esports coach.

“That’s my favorite question,” he said with a chuckle.

Cunningham explained that his role is to both coordinate the entire Esports program as well as provide coaching for the players. That means he is tasked with keeping the equipment ready to go, purchasing new computers and peripherals as needed, and scheduling games and practice sessions.

For the coaching side of his job, Cunningham said he’s really providing both a macro and a micro level of instruction to his players.

Cunningham said that he gives his players advice and tips on the bigger picture of the game they are playing. That advice helps the players to adjust their strategy to balance the opposing team’s tactics.

“I always just tell them [the players] to treat it like a math equation,” Cunningham said. “What happens on one side of the equation needs to happen on the other.”

 Cunningham said that he also focuses on the mental game for his players, helping them to compartmentalize their emotions and engage with the game and their teammates in a healthy, constructive manner. That approach of channeling emotions and learning from one’s mistakes helps the player to become both a better player as well as a better person.

Esports Benefits the PFW Community

For Cunningham, the Esports team provides several benefits to PFW.

For some students, the chance to play Esports at the collegiate level while working toward a degree is a dream opportunity. With a beautiful arena on the second floor of Walsh containing 21 Alienware gaming computers, that dream can easily be made a reality.

Yet another advantage to having an Esports arena is that any student on PFW’s campus may use the gaming computers for free.

According to the Esports webpage on the PFW website, the Esports arena is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and is available for faculty, students, and staff.

But beyond the recruitment and gaming opportunities offered by the Esports arena, Cunningham said that the Esports team gives students an outlet to be part of a team atmosphere – an experience they may never have had.

“They get that team experience,” he reflected.

And that team experience, of bonding with one’s comrades and working towards a goal, has paid dividends for the players and the university.

Cunningham said that the Esports team has great retention, with students staying on the team and most students remaining at PFW for their education instead of transferring to other schools.

“My students are awesome,” Cunningham said with a smile. “We’ve had so little academic issues.”

In summarizing what he hopes to accomplish with Esports, Cunningham was candid about his long-term goals.

“We’re all here to help them get through college, have a good experience,” he said. “It’s seeing those life skills and professional skills that you helped them develop at such a pivotal age.”

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International Students: The Path to an American Collegiate Experience

By Andrew Danielson

A student wants to build microcontrollers in Silicon Valley.

Another wants to travel back to India and provide counseling to troubled young people.

A third student wants to specialize in bio-technologies.

These are just a few of the stories behind some of the students who participated in PFW’s Global Student Celebration.

Held Friday evening on November 21, the Global Student Celebration is a fun occasion that caps a week of festivities at PFW, as international students share a snapshot of their culture with their fellow Dons through food, music, and dance.

Students Ajinkya Naik, from India, Gustavo Corsi da Silva, from Brazil, and Alan Chen-Trejo, from Venezuela

But this week of celebrating international studies and students at PFW is actually part of a broader movement called “International Education Week.”

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education, International Education Week is held annually. According to the department of educations’ website, the event holds dual purposes.

First, the week is part of the department’s efforts to prepare Americans for studying abroad. It also serves as a method to educate the future leaders of other nations who are studying in the United States.

In other words, International Education Week is an opportunity for the US to engage in scholastic diplomacy with potential long-term benefits for both the United States and for countries around the globe.

How the process works for an international student to come and study in America is a fascinating and sometimes arduous process.

Coming to Study in America

Like any American college student, an international student must first decide on a college to attend. Name recognition can go a long way toward influencing where an international student decides to apply and study.

For Ajinkya Naik, an international student from India, going to college and getting an education has been a goal since his youth.

“From childhood, I always wanted to get a good quality education in college,” Naik said.

Naik explained that it was Purdue’s good name and reputation that drew him to enroll in the computer science program at PFW.

“In hindsight, it was a great decision,” Naika said with a smile.

But for students like Naika, enrolling at an American university typically requires more than just the normal college-enrollment paperwork.

International students wishing to pursue their academic studies in the United States must first obtain an F-1 category visa. They can only apply to study at universities which have received a Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification.

Besides paperwork, another challenge international students must navigate includes culture shock as they enter the American collegiate system.

John LaMaster, senior instructor of Mathematics at PFW, has observed some of that culture shock in his international undergraduate and graduate students.

“In other countries, those in higher education are much more select,” LaMaster said. “It isn’t an education for all in other countries.”

He explained that, in other countries, only a select group of students usually get the opportunity to study at a university.

 When an international student comes to study at an American university, that student is already highly motivated to perform at a very high academic level. That means that, most likely, an international student would find it unthinkable to sign up or register for a class and never attend, since even one class is an invaluable resource and opportunity.

But it’s not just the academic system that’s a culture shock to international students.

Farah Combs, director of Honors and Experiential Learning at PFW, shared her story of coming to the United States as an immigrant.

Combs explained she and her family emigrated to the United States from Kuwait shortly before Combs was about to enter college.

One of the culture shocks Combs experienced was the level of free speech Americans enjoyed.

“I would say one of the major ones [culture shocks] is honestly … how much freedom of speech people have in regards to talking about the government,” Combs said. “That is not happening back home.”

Beyond culture shock and college applications, international students face another hurdle after graduation: staying in the United States to live and work.

After completing their degrees, international students have limited options for employment in the U.S. These range from working under the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program to obtaining a green card. Many of these pathways are highly competitive and often temporary, lasting only a few years and requiring renewal processes that must work their way through government bureaucracy and red tape.  

Graduate Student Teresa Nabangala, from Kenya

Advantages International Students Bring to the United States and the Globe

Although there are challenges to coming to the United States for academic study, international students bring a host of benefits to America and the global community.

Maureen Linvill, director of International Education at PFW, explained that many international students will, upon graduation, return to their home countries and start implementing their academic knowledge in their professional lives.

“A lot go home to share what they’ve learned,” Linvill said.

Other international students, including those coming to PFW, hope to stay in the United States and contribute to American society.

For computer science major Ajinkya Naik, career goals include continuing his higher education in the United States and using his computer science degree to improve the bio-technology and health care fields.

International students at U.S. universities and colleges contribute $42.9 billion to America’s economy according to NAFSA: Association of International Educators. For every three international students, one job in the United States is either created or supported.

International Students in the United States
In the 2024/2025 academic year, international students helped support over 355,000 jobs.
The top five countries of origin for international students are China, India, South Korea, Canada, and Vietnam.
The 1.1 million international students represent 6% of U.S. enrollments as of 2024.

Locally, international students help improve the PFW community by introducing their colleagues at student housing to new experiences.

Shelby Mansfield, assistant director for International Student Services at PFW, explained how international and domestic students living in the same student housing help encourage each other to try new things.

“They get each other to do something new,” Mansfield said.

Trying something new and sharing a global perspective is part of what helps broaden domestic PFW students’ perspectives.

Director Combs mentioned that, for American and international college students, getting to study together in a university setting like PFW is a life experience that students can take with them into their future careers.

“When you go to the workforce, you don’t know what you’re going to be talking to in the business,” Combs said. “It [studying with international students] makes you a better person because you have better understanding.”

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International Education Week Celebrates Culture and Cuisine at Purdue Fort Wayne

By Hannah Arnold and Maddi Sims

International Education Week at Purdue Fort Wayne is an annual celebration of the university’s international student community. The week features a variety of activities, highlighted by the Global Student Celebration.

The event brought together students, families and friends to watch international students perform cultural traditions and to enjoy food from around the world.

“We want to share culture and traditions and to help promote that sense of belonging here on campus,” said Shelby Mansfield, assistant director for International Students Services.

There are 269 international students currently enrolled at PFW. The Global Student Celebration provides a space for them to share their cultures and connect with the broader campus community, with food serving as a central way to do so.

Attendees sampled a wide range of dishes, and the menu reflected cuisines from around the world. Indian Kitchen provided veg dum biryani, a dish made with layered rice and mixed vegetables. Pho Indy served banh mi, a Vietnamese sandwich on a baguette. True Kimchi offered veggie kimpab, a Korean seaweed rice roll filled with vegetables.

Giordano’s supplied caprese skewers: a rotating pattern of tomato and mozzarella with a drizzle of balsamic glaze provided patrons with a lighter option to snack on. Nutri Packs provided egusi soup with pounded yam, a traditional Nigerian dish that is a rich, savory soup served with a dough-like yam. For dessert, Shatila’s bakery offered baklava, a flaky pastry made with cashews and honey. Horchata from Salsa Grille, a sweet drink made with milk, rice and cinnamon, represented Hispanic culture.

Most participant restaurants are located in the Fort Wayne area, with Shatila’s bakery based in Michigan.

For Maureen Linvill, director of International Education, food allows someone to experience a piece of culture immediately.

“When students taste dishes from around the world, they’re not just trying new flavors,” Linvill said. “They are experiencing a piece of someone’s heritage, family traditions, and identity.”

The variety of options provided the event’s attendees the opportunity to experience cultural dishes that are different from their own. Additionally, it fosters a learning environment as you connect foods to different cultural groups and taste the assortment of ingredients.

“Food brings out the best in many,” assistant director Mansfield stated.

As a commonly known way to break the ice and spark the beginning of a conversation, food plays an important role when sharing culture. At the Global Student Celebration, attendees such as graduate student Teresa Nabangala connected over their shared likeness of a dish and their curiosity to understand where it originated.

“Food is a universal language, and when different cultural dishes are offered in one space, it encourages curiosity, conversation, and appreciation for each other’s traditions,” said Nabangala, who is from Kenya. “Trying new foods opens the door for people to learn about the history, stories, and identities behind those dishes.”

Through events like International Education Week, PFW continues to highlight and celebrate the cultures that students bring to campus.

International students are proud of their cultures, and the Global Student Celebration offered a chance to showcase their heritage. And when words cannot describe, food surely can.

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Dances of the World At Purdue Fort Wayne

By Rachel Steinbacher

International Education Week took place during the week of Nov. 17, bringing a campus-wide celebration of cultures throughout the world.

The highlight of the week was the Global Student Celebration, an evening dedicated to unity and cultural expression. Students showcased their backgrounds through singing, dancing, and cuisine from around the world – including an interesting remix of Travis Scott’s hit song “FE!N.”

What began as a quiet room, quickly transformed into one of the most energetic student celebrations on campus this semester. 

Shelby Mansfield, assistant director for International Student Services, explained the performances change every year and the students take time to perfect them.

“We have had anything from fashion shows to cooking demonstrations,” she said. “This year, students were leaning towards singing, dances, and bands.”

 Mansfield said the students prepare for their performances very thoroughly and even have a rehearsal the night before. There are bands practicing, friends talking, and a full run through of the whole night.

Lucia Coeslier, a student from France, said that they were putting in an insane amount of effort to perfect the final performance.

“I am most nervous/excited for my performance,” she said. “It is a classic French song.”

Watching the performances is a great way to end the night after eating international food. Mansfield said eating before the performances allows attendees to come together and enjoy a meal. Some of the food served included bahn mi, egosi soup, and baklava as well as drinks like horchata. Most of the food was made locally in Fort Wayne but the school even reached out to a company in Michigan to help celebrate.

Each dance, song, and food represented something uniquely meaningful from the performers’ culture. Colombian student Catalina Vigoya Ruiz explained how the song she chose has been sung in her family for decades.

While she was performing, there were students from Colombia in the crowd dancing along. Another thing you see a lot at this celebration: students coming together.

Dancing is symbolistic for many countries around the world and a way of communication. India, which has the leading number of international students at PFW, has a popular dance called Bharatanatyam which is known for its expressive gestures, storytelling and intricate footwork.

“When I’m dancing, I feel back home again for a moment,” said student performer Lisha Choudhary, from India. “The performance is a mix of traditional Indian dance and American pop culture.”

As the celebration wrapped up, performers were greeted with applause, hugs, and questions from students who wanted to learn more about the dances and songs they saw.

Some stayed long after the final performance ended, taking photos with their friends and continuing conversations about culture, identity, and what it means to be part of a diverse campus.

For those who attended, the Global Student Celebration marked more than just the end of a themed week. It was a reminder of the power the community holds and the diversity international students bring to Purdue Fort Wayne.

And for those few hours on Friday night, campus felt a little smaller and the world felt a little closer.

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Building Global Connections at Purdue Fort Wayne

By Cincade Drudge

As campuses across the country recognized International Education Week (IEW), Purdue Fort Wayne used the Nov. 17-21 celebration not just to highlight global cultures for a few days, but to showcase a growing community of international and multicultural students who enrich campus life year-round.

PFW has been participating in the week-long event for over a decade. According to Shelby Mansfield, assistant director for International Student Services, IEW has been part of U.S. higher education since 2001.

Mansfield explained that International Education Week began as a joint initiative between the U.S. Department of State and the Department of Education.

“So it was a collaborative effort to really highlight the value of international education and also exchange opportunities for U.S. students going abroad and the value of having exchange students come to the U.S.,” she said.

For PFW, the centerpiece of the week is the Global Student Celebration, a Friday-night event featuring cultural food, performances, and the annual Parade of Nations.

“The International Ballroom is typically full, sometimes standing room only at the sides,” Mansfield said. “It’s an awesome opportunity to exchange culture through food and performance.”

One of her favorite moments each year is the parade. “Students come on stage, and they say something [typically a greeting] in their native language,” she said. “It gives me goosebumps because it might sound like a really simple idea, but it’s just awesome when you’re in a room when that happens.”

This year’s events also included international bingo and trivia events hosted by the Office of International Education. Mansfield spoke on how the events are connected to international education.

Students Enjoying International Bingo
Indian Student Association Performance at the Global Student Celebration

“Not necessarily each prize, but each round of bingo will have something international attached to it,” Mansfield stated. Trivia night, she added, is a campus favorite: “It’s super fun because we have a couple of student workers that help create this trivia … We all try to see how well we did at the international-themed trivia.”

The purpose of all these events is to shed light on and provide a sense of community for the international students. PFW currently enrolls 269 international students, with representation from more than 50 countries. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Ghana are among the most represented.

Mansfield emphasized that affordability and the Purdue name continue to attract international students to come to PFW from their home countries.

 “The Purdue degree, the reputation behind what that means when they’re getting a job, and searching for a job after graduation, but also affordability,” she explained.

International students arrive through a mix of recruitment strategies. PFW’s admissions staff physically visits countries to recruit students. They also host virtual fairs that high school students or current college students can attend.

But Mansfield stressed that the support for these students goes far beyond recruitment. Her office assists with everything from immigration advising and how to avoid scams to simply helping students adjust to their new environment.

For many students, the Global Student Celebration is a rare opportunity to publicly represent where they come from.

International Foods at the Global Student Celebration
Bangladesh’s Appearance at The Parade of Nations

Nishad Parulekar, an engineering student from India, said he chose PFW for its close-knit campus feel and supportive faculty. But adjusting to life in the United States came with challenges.

“Being away from family was the hardest part,” he said. “But events like this help you interact with people.”

Nishad performed at this year’s celebration, sharing a piece of his culture with the campus community. He said International Education Week personally represents a time to “meet people, share traditions, and understand what other students have experienced.”

His dream is to work in robotics, hopefully in Germany, a place he believes offers strong opportunities for engineers. But for now, PFW has provided a sense of belonging for him.

Not all students who participated in the celebration are international; some are domestic students with multicultural backgrounds who use the event to express identities that often go unnoticed.

Milayi, who grew up in Fort Wayne but whose family is from Myanmar, performed a dance she choreographed for the Water Festival, her ethnic group’s New Year celebration. Many people assume she is Burmese, she said, but she is actually part of a minority ethnic group within Myanmar.

“Not many people know who we are,” Milayi said. “So it’s meaningful to represent my culture here.”

She added that IEW gives students a chance to learn how many cultures exist on campus, cultures that might not be visible in everyday classroom interactions.

Tips from the Office of International Education

While IEW is designed with internationally connected students in mind, domestic students are also engaging with global cultures on campus.

Siddharth Vemparala, a domestic student who attended the international-themed bingo night because he heard about it from friends, said events like these broaden student perspectives.

“I’ve learned that people grow up with completely different experiences,” he said. “When you meet students from other countries, you gain a lot of perspective. It changes how you see the world.”

He recalled friendships with former dorm neighbors who shared meals from their home countries with him. “It’s really fun to learn from each other and try their local dishes,” he said. “PFW does a good job mixing students in classes and housing, so you interact naturally.”

While International Education Week is a highlight, assistant director Mansfield emphasized that its true purpose extends beyond the celebration itself.

“Every institution has its own spin on it,” she said. “So the main goals of it would be to share, I would say, share culture and traditions, and to help promote that sense of belonging on your own campus.”

As PFW’s international community continues to grow, IEW offers a window into the friendships, challenges, and cultural exchanges that shape campus life, not just in a single week, but year-round.

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Climate Change Is Transforming Midwestern Winters     

As climate change continues to shape weather patterns across the globe, some of its most visible effects are emerging not in blistering summer heat waves or devastating hurricane seasons, as one might expect from the effects of global warming, but in the quiet months of winter. Across the Midwest and northern states, including Indiana, winters are shifting in ways that are unexpected and contrary to popular understandings.  

While climate change is widely associated with warming temperatures, its influence on winter weather is far more complex. It actually intensifies weather extremes, scrambling weather patterns, and fueling heavier storms. Atmospheric patterns become more volatile, producing sudden temperature swings. Snowfall decreases overall, yet the snowstorms that do occur can be stronger than before.  

Much of the confusion stems from a common misconception: the belief that if cold days or snowstorms still occur, climate change must not be real. This conflation of weather and climate, short-term conditions versus long-term trends, remains one of the biggest barriers to public understanding. Even as the planet warms, individual winters can and will still deliver bursts of frigid weather. In fact, some of the most intense winter storms are now fueled by a warmer, wetter atmosphere. 

These changes are increasingly clear across Indiana, where winter is now a season defined by unpredictability. Indiana’s Thanksgiving weekend storm this year is a clear example of how this new weather pattern works. Even though average winters are warming, the storm delivered heavy snow, sudden temperature drops, and pockets of freezing rain. 

But behind these day-to-day variations lies a broader pattern: midwestern winters are warming, destabilizing, and becoming less reliable. 

Across Indiana, winter temperatures have risen steadily over the past several decades. Extremely cold days are less common, and winter nights are warmer than they were for previous generations. On the surface, this might sound appealing to those who hate cold weather, but the consequences ripple out in ways that touch ecosystems, infrastructure, and public safety. 

Warmer air means precipitation increasingly falls as rain rather than snow. Winter rainstorms, once rare, now commonly bring flash flooding and icy roads. 

Another growing challenge is the sudden back-and-forth swings between freezing and thawing. Instead of long stretches of consistent cold, Indiana now sees rapid temperature shifts, sometimes within a single day. These cycles damage roads and bridges, destabilize ice on rivers and lakes, stress plants, and create dangerous conditions for anyone spending time outdoors. 

These new winter patterns are reshaping not only the human world, but the natural world just as dramatically. 

Animals that rely on predictable cold seasons are struggling. Species that hibernate, such as bears, groundhogs, and bats, can emerge too early during warm spells, burning through precious energy reserves long before spring food is available. Small mammals like rabbits and mice lose their protective blanket of snow, leaving them exposed to predators and harsh cold snaps. 

Plants and vegetation are equally vulnerable. Early thaws can trigger out-of-season growth, only for sudden freezes to destroy these new shoots. Herbivores such as deer and moose then face food shortages, while heavy winter rains can wash away stored plant matter or disrupt food caches.  

Amphibians that wait out the winter in mud or under ice are especially vulnerable: repeated freeze–thaw cycles caused by erratic winter temperatures can stress or even kill them. 

Migratory species, mainly birds, are feeling the effects too. Unpredictable seasonal cues cause early or delayed migrations, leading to mismatches between arrival times and food availability. 

The weather changes, and ecological shifts are only part of the story. Warmer, wetter winters create substantial challenges for communities across Indiana. 

Rain replacing snow increases flood risk by producing immediate runoff instead of slow snowmelt. Cities are already seeing more burden on storm drains, bridges, and roads. Agriculture suffers when soils repeatedly freeze and thaw, damaging crops and disrupting planting cycles. Infrastructure takes a hard hit as well: potholes, frost heaving, and water damage drive up maintenance costs. 

Winter-based recreation is also changing. Winter sports like skiing, ice skating, and snowmobiling depend on consistent cold that the Midwest and northern states increasingly lack. While Indiana is not as dependent on winter tourism as northern states, snow-based recreation remains a nostalgic and formative part of childhood. Losing reliable snow means losing opportunities for outdoor play that many Hoosiers grew up with. 

The winter as we know it, in all its harshness and joy, is slipping away. If we continue on our present path, many of the defining features of Midwestern winters may disappear entirely. Preserving the season we know will require recognizing the changes already underway and taking meaningful action before they accelerate further. 

Cincade Drudge is a student journalist at Purdue University Fort Wayne and a Waterfield Environmental Intern at the Environmental Resources Center on campus. 

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