{"id":9602,"date":"2025-10-23T16:31:21","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T21:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/geography\/?p=9602"},"modified":"2025-10-24T10:07:42","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T15:07:42","slug":"nick-schulke-phd-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/geography\/nick-schulke-phd-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Nick Schulke (PhD 2019)\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dr. Nick Schulke<\/a> is a Great Lakes Social Scientist at the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I began my journey in geography during\u202fa year of\u202fpost-baccalaureate studies\u202fat 51ÁÔÆæ.\u202fI was drawn to the field of geography due to the breadth of discipline across the physical and social sciences,\u202fand\u202falso\u202fbecause\u202fI\u2019m\u202fa big map\u202fnerd.\u202fIt was\u202fduring this year\u202fof post-baccalaureate studies\u202fthat\u202fseveral\u202ffaculty\u202finspired\u202fa passion for geography, which prompted me to\u202fenroll as a graduate student.\u202fI\u202fcompleted my master\u2019s (2014) and PhD (2019) under the guidance of\u202fmy advisor,\u202fDr. Ryan Holifield, as well as\u202fmy committee members,\u202fDrs.\u202fBonds, Donnelly, Fredlund,\u202fSziarto,\u202fand Yoon. My specialization is environmental geography, and my graduate research focused on controversies\u202fsurrounding\u202fthe restoration of Milwaukee\u2019s\u202fKinnickinnic\u202fRiver (master\u2019s) and oil and gas development in residential areas of northern Colorado (PhD).\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following\u202fcompletion of my doctorate, I taught at Central Washington University\u202fand then\u202fUW-Rock County\u202fand the 51ÁÔÆæ Department of Geography\u202fbefore\u202fjoining\u202fWisconsin DNR as a Natural Resources Research Scientist. I currently work for the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation\u202f(NMSF)\u202fas a\u202fGreat Lakes Social Scientist\u202fand\u202fam also\u202fan\u202faffiliate\u202fwith\u202fNOAA. I am currently based in Alpena, Michigan\u202f(pull out your atlas, geographers!)\u202fat the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary\u202f(NMS)\u202fsupporting a large, multi-component\u202fsocioeconomic study on the\u202fthree\u202fGreat Lakes national marine sanctuaries\u2014Thunder Bay, Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast, and Lake Ontario.\u202fAs part of this study, I collaborate with researchers\u202fand\u202fother\u202fstaff at NOAA,\u202fNMSF,\u202fWest Virginia University\u202f(WVU),\u202fand\u202fan\u202fenvironmental consulting firm.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, my\u202fwork centers on leading a\u202fsocial values\u202fmapping project in which residents of Great Lakes NMS communities\u202fidentify\u202flocations in the waters and\u202fcoastal areas\u202fof these sanctuaries they feel\u202fare representative of\u202fdifferent types\u202fof social values (e.g., recreational, aesthetic, maritime heritage). Over this past summer, I managed field staff and data collection for a visitor use study\u202fled by WVU that\u202ffocused on recreation and tourism in Great Lakes NMS regions.\u202fIn my researcher roles, my training as a geographer has allowed me to apply my experience in qualitative and quantitative methodologies with my\u202fGIS skills in numerous ways, including study design, data analysis, and visualization. In my current role, my training allows me to contribute a geographic perspective to investigating spatial dimensions of value (broadly defined) that\u202fGreat Lakes\u202fsanctuaries bring to their communities\u202fand\u202fregion, as well as\u202fto\u202fpartner organizations.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have\u202fmany\u202ffond memories\u202fof my time as a student in the\u202fdepartment, and they are too\u202fnumerous\u202fto list. Among them\u202fare the department picnics,\u202fgrad\u202fstudent lunches with colloquium speakers,\u202fand social outings with fellow\u202fgrad\u202fstudents to grab a beer at the\u202fGasthaus, go bowling, or just\u202fget out\u202faround Milwaukee.\u202fAbove all, I\u202fenjoyed working with\u202fnumerous\u202fgeography students\u202fover the years\u202fas\u202fa teaching assistant (and sharing my passion for\u202fgeography\u202fwith them), as well as\u202fappreciated\u202fthe incredible amount of support provided by my advisor,\u202fcommittee members,\u202fand\u202fthe faculty,\u202fin general.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Balancing work and life can be a challenge for me,\u202fparticularly in my current role,\u202fbut I find that getting out to hike, camp, and\u202fgenerally spending\u202ftime outdoors is therapeutic and\u202fallows me\u202fto disconnect from the bustle of work.\u202fLiving in northeast Michigan provides plenty of opportunity to explore and enjoy the outdoors and has been a refreshing\u202fchange from city life.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The advice I would offer to geography students would be to get out of your comfort zone and\u202fseize opportunities\u202fduring your studies\u202fto do and try new things that come your way.\u202fYou never know what or where those experiences will bring you.\u202fAlso, even though you\u202fspecialize in a\u202ftrack or\u202fsubdiscipline of geography, embracing the breadth of\u202fthe discipline (human, physical, geospatial)\u202fwill help you be more versatile and valuable in the\u202fprofessional\u202fwork you do.\u202f <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Nick Schulke is a Great Lakes Social Scientist at the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.  I began my journey in geography during\u202fa year of\u202fpost-baccalaureate studies\u202fat 51ÁÔÆæ.\u202fI was drawn to the field of geography due to the breadth of discipline across the physical and social sciences,\u202fand\u202falso\u202fbecause\u202fI\u2019m\u202fa …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19040,"featured_media":9570,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[108,107],"tags":[120],"class_list":["post-9602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-highlights-newsletter","category-newsletter","tag-fall-2025"],"yoast_head":"\nGeography<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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