Photo by Lonnie Bertsch

Bobbi Bingeman brings an enthusiasm to her classrooms and the subject matter that spills over to students almost by osmosis.

Age: 32

Position: Assistant Professor of Agriculture, Technology and Natural Resources at Bismarck State College. In addition to my career as an educator, I am a Specialized All-Novice Horse Show Judge for the American Quarter Horse Association.

Family: Single

Hobbies: Dressage, a discipline of horseback riding; running half marathons; camping and spending time on various lakes with friends and family

Community involvement: I assist with many FFA and 4-H horse-related activities statewide and I enjoy promoting youth involvement with horses.

I also have a sincere passion for North Dakota living, and I enjoy talking with youth and young adults about the many opportunities to stay in North Dakota. The agriculture industry is in an expansion phase and many career paths exist today for people interested in living in agricultural communities. Farming and ranching are the foundation of the entire agri-food system. However, there are many business opportunities amidst the input sector as well as the food processing and manufacturing sector. The global economy opens the doors to many of our North Dakota production agriculturists and agribusiness professionals to have a major foothold in national and international markets. I enjoy talking with young people to help them understand the broad spectrum of opportunities they have in agriculture.

Career path: B.S. University of Minnesota, Crookston; M.Ed. North Dakota State University

Mentors: As an educator, I turn to my co-workers — Carmel Miller, Craig Kleven and Tyler Schau — for advice or feedback on a daily basis. They have talents and strengths in areas that I don’t have. If I identify there is a missing link in an educational process, I generally find out one of them has a terrific solution. In life, my primary mentors are my parents, Ron and Deb Bingeman, Williston. They have so much wisdom to share, plus I know they are always looking out for my best interests. So they are willing to give me advice beyond just what I want to hear. John Hovde, Epping, N.D.,) has mentored me for almost 20 years on horsemanship, horse health and herdsmanship. Horses themselves have provided the real education. But without John, I may have never acquired the skills or understanding to take advantage of many opportunities. He always reinforced a very popular quote seen and heard in many places, “Success is where preparation meets opportunity.”

What motivates you? A lot of the things — I enjoy in my life require a significant amount of physical endurance and mental endurance. As many educators know; grading, studying, reading and teaching all require long days of brain power and concentration. Not every day is your brain there to help you, but you can’t give up. Long distance running requires long periods of continuous exercise, and there are many days your body doesn’t feel even 80 percent, but you need to keep training. Training horses — who do not speak English by the way — is a major test of communication and patience. Sometimes in training you hit a phase where the horse and you simply do not understand each other. It can be very tempting to give up, and simply believe you or the horse will never get it.

How do I get through challenges like this? I rest. More importantly, I don’t wait until I am exhausted to rest anymore. I bribe myself with rest. I plan my rests so that I am able to work with more energy, enjoyment and enthusiasm. A nine-mile run is fun when you are pumped up and torture when you dread the effort. Resting means different things to different people, I assume. I plan for eight hours of sleep. I plan for a couple of hours of extra rest on the weekend. I plan a season of rest in the summer from schoolwork. I plan for a season of rest from riding in the coldest winter months. There are 52 weeks in the year, and I rarely run more than 30 weeks a year. I need to give my body time to repair and my mind to renew.

Understand that pausing is not quitting is a very important concept to get through enduring challenges. Finding out that when you come back rested you come back with more brain power, concentration, physical energy and creative solutions. You come back thinking clearly and your spirit is lifted for another challenge.

Challenges in your career path: Agriculture and education are full of challenges. I bet this would make a great top 100 list. I am going to only pick one: personal responsibility. We live in a society tempted to always point the finger at somebody else. I am as guilty as anyone. In order to get through that top 100 list of challenges, I think all of us are going to have to start taking more personal responsibility. Progress comes pretty slow when we keep passing the baton of responsibility to the next person.

What advice would you offer other young professionals? Don’t be afraid to try. I have to give myself the same pep-talk all the time. I get nervous of trying something new because I fear failing, or I am unconfident in my ability to handle the situation. I believe that is a universal human characteristic. What is silly about that whole concept is the expectation that we expect to be successful on the first try, or we expect to be able to handle the situation on the first try. We should just expect that failure is almost certain when you first try anything. I think we would all be better off if we just change our expectation. I expect I will have to try this 10 times or 1,000 times before I am going to be remotely successful. I expect I will be able to handle this situation after I have experienced it 20 times. Find supportive people and environments to get through the failure process. What you will discover is most of the people who are experts also failed or fell short on their first attempt and many thereafter. They didn’t get where they are because they were perfect from the beginning. They achieved their levels of success because they weren’t afraid to try, and try again, and try again, and try again, and try again …

For what are you thankful? Hot water. Once in the last five years or so, I ended up running out of hot water. Once. We live in a world where there are probably billions of people without an opportunity to take a hot shower every day. When it comes to a having a status symbol such as a fancy car, or a four-acre yard, or — you fill in the blank — we rarely consider hot water a status symbol. The reality is, hot water is a status symbol. I certainly can’t imagine my life without it.

What do you see yourself doing in 10 years? I was wrong ten years ago, so I won’t assume I can figure it out now.

Conferences remain a viable and often crucial vehicle for your organization to communicate with, educate and receive feedback from your membership or employees. Yet with today’s fast-paced work schedules, you often don’t have the time, resources and staff to dedicate to conference planning.

Let us help you! The Division of Corporate and Continuing Education, Training & Innovation at Bismarck State College is your comprehensive provider of Conference Management Services.

From pre-conference planning and on-site support to post-conference reporting, your conference manager will work to ensure that the smallest details are handled efficiently, professionally and responsively.

Let us handle the details so you can concentrate on the conference experience!

Continuing Education, Training & Innovation
1200 Schafer Street
Bismarck, ND 58506
701-224-5600
877-846-9387
www.bismarckstate.edu

“The programs offered from the NECE are unique and offer fantastic learning opportunities for those interested in a career in the energy industry. This industry is sustainable and students coming out of our programs are earning excellent salaries and benefits. Companies recognize our programs as the premier education resource and look for NECE graduates to fill their entry-level positions,” said Joan Kleven, National Energy Center of Excellence marketing and advising manager.

Meeting the Needs

Bismarck State College energy education programs have been developed in close collaboration with the energy industry. To continue its mission of meeting industry workforce needs, the NECE recently launched a new program to complement its portfolio of existing degree programs and industry training offerings. The Renewable Generation Technology program began in the Fall 2010 semester, both on campus and online, in response to industry demand for qualified workers in the areas of wind, solar, geothermal, fuel cell, biomass, hydro and tidal generation. Graduates who complete this program will have the technical skills and knowledge needed to gain entry-level employment in these rapidly developing areas of the energy industry. In addition, graduates will also learn the skills necessary to stay abreast of expected developments in the renewable generation of electricity.

“The renewable power generation program is an exciting option for people looking for work in the energy industry. The technological changes in this industry continue to change and graduates coming out of our programs will have the skills and knowledge necessary for successful employment in the renewable generation fields,” said Kleven.

About the NECE

The NECE portfolio of programs reaches several different sectors of the energy industry with Associate Degrees in the following areas: Power Plant Technology (fossil power generation), Electrical Transmission Systems Technology (system operations), Electric Power Technology (transmission and distribution), Nuclear Power Generation and Process Technology (refining, gasification, ethanol, biodiesel). The NECE is unique also in that it is a two-year college offering a four-year degree. The Bachelor of Applied Science in Energy Management program began in January 2008 to help prepare existing and future energy workers for careers in the areas of supervision and management in energy facilities.

For more information on the NECE programs, visit www.bismarckstate.edu/energy or contact Mike Myers at Michael.M.Myers@bsc.nodak.edu, or 701-224-2594 or 800-852-5685.

Jeanne Masseth, CETI Training Manager

Consider a formal mentoring program in your workplace. Mentoring is being recognized more than ever as a cost effective strategy to develop people. A formal mentoring program pairs a successful and respected professional (the mentor) with another professional (the mentee) who seeks to grow, advance in the organization, or gain a skill set. The results of the year-long partnership are tangible. Mentees gain a broader perspective of the organization, improved skills/confidence, and faster learning. Mentors also report learning, renewed job enthusiasm, and being recognized for developing future leaders within the organization.

The Continuing Education Division at Bismarck State College has been coordinating formal mentoring programs with local private and public organizations for nearly ten years. To learn more about how mentoring can improve productivity, reduce turnover, and develop your next generation of leadership, call BSC at 224.5413.

1500 Edwards Avenue
Bismarck, ND 58506
701-224-5400
800-445-5073
www.bismarckstate.edu

Conferences remain a viable and often crucial vehicle for your organization to communicate with, educate and receive feedback from your membership or employees. Yet with today’s fast-paced work schedules, you often don’t have the time, resources and staff to dedicate to conference planning.

Let us help you! The Division of Corporate and Continuing Education, Training & Innovation at Bismarck State College is your comprehensive provider of Conference Management Services.

From pre-conference planning and on-site support to post-conference reporting, your conference manager will work to ensure that the smallest details are handled efficiently, professionally and responsively.

Let us handle the details so you can concentrate on the conference experience!

Continuing Education, Training & Innovation
1200 Schafer Street
Bismarck, ND 58506
701-224-5600
877-846-9387
www.bismarckstate.edu

Consider a formal mentoring program in your workplace. Mentoring is being recognized more than ever as a cost effective strategy to develop people. A formal mentoring program pairs a successful and respected professional (the mentor) with another professional (the mentee) who seeks to grow, advance in the organization, or gain a skill set.

The results of the yearlong partnership are tangible. Mentees gain a broader perspective of the organization, improved skills/confidence, and faster learning. Mentors also report learning, renewed job enthusiasm, and being recognized for developing future leaders within the organization.

The Continuing Education Division at Bismarck State College has been coordinating formal mentoring programs with local private and public organizations for nearly ten years. To learn more about how mentoring can improve productivity, reduce turnover, and develop your next generation of leadership, call BSC at 224.5413.

Continuing Education, Training & Innovation
1200 Schafer Street
Bismarck, ND 58506
701-224-5600
877-846-9387
www.bismarckstate.edu

Trying to learn the ins and outs of financial aid? Bismarck State College has an online video financial aid counseling service to help you understand college financial aid and the steps needed to apply for aid.

Financial Aid TV features short video clips with answers to many commonly asked questions. Examples are “How do I know if I qualify for financial aid?” and “What is a Pell Grant?” The Financial Aid TV service is another tool BSC uses to assist students with applying for financial aid programs.

The service also allows the financial aid department to connect with students on how to apply for aid when they are not face-to-face with a financial aid adviser, which is a tremendous help to students and parents. To view the videos, go to BSC Financial Ad TV.

For more information regarding Federal and State financial aid, visit our BSC Financial Aid Web site.

Continuing Education, Training & Innovation
1200 Schafer Street
Bismarck, ND 58506
701-224-5600
877-846-9387
www.bismarckstate.edu

Trying to learn the ins and outs of financial aid? Bismarck State College has an online video financial aid counseling service to help you understand college financial aid and the steps needed to apply for aid.

Financial Aid TV features short video clips with answers to many commonly asked questions. Examples are “How do I know if I qualify for financial aid?” and “What is a Pell Grant?” The Financial Aid TV service is another tool BSC uses to assist students with applying for financial aid programs.

The service also allows the financial aid department to connect with students on how to apply for aid when they are not face-to-face with a financial aid adviser, which is a tremendous help to students and parents. To view the videos, go to BSC Financial Ad TV.

For more information regarding Federal and State financial aid, visit our BSC Financial Aid Web site.

Continuing Education, Training & Innovation
1200 Schafer Street
Bismarck, ND 58506
701-224-5600
877-846-9387
www.bismarckstate.edu

As the wind picked up, the blades started to hum, akin to a table fan set on oscillate.

Perched at the top of a 45-foot metal pole was a three-blade wind turbine. It was installed Sept. 1 at Bismarck State College, behind the BSC Armory, generating 2.5 kilowatt hours of electricity in its first week.

Representatives from BSC, Montana-Dakota Utilities and the North Dakota Department of Commerce spoke about the purpose of the turbine and the partnership that made it possible at a press conference Sept. 5 near the turbine. While they talked, it was generating between 300 and 400 watts of electricity, and up to 1,200 watts when the wind picked up.

MDU approached BSC about installing the wind turbine. The college received a grant from the department of renewable energy and efficiency in the North Dakota Department of Commerce. The $1,300 grant covered half the cost of the turbine, which was installed by Gr-8 Country Wind Power.

The residential-size turbine isn’t meant to power the whole campus, but it does provide electricity to a maintenance building behind the armory. It is meant as a demonstration project for MDU and an educational tool for BSC students.

The turbine can generate up to 2.4 kilowatts of electricity and accommodate wind speeds up to 60 mph, at which point the turbine stops working.

Burleigh gets energy efficiency funds

Burleigh County was awarded $68,000 in stimulus funds to boost its energy efficiency and reduce waste.

The funds will be used to retrofit the 78-year-old Burleigh County Courthouse and the 55-year-old Provident Office building.

The funds also will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Work is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

County auditor Kevin Glatt stated that, within the last seven years, many steps have been taken to improve the energy efficiency and reduce energy consumption.

Heat pumps, compressors and air handlers, and boilers have been replaced with more energy efficient units.

“The replacement of the electronic ballasts on florescent light fi xtures and replacing incandescent lights will dramatically reduce our energy consumption and cost,” Glatt said.

He added the benefit will be ongoing and the new equipment will pay for itself between three and five years.

Innovation in oil field means more oil, less expense

A new concept coming to North Dakota’s oil fields will make it look like less drilling is going on when actually much more is.

Harold Hamm, owner of Continental Resources and an innovator in tapping a rich new formation beneath the Bakken formation, has a permit to drill a new well using what his company is calling the ECO-Pad concept.

The concept is to drill four wells from one pad with a rig capable of “walking” about 30 feet from one well to the next in eight hours.

Hamm said he expects to drop the price of drilling a well by 10 percent and increase oil production by about the same number. “ECO” relates to less land disturbance because one pad will be leveled instead of four, using the same road system, power lines and product pipeline, he said.

The technique was developed for natural gas, and Hamm said he might be the first to apply it to oil production. “As far as I know, it hasn’t been (done elsewhere),” he said.

Hamm said the wells – two each – will go into both the Bakken and Three Forks-Sanish zones from the same pad.

“With two zones, it set up a need to deal with both zones in one well bore. This is a very compact way of doing it,” Hamm said. He said it also will improve contact with the reservoir, meaning more of the formation is tapped.

Minnesota firm wants to build Mercer plant

HAZEN – A Minnesota company hopes to use Mercer County’s bonding allocation to build a plant that uses bacteria to turn lignite, manure and the leftover liquid from ethanol into natural gas and fertilizer.

Proterra Bioconversion, of St. Paul, Minn., met with the Mercer County Commission Sept. 16, asking to use the county’s entire $5.2 million bonding allocation awarded to the county under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The company wants to build a $6 million plus no-emission plant on an industrial site at the Mercer County Regional Airport near Hazen.

The county received notice of its bonding allocation earlier this summer and, after hearing from Proterra, appointed a committee to come up with a policy for using it, said county auditor Monte Erhardt.

Mark Hodges, company spokesman, said the anaerobic digestionrefi nery process has been around since the ‘80s. It utilizes vertical plates of bacteria inside enclosed silos to break down the feedstock into a form of biomethane and a liquid fertilizer.

He said the company hopes to get the bonds in time to start construction next year.

Hodges said the project would be 100 percent investor funded and the county would only issue the tax-exempt bonds.

Hazen’s economic development director Duke Rosendahl said the project could create between 10 and 20 jobs.

Researchers studying ways to recycle oil water

MINOT (AP) – Researchers are studying ways to recycle millions of gallons of water used in oil drilling.

The study by the Energy and Environmental Research Center is funded by state and federal agencies. It focuses on water used in the process of fracturing rock to extract the oil.

EERC senior research manager Bethany Kurz said truckloads of water – about 800 gallons a load – have to be hauled to fracturing sites.

A typical fracturing job takes as much as 1 million gallons of water.

t and other area communities have been selling water to oil companies and some are looking at Lake Sakakawea water. The cost of acquiring water for fracturing can be as high as $12 a barrel, which is 42 gallons, Kurz said. Researchers are looking at a type of recycling similar to that done in Texas, where companies recover water from fracturing and a mobile unit removes the salt. But early research in North Dakota’s Bakken shale formation has found that only a small percentage of the water used in fracturing is being recovered in the fi rst 10 days,” Kurz said.

“We are seeing anywhere from 10 to 15 percent water recovery over a long period of time,” Kurz said. The quality of the water is poor because it is so salty, she said.

(Energy briefs compiled from stories by The Bismarck Tribune and The Associated Press.)

If you are like many others trying to survive information overload, you are wishing that all this social media would just go away.Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Maybe now is the time for you to find out what all the hype is about.

Social Media allows people and businesses to communicate in so many different ways to the people who are most important them. Some businesses today are using social media to engage their employees, others are using it to improve their customer service, and still others are using it to build their brand and reputation.

It is not important that you start doing it all right now, but taking the first step to understand what social media is and how it can be helpful is important. Let me suggest that you work with BSC’s Division of Continuing Education, Training & Innovation. We have been building partnerships and working with subject matter experts for more than ten years, striving to meet the needs of businesses and our community.

We have several classes available on social media and are willing to help customize training for you and your business. Let us help you take your first step! To learn more contact me at 224.2534 or deborah.a.larson.1@bsc.nodak.edu.

Continuing Education, Training & Innovation
1200 Schafer Street
Bismarck, ND 58506
701-224-5600
877-846-9387
www.bismarckstate.edu