UMAA's 25 Under 25 for 2024
Solomon Albertson-Gore, '23, Lewistown – Albertson-Gore was a pioneer in UM’s newly introduced Game Design and Interactive Media degree. As one of the first graduates from the program, Albertson-Gore now works as an independent game designer. Projects he has worked on include a Virtual Reality experience for the C.M. Russell Museum in collaboration with the Cowboy Hall of Fame and the College Simulator, which helps middle and high school students navigate the world of higher education. Albertson-Gore was also a leader of UM’s eSports team.
Adele Derendinger, '21, '24, Kalispell - Derendinger received both an undergraduate degree in communicative sciences disorders and a master's in speech language pathology from UM. During her time as a graduate student, Derendinger was one of five recipients nationally of the Academy of Neurologic Communication Disorders and Sciences Fellowship. She is committed to a career where she can help fellow Montanans, as she turned down multiple job offers in order to stay in Montana. Currently, Derendinger serves patients who have been affected by stroke or other acquired neurologic communication and swallowing disorders at Logan Health in Kalispell and Community Medical Center in Missoula.
Elizabeth Drogan, '21, Hopkinsville, Kentucky - Upon graduating from UM with a bachelor’s degree in political science, Drogan was commissioned as an Officer in the United States Army. She has reached brigade level in just three years of service, a job traditionally for officers of higher rank and with 8-plus years of service. Drogan now works as a brigade staff officer specializing in chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear warfare in the 101st Airborne Division. Drogan deployed to Europe to ensure relationships with partner nations in NATO in the time of Russian and Ukrainian combat.
Beatrix Frissell, '23, Polson – During her time at UM, Frissell pursued internships with the Department of Interior in Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Forest Service in the Lolo National Forest, competed for the Grizzlies in Cross Country/Track and Field, was part of the Davidson Honors College, and graduated summa cum laude with degrees in Environmental Science and Sustainability and Political Science. Frissell was awarded two prestigious graduate scholarships, the Truman Scholarship and Marshall Scholarship. As part of the Marshall Scholarship, she completed her first master’s degree this past year at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Next year she will be pursuing a second master’s degree at the University of Oxford in England. Her further plans include an environmental law degree or Ph.D. under the Truman Scholarship.
Miya Fordah, '22, Missoula – Fordah graduated from UM with a bachelor’s in media arts, with a concentration in interactive media and design. She currently works for BLOX Digital as a junior front-end software engineer. Fordah is a strong advocate for women in the technology sector, participating in the Tech Equity Collective and the Black Genius Academy at the Google I/O event. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Fordah designed a mobile theatre experience for the Montana Repertory Theatre so people could experience the arts from home.
Melissa Glueckert, '20, '23, Missoula - Glueckert earned her bachelor’s and master's degrees in social work from the University of Montana. Stemming from her time as a senator and term as vice president for ASUM, Glueckert continues her commitment to public service as a Neighborhood Specialist with the City of Missoula. Her role concentrates on advocating for citizens of Missoula and assisting individuals with finding effective solutions to concerns they may have within the city.
Hunter Grimes, '23, Columbia Falls - Grimes completed her degree in Microbiology last spring from UM. For her Honors Senior Thesis, she completed extensive research in laboratories on campus and was co-author of a publication on her research. She was also in the Grizzly Marching Band. Over the past year, Grimes has worked as a medical assistant for Logan Health closer to home in Kalispell, while applying to medical school. She recently committed to Duke University where she will begin her post-graduate studies in the coming months.
Jackson Groff, '22, Phoenix, Arizona – Groff is currently putting his Broadcast Journalism degree to good use, as he is a radio host and producer for FOX Sports 910AM Radio in Arizona. During his time at UM, Groff was a walk-on wide receiver for the Grizzlies football team. His radio show has allowed him to travel and cover big time sporting events such as the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Final Four and NCAA FBS College Football Playoff, where he is known for always repping Griz gear.
Joshua Hall, '22, Missoula - Hall received degrees focused in Central and Southwest Asian Studies and in English during his time at UM. Hall earned the Ertegun Scholarship, a national award which selects the top 15 humanities scholars out of a pool of around 1,500 applicants. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Persian literature and Islamic studies at the University of Oxford in England.
Cade Johnstone, '22, '24, Forsyth – Also a multiple-time all-conference athlete for the Grizzlies, Johnstone saw a successful career as a student-athlete on the track, as he holds UM’s school record in the 400m and was a Big Sky Conference champion in the event. Like his twin brother, Johnstone earned both his bachelor’s and master’s in business administration from UM. He currently works for Missoula tech startup TeraDact, where he is a marketing and user experience analyst, helping the cybersecurity company with marketing, business strategy and growth.
Paul Johnstone, '22, '24, Forsyth – Johnstone works as a sales development representative for Gaize, a Missoula tech startup that has created a VR device used by law enforcement to detect impairments. While earning both a bachelor’s and master’s in business administration, Johnstone was a multiple-time All-Big Sky Conference and Big Sky Conference champion sprinter on the track and field team. He is on the current Grizzly 4x400m relay school record team.
Maria Katinas, '23, Missoula - Katinas earned degrees in Management Information Systems and Management & Entrepreneurship from UM. While on campus, she worked for multiple University departments. Katinas landed a position with onX Maps as a customer experience specialist following graduation. Her skill set and dedication quickly promoted her to customer experience technician for the outdoor tech company.
DeShaun Keeble, '23, Missoula - Keeble earned a degree in psychology from UM and now works as a case manager for the Recovery Center of Missoula, providing support and assistance for men with substance abuse issues. Keeble has spoken at Indigenous youth conferences, discussing the benefits of receiving a college education and advice on applying to schools to over 100 Indigenous students. In his free time, Keeble has written and produced his own music, focused on both the Indigenous and LGBTQIA+ communities. His music has been recorded at two Indigenous-owned studios in Missoula and can be found on multiple platforms.
Betta Lyon-Delsordo, '22, Missoula – Following an educational path that saw bachelor’s degrees in computer science and spanish, as well as certificates in cybersecurity and global leadership, Lyon-Delsordo has become an “ethical hacker.” As an associate application security penetration tester, Lyon-Delsordo conducts cloud application security tests for Amazon Web Services, the leading cloud computing company globally. She is also an active mentor for young women who want to join the technology and cybersecurity field. Lyon-Delsordo is currently completing a master's in cybersecurity from Georgia Tech.
Emilee Maplethorpe, '23, Missoula - Maplethorpe, a first-generation college graduate, balanced work and classes during her time at UM to earn her degree in elementary education. Immediately after graduation, Maplethorpe secured a full-time kindergarten teaching position at Hellgate Elementary in Missoula, the same school where she student-taught. Maplethorpe’s passion for children has fueled her to create a safe, nurturing environment in the classroom and aims to make a lasting positive impact on her students.
Zoe Nelson, '20, Alexandria, Virginia – After graduating with a political science degree at UM, Nelson began graduate programs in Latin American and hemispheric studies at George Washington University. Nelson currently oversees the College of International Security Affairs internship program in Washington, D.C. Her commitments include supporting student travel, course development for the program and supporting international engagement for the Department of Defense’s flagship education campus.
Stephanie Novak, '20, Missoula - Novak earned a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from UM and began her career as an intern working for Missoula’s Watershed Education Network. She quickly advanced into the position of Stream Team coordinator. In this role, Novak works with local volunteers or “citizen scientists”, educating them on the correct way to locate and identify aquatic bugs for data collection. Novak is also the assistant chief and one of the state trainers with the Missoula Community Emergency Response Team, where she teaches community members disaster preparedness and response skills.
Claire Peterson, '21, La Mesa, California - Peterson took her talents as a costume designer to southern California, working for La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego. After receiving a degree in Theatre from UM, Peterson completed a Master of Fine Arts from San Diego State University. Peterson has created an extensive costume design portfolio which was selected to be exhibited at the highly competitive Emerging Creative showcase of USITT. In Montana, she designed costumes for multiple productions at Helena’s Grandstreet Theatre and the Montana Repertory Theatre in Missoula.
Madison Reichelt, '21, Big Sandy – Reichelt graduated with three separate degrees during her time at UM. After graduation, Reichelt moved to Maryland, where she spent a year working for the Johns Hopkins Community Physicians medical practice and researching at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. She then was accepted into medical school at the University of Washington. Reichelt recently received the UW School of Medicine Service Award and also serves on the School of Medicine Health Access Committee. She has guest spoke for undergraduate classes back at UM and actively mentors undergraduates who are seeking a career in healthcare.
Camryn Rhodes, '21, Missoula – After four years performing on the UM Dance Team, Rhodes landed a spot as a professional cheerleader for the Arizona Cardinals, adding herself to a very small list of UM alums to dance professionally for an NFL team. Upon finishing her stint in Phoenix, Rhodes moved back to Montana where she became the Lands Program coordinator at the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF), one of the largest wildlife conservation organizations in the country. Throughout her work at the RMEF over a mere 10 months of employment, she has helped with 11 projects in seven different states that conserved and opened public access for hunting, fishing, hiking and other recreational activities to about 80,000 acres of wildlife habitat. In other words, that’s about the same size as 60,500 football fields.
Mitch Roberts, '21, '22, Missoula – Roberts was a success story on the football field for the Grizzlies, as the hometown product worked his way up the ranks into a starting position and earned All-Big Sky Conference honors. After completing a bachelor’s in management information systems and Master of Business Administration from UM, Roberts began a career as a financial advisor with SG Long Financial in Missoula. Roberts now also coaches football at his alma mater, Sentinel High School, and serves as the treasurer on the board of directors for Head Start Missoula.
Christina Salzmann, '21, Ringgenberg, BE, Switzerland – Salzmann is a Swiss national who came to Montana to study physical geography and mountain studies. Her senior thesis was published as a peer-reviewed article in the Geographical Bulletin. At the 2022 American Association of Geographers meeting, she was awarded the Best Undergraduate Student Research Poster. Salzmann then went to work with a Swiss agency studying and monitoring changes in the alpine environment. Now, she is continuing geographical studies in a master’s program at the University of Bern in conjunction with the ETH Zurich.
Holly Sudol, '23, Edmonds, Washington - Sudol graduated with a degree in business management. As a student-athlete on the track and field team, Sudol won a Big Sky Conference championship in the 400m hurdles, qualified for the NCAA D1 Championship Preliminary Rounds, and was awarded the coveted Grizzly Cup. She was also an Advocate and active in UM’s entertainment management program (UMEM). Sudol now works for Live Nation as a Tour Representative with rock 'n' roll icon Stevie Nicks. Soon, she will tour with the Foo Fighters. Within the last year she spent several months on tour with pop singer P!NK as a production coordinator. Sudol still actively works with UMEM to provide further opportunities to UM students interested in the field of entertainment.
Jacob Treece, '23, Missoula - Treece graduated from UM with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. Post-graduation, Treece took a job with Pathlabs, where he has been instrumental in the growth of Montana’s fastest-growing media execution partner. Treece’s current role is content marketing specialist. His concentrations consist of content creation, SEO and PR efforts for Pathlabs.
Dylan Yonce, '23, Missoula – Yonce, an honors student, became a local historian by the time she completed her UM undergraduate degree. Yonce provided extensive research focused on the life and legacy of UM’s first Biology Department chair, Dr. Morton J. Elrod. This past spring, Yonce premiered her first documentary, "The Bodies Beneath Us," at Missoula’s Roxy Theater. The documentary is a culmination of a two-year research project focused on two forgotten cemeteries under Missoula’s Rattlesnake Neighborhood. Her work led to the approval of a new historical marker at one of the cemetery sites. She also recently finished her first historical consulting job for the Poverello Center, researching and writing an exhibit on their history that is on display in the Missoula Public Library. Yonce is now pursuing a master’s in history and graduate certificate in public history from UM.