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Chris Kratt graduated from Carleton College in 1992 with a B.A. in Biology. In his senior year, he received a fellowship for study abroad and used it to conduct wildlife documentary filming in Peru, Brazil, and Australia.

After Carleton, along with his zoologist brother Martin, Chris created a series of wildlife television programs for children. Trained scientists in their fields, the Kratts have always loved animals. But their lives took a different turn when they bought a camcorder at a local video store, grabbed their surfboards, and headed for Costa Rica. When the pair thought they had enough footage, they went to PBS to propose 12 half-hour programs. Instead, PBS asked if they could do 65 programs in 18 months. Since then, the Kratts have explored 120 countries, using 50 modes of transit, from hot-air balloons to ox-carts to sea kayaks.

Though their beginnings were quite humble, they have since enjoyed immense success with their very educational and highly entertaining children’s shows, Kratts’ Creatures and Zaboomafoo. The Kratts created the shows, and both brothers research, write, produce, and act. Chris uses his biology background to great effect and in a unique way, combining it with his dynamic personality, enthusiasm, and intelligence, to present children with a high-quality, interesting television experience.

Chris is a founder of Kratt Brothers’ Creature Heroes, a nonprofit society dedicated to enabling children to help the wild animals of the world. Chris is also the founder of the Carleton Organization for Biodiversity; a group working to increase public awareness about conservation and wildlife.

In his work, Chris also seeks to empower children. His Web site states: “Every kid is smart and can do incredible things. If you're a creature adventurer or animal lover and want to help animals, you can do it! If you love to sing and want to write your own songs, you can do it! If you like to play basketball and want to nail a 3 point shot, you can do it! Do whatever you're interested in. Make your dreams happen.”

In 1999, Chris was given the Award of Appreciation for his on-going commitment and public service on behalf of conservation and environmental education by U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbitt.

In 2002, Chris received the “In the Spirit of Carleton” award which recognizes Carleton alumni who have made a significant contribution to civic or professional organizations and who demonstrate the attributes of Carleton’s liberal arts education. They are people who have exhibited creativity, purposefulness, and a commitment to quality and improving the community.

Chris’ entertaining and informative presentation will take place at 10:50 a.m. in Skinner Memorial Chapel.

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Join us for the February Human Resources training opportunities.

February 3
9:30 to 11:30 a.m., SH251
FLSA for Non-Supervisory Staff
Gain a better understanding of exempt vs. non-exempt, temps, compensation rules, time card issues, meal breaks, leaves of absence, and seminar time and travel time.

February 4
9:30 to 11:30 a.m., Sevy Meeting Room
Employee Right to Know and Asbestos Awareness training
Mandatory for all new staff (Right to Know) and all those employed in or transferred to jobs which require training (Asbestos Awareness). New staff is required to participate in this training as part of their orientation process.

February 12, 2004
1:15 to 2:15 p.m., Sevy Meeting Room
Employee Right to Know Update
2:15 to 3 p.m., Sevy Meeting Room
Blood Borne Pathogen Update
Annual update for all staff.

February 12, 2004
2 to 3 p.m., SH251
TIAA-CREF's "Mid-Career Investments"
If you are 10 or more years from retirement, review if you are saving enough for retirement and how you can be saving more. Are you meeting your goals, or should you consider changing your investment mix? Organize your financial information, set goals and devise strategies.

February 18
9 to 10 a.m., Sevy Meeting Room
EAP's "Conquering the Winter Blues"
Define “winter blues” and “seasonal affective disorder”. Identify how the winter season affects you and learn strategies for coping with winter blues.

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Looking ahead: Tuesday, February 3:

Rethinking Expanded Cinema
Elizabeth W. Kotz
Assistant Professor of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature, University of Minnesota

Carol Donelan, Assistant Professor of Media Studies, explains, “What Liz is ‘rethinking’ is the notion of ‘expanded cinema’ as articulated by Gene Youngblood in his book Expanded Cinema (1971), copies of which are available here: http://artscilab.org/expandedcinema.html This was an enormously influential book in film studies and art history. ‘Expanded cinema’ refers to film productions that employ the use of technological innovations such as the laser, holography, synthesized sound and computers. These films have broadened the horizons of production beyond the normal idiom, i.e. lights, camera, action. ‘Expanded cinema’ also refers to any productions that activate, in addition to sight and hearing, the senses of smell, taste, and touch.”

Alumni Guest House meeting room, noon to 1:30 p.m., lunch provided for 50
Cosponsored by the Bush Foundation

DID YOU KNOW? Two major themes (at least!) for spring term activities are 1) Brown vs. Board of Education 50th anniversary and 2) Film Colloquium on "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy (books and films). There are opportunities for individual faculty, students, and classes to be involved in these events. For more information, contact Liz Ciner (Brown) and Carol Donelan or John Schott (Rings) and continue to watch the LTC Web site http://apps.carleton.edu/campus/ltc/.

Upcoming conferences:

From The Collaboration for the Advancement of College Teaching and Learning:
Teaching for Wisdom: Achieving higher order thinking in our graduates, February 19 and 20, Bloomington.
Creating a Culture of Assessment, June 6 through 9, Northfield--Proposals due March 10
(see LTC Web site for further information)

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A total of sixteen campus offices participated in our Junk Mail Clean Up project during winter break. Over 1000 pieces of unwanted mail were collected from the participating offices. Considering that most of the unwanted mail pieces are received at least eight times a year, we estimate that more than 4900 junk mail pieces will be eliminated from incoming mail deliveries in the near future.

Over winter break, student employees of the campus Post Office removed these names from mailing lists by contacting mailers by phone, e-mail and U.S. mail to request their removal. Please be patient as it can take as long as 8 weeks to notice any effect of a removal request. Mailings of this nature are in production many weeks in advance of you receiving them.

We will attempt this project again in the future when staffing permits. A big thank you to all departments who participated in this project.

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See the new Winter Construction and Planning Update and Green Scheme 2004 on-line

http://apps.carleton.edu/campus/facilities/news/

Learn about the art museum plans, Gould Library informational commons, Leighton Hall moves, Burton Dining modifications, building component survey, and the campus plan final presentation schedule.

Mark Johnson of Civitas will return to campus one last time to present the final campus plan on Monday, February 2. Don’t miss this opportunity to see a vision of the new plan at one of the following meetings:

• All staff―exempt, non-exempt/bi-weekly, and union staff at 1 p.m. in Boliou 104

• Faculty meeting at 4:30 p.m. in Boliou 104

• Community/city officials at 5:30 p.m. in AGH Meeting Room

• Students (CSA) at 7:30 p.m. in Sayles-Hill 251

Don’t miss the latest Green Scheme including: green/wind energy, an Energy Management Plan, Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Program, new ENTS class–Design and Construction of an Eco-House, and Mold Remediation Plan.