Meet Colby’s New Provost
A natural-born collaborator, Denise Bruesewitz understands the power of teamwork
“We can have you on a boat by fall.”
These words—and the trust that they signaled to undergraduate Denise Bruesewitz—shifted the direction of her studies and molded the sort of leader that she would become.
As an undergraduate student, Bruesewitz knew she wanted to get more involved and find a way to do research. So she took the initiative to reach out to professors to see how she could get involved. She was quickly invited into a research program on the Mississippi River—not the marine biology she had imagined, but a boat and research and an invitation to be a part of a team.
She recalled that this invitation brought her into the world of freshwater ecology, where she was instantly welcomed into a community of researchers so close that they call themselves a “freshwater family.” That inclusion, and the assumption that she would have something to contribute, was striking to a young person brand new to the field.
It was there, she posited, that she was first exposed not only to freshwater ecology, but also to the values that would guide her–and values that others note when talking about Bruesewitz, who became Colby’s new provost and was named the Clara C. Piper Professor of Environmental Studies on July 1 after many years teaching in the Environmental Studies Department and having taken on senior-level responsibilities in her department and across the College.
‘A good listener’
Whether talking to a former student, a committee member across campus, or a colleague in the Natural Sciences Division, you’ll hear the same descriptions used to describe Bruesewitz: “Collaborative.” “A good listener.” “Warm.” “Steady.” “Reflective.”
Even as she has moved through an impressive career as a researcher and educator, earning more than $9 million in external grants and contributing to or publishing more than 40 publications, she has continued to value the collaborative and supportive work that first drew her into her field of study.
Bruesewitz’s research on freshwater ecosystems requires collaboration, listening well, and community building. In her formative research experiences with that first college professor on the Mississippi, Bruesewitz recalled, “There was a very strong sense of community and a very strong sense of collaboration.”
In part, the field and the research require these values. Bruesewitz explained, “The kind of work that I do, you cannot do by yourself. First of all, if you just picture a river or a lake—there are these very large, complex systems. The kind of work I do is in the realm of ecosystem ecology, where we’re interested in tracking the flows of something like nitrogen or carbon and understanding where is it coming from, how is it being processed, where is it going, and what does that mean? So just by virtue of the scale and complexity, one person can’t do the work—it requires expertise across biology, chemistry, and hydrology, as well as areas like computational modeling.”
The necessity of reliance on other scientists shows up in the way that she shapes a classroom, enters a meeting, and serves on a committee. As a researcher in her Ph.D. program at Notre Dame, collaboration and support were built into the “ethos of the lab,” and it is that same ethos that she brought with her to Colby and which leads her as she steps into the position of provost.
Principled and purposeful leadership
Kevin Rice ’96, associate professor of chemistry and vice president of planning and strategy, came to know Bruesewitz when they both served as faculty-in-residence at the Bill & Joan Alfond Main Street Commons in downtown Waterville. In that context, as well as working with her on the long-term planning around the future of science at Colby, Rice has seen what he called a “principled, purposeful” leadership style drawing from her “remarkable institutional savvy.”
Across campus, Director of the Center for the Arts and Humanities Dean Allbritton echoed this sentiment, describing Bruesewitz as someone who is “thoughtful and serious while also being warm and engaged.” Allbritton served on the search committee for a new library director with Bruesewitz and noted the way she listened intently to all involved—she was genuinely interested in every perspective at the table. Allbritton looks forward to Bruesewitz’s leadership, in part due to her commitment to and consistent participation in inter- and trans-disciplinary initiatives at Colby.
‘I’m really hoping to be someone who is encouraging ideas. I want all of this to come from the faculty, and I just want to be the one who can see how to put it all together. I’d love for it to be faculty-driven, integrated, and collaborative. And my role, I think, is to just facilitate.’
Provost Denise Bruesewitz
Cat Merkle ’23 arrived at Colby planning to major in chemistry, but time with Bruesewitz, both in the classroom and in the field, quickly turned Merkle toward environmental studies. As a Colby alumna working at the American Institutes for Research, Merkle recalled how it felt to work with Bruesewitz. “Denise brings a grounding presence to any room she’s in, and she never loses sight of the student experience, which she values deeply,” she said.
In the same way that, as a young student, Bruesewitz felt welcomed into a family of researchers, tasked with collaborative responsibility, she has created this experience for students at Colby. Merkle reflected, “What I admire most is her deep trust in her students. She gives them opportunities to try new things—whether it’s driving boats, using field equipment—and supports them through the learning that comes from those experiences.”
Before Bruesewitz found opportunities that excited her—boats and collaboration and engaged research—she recalled her time as a first-year college student being “stuck in a lab making little cubes of frozen soil and putting them in a tin … not talking to anybody.”
Understanding that not many students are energized by that sort of science classroom, Bruesewitz is a part of conversations across campus, ensuring a dynamic science education far from those labs.
Colby’s special relationships
“At Colby, you get this really special relationship between a faculty and an undergraduate student or perhaps a group of students that are all working together, but then when you layer on that all of the partnerships we have with different sorts of labs and science institutes and hospitals across Maine and even regionally, that’s where something really special happens. Because you get the pairing of that really close mentorship relationship and access to people working on the very cutting edge of their fields in ways that just expand out what we can do here. It’s like the best of both worlds,” she said.
Talk to colleagues across campus, like Allbritton, and you’ll see that Bruesewitz is committed to supporting all students, not just those like Merkle who major in the sciences. Bruesewitz said, “Coming to Colby is not just about learning within your major and gaining skills, including critical thinking and writing, but you also get those incredible opportunities to link work you’re doing to coursework across the sciences, humanities, social sciences, and interdisciplinary studies.”
As Bruesewitz steps up to steer Colby into its next chapter, with an emphasis on improving and enhancing the science curriculum and building more connections across the curriculum as a whole, evidence suggests that she will not be a captain with a singular focus or even a determined route. Instead, she will invite others, like Merkle and fellow faculty from across disciplines, to help her navigate the waters ahead.
When asked what sort of provost she hopes to be, she explained, “I’m really hoping to be someone who is encouraging ideas. I want all of this to come from the faculty, and I just want to be the one who can see how to put it all together. I’d love for it to be faculty-driven, integrated, and collaborative. And my role, I think, is to just facilitate.”
