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Alumni
Brad Guhr ’92
Brad Guhr has focused on environmental restoration and conservation for the past 15 years, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t enjoy dabbling in other things. At Bethel, he appreciated the small school setting where he could stay involved with sports, music and drama. In Bethel’s liberal arts environment, he felt free to spend a few years sampling different areas of study while searching for his vocational focus.
“I am continuously thankful for the broad range of study that was encouraged at Bethel. Classes not only in biology and environmental studies, but chemistry, math, political science, history, economics, religion, writing, psychology, international development, music and Spanish helped me to become a more independent and free thinker,” Guhr recalls. “This sort of background makes one more adaptable to change, encourages one to embrace new challenges, and it seems has been appreciated by every one of my employers.”
Guhr continued to sample his interests after graduation. He went into Mennonite Voluntary Service (MVS) and worked for three different organizations: Missouri Coalition for the Environment, Missouri Energy Resources Project and Missouri Botanical Gardens. Two years later he was a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and landed several environmental studies jobs while a student and after graduation.
Guhr’s current job as prairie restoration/education coordinator for Dyck Arboretum in Hesston has him wearing a number of hats. He develops new educational programming for all ages, oversees the Prairie Window Project including seed collection, cleaning, planting, and propagation; oversees the Earth Partnership for Schools Program; coordinates volunteers and interns; and writes grants for the organization.
Erica Coulter ’00
As a biology major at Bethel, Erica Coulter knew she wanted to pursue the medical field, yet she wasn’t ready for med school immediately after graduation. So she spent a year in Mennonite Voluntary Service (MVS) in Boulder, Colo., as a medical assistant in a clinic for low-income clients.
“I think that the environment at Bethel encouraged me as much toward voluntary service as toward medical school,” Erica says. “I had a desire to pick a career that was service-oriented, specifically toward international service. MVS cemented my desire to go into medicine and specifically family medicine, which emphasizes forming relationships and seems more applicable to doing service overseas.”
After her year of voluntary service, Erica was accepted into the University of Kansas Medical School, and she is now a second-year resident in the Family Practice Residency Program at Lancaster (Pa.) General Hospital. Her medical interests include the full spectrum of family care, preventive care and international medicine.
She recalls of her decision to attend Bethel: “I needed the individual attention and I wanted teachers who knew me and my strengths and weaknesses. I knew that was the kind of environment I needed, and where I would thrive.”