Northland Project Research Team Members
Jon Bredeson
Research Assistant and Project Manager, 2017-2021
Jon Bredeson received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in English from the University of Minnesota Duluth. During his Master’s program, he taught freshman composition and worked at the UMD Writers’ Workshop. Jon joined the research team in late 2017 as a transcriptionist before becoming a full time research assistant in 2018. His research interests include access to justice initiatives, gender studies, and sci-fi/fantasy pop culture.
In his spare time, he enjoys comic books, curling, and spending time with his pets. He is also a poet and creative writer, with works previously published in The Furious Gazelle, The Outrider Review, and Glitterwolf Magazine.
Colton Brinker
Research Assistant, 2019
Colton is currently working to obtain his Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from the University of Minnesota Duluth after a year at Augustana College in Illinois. He has worked on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota for the last three years as a Cultural Immersion Coordinator. There, Colton facilitates an education and activism experience for visitors on the reservation. He is minoring in American Indian Studies at UMD. With his Social Work degree, Colton plans to work for First Nation individuals and communities in the U.S. and abroad.
Colton loves to be outdoors in the beautiful Northern Minnesota landscape, whether it be hiking or simply appreciating the beauty of it. He is also a floral enthusiast and enjoys designing arrangements and gardening when he has the opportunity.
Megan Bristow
Research Assistant, 2021
Megan received her Bachelor's Degree in Biology and Religion from St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN. During undergrad, she conducted research in maternal and child health and worked with survivors of sexual and domestic abuse. After graduation, she worked as a scribe in inpatient psychiatry, where she became passionate about making mental health care more accessible. She is currently pursuing her medical degree at University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth Campus and hopes to enter a primary care field.
Megan enjoys her free time on the lake, listening to podcasts, and spending time with friends and family.
Amanda Burke
Research Assistant, 2018 - 2019
Amy Burke earned her bachelor’s degree from Indiana University in Bloomington and her master’s degree from Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City. Her work focuses on providing educational opportunity to historically under-served populations, and her research interests include the ways in which socio-spatial dynamics of schooling affect teacher quality and student learning outcomes. She is particularly interested in teacher education and its relationship to education policy at the local, state, and federal levels.
In her spare time, Amy enjoys reading, gardening, music, and New Orleans.
Tegan Carr
Research Assistant, 2020
Tegan is a non-traditional medical student with a background in mental health, anthropology, and linguistics. She graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2014 with degrees in psychology and anthropology. She has been an active advocate for URM health and education within the University of Minnesota Medical School, beginning with her role as a Core Member of the Psychiatry DEI Committee. Tegan is a 2020 Yale REACH Scholar and recently received a student grant to research the implementation of culturally informed curricula in medical education. As of June 2020, she is participating in three additional grants centered around DEI education and URM health.
Tegan is also a hobby herbalist and traditional dancer. In her precious free time, she most enjoys wandering (not hiking!) around the woods and drifting in her canoe.
Kaylie Evers
Research Assistant, 2019
Kaylie received her Bachelor's of Science degree in Health Sciences from the University of Minnesota, Rochester. During her undergraduate career she conducted research in the pediatric neurosurgical oncology lab at Mayo Clinic. She recently finished her first year of medical school at the University of Minnesota in Duluth and will specialize in rural family medicine. She is currently researching the difficulties women in rural areas face in accessing health care.
Kaylie enjoys spending her free time hunting, fishing, and four-wheeling on the family farm.
Jenny Fournier
Research Assistant, 2021
Jenny is going into her second year of medical school at the Duluth campus. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from the University of Minnesota Duluth where she did research in using butanol as an alternative renewable energy source. She is currently interested in researching access to medical resources in rural Minnesota and hopes to one day work in a rural setting doing primary care.
In her free time, Jenny likes to be outdoors hiking and enjoying the many lakes in the area. She also loves reading, chocolate, and watching cheesy Hallmark movies.
Owen Jackson
Research Assistant, 2021
Owen is currently working to obtain his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Minnesota. During his undergraduate studies, he has become passionate about understanding the causal mechanisms of economic inequality. His current interests revolve around public policy and the delivery of social mobility and economic justice to underrepresented and marginalized communities. He is an advocate for measures of reformative justice in our criminal legal systems. Following graduation, he intends on achieving the justice he seeks by attending law school and pursuing a career in public interest law.
Owen enjoys going on road trips with friends and family. He is an avid basketball fan with a competitive nature. For the upcoming fall of ’21, he has secured a spot on the University of Minnesota Drumline for his third and final season performing for the Pride of Minnesota Marching Band.
Phineas Kiprop
Research Assistant, 2021
Phineas is working towards an Associate Arts degree at Lake Superior College and plans on getting a bachelor's degree at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Currently, he is triple majoring in Math, Economics, and Statistics. Phineas is a part of the bridges to baccalaureates, which is a National Science Foundation-funded grant program that partners Lake Superior College and UMD. Outside of school, Phineas work as a tutor helping people with math starting with Algebra 1 to Calculus 3. He also helps students with microeconomics and macroeconomics.
Some of his passions are learning new skills, photography, painting, coding, and hiking.
Meghan Shea
Research Assistant, 2019
Meghan obtained her bachelor’s degree in Medical Anthropology from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. During her undergraduate studies, she became passionate about understanding the social determinants of health, particularly those impacting rural health and well-being. She is currently pursuing her medical degree at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth campus and will likely enter a primary care field with a strong desire to serve as an advocate for the medically underserved.
Meghan enjoys spending time with family and friends, especially on a lake and especially water-skiing, fishing and kayaking. She also loves dogs, baking, reading and watching Ted Talks.
Jacob Smith
Research Assistant, 2021
Jacob is originally from Helena, Montana. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Cell Biology and Neuroscience from Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. He is currently a Medical Student at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth Campus with an interest in rural medicine, but is currently undecided on a specialty.
His research interests include issues affecting rural and Native American populations, and he is also currently working on another research project focused on surgical outcomes in Native American/Alaska Native populations. He is particularly interested in researching how rural residence can affect individuals’ health.
Jordan Treder
Research Assistant, 2020
Jordan Treder earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from the University of Minnesota. During this undergraduate time, he conducted research in the Department of Pediatric Neonatology studying iron deficiency on developing brain function. Following graduation, he worked a couple years as a medication assistant for a long-term care facility and concurrently interned with the Muscular Dystrophy Association. He is currently pursuing his medical degree at the University of Minnesota, Duluth campus for completion in ’23.
Jordan also enjoys woodworking, exercise, and any games and outdoor sports with friends and family. He especially is interested in end-of-life care, social justice reform, and youth engagement, with hopes to integrate these into his medical practice one day.
Brieanna Watters
Research Assistant, 2021
Brieanna Watters is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She completed her undergraduate degree at Augsburg University (Minneapolis, MN) and holds master's degrees from Queen’s University (Belfast, Northern Ireland) and the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN). Brieanna's research interests lie at the intersections of racial formation and Indigeneity, the U.S. criminal-legal system, punishment, policing, and space/place and rurality. Her dissertation research seeks to understand the maintenance and reproduction of criminal justice inequality across the rural midwest where reservation lands and American Indian communities buttress historically white settler communities.
As a born and raised Minnesotan, Brieanna enjoys being “in the woods” and outdoors (gardening, fishing, camping, etc.), traveling, sewing, and spending time with friends, family, and her dog, Maude.
Jordan Wolf
Research Assistant, 2017 - 2018
Jordan Wolf obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Minnesota, Duluth. During that time, she researched stress and addiction within the Northland. Jordan's current interests lie in rural women’s mental health and community access to resources. She is currently researching access to mental health and domestic violence resources in northern Wisconsin.
Jordan’s personal background includes rural Wisconsin volunteer firefighting and community education.
In August 2018, Jordan began her path to obtain an M.D. at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth campus. She plans to specialize in rural health and family medicine.