Kimberly Sultze Professor of Digital Media and Communications

Dr. Kimberly Sultze, Professor of Media Studies, Journalism, and Digital Arts

Programs

Bio

Ph.D.  New York University
M.A.  New York University
B.A.  Carleton College, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa

Dr. Kimberly Sultze is a wildlife photographer, media educator, and specialist in interdisciplinary curriculum design.  In 2014, she received a Fulbright Scholar Award for photographic work in Borneo, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam.
Her courses involve the innovative use of digital media technologies, creative cross-disciplinary approaches, and place-based education utilizing natural areas as classrooms.  At St. Michael’s, she teaches courses in visual media, environmental studies, creative writing, and the social and cultural impacts of new media technologies.
Dr. Sultze’s environmental photography, which she does in collaboration with her husband Dr. Jon Hyde, has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the BioPhoto Festival in Italy, the Blank Wall Gallery in Athens, Greece, the UNIMAS Gallery of Fine Art in Borneo, Malaysia, the San Diego Museum of Natural History, the New York Center for Photographic Arts, and the 1650 Gallery, Los Angeles.  Her work has been published by scientific and conservation organizations including the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the National Wildlife Refuge Association, and the Audubon Society.  She has photographed in Central America, South America, Asia, South East Asia, Canada, and the 50 United States.
Since her arrival at St. Michael’s 20 years ago, Dr. Sultze has secured grants for interdisciplinary curriculum development from the U.S. Department of Education and the Knight Foundation and served as Head of the Visual Communication Division of the AEJMC.  She has taken her passion for curriculum design and pedagogy into service as an external curriculum reviewer and also as a consultant on the design of digital media teaching laboratory spaces.  At St. Michael’s, she has chaired the Media Studies, Journalism and Digital Arts department, chaired the College’s Faculty Development Committee and served on its Curriculum and Educational Policy Committee.
Because of her deep commitment to international education and the visual arts, she collaborated with the Office of Study Abroad to create the Global Eyes Study Abroad Photography annual competition and calendar (now in its 20th year).
Courses I Teach:
  • Digital Media and New Technologies: Art, Culture, Theory
  • Digital Media 2: Advanced Graphic Design
  • Digital Photography
  • Nature & Outdoor Writing: Wildlife, Science, and the Environment
  • Study Abroad Re-entry: Travel Writing & the International Experience
  • First Year Seminar: Living Digital
  • Senior Interdisciplinary Research Proposal Seminar, Media Studies and Digital Arts
  • Media Studies and Digital Arts Senior Seminar

Research

Research Interests:

Visual communication (digital imaging, photography, film, video and Web design); intercultural communication; the history, criticism, and theory of communication; and the cultural implications of new media techniques and technologies.

Wildlife Photographs in Publication and Exhibition:

  • Cornell Lab of Ornithology
  • Audubon Society
  • U.S. National Wildlife Refuge Association
  • San Diego Museum of Natural History
  • 1650 Gallery, Los Angeles
  • New York Center for Photographic Arts
  • BioPhoto Festival, Italy
  • Blank Wall Gallery, Greece
  • UNIMAS Gallery of Fine Art, Borneo, Malaysia
  • The Ward Museum
  • One Pound Gallery, Virginia
  • National Great Rivers Museum
  • A. Smith Gallery, Texas
  • Light Space Time Gallery, Florida
  • Caladan Gallery, Massachusetts
  • PhotoPlace Gallery, Vermont
  • Green Door Art Gallery, Missouri
  • Darkroom Gallery, Vermont
  • Birds of Vermont Museum

Awards and Recognition

  • Fulbright Scholar Award, for photographic work in Borneo Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam
  • Numerous awards for wildlife and environmental photography from organizations including the National Wildlife Refuge Association, the Ward Museum, the 1650 Gallery Los Angeles, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Confluence Art Gallery, and the AEJMC
  • Fellowships and grants from the U.S. Department of State, the Australian-American Fulbright Commission, the Knight Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education-Title VI, and the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, among other organizations
  • Teaching awards from the AEJMC based on refereed teaching portfolios – Best Practices in Teaching Convergence, and Great Ideas for Teachers

Interview

When I’m not in my office, you’ll find me outdoors.

I’m fascinated by the pileated woodpecker excavating a nest cavity, the juvenile osprey dragging its talons in the water as it learns to fish, the northern cardinals feeding their young, the American mink cavorting on the Colchester Causeway, the goldenrod in bloom, and the American painted lady butterflies in migration.

My collection of field guides boasts more than 80 titles, from many countries and regions.  How astounding to flip through these galleries of life on our planet and think about all the living creatures in the world that I still have yet to see…  A shout out to Roger Rajah, contributor to the Phillipps’ Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo, who I had the good fortune to meet when I was in Brunei. In every way, your field guide is the top of the stack.

I love road trips.  I’ve driven overland from the Panama Canal to the Arctic Circle, and have made the drive across the United States more than 20 times.  I’m originally from the West (Washington state), and I exhale most deeply when I’m in the big sky country of the United States – Rocky Mountains, Colorado Plateau, or Basin and Range regions.

I’m quietly passionate about mountain biking, fat biking, backcountry skiing, snorkeling, and stand up paddle boarding.

My husband and I are in the process of finishing up our quest to mountain bike in all 50 states.  One left to go.  Here we come, Louisiana!  Many thanks to BikeFlights.com, who sponsored our riding in 2017 through their Ambassador program.  Pack. Ship. Ride.

I’m currently trying to learn how to do a Y-scale on a slackline.  (And it’s all your fault, Betsy Manero, class of 2015!)

Recent News

Doug Facey, emeritus professor of biology, is first author on the recently released third edition of The Diversity of Fishes: Biology, Evolution and Ecology. This is a textbook for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students in ichthyology courses, such as the one that Doug taught a few times while at Saint Michael’s. The book includes several photos from Jon Hyde and Kimberly Sultze of the College’s Media Studies, Journalism and Digital Arts faculty. Also, Doug wrote a column for “The Outside Story” for Northern Woodlands Magazine, about “Hibernation: Winter survival by chilling out.”
(posted February 2023)

Jon Hyde and Kimberly Sultze, Professors of Media Studies, Journalism & Digital Arts, recently won the 2022 International Bicycle Photography Competition’s open category with their photo essay, “Ghost Riders.” The images were created using long exposures and flash photography of mountain biking at night in the mountains and deserts of the American West.  The photographs were featured in BIKE Magazine (London).  Over the past few months, Jon and Kimberly’s wildlife, travel, and adventure photography has also been exhibited in galleries including the New York Center for Photographic Arts, The Blank Wall Gallery in Athens, Greece, The Studio Door Art Gallery in San Diego, the Marin County California Art Society, The Birds of Vermont Museum, and the Sparrow Art Gallery in Middlebury.
(posted July 2022)

Kimberly Sultze, professor of media studies, journalism, and digital arts, recently served as a Fulbright Scholar Program Peer Reviewer. In addition, she and Jon Hyde, professor of media studies, journalism, and digital arts, have had their wildlife and environmental photography exhibited at the International BioPhoto Festival, Budoia, Italy; the UN World Water Day Celebration, Seregno, Italy; the 1650 Gallery, Los Angeles; the New City Galerie, Burlington, and the Birds of Vermont Museum.
(posted June 2017) 

Kimberly Sultze and Jon Hyde, professors of media studies, journalism and digital arts, and recently completed their Fulbright Fellowships in Borneo, Malaysia.  Over the past few months, their wildlife and conservation photography has been featured by the San Diego Museum of Natural History, the Audubon Society, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and several fine art galleries throughout the U.S.  In April, they were invited by the Embassy of the United States in Brunei Darussalam to give presentations on environmental education and on strategies for raising environmental awareness to media professionals, academics, and members of Brunei’s environmental NGOs.  They also gave a workshop on best practices of conservation and environmental photography, with a session in the field at Tasek Lama Nature Reserve in Bandar Seri Begawan.  In October, they’ll present “Environmental Education: Using Digital Media Arts to Engage Young Adults in the Values of Wilderness“ in Albuquerque at the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act, National Wilderness Conference.  This presentation will highlight successful strategies from Kimberly’s course Nature and Outdoor Writing, and Jon’s course Adventure Filmmaking.
(posted August 2014)

Jon Hyde and Kimberly Sultze, professors of media studies, journalism and digital arts, recently had several photographs published by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, a national leader in avian study and conservation. Their images of the Tody Motmot (Panama), the Laughing Falcon (Costa Rica), and the White-Headed Wren (Panama) have been used in Neotropical Birds. In December, their image of a Western Grebe family was selected as a finalist for the 2012 National Wildlife Refuge Photography Competition and is featured on the 2012 National Wildlife Refuge Association’s Conservation Report. Their work is also currently on exhibit as part of the international juried show, “Birds: Real or Imagined,” at the Photoplace Gallery in Middlebury.