Colorado Mesa University

48 NOT JUST BUGGING OUT Retiring prof with taste for insects donates mantis By Erin McIntyre (erin.mcintyre@gjsentinel.com) B ruce Bauerle is famous for teaching college students how to rip the legs off grasshoppers and eat them for survival, and now he's giving a monstrous sculpture of an insect that will live on the campus where he has taught that will be there long after he's gone. An 8-foot praying mantis named Lucille will forever remind passers-by of the biology department and Bauerle's contributions to the school. The Colorado Mesa University biology professor is something of a legend for his entertaining teaching methods, his Bear Grylls-style survival classes taught for decades, and his field trips building snow caves and teaching students to identify animal scat. And now, he's legendary for gifting the school with a sculpture that will adorn the science building and a $25,000 scholarship endowment that will help students afford tuition. Bauerle donated the money to the CMU Foundation during a drive to encourage faculty to donate to the institution, and the $25,000 was matched by the school, allowing for the scholarship and the sculpture to be purchased. Bauerle, 72, eased into retirement over the past three years teaching part-time but is still on campus often and gives free guest lectures on demand. Being on campus feels like home after all these years. When he started teaching at CMU, it was still a two- year school and he was the fourth biology teacher in the department. He was only 26 years old and started out making roughly $10,000. During his tenure at CMU, six presidents served at the helm of the school, and the institution has grown to include more than 10,000 students in attendance now. Thousands of students had Bauerle for Biology 101 and got their first taste of collegiate science from his instruction. The scholarship established in Bauerle's name will be earmarked for women studying science, math or nursing who are struggling to make ends meet. "Some of my best students have been divorced women or women who have children … they've got a second job and they're trying to get a degree, and it's about whoever needs it the most," he said. CMU Foundation CEO Liz Meyer said Bauerle's contribution came during a two-day push to encourage faculty to donate to their passions at CMU, and she praised him for being a leader who is leaving a legacy on campus. About 15 percent of the faculty and staff donated in the past year, according to Meyer, though it's unusual to receive such a large donation from faculty. The praying mantis Lucille, named after Bauerle's mother, will be installed in 2017 by artist Scott Schaffer, one of Bauerle's former students. He's hoping it will function as a landmark on campus, a kind of billboard advertising where the biology department lives. Overall, Bauerle said it's about thanking a place that has been such an important setting for his career. "It's my contribution to the little campus that's been good to me," he said. • Reprinted with permission from The Daily Sentinel Bruce Baurle (left) a long time Colorado Mesa University professor, and Grand Junction sculptor Scott Shaffer stand in Shaffer's studio with a praying mantis sculpture he made. Baurle is donating it to CMU.

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