This MnDOT program “enables residents who are environmentally conscious to make a personal contribution to a cleaner environment.” Groups who have adopted a stretch of highway pick up litter along their adopted stretch two times a year. UMD semanticist Will Salmon says “It is a great way to give back to the community and can be a lot of fun. Be on the watch for our next clean-up notice. Everyone is welcome, not just linguists. And there’s the added bonus of being right by the donut shop in Hinckley!” UMD syntactician Chongwon Park concurs, “I love to pick up litter. It is also a great way to take your mind off of thinking too much about linguistics. ‘Litter’ is a neat word, you know, as it can be a noun or a verb!” The UMD Linguistics program is rounded out with Sara Sowers-Wills, who teaches courses in phonetics and phonology and constructed languages, and Kevin Swanberg, who teaches introduction to linguistics and a class on linguistic diversity in the USA. The group is looking forward to their next clean up, which will likely be in Spring 2022 after the first big snow melt.
Since 2020, UMD Linguists have adopted the stretch of IH-35 at the 182-mile marker, which passes through Hinckley, Minnesota.