Banner-Roots-450 University of Washington College of the Environment School of Environmental and Forest Sciences University of Washington

SPRING/SUMMER 2016

Roots_Spotlight_071316.jpg

UW Climate Change Video Awards

The winning videos from this year’s contest are now available online, and we invite you to enjoy the creativity and vision of the top three entries in each category—high school and undergraduate.

Summer Greetings!

At our graduation celebration last month, we honored an immensely talented Class of 2016, which included 91-year-old Greg Lambert, who received his long-awaited Master of Forestry from the 1950s! Alumnus Phil Rigdon (’96, B.S.) gave the keynote address, and we reveled in the energy and enthusiasm of a packed room full of proud friends and family. (Check out a gallery of photos from the ceremony and reception.)

As we welcome these new alumni into our network, we’re excited to keep them active and involved in our community—from attending our annual events and seminars, to mentoring and providing career guidance to our students. On that front, we’ll have a number of great opportunities to connect coming up during the fall quarter, including the annual Salmon BBQ on Wednesday, October 5 (more details further down), and our weekly seminar series on Wednesdays from 3:30 to 4:20 p.m., starting September 28. Our doors are always open, and every seminar is a great opportunity to catch up with faculty and students, as well as learn about current research in our school.

We hope you have a wonderful rest of the summer, and we look forward to seeing you this fall!

Jessica Farmer & Colton Miller
Alumni Group Co-Chairs

hr

CROSS-SECTION

Student Spotlight: Samantha Mendez

For someone about to graduate with an engineering degree, Sam got hooked on our Bioresource Science and Engineering (BSE) program through a surprisingly mundane product: a popcorn bag. Read more about what convinced her to be a BSE major, and where she is spending this summer for her third and final paid internship.

Roots_CS1_071916.jpg

Pack Forest Summer Crew Hits the Field

Three weeks ago, five undergrads—Paul Albertine, Dana Chapman, Dana Reid, Chris Scelsa and Robert Swan—embarked on one of our oldest traditions: an eight-week internship as part of the annual Pack Forest Summer Crew. Take a look at some photos from their first week of action.

Roots_CS6_071916.jpg

Director's Message: Summer 2016

In his Summer 2016 letter, Tom DeLuca reflects on the compressed research timeline for master’s and doctoral students, and how they have to be exceptionally focused and nimble—and willing to absorb a fair amount of surprise—in order to nurture their work to completion.

Roots_CS2_071916.jpg

Save the Date: Annual Salmon BBQ, Oct. 5

We’ve set the date for this year’s salmon feast for Wednesday, October 5, from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Anderson Hall courtyard. We’ll send out official invitations later this summer, but we hope you and your family will mark your calendars and join us for our autumn kick-off celebration.

Roots_CS3_071916.jpg

2016 Sustaining Our World Lecture

If you weren’t able to join us on April 21 for our annual spring lecture—which featured Lynda V. Mapes, author and environmental reporter for the Seattle Times—we encourage you to watch the video of her wonderful talk: “Witness Tree: My year with a single, 100-year old oak.”

Roots_CS4_071916.jpg

Guest Lecture with Andrew Waugh

Also on April 21, together with the Washington Department of Commerce, Forterra and the Washington Forest Protection Association, we co-hosted a visiting talk with Andrew Waugh, founding director of Waugh Thistleton Architects in London and a vocal advocate for mass timber construction. You can watch the recording of his excellent talk on TVW.

Roots_CS5_071916.jpg

WPPF Holds 47th Annual Meeting

The Washington Pulp and Paper Foundation (WPPF) recently held its annual meeting and banquet on Thursday, May 26, and the day-long event included a morning board meeting, awards luncheon, tour of the Paper and Bioresource Science Center, afternoon poster session with BSE students, and then a cocktail hour and reception at the University Club.

Roots_CS7_071916.jpg

hr

RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT

ESRM 351: Wildlife Research Techniques

Roots_Research_071316.jpg

This past spring, Professor Laura Prugh took her first turn teaching Wildlife Research Techniques, a field-intensive course that involves several weekend trips to sites around the state—including the Olympic Peninsula, San Juan Island and Mount Rainier.

Learn more about the course, and enjoy some photos and short videos from their experiences in the field!

hr

GET CONNECTED

Get_Connected

hr

CLASS NOTES

Jim Lassoie (’68, B.S.; ’75, Ph.D.), a professor at Cornell University, was one of four recipients of the 2016 Kendall S. Carpenter Memorial Advising Award, the university's highest recognition for undergrad student advising. 

This March, Amy Clark Eagle (’95, M.S.) became the director of science and certification for the Forest Stewardship Council U.S. Previously, Amy had spent nearly 20 years with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. 

Ben Roe (‘15, MFR) recently started a new job in Prescott, Ariz., with the U.S. Forest Service in the Prescott National Forest - Bradshaw Ranger District office. He’s working as a forester, primarily focusing on restoring ponderosa forests to historical conditions through thinning and mastication treatments, fuel reduction and timber sales. 

Zac Mahlum (B.S. ’09) was part of a month-long Antarctic expedition to summit Vinson Massif this past winter in West Antarctica. Zac has now summited four of the seven “Seven Summits,” including Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua, Vinson Massif and Elbrus. He has accepted an invitation to join a Denali summit bid in Spring 2017. 

Marianne E. Krasny (‘’86, Ph.D.), who was Professor Kristiina Vogt’s first doctoral student, has been elected as a foreign fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry. Marianne is a professor in the Department of Natural Resources at Cornell University and director of the Civic Ecology Lab, and she is an international expert on community environmental stewardship and education in urban areas. She was one of 25 scientists elected this year. 

This fall, Avery Meeker (’15, B.A) will be returning as a new master’s student with Professor John Marzluff. Avery’s project involves working with the National Park Service in Denali to evaluate the displacement of passerines (songbirds) by various human activities along Denali Park Road and in other areas such as hiking trails and campgrounds. In June, he spent one month evaluating the study area to plan the project, which will take place over the next two years. 

We received the manuscript of an unpublished memoir that one of our late alumni, Daniel Gellerman (’39, B.S.) completed in 1987. Dan passed away on October 3, 2012, less than a month shy of his 96th birthday. His book meticulously details his childhood, education and career in forestry in California from 1940 through the late 1960s. 

Daniel Karpen (’70, B.S.) and Robert Van Pelt (’91, M.S.; ’95, Ph.D.) were featured in a story in the March 18 issue of The Wall Street Journal, “Big-Tree Hunters Battle to Topple Records of Forest Titans.” 

Roots is the official e-newsletter for School of Environmental and Forest Sciences alumni. It is jointly produced by SEFS and the SEFS Alumni Group, and new issues are mailed three times a year (Winter, Spring/Summer and Fall). Please submit alumni news, “Tell Us” responses, “Class Notes,” events and other story ideas to sefsalum@uw.edu. Back issues are available in the online archive, and if you’ve been forwarded this message and wish to subscribe, contact Roots today!