ANNOUNCEMENTS & KUDOS

Congratulations to all the nominees and award winners at the annual SEFS Recognition Event last week! Also, I’d like to offer a HUGE thank you to everyone who helped put the celebration together. A great many folks chipped him, including: Shannon Armitage and Lynne Hendrix with the room set-up; Greg Ettl for his prep work and role as MC; Steve West for organizing the (record-breaking) wine tasting and presenting several awards; Bob Edmonds, Rick Gustafson, Jim Agee and Tom Hinckley for recognizing departing faculty; the selection committees for awards; Nevada Smith for organizing some terrific catering and the door prizes; Michelle Trudeau and Amanda Davis for help with a range of projects; Beverly Anderson for generating the numbers and locating past production files; Sally Morgan, Laura Davis and Megan O’Shea for showing me the ropes of the Silent Auction process; everyone who offered goods or services for the Silent Auction, and everyone who bid to help boost our Student Scholarship Fund. I know I’m forgetting some important contributors, but know that I appreciated every nudge of help and support!

Dave Sweitzer of the Western Hardwood Association passed along his thanks to Professor Bruce Bare and the Institute of Forest Resources for partnering on the Western Hardwood International Convention and Exposition, April 30 to May 2. He was especially appreciative of their efforts in spreading the word about the conference, and they look forward to future joint efforts promoting the hardwood industry.

We have an anonymous kudos to Amanda Davis and Michelle Trudeau, who both have been great in answering a lot of tricky random questions about student employment, funding and graduation requirements for which our mystery man has had to scramble for quick answers. They are always both super responsive and dependable, and great at their jobs!

Kudos, as well, to SEFS graduate students Eric Snoozy and Matt Grund, who recently spent a week participating in an Ecological Forestry Workshop at the Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center near Newton, Ga. The workshop concentrated on managing longleaf pine ecosystems to meet multiple objectives, including timber production and habitat for the endangered Red-Cockaded woodpecker.

Additional kudos to SEFS graduate students who will be presenting at the 19th International Symposium on Society and Resource Management, coming up on June 4-8 at Estes Park, Colo. Students presenting include: Oliver Bazinet, Hanna Lee, Caitlin Singer, Sebastian Tramon, Mu-Ning Wang, Ellen Weir and Jacob Sheppard. Professor Clare Ryan is also organizing a roundtable discussion session titled, “Disciplinary Integration in Education and Research: From Rhetoric to Reality.”

And don't forget the end-of-year Dead Elk Society party coming up at 5:30 p.m. on June 7 at the Center for Urban Horticulture! They’re supplying the beer (for ages 21+) and other beverages, as well as some food for grilling. You’re welcome to bring whatever food you’d like to eat, and the Gravity Kings will be performing live!

PUBLICATIONS

Professor Josh Lawler has had two new book chapters published in 2013: “Climate change: anticipating and adapting to the impacts on terrestrial species,” in the Encyclopedia of Biodiversity; and “Mitigation and adaptation strategies,” published in Climate Vulnerability: Understanding and Addressing Threats to Essential Resources (Volume 5). The latter was co-authored by Professors Susan Bolton and Soo-Hyung Kim (and other non-SEFS UW faculty).

Professor Kim also contributed to a separate chapter in Climate Vulnerability, “Mitigation and adaptation strategies to reduce climate vulnerabilities and maintain ecosystem services.”

SEFS IN THE PRESS

The Forks Forum in Forks, Wash., has been giving some great attention to ONRC’s recent programs. On Thursday, May 16, they ran a short piece and photo about the UW’s Native Pathways to College Day. Two weeks earlier, on May 2, they ran a story, “Things are looking up,” promoting the Astronomy Program ONRC hosted for the local community on Saturday, May 4.

On May 1, the Peninsula Daily News also published a story highlighting the Astronomy Program, “Portable planetarium offers night sky view.”

Nice work, ONRC!

ALUMNI UPDATES

Professor Rob Harrison has heard from a number of his former SEFS students, and they’ve certainly been productive! Here’s a smattering of their updates: Barry Flaming (M.S. "Forest Soils" 2001) is now a development officer with USAID in Bangkok, Thailand; Jeff Hatten (Ph.D. "Forest Soils" 2005) is an assistant professor of forest soils at Oregon State University; Brian Strahm (Ph.D. "Forest Soils" 2005) is an assistant professor of forest soils at Virginia Tech; Eric Sucre (M.S. "Forest Soils" 2005) is manager of production forestry and biomass research with Weyerhaeuser in North Carolina; Cindy Flint (M.S. "Forest Soils" 2007) is a water conservation steward for the Snohomish Conservation District; Paul Footen (M.S. "Forest Soils" 2011) is a forester for Washington State DNR in North Bend; Austin Himes (M.S. "Forest Soils" 2012) is a field research scientist for Greenwood Resources in Astoria, Ore.; and Kim Littke (Ph.D. "Forest Soils" 2012) is a research associate for Port Blakely Tree Farms in Lacey, Wash.

Also, the SEFS Alumni Union will be meeting from 12-1 p.m. this Tuesday, May 21, in Anderson 22.