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Hurray for the Holidays!

Right on cue with the first snow of the season, the annual SEFS Holiday Party is coming up this Wednesday, December 3, from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Forest Club Room. It’s one of our liveliest traditions, powered in no small part by an expansive wine tasting/dousing and our traditional potluck competition. We hope you’ll take part by bringing your favorite sweet or savory item to share, along with a list of the ingredients, and winners will be voted on by guests and announced toward the end of the party. Also, for those coming from the seminar down the hall in Anderson 223—and we naturally assume that's most of you—don’t fear, we’ll just be getting all the bottles popped and ready to go by the time you saunter down for some sipping and snacking. So spread the word, bring your friends and family, and help us celebrate the holidays in style!

BLOG BITS

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Tell Us: Who Was Your Favorite Professor?

For the most recent issue of Roots, our alumni e-newsletter, we asked alumni to tell us about their favorite professors. Patrick T. Nooney ('71, B.S.) couldn’t pick just one, so check out what he had to say about his two favorites.

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This Friday (12/5): Dead Elk Holiday Party!

The fun starts at 5:30 p.m. in the Forest Club Room, where you will find beer, singing, mulled wine, food and a cracklin’ fire (in the fireplace, we hope). All SEFS students, staff and faculty are warmly invited, so bring your friends and family—and, if you have the time and inclination, a food item to share.

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Holiday Fundraiser: Wreaths, Swags and Garlands!

This fall, the Society of American Foresters UW Student Chapter is holding a holiday fundraiser to support the group’s activities. You have until this Wednesday, December 3, to place an order, so get a jump on decorating your home or office for the season!

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Seattle Arts & Lectures to Feature Professor John Marzluff

The five-part series, “Thinking Animals: Species, Power and the Politics of Care in the World,” will be held on Friday evenings at the Henry Art Gallery, and Professor Marzluff will be giving the first talk on January 9 at 7 p.m.

UPCOMING EVENTS


Dec. 1, 2014:

Wildlife Science Seminar, 3:30-4:50 p.m., KANE 120

Dec. 3, 2014:

SEFS Seminar Series, 3:30-4:30 p.m., AND 223

Dec. 3, 2014:

SEFS Holiday Party, 4-6 p.m.

Dec. 5, 2014:

Dead Elk Holiday Party, 5 p.m.-who knows!?

 

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ANNOUNCEMENTS & KUDOS

Let’s start with some major kudos for SEFS grad students Clarence Smith and Cody Sifford, who swept the podium—placing first and second, respectively—in the research poster competition at the 2014 American Indian Science and Engineering Society National Conference in Orlando, Fla. Way to represent SEFS and CINTRAFOR!

We also have some conference kudos for SEFS doctoral student Christiana Dietzen, who recently presented a poster, “Effects of Forest Management on Deep Soil Carbon and Nitrogen in a Highly Productive Pacific Northwest Andisol,” at the annual Soil Science Society of America meeting in Long Beach, Calif. It was her first time presenting a poster at a major conference, and it was a great learning experience and opportunity to meet experts in the field. Nice work, Christiana!

In other great news, the College of the Environment announced its technology infrastructure awards for FY15, and we are very pleased to share that SEFS was awarded $30,000 to add projectors to Anderson 22, Wink 103 and 107. In fact, two projectors will be added to 107, which will be split into two teaching areas, each with a projector. These will be incredible upgrades, and special thanks to Professor Greg Ettl and Marc Morrison for getting the proposal and estimates together!

On the other end of the happiness spectrum, we are sad to report that Sandra Hines, who has been a long-time champion of SEFS in the UW News office, has decided to retire after 27 years with the university. Sandra has been a tremendous resource in writing about and promoting our work, and we will miss her support and familiarity with our school—though we of course wish her the absolute best in retirement! With her departure, Michelle Ma (206.543.2580; mcma@uw.edu) will be taking over in covering our news at the university level, and we will relay any other changes that result from this transition.

On the all-important caffeine front, the College of the Environment Latte Cart is back for the holiday season and will be in Bloedel Hall from 9 to 11 a.m. next Monday, December 8. So make sure to head to the first floor hallway to get your free lattes and pastries!

REMINDER: Due to water damage in Bloedel Hall, two members of the SEFS IT team have had to move temporarily. You can now find David Guenther in Anderson 107G and Shane Krause in Bloedel 288, and the student lab is closed until further notice (which means no poster printing during this time). We will have updates on repairs as soon as they are available, and please be gentle and understanding with everyone who has been displaced and suffered damage!

COMMITTEE NOTES

The SEFS Visiting Committee met on Tuesday, November 18. Director Tom DeLuca spent a portion of the three-hour meeting providing SEFS updates, and the committee discussed opportunities to be more collaborative, robust and effective. The next meeting will take place in the spring.

PUBLICATIONS

Professor David Butman has a new paper coming out in Nature Geoscience, “Increased mobilization of aged carbon to rivers by human disturbance.” The paper explores how through carbon isotopes of organic matter in rivers we can see the impact of land cover disturbance from agriculture and urbanization—specifically, the release of 'old' carbon into the modern carbon cycle, analogous to the burning of fossil fuels. Although it’s a small flux of potentially old carbon, this research suggests that the impact of land use change on global carbon cycling has been underestimated.

SEFS IN THE PRESS

A seattlepi.com story on November 19, “UW trick with plants could be answer to cleaning toxics from soil,” features Research Scientist Zareen Khan and Professor Sharon Doty, and the Plant Microbiology Lab was the spotlight feature in the new UW Green Labs Newsletter.

SEFS Research Scientist Kathy Wolf was featured in a November 17 story in The Telegraph, “Top tips for an eco-friendly garden,” and also in a November 25 story in Scientific American, “How People Make Summer Hotter,” about the variation in temperature between cities and the surrounding rural areas—known as the urban heat island effect.

Professor Aaron Wirsing and doctoral students Justin Dellinger and Carolyn Shores were featured in a UW Daily story on November 13, “Washington wolves: After 80-year absence, the pack is back.” A shorter version also appeared in the November 20 print edition.

On November 24, The Herald in Everett, Wash., published a great story about Professor John Marzluff’s newest book, “Book by Seattle author teaches how to coexist with birds.”

ALUMNI UPDATES

The latest issue of Roots, our alumni e-newsletter, went out on Thursday, November 20, and though you’ve probably seen most of the news in various places, we encourage you to take a look and forward the issue to any SEFS alumni you know! We’re always looking to connect with folks our messages might be missing, so we appreciate the help in spreading the word.