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The Seeds of Time

For the 125th anniversary of Washington’s statehood, the UW Botanic Gardens has donated the seeds of five rare plant species—all native to Washington—from the Miller Seed Vault to be buried in the Washington Centennial Time Capsule. Located in the Washington State Capitol in Olympia, the capsule is a large safe with 16 individual capsules, one of which will be filled every 25 years until the state’s 500th birthday in 2389. The 2014 capsule will be loaded this January, with 25 seeds of Barrett’s beardtongue (pictured above) among the treasures. Find out which other seeds will be sealed away for the next 375 years!

BLOG BITS

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Humans Adding 'Fossil' Carbon to Rivers

In a new paper published in Nature Geoscience, “Increased mobilization of aged carbon to rivers by human disturbance,” Professor David Butman explores how the effects of human land-use choices—from urbanization to agricultural intensification and deforestation—are reducing how much carbon is actually stored in soil.

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Reducing the Gulf of Mexico's Hypoxic Zone

This month, Professor Sergey Rabotyagov had a new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), “Cost-effective targeting of conservation investments to reduce the northern Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone.” PNAS featured the paper in its “New & Noteworthy” section for the week of December 15. Nice work, Sergey!

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Climate Change Video Contest

Two weeks ago, we launched an exciting video contest for high school and undergraduate students in the state of Washington. Our goal is to recognize and promote the creative voices of future environmental leaders, so we are asking students: What does climate change mean to you? Check out the contest guidelines and help us spread the word!

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A Family Affair: Four Manuwals Co-Author Paper

This past October, Professor Emeritus Dave Manuwal had a new paper published in Northwest Science, “Progressive Territory Establishment of Four Species of Neotropical Migrants in Linear Riparian Areas in Western Montana.” What made this publication particularly special for Manuwal is that he was able to include his wife, daughter and son in the research, and all four are co-authors on the paper!

UPCOMING EVENTS


Jan. 5, 2015:

Start of Winter Quarter

Jan. 5, 2015:

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

Jan. 7, 2015:

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

Jan. 12, 2015:

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

 

GET INVOLVED

Like your news and updates on a daily basis? “Like” SEFS on Facebook and help promote our school!

ANNOUNCEMENTS & KUDOS

In case you missed the news a couple weeks ago, we are very sad to announce that David Guenther has accepted a new IT position with UW Bothell, and his last day with us will be this Friday, January 2. We are very sorry to see him go, and we hope you'll have a chance to stop by Anderson 107E to say goodbye and wish him well!

The Forest Service has announced some changes to its hiring process for national forests in the Pacific Northwest. Starting in 2015, applicants for any temporary or seasonal positions, including firefighters, will have only one week to submit an application. For fire-related jobs, applications must be submitted between January 6 and 12; for non-fire-related temporary jobs, applications must be submitted between February 4 and 10. Check out a list of current and upcoming Forest Service positions.

The Arboretum Waterfront Trail on Foster Island has been reopened to the public, though trail users should remain aware of nearby construction activities related to 520 expansion work. Also, while many of the canoe and kayak landings are still open and waterway access is not currently restricted, all boaters should stay at least 500 feet away from the construction area.

COMMITTEE NOTES

We are down to two finalists in the faculty search for a new director of the Olympic Natural Resources Center (ONRC). These candidates will be on campus in the next month—the first on January 8, and the second on January 22—to give a talk and meet with faculty and students. At this time, their seminars are set for 2:30 p.m. in the Forest Club Room, with a reception to follow. So please mark your calendars for these dates, and we’ll have more details about the candidates to share soon.

PUBLICATIONS

Maria Petrova, who earned a master’s from SEFS a few years ago working with Professors Jon Bakker and Eric Turnblom, recently had a chapter of her thesis published in the newest issue of Forest Science, “Ten-Year Periodic Diameter Model for Uneven-Aged Ponderosa Pine Stands in the Southwest Reduces Long-Term Error Propagation.”

Another paper in that same issue, “Effects of Geoclimatic Factors on Soil Water, Nitrogen, and Foliar Properties of Douglas-Fir Plantations in the Pacific Northwest,” features a host of other SEFS folks, including Rob Harrison, Kim Littke (lead author), Darlene Zabowski and the late David Briggs.

SEFS also has several co-authors in a new publication in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, “Getting the most connectivity per conservation dollar,” including lead author Sara Torrubia, Brad McRae, Josh Lawler, Meghan Halabisky, Jesse Langdon and Michael Case.

SEFS IN THE PRESS

For more background on the Washington Centennial Time Capsule, the Seattle Times put together a nice story a few weeks ago, “125th anniversary of Washington's statehood.” (To be fair, SEFS isn’t actually mentioned in this story, but you can read it with the assurance of our involvement behind the scenes!)

Also, Professor David Butman's new publication has gotten some nice traction in the news around campus, with our blog post picked up and featured on the College of the Environment homepage and on UW Today!

ALUMNI UPDATES

Jim Lassoie (B.S., 1968; Ph.D., 1975), a professor of natural resources at the Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, was among a handful of regional recipients of this year’s Excellence in College and University Teaching Awards For Food and Agricultural Sciences, presented at the 127th Association of Public and Land-grant Universities annual meeting. The awards honor university faculty for their use of innovative teaching methods and dedication to students.

We were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. Roger Rosenblatt on December 12. Dr. Rosenblatt (MD, MPH and MFR) spent 43 years at UW, serving as professor and vice chair in the Department of Family Medicine, and as an adjunct professor in the Department of Health Services, Department of Global Health, and SEFS. A celebration of Roger’s life will be held January 15 at 2:30 p.m. with a walk through the Union Bay Nature Area, followed by a sharing of memories at the Center for Urban Horticulture. Donations in Roger's honor can be made to the Rosenblatt Family Endowed Professorship in Rural Family Medicine at the University of Washington (UWMA, Box 358045, Seattle, WA 98195), or in support of the Okanogan Land Trust (OLT, PO Box 293, Tonasket, WA 98855).