ANNOUNCEMENTS & KUDOS

We’ll start with some kudos for new SEFS graduate student Shannon Kachel, whose proposal, “The Ecology of Fear Among Sympatric Snow Leopards and Gray Wolves in the Mountain Ecosystems of Tajikistan,” recently won third place in the Vectronic Aerospace Wildlife Project Awards. Great work, Shannon!

Kudos to SEFS graduate student Caitlin Littlefield, as well, for organizing a very successful first outing for “Tuesday Trots with Tom.” Six students joined SEFS Director Tom DeLuca at noon last Tuesday, September 30, for a casual three-mile run through the Union Bay Natural Area—and we heard Caitlin stuck with Tom for four more afterward! Keep an eye out for the next run, which will likely take place the first week of November.

We also have big kudos for SEFS doctoral candidate Jorge Tomasevic, who received a presentation award for his talk at the joint annual meeting of three large North American ornithological societies: the American Ornithologists’ Union, the Cooper Ornithological Society, and the Society of Canadian Ornithologists. Held in Estes Park, Colo., the meeting drew more than 900 attendees—mostly from North America, but also from places as far as Argentina and Australia—and Tomasevic gave one of 70 student presentations. His talk covered some of his dissertation research on the suburban ecology of Pileated Woodpeckers. Nice work, Jorge!

Tomasevic wasn’t alone at the conference, by any means. Also attending and giving oral or poster presentations were Professor John Marzluff and five of his other graduate students, including Jack DeLap, Michael Heimbuch, Amber Mount, Kaeli Swift and Lauren Walker. That's an impressive showing!

Mark your calendars for Thursday, October 23, and bring your appetites for a Farm to Table Dinner at the Center for Urban Horticulture. Hosted by the UW Farm, the evening will include a knockout meal from the chefs at Chaco Canyon Café (incorporating UW Farm produce), and local microbrews will also be available for purchase. Tickets are $13 in advance or $15 at the door for students, and $20 in advance or $25 at the door for non-students. All proceeds go to the UW Farm, so get your tickets today!

On the IT front, the SEFS IT Team has announced expanded hours as of last week. An IT staff member will now be available on-site until 6 p.m. daily, so if you have an issue later in the day you can still find a smiling face willing to help! (Be sure to bookmark the SEFS Helpdesk blog, too, to keep up with other technical developments and announcements.)

Advanced Hardwood Biofuels Northwest has put together another great segment in its ongoing video series, “Everyday Products From Renewable Poplar Trees.”

In other fun news, we were excited to learn that several enterprising students—including Miku Lenentine, Rachel Roberts, Luyi Lin and Lord Ameyaw—have organized a new chapter of the International Forestry Students’ Association at SEFS. The club focuses on networking within forestry and natural resource fields and creating opportunities for students to advance their education and get involved in global decision-making processes. They are currently organizing their activity schedule for the year, and the first meeting—set for Tuesday, October 7, at 5 p.m. in the Forest Club Room—is open to anyone interested in learning more. Want to get involved? Email Roberts!

Ellie Lathrop, forest land use manager for Weyerhaeuser, shared news of a great one-day conference coming up on November 12 at Saint Martin’s University in Lacey, Wash. “Working Forests for the 21st Century,” sponsored by the Washington State Society of American Foresters, will focus on how to balance the social, ecological and economic products and values from working forests. Among the speakers will be Professor Jerry Franklin and SEFS Director Tom DeLuca, so check out the full conference program and online registration.

Coming up October 20-25, the first SustainableUW Festival will highlight sustainability contributions and leadership efforts across campus, as well as provide opportunities for students, faculty and staff to get involved. The festival builds on the four-year tradition of the UW Sustainability Summit, which will continue as a centerpiece event of the festival on October 22. Events include campus lectures and seminars, volunteer opportunities, sustainability celebrations and more. If you’d like to create your own sustainability-related event or programming for the festival—or if you already have one planned—email oess@uw.edu to add it to the calendar.

PUBLICATIONS

Professors Kristiina Vogt and Dan Vogt were among the coauthors of a 2013 book, The River of Life: Sustainable Practices of Native Americans and Indigenous Peoples, which recently won an award from the International Cooperation Committee of the Publishers Association of China. Nice work!

Professor Aaron Wirsing was a coauthor on a paper that just came out in Oikos, “Towards a cohesive, holistic view of top predation: a definition, synthesis and perspective.” The paper is a collaborative effort to define and establish a unified framework for the study of top predators.

SEFS IN THE PRESS

Writer Debbie Cafazzo put together a fantastic feature in The News Tribune of Tacoma a couple weeks ago, “Tacoma kids are on the hunt for wildlife—and science—in the Pack Forest near Mount Rainier.” She and a photographer spent a day with the first students at the Mount Rainier Institute, and they did a wonderful job capturing the magic of hands-on science, including a great video of the kids in action. Take a look if you have a few minutes. It will help inspire you for the week!

ALUMNI UPDATES

The SEFS Alumni Group recently put together a fun campaign to have our alumni “renew their vows” to the school by committing to volunteer for activities on a “gift registry.” Take a look at the offerings this year, and pass the word along to any alumni who might want to get involved!