In case you missed the exciting news a couple weeks ago, we have received hiring approval to advertise two new faculty positions this fall: an assistant professor of nature, health and recreation, and an assistant professor of forest ecosystems and ecosystem services. If you are interested in serving on the search committee for either of these positions, please contact Amanda Davis or Tom DeLuca. As soon as the quarter starts, we will convene the committees to get job descriptions and advertisements written.
A third potential position, pending a positive vote from the faculty, would be a professor of practice/conservation practice—someone “who is a distinguished practitioner or distinguished academician, and who has had a major impact on a field important to the University's teaching, research, and/or service mission.” This position would be involved in applied research in the given field, and funding for the position would come from an outside entity. More details to come.
Kudos to SEFS doctoral student Nate Haan, who recently attended the 100th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America in Baltimore, Md., from August 9 to 14. Nate presented results from part of his dissertation research about how the relationship between parasitic plants and herbivores changes depending on which host a parasitic plant uses. By sharing his research, he was able to receive feedback from other researchers working in similar systems, and also explore potential avenues for collaboration in the future. Nice work!
Same for SEFS doctoral student Daniel Feinberg, who also attended the Ecological Society of America meeting in Baltimore. Daniel gave an oral presentation, “Evaluating management strategies to enhance biodiversity in conservation developments: Perspectives from developers in Colorado, USA,” based on his master’s research at the University of Florida. At the meeting, he also served as an Earth Stewardship Initiative Fellow, helping to design sustainable, livable parks under the direction of Professor Alex Felson at Yale University. As part of an interdisciplinary team, he presented his design at Biohabitats, Inc., and received feedback from several luminaries, including Keith Bowers, the firm's president and founder. Daniel's advisor at SEFS is Professor Clare Ryan. Great stuff!
This coming Saturday, August 29, Professor Emeritus Gordon Bradley will be leading a “University of Washington Tree Walk” from 10 a.m. to noon as part of Seattle reLeaf’s Tree Ambassador project. The tour is free and open to the public, and the crew will be meeting at the intersection of Rainier Vista and the Burke Gilman Trail. RSVP if you’d like to come along for the stroll.
Don’t forget to check out the Cuba trip with Professor Sarah Reichard and UW Botanic Gardens coming up this February and March. It’s an unforgettable tour of Cuba’s culture, gardens and natural beauty, from the historical capital of Havana to Viñales Valley and Zapata National Park. Learn more and sign up today!
Another reminder, as well, for the SustainableUW Festival coming up October 26 to 31. This is the second year of the festival, which highlights sustainability efforts happening across all UW campuses. Find out how you can get involved to showcase your own sustainability projects and research.
We have several room assignments to report for new and incoming faculty members. The moves won’t be final before some clean-up and painting, but you should be able to find these professors in these rooms starting with the Fall Quarter:
Laura Prugh: Wink 202
Anthony Dichiara: Bloedel 288
Bernard Bormann: Wink 203
No weekly seminars scheduled for the summer.
Professor Emeritus Bruce Bare has two new publications, including one in Annals of Operations Research with Professor John Perez-Garcia as a co-author, “Valuing Forestlands with Stochastic Timber and Carbon Prices.” The second paper, “A Brief History of Systems Analysis in Forest Resources,” was published in the Annals of Operations Research.
Michelle Ma at UW News put together a great piece about some of Professor David Butman’s new research, just published in Nature Geosciences: “CO2 emissions change with size of streams and rivers.”
David Peterson is quoted in an August 9 feature in National Geographic, “How Megafires Are Remaking American Forests” (which came out just before the current historic blaze in central Washington).
On August 17, King 5 produced a nice segment on Advanced Hardwood Biofuels Northwest (AHB), and it features a couple clips with Professor Rick Gustafson, “Poplar trees grown for biofuels tackle obstacles.”
SEFS alumnus Willis Littke (’82, Ph.D.), who studied with Professor Emeritus Bob Edmonds, will be kicking off the SEFS Seminar Series on Wednesday, October 7, at 3:30 p.m. Littke recently retired from Weyerhaeuser after a long career as a forest health researcher. Following his talk, we’ll be hosting the annual Salmon BBQ in the Anderson Courtyard!
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