ANNOUNCEMENTS & KUDOS

There’s no way to sugarcoat this one, so we’ll chomp right down on the bitter truth: SEFS Director Tom DeLuca has accepted an offer to become dean of the College of Forestry and Conservation at the University of Montana. Tom will be staying on through the end of the calendar year in December, which means we have more time to absorb the shock and fully thank him for everything he’s done for our school and community. It's going to be awfully sad to see him go, but we wish him great success with this next move. Also, we will have more details to share soon about the process of finding his replacement.

We are also sad to say goodbye to our temp/project staff member Blake Salvesen, who has been a huge help to our IT Team. His last day was on Friday, and due to this change we will be a bit short-staffed on our IT Team for a while. The position is already posted and should be filled by the summer, though, and rock stars Shane Krause and Styles Carnley are going to do everything they can to keep things humming along in the meantime.

It’s not all glum news this week, fortunately, as we are happy to report that Phil Levin has accepted our offer to become a Professor of Practice at SEFS! Phil will officially join our school this July, and he will be moving into Bloedel 288 (Frank Greulich’s former office).

On the kudos front, we received a wonderful rave for David Campbell from Teresa Bresee with the Pacific Northwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (PNW CESU). David helped them move to a central UW server, set up their new WordPress website, and re-coded their project search pages, and Teresa specifically called out David’s “graciousness” in all of his help. Great work, David!

Other kudos belong to Professor Sally Brown, who was a keynote speaker at the Michigan Recycling Coalition Annual Conference, May 3 to 5 in Plymouth, Mich.!

On the events front, the 15th Annual Native Organization of Indigenous Scholars (NOIS) Research Symposium is taking place on Friday, May 27, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the theme, “Scholarship as Resistance: Indigenous Research Unsettling the Academy.” The keynote speaker is Dr. Jennifer Nez Denetdale, and the symposium will be held at the wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ - Intellectual House. Also, organizers are looking for volunteers to help with various tasks: check attendees in, provide name tags, collect questionnaires, assist speakers with technology, and assist with cleaning and setting up. If you’re interested in volunteering, contact Jessica Hernandez.

COMMITTEE NOTES

The search committee for the Forest Ecosystem Science and Services position will be meeting later this week to make a hiring recommendation for the faculty to consider. 

SEMINAR SCHEDULES

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

SEFS Senior Seminar: Tuesdays, 8:30-9:20 a.m., AND 223

SEFS Seminar Series: Wednesdays, 3:30-4:20 p.m., AND 223

PUBLICATIONS

Professor Josh Lawler is a co-author on a new paper in the Wildlife Society Bulletin, “Comparison of climate change vulnerability assessments for wildlife.”

Professor Aaron Wirsing is a co-author on a paper in the Marine Ecology Progress Series, “Behavioural drivers of the ecological roles and importance of marine mammals.”

SEFS IN THE PRESS

On Sunday, May 8, Lynda Mapes wrote a great article in the Seattle Times about the loop trail project that’s underway in the Arboretum, “Washington Park Arboretum’s new trail to reveal hidden treasures.” The story addresses some of the concerns about trees that are being removed for construction, highlights all the new trees that are being planted, and also details how much the trail will improve access to the Arboretum’s many collections. The story features several quotes from Professor Sarah Reichard.

There was also a nice story on May 4 in Seattle Weekly, “Flames to Flora: the UW Botanical Garden is a Large-Scale Show-and-Tell,” about our public education classes at the UW Botanic Gardens and the work of Jessica Farmer. The article was also printed in the Bellevue Reporter, Issaquah/Sammamish Reporter, Redmond Reporter and Everett Herald.

ALUMNI UPDATES

We recently heard from Ben Roe (‘15, MFR), who moved to Prescott, Ariz., a few weeks ago to start a new job with the U.S. Forest Service in the Prescott National Forest - Bradshaw Ranger District office. He’s now working as a forester, primarily focusing on restoring ponderosa forests to historical conditions through thinning and mastication treatments, fuel reduction and a little bit of timber sales. Since it’s a small forest, he’s says he’s getting to be a jack of all trades, and he’ll be getting a whole host of training over the next few years, including timber cruising, sale administration and silviculture certification. Ben also heard from his boss that he was one of 47 people who applied for the position, and that they chose him in part on the strength of his involvement in collaborative projects in grad school—particularly the class project with King County Parks and Recreation on the Black Diamond Natural Area. That’s awesome to hear!