College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science

2012 Alumni Brunch

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Attention alumni! We cordially invite you to attend the 2012 Michigan Tech School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science Alumni Reunion Brunch on Saturday, August 4, 2012. We invite you to meet our new dean, Terry Sharik, and to congratulate this year’s Outstanding Alumnus (Jake Hayrynen), Outstanding Young Alumnus (Brandon Bal), and to welcome the newest member of the program’s Honor Academy, Keith Creagh.

Brunch will begin at 9:30am in the Hesterberg Atrium of the U.J. Noblet Forestry Building. Please register for this free event at http://www.mtu.edu/alumni/connect/reunion/ or you may contact Amy Krause at 906-487-1898/email: alkrause@mtu.edu.

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Former SFRES faculty member C. Richard Crowther dies

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C. Richard CrowtherC. Richard Crowther, a retired SFRES faculty member, died on July 6 in Escanaba. He was 87.

Born in Waterloo, Iowa, Crowther earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry and Master of Science in Forestry Management from Iowa State College. He joined the Michigan Tech faculty as an instructor in 1956, completing his PhD in 1971 while teaching at Tech. He retired as a full professor in 1985.

A professor of silviculture, Crowther also served as advisor to The Forester, the School’s yearbook. The 1961 and 1962 issues were dedicated to him. He was an avid bowler and bowled with the Tech Faculty League.

Crowther moved to Escanaba after he retired, but he maintained ties with Michigan Tech. In 2010-2011, he was recognized as a member of the President’s Club, an annual giving club, for his contribution to Michigan Tech.

The Masonic Lodge will conduct a memorial service at 1 p.m., today, in Escanaba, followed by a funeral service at 2 p.m. in the Anderson Funeral Home Chapel. Burial will be in the Gardens of Rest Cemetery. Memorial donations may be made to the Ahmed Temple Shrine Transportation Fund for children. Expressions of sympathy and online condolences may be directed to the Crowther family at www.andersonfuneralhomes.net.

[LINK TO PUBLISHED OBITUARY]

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New Funding – Falkowski

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Assistant Professor Michael Falkowski

Assistant Professor Michael Falkowski has several new projects that have recently been funded.

Fuel Consumption and Carbon cycling in northern peatland ecosystems: Understanding vulnerability to burning, fuel consumption, and emissions via remote sensing of fuel moisture and radiative energy.
Program: NASA Terrestrial Ecology
PI: Michael Falkowski
Michigan Tech  CoPIs: Evan Kane, Eugene Levin
MTRI CoPIs: Mary Ellen Miller, Nancy French, and Laura Bourgeau-Chavez|
Collaborating Institutions: Rochester Institute of Technology; University of Idaho; Florida Atlantic University
Amount: ~$650,000

Enhancing Tools and Geospatial Data to Support Operational Forest Management > and Regional Forest Planning in the Face of Climate Change
Program: NASA New Investigator Program in Earth Science
Title: Enhancing Tools and Geospatial Data to Support Operational Forest Management and Regional Forest Planning in the Face of Climate Change
PI: Michael Falkowski
Michigan Tech CoPIs: Linda Nagel; Robert Froese
Collaborating Institutions: US Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station; Portland State University; University of Idaho
Amount: ~$350,000

Remote sensing of conifer and mesquite encroachment into lesser prairie-chicken habitats
Agency: Natural Resource Conservation Service
PI: Michael Falkowski
Michigan Tech CoPIs: Joseph Bump
Amount $95,000

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Promotion and tenure announced

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Congratulations to the following faculty who were recently approved for promotion and tenure by Michigan Tech’s Board of Control :

Andy Burton, promoted to Professor with tenure
Rod Chimner, promoted to Associate Professor with tenure
Oliver Gailing, promoted to Associate Professor with tenure
Audrey Mayer, promoted to Associate Professor with tenure
Chris Webster, promoted to Professor (already tenured)

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Two of top 10 Journal of Forestry downloads are from SFRES

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Two of the ten most downloaded papers in 2011 at Journal of Forestry were fromthe School of Forest Resources and Environmental Sciene:
Woody Invaders and the Challenges They Pose to Forest Ecosystems in the Eastern United States (Vol. 104, No. 7)
and
Promoting Ecological Sustainability in Woody Biomass Harvesting (Vol. 108, No. 1).

Professor Chris Webster is an author on each paper.

See all 10 downloads at:
http://www.safnet.org/publications/jof/mostdownloaded.cfm

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Jessica Beachy – 2009

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Joins Conservation District as Education Coordinator

Jessica holds a Ph.D. in Forest Science from Michigan Technological University, a M.S. in Entomology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University and a B.S. in Natural Resources from The Ohio State University.

She has broad training in environmental science, aquatic ecology, agriculture, entomology and forest science. She has also gained a great deal of education experience, teaching in both formal and informal settings from toddlers to adults. She has developed curriculum, managed after-school programs, taught environmental education in Bulgaria for two years, coordinated summer leadership camps and taught at the college level at Michigan Technological University and Northwestern Michigan College.While Jessica grew up in the Detroit area, she has always had a love of northern Michigan.  She vacationed every summer in the Grand Traverse region, and was delighted to make Traverse City her permanent home in 2010.  She has worked with the Conservation District’s Invasive Species Network for the past year and is currently Adjunct Faculty at Northwestern Michigan College.

Jessica is excited to join the Conservation District team in this new capacity as the Education Coordinator, and is looking forward to developing, delivering and providing for the ongoing vitality of environmental education programs and exhibits at the Boardman River Nature Center and throughout the community.

Jessica  can be reached at jbeachy@gtcd.org or 231.941.0960 ext. 24.

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