Welcome to the 2021 fall quarter at SEFS. It’s been such a pleasure to see so many faces, even if partially covered, as we slowly and safely return to on-campus work this quarter. I understand this new academic year is accompanied by both excitement and anxiety.

All of us at the university, college, and school are working hard to make the return to campus amid the ongoing pandemic as safe as possible. Along with the statewide vaccine requirement and indoor face covering requirement, filtration systems are being installed in classrooms that need them, and we all have a role in keeping each other safe. If you feel sick, please stay home. We will be working to minimize risks associated with eating and drinking on campus and in SEFS, and working to designate spaces that can be used for this purpose.

In that spirit, we brought back a modified version of our beloved salmon BBQ, which we used as an opportunity to gather, but not eat, together. We had frozen salmon from our friends at the Yakama Tribe, along with prepared side dishes to take home after the event. We are also resuming our weekly seminars, which will all be streamed on Zoom, and some will simultaneously be presented in-person in the Forest Club Room (Anderson 207).

We have the added excitement this year of a search for three new faculty members under the broad theme of climate adaptation. I want to thank Professor Monika Moskal and Professor Soo-Hyung Kim for co-chairing the committee of faculty, students, and staff that is leading us in this important search. Please spread the word of this opportunity when we distribute the advertisement, and take advantage of opportunities to participate and meet with candidates beginning in winter quarter.

This year we are launching some new and revised sources of funding support for SEFS students, thanks to the support of our generous donors. For undergraduate and graduate students, we are offering broadened support for field experiences and student research. For graduate students, we are offering a limited number of completion fellowships, to support students in the final quarter of their program. Check out the linked pages for process and deadlines.

I encourage you to check out the newly designed and fully digital Brockman Memorial Tree Tour, which has been updated thanks to the efforts of ESRM students Theo Hoss and Thuy Luu. This version updates the trees and the information about them and provides a mobile option for accessing information about the tour.

The new school year brings with it some faculty and staff transitions, which are always bittersweet as our colleagues and friends leave SEFS for new opportunities. Congratulations to Professor Stanley Asah, who has been appointed to a prestigious Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Social Dimensions of Clean Technology at the Dalhousie University Faculty of Management. His work at SEFS has been instrumental in advancing understanding of behavioral aspects of conservation and stewardship, and he contributed core elements to our ESRM curriculum. Professor Jim Fridley has given notice of his intention to retire effective January 2022, making this his final quarter after 33 years on the SEFS faculty. In addition to his many curricular and research contributions to the forest engineering and ecological restoration programs in CFR and SEFS, he served five years as the UW’s faculty legislative representative in Olympia and developed a research program on college affordability. From the staff, we offer best wishes to both Lynn Hendrix in payroll and Laurine Knott in financial services (travel) on their retirement.

We were saddened by the news that our long time friend, Professor Emeritus, and Director Emeritus of the Washington Park Arboretum John Wott passed in August.

We are pleased to welcome into the SEFS community Professor Alex McInturff, who joins us as an Assistant Professor and Assistant Unit Leader for the Washington Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit (WACFWRU). His work and graduate teaching will be in the general areas of human dimensions of wildlife management and environmental justice. We also welcome Christina Owen as the director of the UW Botanic Gardens, after having served as a program officer at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Ali Ainsworth as the co-leader of the PNW Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, a National Park Service employee who comes to us from Death Valley National Park where she was a terrestrial ecologist. Noel Bain rejoins the SEFS staff in financial services after many years away.

Thank you for all you are doing, and please continue to be kind to each other as we all navigate the return to campus.

Dan Brown, SEFS Director