As my time as SEFS Acting Director draws to a close I’m reflecting on the many successes that the SEFS community has achieved over the last quarter. Our faculty and students have been hard at work building a greater depth of understanding around our environmental systems. Whether it’s examining how climate-adaptive forest management can foster resilience to wildfire, sampling rock glaciers to better understand ice decline or identifying what can make coastal communities more resilient to climate change — we’re addressing some of the most compelling environmental questions of the day. 

As Anderson Hall renovation efforts are still underway we celebrated our annual SEFS holiday party at the wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ (UW Intellectual House). For the third year, students, staff and faculty participated in a gingerbread “creation” competition. Congratulations to the Quantitative Ecology Lab for taking home the grand prize! 

We have also begun the search process for two new faculty members – an Assistant Professor in Terrestrial Avian Ecology and an Assistant Teaching Professor in Environmental and Forest Sciences. We look forward to hosting on-campus interviews this winter and welcoming new faculty in the fall of 2025.  

This time of year many of us are looking for opportunities to give to the endowments and funds that support faculty and students. If you’re looking for ways to support SEFS, please consider donating to one of these featured funds. We recently published the first installment in a series of Donor Spotlights which features the Hinckley Family whose generosity has supported students and faculty working in the field. I invite you to read this spotlight and learn how your gift can directly impact a student here at SEFS.  

As we prepare to wind down 2024 and welcome back Director Dan Brown from sabbatical, I wish you all a relaxing break with friends and family. I look forward to seeing you all in 2025. 

Clare Ryan

School of Environmental and Forest Sciences
Professor and Acting Director