We are well into 2025 and while there are moments when the future feels uncertain, the importance of our work here at SEFS and the broader scientific community is not. Our work and our commitment to our mission and values has not diminished in any way. This week Dean Maya Tolstoy expressed that despite the sowing of chaos and confusion we must remain committed to the importance of the work that we do and work harder than ever toward our College’s vital mission. I couldn’t agree more. 

At SEFS, our strategic plan lays the groundwork for our underlying values. At this moment, two of those values are top of mind, the first being inclusion and collaboration in our community; relying on community and building connections can only enhance our knowledge and broaden our impact. The second value that’s resonating in this moment is our commitment to mentoring and empathy in leadership. As leaders who impact the local and global communities in which we work, it’s so critical we let empathy guide our work and our actions while we stay committed to understanding human and environment interactions in a time of climate crisis. 

In positive news, the School is bursting at the seams with students – students who are choosing to develop skills and capacities that set them up to be strong stewards of the environment. Despite the chaos at the federal level, the funding that supports student and faculty research so far has been relatively unaffected, as of this writing. We remain vigilant and alert to possible future impacts. SEFS faculty are actively recruiting a smaller cohort of graduate students and we continue to monitor job prospects and work with students to adapt searches in an uncertain environment. With the large number of majors, we are excited to be searching for a new faculty member on the teaching track, to contribute core courses in our undergraduate program on Environmental Science and Terrestrial Resource Management and specialized courses that support our accreditation by the Society of American Foresters. 

We are getting more and more excited for the completion of the renovation of Anderson Hall, on track for an early 2026 opening. We have updated the Anderson Hall webpage with construction milestones, both achieved and forthcoming in 2025. Included are images of the building’s interior construction efforts. Stay tuned in for future announcements and milestone completions from our communications team. From what we’ve seen throughout the design process, the transformation of this 100-year-old building will be stunning. If you’d like to support the renovation, renewal and remodel of Anderson Hall and help maintain the building’s future facilities, consider giving to the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences Renovation and Renewal Fund. 

Working in defense of science, truth, and pluralistic democracy are no doubt wearing on all of us. We can take strength knowing that we are not alone in the fight for these values. Supportive communities can lessen the physical and mental burden of maintaining hope in this context. I encourage you to work together to strengthen ties within our community and other communities within which you live and work, as we work together to move toward the world that we want to create.

In the interests of coming together in community, please be sure to join us on April 10 for our Sustaining Our World lecture, when we will host past Washington State Commissioner for Public Lands Hilary Franz. 

Dan Brown

School of Environmental and Forest Sciences
Corkery Family Director’s Chair
Professor and Director