SEFS students Max Perkins and Jonathan Kwong recognized in the 2023 Husky 100

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Two SEFS undergraduate students in the Environmental Science and Resource Management major were recognized for their passion, leadership and commitment in the UW community as part of the 2023 Husky 100 list this week. Congratulations!

Maxwell Perkins

B.S. Environmental Science and Terrestrial Resource Management; B.S. Biology, Quantitative Science; History; Interdisciplinary Honors

maxwell perkins

SEFS student Max Perkins is dedicated to addressing ongoing climate injustices through interdisciplinary research, nature-based solutions, and building community.

“I decided to pursue ESRM because I care deeply about climate change and its uneven impacts on marginalized communities. I had learned about this in high school and wanted to take classes to understand the ecological and sustainability principles behind climate action. I’m really grateful to ESRM for allowing me to explore these concepts in interdisciplinary contexts,” said Perkins.

As a coastal science intern at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Perkins has worked to map coastal hazards and resilient landscapes in Puerto Rico. Perkins also founded a fundraising organization at UW, Domino Effect, which hosts gaming events to raise money and awareness for climate justice. “In just one year, the events I organized raised a total of $15,000 for the Coalition for Rainforest Nations, and they succeeded in raising awareness for climate justice in the gaming community. Some of my ESRM classes helped me a lot with growing Domino Effect into an effective organization, like Environmental Econ and Sustainable Finance,” said Perkins.

After graduation, Perkins will join the UW School of Marine and Environmental Affairs as a graduate student, where he’ll continue his coastal resiliency and climate adaptation research.

Jonathan KwongJonathan Kwong

B.S. Environmental Science and Resource Management, American Indian Studies, Oceanic and Pacific Islander Studies

SEFS student Jonathan Kwong is working to make environmental science accessible and equitable, and uplift traditional ecological knowledge within the field. 

“As a product of my communities, I am a trans-disciplinary thinker who is guided to decompose systems of oppression by centering queer people of color through storytelling and communal caring. In the conservation field, I am constantly reimagining with others how environmental scientists will work collaboratively with communities of color. Being a steward of safe spaces, I connect with people through my artistic and interstitial practice that involves poetry, creative writing, painting, weaving, and carving,” said Kwong.

SEFS graduate student theorizes uncommon color trends for urban wildlife in recent paper

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For most urban wildlife, elements of a city environment such as built environments, limited predation pressure, and highly fragmented habitats pose conditions that they would be unlikely to face in the wild. But could altered selection processes in urban environments lead to a rise in uncommon fur and feather coloring for species that dwell there? A recent study led by SEFS graduate student Samantha Kreling conceptualizes how wildlife in metropolitan or suburban areas could develop different coloration patterns from their neighbors in non-urban areas in response to the differing environmental conditions they face.

coatis (small mammals) on a grass field
Coatis on a golf course in Mexico. Image: Samanta Kreling

Kreling first arrived at this question while watching a group of coatis, a raccoon-like mammal native to South America, Central America, Mexico, and the southwestern United States, on a golf course in Mexico. Several young individuals in the group had light coloring compared to the rest due to a condition called leucism resulting from decreased melanin production. In the wild, the conspicuous coloring would likely attract predators, but on the relative safety of the groomed course, the coloring could have neutral or even beneficial effects.

“I visited Mexico when I was 19 or 20, and thought, I don’t think this would happen in a place with more predation. The photos of those coatis inspired me on this paper,” said Kreling.

Kreling theorized that factors for urban wildlife such as different predation patterns, exposure to chemicals, low-nutrition diets, limited gene flow with larger populations, and the effect of human presence or domestic species could create an environment that serves as hotspots for rapid evolution. Where it may be beneficial for animals to blend into their surroundings in natural environments, standing out in urban environments could help individuals avoid vehicle collisions, tolerate heat, or even receive preferential treatment such as feeding from humans. 

“Color in mammals and birds has largely been studied in naturalized systems where we understand that it’s caused a combination of avoiding detection by predators and prey, sexual selection, and thermoregulation, among other things. But the constraints that would have led to evolutionary colorations aren’t necessarily upheld in urban areas,” said Kreling.

The study, published this week in Bioscience, theorized that the varying selection pressures in cities may be working against each other, limiting the benefits of certain colorations and making it less likely for them to persist. Because physical appearances in wildlife serve distinct and important purposes, the benefits of atypical coloration in a species could be outweighed by other factors.  For example, lighter colorations could give a thermoregulatory advantage to urban-dwelling individuals but might be detrimental for sexual selection.

In situations where uncommon colorations in wildlife are protected based on human interests, such as laws protecting albino species of squirrels or deer for tourism purposes, this human-driven selection could have unintended consequences for those populations. In some species, leucism and albinism have been linked to negative health attributes in wildlife, such as weakened feathers in birds.

Cities are a relatively new landscape from an evolutionary perspective, and there is little research on the coloration of wildlife in urban and non-urban areas outside of a few key species. Further research on how urban wildlife species adapt to changing environmental conditions could shed light on species resiliency and the survival and reproduction rates of species.

Bioresource Science and Engineering Students win the Spark Award at Environmental Innovation Challenge

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A team from the SEFS Bioresource Science and Engineering program received a $1,000 Spark Award at the 2023 UW Alaska Environmental Innovation Challenge, an annual competition inspiring university students solve environmental and cleantech problems.

three people pose together outdoors holding an envelope
Green Grab, the winning BSE team

The Green Grab team was a top finalist out of 21 groups selected to showcase their solutions to judges in March. They developed a compostable and recyclable food tray made from Reed Canary Grass, an invasive plant, and nanocellulose, a light solid substance obtained from plant matter produced with a proprietary process developed at SEFS. The trays present an alternative to plastic or existing molded-fiber products as they are made without PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), a large, complex group of synthetic chemicals that accumulate over time in the human body and the environment. Some compostable containers contain PFAS to strengthen the material, leading to issues with PFAS contamination in compost piles.

Congratulations to Green Grab!

SEFS Professor of Practice Phil Levin to direct first-ever US National Nature Assessment

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SEFS Professor of Practice and lead scientist at The Nature Conservancy in Washington state Phil Levin was appointed by the Biden-Harris Administration to direct the first-ever U.S. National Nature Assessment.

“Successful conservation, especially in the face of an uncertain climate, is built on the knowledge and collaboration of tribes, stakeholders, scientists, natural resource managers and local leaders. We all have a stake in — and can contribute to — a sustainable future,” Levin said. “This collaboration will be key to the success of the National Nature Assessment, enabling us to develop a holistic understanding of nature in the United States.”

SEFS students awarded National Science Foundation Fellowships

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SEFS graduate students and staff were recently awarded fellowships through the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships Program (NSF GRFP). Awardees Turtle May, a graduate student in SEFS Research Associate Professor Ernesto Alvarado’s lab, and Lara Volski, a graduate student in SEFS Assistant Professor Alex McInturff’s lab participated in a UW NSF GRFP application workshop last fall. Incoming graduate student Masha Vernik also received a fellowship and will be studying with SEFS Assistant Professor Sameer Shah. Sriram Parasurama, a research aid in SEF Professor Soo-Hyung Kim’s lab, was awarded as well. Learn more about their research plans below. Congratulations on this achievement!

Turtle May
As part of the Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Laboratory, my project is centered around assisting tribal forest managers in evaluating the impact of their forest management practices on wildfire behavior and severity, while also contributing to the understanding of how dry forests adapt to wildfire and climate change in the western United States. My project works in partnership with the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation to evaluate the effectiveness of fuel treatments at mitigating wildfire severity on the Reservation using LiDAR, field data, and fire modeling. In burned portions of the Reservation’s forested landscape, I am evaluating fuel treatment effectiveness as represented by mortality and damage. In unburned portions of the Reservation’s forested landscape, I will use field data to model potential wildfire behavior and severity in treated and untreated areas. These components together will form a cohesive body of knowledge to support tribal forest managers in their efforts to cultivate fire-resilient forests, preserving their land for generations to come.

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program Workshop (GRFP) was an incredibly valuable experience that I highly recommend to any student applying for the NSF GRFP. With multiple experienced mentors supporting me, answering all my questions, and providing individualized feedback, along with peer feedback and support with essay writing, this workshop made the NSF application feel less daunting and more accessible. I am certain that I would not have been able to earn this fellowship without this workshop.

a woman holds a paddle sitting on a kayak
Lara Volski

Lara Volski
Two wolves have dispersed to Klickitat County, WA for the first time in 80 years. Their return offers an opportunity to examine what informs the willingness of humans to tolerate wolves at this early, critical, and polarizing stage of dispersal. Throughout my dissertation, I will seek to understand how wolf occupancy and human tolerance reciprocally influence each other. The GRFP workshop led by Markus Min and Helena McMonagle was immensely helpful for putting together my application – it provided a community of support as well as access to mentors who helped me brainstorm ideas and wordsmith my essays!

Masha Vernik
I am an incoming MS student at the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. I aim to work towards an equitable and resilient food system and will investigate agricultural resilience to climate change from a socio-ecological perspective. I plan to study with Professor Sameer Shah.

a man holds a thumb up standing near a potted plant
Sriram Parasurama

Sriram Parasurama
My proposal was to study the effects of root-associated beneficial microbes on whole-plant physiology, and build an agent-based model based on these findings. The strength of an agent-based model would be that it could predict emergent properties that we otherwise couldn’t experimentally observe. Additionally, current whole-plant models don’t incorporate plant-microbe interactions, especially in roots, making this proposal all the more valuable.

The open and collaborative nature of SEFS is what made this proposal successful. Since I am not trained in microbiology or experienced in modeling, I was able to work with members in the Kim Lab and other labs to consult with their expertise and write the best proposal possible. Additionally, I am very lucky to have so much independent research experience just one year out of a bachelor’s degree, all thanks to SEFS and Biology. Dr. Kim is especially encouraging of undergraduate participation in the lab and values the thoughts and ideas of someone like myself just as much as a senior research scientist.

The SAFS/SEFS workshop was another space that helped refine my proposal. The mentors were fantastic and I appreciate them taking the time out of a busy graduate student schedule to help us with this.

I plan to take this training and experience to Cornell, where I’ll pursue a Master’s and PhD. I hope to work at the intersection of plant science, modeling, indigenous ways of knowing, and food and land sovereignty.

SEFS remembers UW alumna and long-time SEFS supporter Mary Ellen Denman

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Mary Ellen Moody Denman passed away Tuesday, March 21, 2023, at 94 years old. Alongside her husband William “Dick” Denman, who passed in 2007, the Denman’s were significant contributors to the SEFS faculty and have left a lasting legacy in the form of three faculty endowments and a student excellence fund.

Mary Ellen and Dick Denman in Palm Desert celebrating the College of Forest Resource's 100th Anniversary with President Emmert in 2007.
Mary Ellen and Dick Denman in Palm Desert celebrating the College of Forest Resource’s 100th Anniversary with President Emmert in 2007.

Mary Ellen and Dick Denman were University of Washington alumni and gave over $3.2 million to the school over their lifetimes. As part owners of the Port Townsend Paper Company, the Denmans were supporters of the College of Forest Resources (now the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences) and remained an active part of the SEFS community. The Denmans were honored on the Washington Pulp and Paper Foundation Wall of Fame in 2001 for their contributions.

Mary Ellen was born in Everett, Washington in 1929. She graduated from the University of Washington in 1951 with a bachelor’s degree in Business Economics. Active in hospital and university volunteer work, she also enjoyed fishing and golf. Mary Ellen’s father, Anson Moody of Everett, WA, was a pioneer in the pulp and paper industry.

W. Richard Denman was born in 1927 in New York City. He graduated from the University of Washington in 1950 with a degree in Chemistry. He graduated from the Advanced Management Program at Harvard in 1969. Mr. Denman continued to be active in the pulp and paper industry after retirement.

The Denmans are survived by three children: Robert Anson Denman (’82 MS in forest hydrology, College of Forest Resources); William R. Denman III (attended the UW for three years); and Diane Denman Moxness (’76 BA, Business Administration and ’79 MBA, Finance).

This page will be updated with memorial information when we receive it.

SEFS wildfire and forest management research highlighted in publications and presentations

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SEFS Professor Brian Harvey and students in his lab recently published papers on wildfire and forest management, including how fire potential and carbon storage after beetle outbreaks can be changed by forest management decades prior (Ecosystems), how forest resilience is affected by the combination of wildfire severity and post-fire climate conditions across the western US (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), and how wildfire severity in areas experiencing more than one fire in recent decades are reshaping forest landscapes and forest resilience across the northwest US (Global Ecology and Biogeography). Harvey and students, as well as SEFS Assistant Professor Brittany Johnson, also presented at the Oregon Post-fire Research and Monitoring Symposium in February, including the following recorded talks:

SEFS Assistant Professor Gregory Bratman contributes to international report highlighting forest health benefits

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SEFS Assistant Professor Gregory Bratman is an author on a recent report, “Forests and Trees for Human Health: Pathways, Impacts, Challenges and Response Options,” published by Global Forest Expert Panels (GFEP) Program of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations. The report highlights how forests, trees and green spaces impact human health across all life stages and reduce mental, physical and social health risks.

44 scientists and experts contributed to this assessment, with a core Expert Panel of 16 scientists with diverse expertise, including forestry, ecology, landscape design, psychology, medicine, epidemiology and public health.

2023 Sustaining Our World Lecture: Forest Stewardship in the 21st Century

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The UW School of Environmental and Forest Sciences is proud to welcome Dr. Jerry Franklin, SEFS Emeritus Professor, as the 2023 Sustaining Our World Speaker.

Sustaining Our World 2023 Lecture Flyer with forest image in the backgroundDr. Franklin will present “What the Old Forests Taught Us: Forest Stewardship in the 21st Century,” and a short Q&A will be held after the presentation.

Here are the details:

When: 7 p.m. – 8 p.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday, May 3, 2023

Location: In-Person at UW’s Kane Hall Room 110 (Space is limited!), or virtually on the SEFS YouTube Channel

RSVP online to attend in person or virtually

Description: A revolution in our understanding of forests – what they are and their value to human society – occurred during the last 60 years, and it began with research on the nature of the old-growth conifer forests of the Pacific Northwest. We know them now as biologically rich, structurally complex ecosystems that fulfill many important functions and not just as collections of trees managed for wood production. This science of forest ecosystems now provides us with the direction we need to restore the plantation-dominated landscapes to fully functional, resistant and resilient forest ecosystems. Challenges in the 21st century make collaboration between man and nature imperative.

Dr. Jerry Franklin is a forest ecologist, leading authority on sustainable forest management, and Emeritus Professor in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences at the University of Washington,

See the full history of Sustaining Our World Lectures here.

SEFS doctoral student Autumn Maust tracks peak cherry blossom bloom

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The arrival of spring on the University of Washington campus can be marked by the annual celebration of cherry blossoms, bringing visitors and locals alike to admire the display of color on the Quad. Since 2018, SEFS Ph.D. student Autumn Maust has led a team monitoring this seasonal event, using weather data to create a model to predict peak cherry blossom bloom. This year, colder-than-usual spring temperatures have led to a slight delay in the timing of peak bloom, now expected in early April.

Maust was featured in a recent UW news article about the upcoming peak bloom event, sharing her tips for enjoying the celebration.