School of Natural Resources and Environment

Conservation Ecology News & Highlights

Attention SNREds! 

It’s that time of the year; please join the greater SNRE community this Friday, December 7th as three Master’s Project teams present their final reports during the Master’s Project Symposium (1040 Dana).  This is truly an exciting event.  The students involved in these projects have spent countless hours on these intense, interdisciplinary projects, which are the cornerstone of the SNRE professional-school program. Brief descriptions of each of the three projects are below. 

Sustainable Food Systems Lecture: Jennifer Blesh

Jennifer Blesh is a post-doctoral researcher in agronomy at the Federal University of Mato Grosso in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil. She earned her Ph.D. in soil and crop sciences and a master of science degree in soil science, both from Cornell University. She also has a bachelor of science degree in ecology from the University of Geogia.

When: Tuesday, Dec. 4; 4-5 p.m.
Where: Room 1040, Dana Building

This past summer, a group of University of Michigan graduate students from the College of Engineering and the School of Natural Resources and Environment traveled to Liberia, West Africa as members of the student organization Sustainability Without Borders.  Sustainability Without Borders (SWB) is an interdisciplinary organization whose objective is to create a network of sustainability practitioners who develop and implement sustainability projects in rural areas of developing countries.

Editor's Note:  This piece was written by Laura Matson.   Matson is a MS/MUP Candidate at the University of Michigan. 

In September 2012, students at the SNRE Pig Roast & Produce raised $1,694.83 to donate to the organization of their choice. Organizations were nominated and chosen by popular vote at this student-organized event. The Allen Creek Greenway Conservancy, a grassroots effort to build a bike and pedestrian path through the heart of Ann Arbor along the historic alignment of Allen Creek, was this year’s recipient.

Your ever-vigilant StudGov first year reps are hosting a zero-waste, zero-money movie night in Dana 1040! This movie is presented in association with the new student beekeeping group "UMBees."

We'll be showing Queen of the Sun (the coolest honeybee documentary around) promptly at 7:30 pm, with some FUN mingling beefore and after. Bring your favorite bee-themed snack (open to interpretation).

Learn about these amazing creators, human's dependence on them, and how we can help them.

Sara Adlerstein. Photo by Eric Bronson, Michigan Photography

Adorning the brick walls of Sara Adlerstein’s office are two large canvases she painted in dark earth tones, reminiscent of rustic cave paintings. "I have gone through a journey to understand how the natural sciences and art complement each other,” says Adlerstein, a research scientist at the School of Natural Resources and Environment. Receiving her first Master of Science degree in Chile, Adlerstein initially was unsure what type of degree to pursue. “I’m somebody who is in love with too many things. I applied to programs for journalism, biology and visual arts but I decided to study biology and do art on my own,” says Adlerstein, whose artwork primarily consists of oil paintings with vibrant colors, sharp edges and thick textures.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Lake Superior. Image credit: Michigan Sea Grant

A new $9 million University of Michigan Great Lakes research and education center will guide efforts to protect and restore the world’s largest group of freshwater lakes by reducing toxic contamination, combating invasive species, protecting wildlife habitat and promoting coastal health. With a $4.5 million, three-year grant from the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, the new University of Michigan Water Center will provide a solid scientific framework for more efficient and effective Great Lakes restoration.

Buck Castillo (EEB Frontiers master's student), Katherine Crosman (SNRE), Naim Edwards (EEB Frontiers master's student), Dana Brown (University of Minnesota visiting student), Clarisse Betancourt Román (EEB Frontiers master's student), Lei Lei (SNRE), and Andrea Dominguez (SNRE) having fun at the E.S. George Reserve.

Each September, as the promise of a new academic year unfolds, the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology invites high-performing students from underrepresented minorities to experience U-M graduate programs. The Fall Recruitment Partnership gives students an idea of what it’s like to be a graduate student in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the School of Natural Resources and Environment. The initiative began in 2007, originally supported by a grant from the National Center for Institutional Diversity to Professors John Vandermeer (EEB) and Ivette Perfecto (SNRE). The Rackham Graduate School now funds the program.

Hey you - a wise, intelligent, driven, focused graduate student with your life pulled together, with a plan, with a project, with some idea of what you want to be when you grow up .... remember when you didn't?

 

Remember when you were an undergrad and had no idea what you were doing, where you were going, what you liked, or how to do your own laundry, cook an egg, or fix a bike tire?

 

Rebecca Williams of The Environment Report interviewed SNRE Professor Don Scavia about the future of the Great Lakes. Scavia, who also directs the Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute, is part of the U-M team participating with 20 other U.S. and Canadian universities. They are joining forces to propose a set of long-term research and policy priorities to help protect and restore the Great Lakes and to train the next generation of scientists, attorneys, planners and policy specialists who will study them.

Attention SNREds!

The Annual SNRE Pumpkin Carving Contest has arrived! Sharpen your carving tools and get ready to carve!

We'll be carving in the Dana commons on Friday Oct. 26th from 5-7pm. Sign up for a pumpkin and join a carving team on the lists outside the L.A. studios on the 3rd floor.

We'll provide the seasonal snacks, tunes, sharps, and gourds. You'll create the curcubita masterpieces. Pumpkins will remain on display in the commons for Judgement Day on Monday Oct. 29th.

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