One of the nation' leading researchers in children's environmental health, Marie Lynn Miranda, will be the new dean of the School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE), effective Jan. 1, 2012, pending approval from the Board of Regents.
"I have followed a career path that did not exist when I graduated from the University of Michigan. But this great University gave me the skills to create it," Peter C. Mertz, Visiting Committee member and alumnus, delivered this year's Commencement address April 30. Mertz is chief executive officer and co-founder of Global Forest Partners (GFP), one of the largest timber investment management organizations in the world.
A postdoctoral research fellow at SNRE's International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IFRI) research initiative, Lauren Persha, along with co-investigator and SNRE Professor Arun Agrawal, have received a nearly $400,000 grant from the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) to investigate the outcomes of Tanzania's ongoing forest management systems.
Two School of Natural Resources and Environment professors were among 10 University of Michigan faculty elected as Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dan Brown and Ivette Perfecto joined 530 scientists and researchers elected as part of an annual process conducted ty the AAAS. Professor Brown, who joined SNRE in 1999, was recognized for contributions to the understanding of the consequences of land-use change on ecosystems and human vulnerability via the innovative blending of social and ecological analysis. Professor Perfecto, who joined SNRE in 1989, was recognized for contributions to preserving biological diversity, particularly in demonstrating the importance of incorporating agricultural systems in models for conservation of biodiversity.
The University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment is the only graduate environmental school in the nation to combine natural science, social science and design into one shared research and educational enterprise. Nine faculty members representing multiple disciplines are hosting five symposia that address distinct and complex facets of sustainability science.