The Wyss Foundation has awarded fellowships to two students at the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE) as future leaders in Western land conservation issues. The 2009 Wyss Scholars, both first-year master's students, are: Nicholas Deyo (Landscape Architecture), who graduated with a degree in ecology from the University of Montana, was a Peace Corps volunteer in Western Samoa and worked for the U.S. Forest Service in Missoula; and Clayton Elliott (Environmental Policy and Planning), who graduated with degrees in environment and economics from the University of Wyoming and has worked for the Wyoming State Legislature.
The University has been a leader in energy conservation and environmental stewardship for decades, long before "campus sustainability" became a buzzword. U-M has taken that commitment a step further with the launch of its first campuswide sustainability Web site, www.sustainable.umich.edu.
Heath Nero
Wyss Scholar
MS 2009, focus on Environmental Policy and Planning
On June 8 University of Michigan students and faculty will meet with state and local stakeholders to kick off an innovative project intended to evaluate options for establishing sustainable eco-tourism in northeast Michigan. The Northeast Michigan Integrated Assessment project, coordinated by the Northeast Michigan Council of Governments and the Michigan Sea Grant program, is the largest collaborative effort of its kind in the state, according to Don Scavia, professor and associate dean of the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment.
It was like deja vu all over again as Alan D. Hecht, Ph.D., Office of Research and Development with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency visited the University of Michigan in early January to deliver a cautionary tale about the importance of sustainability to the global environment. Hecht was back in town recently (as he was 15 years ago to commemorate the EPA's 35th anniversary) to refresh the message as the EPA turns 50 years old.
Jan L. McAlpine, a leading U.S. government advisor, policy maker, negotiator and facilitator on international issues, has assumed a new role at the University of Michigan to contribute to and learn about collaborative research and education on environmental sustainability. The 17-year government-service veteran, currently on a one-year sabbatical from the U.S. Department of State, is serving as a senior research fellow with Natural Resources and Environment and the first visiting scholar at the Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute.