Wiley named Roosevelt Professor at SNRE
April 3, 2008
Professor Michael J. Wiley has been named the Theodore Roosevelt Chair of Ecosystem Management at the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE). Wiley, who has taught at the school since 1987, was nominated by fellow SNRE faculty and recommended by an internal screening committee. The announcement was made today by Rosina M. Bierbaum, dean of the school.
"I'm honored that my peers recommended me and thankful to the committee members who reviewed the nominees," Wiley said. "I hope that during my tenure as the Roosevelt Professor, I can bring more attention to the science and policy of ecosystem management."
"Mike embodies everything that is great about the school," Dean Bierbaum said. "He is a recognized leader in his field. He inspires his students through his teaching. And he is committed to working with community leaders in identifying solutions to environmental challenges."
The Roosevelt Professor is one of four endowed professorships at the school. It was named to reflect the bold, path-setting leadership of its namesake, the nation's 24th president, in the field of conservation and protection of natural resources. The professorship is held for a five-year period. It was previously held by SNRE Professor Steven L. Yaffee.
The Roosevelt Professor is expected to focus his or her research and external outreach on ecosystem management, restoration and conservation. In general, the field of ecosystem management focuses on ways to maintain and restore ecological systems while guiding human uses of them.Wiley thinks of ecosystem management as "a way solving environmental problems, not a problem to be solved. As a strategy, ecosystem management focuses us first on the importance of scientific understanding of the complex systems we live in, (i.e. our ecosystems), and then points us at a process of rational and just action in the light of that understanding, (i.e. management)."
Wiley said the professorship's purpose dovetails well with his own research agenda, which pursues both science and its application to real world problems. For example, he and his students have recently been involved with issues of ground water regulation, instream flow protection, impacts of land use and climate change on Great Lakes rivers and wetlands, phosphorus regulation, and the implications of large-scale water engineering projects in India and South Korea. Wiley's research interests revolve around the understanding of ecological processes in aquatic systems of all types. In particular, his research has looked at watershed management; aquatic community dynamics and population regulation; trout stream food webs; modeling complex systems and fisheries management.
"Collaboration is central to ecosystem management," Wiley said. "I have always found that people really do care and want to manage their water resources more effectively. The difficult part is developing effective lines of communication between scientists, managers, and the public."
His ongoing work with the Michigan Rivers Inventory, the Institute of Fisheries Research and Muskegon Watershed Research Partnership exemplifies the importance of collaboration to his ecosystem management philosophy. All involve collaboration with Michigan's natural resource management agencies, particularly the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, local environmental groups and colleagues at universities and federal laboratories across the region.
In one of the letters supporting his nomination, a Wiley colleague wrote: "He has many years of service to the SNRE, and in my mind he is the kind of established faculty member who helps to set expectations against which new hires, junior or senior, can measure themselves. He is respected by his peers, is frequently asked to serve on important committees, and he stepped up when the core courses needed leadership." Recently, he contributed his expertise in aquatic sciences and interdisciplinary research and management by helping to develop the new dual-degree programs between SNRE and the College of Engineering.
The Roosevelt professorship was created in 1994 through a $1.2 million gift from Sally B. and William L. Searle of Northbrook, Ill. It is funded through the Sally and William L. Searle Endowment Fund, which was created jointly by the Searle Family Trust and the Salwil Foundation.
In establishing the chair, the family wanted the individual selected to seek out international applications and promote interdisciplinary work. The family further expected the holder of the chair as creating and fostering links among science, policy and management sectors. Further, they wanted the individual to recognize and take into account the social and economic contributions that sport hunting, sport fishing and related activities make toward management, restoration and conservation of ecosystem.
Wiley grew up in Drayton Plains, Michigan, and graduated from Waterford Kettering High School in Waterford, Mich. He has three degrees from U-M: his bachelor's (1973) is in general studies; his master's (1976) and doctorate (1980) are both from SNRE. He has published numerous articles, made countless presentations at workshops, and chaired many master and doctoral student research projects.
After graduating with his doctoral degree in 1980, Wiley was an assistant and then associate professional ecologist for the Illinois Natural History Survey. Based in Champaign, Ill., he was also an adjunct assistant professor in the Ecology, Ethology and Evolution, and in the Animal Science Departments at the University of Illinois before joining SNRE in 1987. He is a member of the Ecological Society of America, American Fisheries Society, and North American Benthological Society.