School of Natural Resources and Environment

News and Research Digest

Dean Bierbaum contributes to White House report on energy policy

Two University of Michigan professors contributed to a White House report this week that calls for the United States to craft a government-wide federal energy policy and update it regularly with strategic reviews every four years. The report provides a roadmap for the federal role in transforming the U.S. energy system within one to two decades—a transformation that is necessary, the report concludes, for reasons of economic competitiveness, environmental stewardship and national security.

SNRE students part of U-M contingent at U.N. climate conference

Thirty University of Michigan students, alumni, faculty and friends are attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico. The two-week conference starts today, Monday, Nov. 29. Representatives from the countries that signed the 1994 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, a treaty that addresses climate change and adaptation to rising temperatures, are participating. Of the 10 students in the group, six are from the School of Natural Resources and Environment.

Facilitating Climate Change Responses

Hoffman contributes to National Academies book on climate change

Andrew Hoffman, associate director of the Erb Institute and SNRE professor, participated in a series of workshops addressing the behavioral and social science aspects of global climate change. The recently published book Facilitating Climate Change Responses documents the information presented in the workshop presentations and discussions. This material illustrates some of the ways the behavioral and social sciences can contribute to the new era of climate research. Professor Hoffman delivered the introductory comments and moderated a panel discussion for the session on the greening of business, which is covered in Chapter 4.

PitE student creates video documenting summer course in Kenya

Jackie Turner, a U-M undergraduate with a double major in the Program in the Environment (PitE) and Screen Arts and Cultures, found that her interests in environment, sustainability, developing nations and documentary filmmaking converged when she traveled to Mpala, a 48,000-acre wildlife conservancy and biodiversity research center in Kenya, as part of a class taught by SNRE professors Rebecca Hardin and Johannes Foufopoulos.

$400K grant awarded for forest research in Tanzania

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.

SNRE's Miller among early-career scientists honored by White House

Three University of Michigan researchers, including SNRE's Shelie Miller, are among the 85 recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the nation's highest honor for professionals at the outset of their independent research careers. Ten federal departments and agencies annually nominate scientists and engineers whose work shows exceptional promise for leadership at the frontiers of scientific knowledge. Participating agencies award these talented researchers up to five years of funding to further their work in support of critical government missions.

Considering alternative research strategies in landscape architecture with M. Elen Deming

On Nov. 9, M. Elen Deming will deliver the Clarence Roy/JJR lecture, also part of the Dean's Speaker Series. "This talk is for anyone who is struggling with a thesis," she said. A few years ago, M. Elen Deming and Simon Swaffield, both professors of landscape architecture, found themselves editing two of only four English-language scholarly peer-reviewed journals in the field of landscape architecture. The two found themselves playing the role of gatekeeper for the discipline and, in working with a range of peer reviewers, found widely varying standards for evaluating research. Some reviewers championed deductive investigations, others inductive; some only accepted objective work, while others favored subjective artistic work.

Michigan Sea Grant awarded $1.5M to help restore Great Lakes

Michigan Sea Grant has been awarded more than $1.5 million from the federal government to lead two Great Lakes restoration projects that will restore native fish habitat and help clean up marinas across the region. It will also assist on five federally funded projects focused on issues including endangered fish, beach contamination, sound boating practices and marina operations, and water pollution.

SNRE, other U-M schools join new Peace Corps program

U-M and the Peace Corps announced a partnership to pair graduate studies in social work, Natural Resources and Environment, landscape architecture and a master's degree in education with Peace Corps volunteer service. The U-M School of Education, School of Natural Resources and Environment, and School of Social Work will offer selected students the opportunity to receive credit hours for their Peace Corps service through the Master's International program.

Nassauer on the ability of Iowa farmers to adopt new methods

SNRE Professor Joan Nassauer's research on Iowa farmers suggests that they support goals of crop diversity and healthy production methods, but that many are unsure of how to change their practices, information that help inform policy. Professor Nassauer presented her work at the Iowa Environmental Council conference this week, and she was quoted by Public News Service reporter Deb Courson in "A New Vision for Iowa's Corn Belt--Research Unveiled This Week."

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