Eight SNRE students who are either Duke Conservation Fellows or Wyss Conservation Scholars returned this week from an annual retreat held each year for members of the programs. The retreat, held at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, W.V., was again facilitated by SNRE Professor Steven Yaffee, who also serves as the school's director of the Duke and Wyss scholars program.

Eight students at the School of Natural Resources and Environment have been named Doris Duke Conservation Fellows as future leaders in nonprofit and public sector conservation. "More Michigan fellows were named than was the case at any of our peer schools, a wonderful outcome that reflects the stellar qualities of our students and the commitment of the School to the program,"  said Steven L. Yaffee, an SNRE professor and director at the SNRE-based Ecosystem Management Initiative, which administers the Duke Fellows program at the University of Michigan.

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.