October 5, 2007 Release

Events for the upcoming Week: October 5-14
(Seminars, Symposiums, Conferences, Events, Field Trips, etc.)

The UGA chapter of the Herpetological Society will be joining the Auburn Univ. Herp Society for a fall BioBlitz the weekend of October 5-7 somewhere in Alabama (specific location TBD). A BioBlitz is a friendly competition to find as many species (herpetological in this case) of a given group as possible over a specific area and time span. Extra points are usually awarded for county records, range extensions, etc.

The UGA Fisheries Society welcomes all to participate in the Annual Oconee River Clean Up - Rivers Alive.  This service project is sponsored by Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful and will be held Saturday, October 6th from 9:00am – 1:00pm.

The Kick-off event, as well as lunch and music, are at Dudley  Park (corner of MLK Pkwy and East Broad St)

Free T-shirt to first 250 people registered morning of event
Breakfast and lunch provided
Live music after the clean-up
Wear long pants and closed-toe shoes
Bring gloves
Event continues rain/ shine
Some boats available/ personal boats are welcome

If you need a ride or wish to carpool, contact Julie Wilson

The Natural Resources, Recreation & Tourism Society will hold its second meeting Monday, October 8 at 5:30 pm in room 1-304. All interested parties are welcome, and all students in the NRRT major are strongly encouraged to attend. Items to be discussed include; Adoption of Cook's Trail, Georgia Envirothon, Senior Thesis/Community Service Opportunities, Socials, Dues & Elections.

A joint Warnell/Odum School seminar will held Tuesday, October 9 at 4:00pm in room 1-304. The speaker will be Dr. Richard Barker from the University of Otago, New Zealand discussing "Statistical Science in the 21st Century". Dr. Barker is a renowned statistician/quantitative ecologist who is responsible for many recent developments in the statistical theory of mark-recapture.  He is currently very involved in developing Bayesian approaches for ecology and other sciences, and will soon be producing a book on the topic with coauthor William Link of USGS.

The next TWS meeting will be Wednesday, October 10 in room 1-304 with dinner at 6:45pm and meeting at 7:00pm. Pete Griffin from the Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center will be coming with a bald eagle, Eastern indigo snake, and some other animals, and will discuss these species as well as his work at Charlie Elliott.

Local Georgia Water Coalition (GWC) partners will host “Clean Water for the Future: Will Georgia's New Water Plan Provide Enough Clean Water?” on Thursday, October 11, 6:00 - 8:00 pm, Foundry Park Inn - Ballroom, 295 E. Dougherty St.

A briefing on Georgia's proposed Statewide Water Plan will be presented from 6:00 - 7:00 PM, followed by a Reception with local and state elected officials and clean water advocates, including a short program on the water plan, from 7:00 - 8:00 PM.

The UGA Fisheries Society invites all Warnell School family and friends to come take part in the 2007 Fall Fish Fry on Friday, October 12 at Flinchum’s.  There will be food (catfish, hush puppies, drinks, dessert), prizes (fishing trips, gift certificates, gear, etc.) and good times had by all. 

Tickets are $7 in advance and go on sale Monday - Friday from 11:00am to 1:00pm in the Warnell School mail room.  Tickets at the door are $10.  Prizes this year include fishing trips, gear (flies, clothing, etc), restaurant gift certificates, and original artwork.  There are even rumors of a Barbara Trotter original cake.  All funds raised go to support the UGA Fisheries Society.

Savannah SAF will hold it 6^th Annual “Walk in the Warnell Forest Field Day” on Friday, October 19, 2007 from 8:00 am–2:00 pm, at the Mary Kahrs Warnell Forest Education Center in Effingham County, GA.  The purpose of the Walk is to educate Savannah area 4th grade students, teachers and parents about forestry as a profession, the need for and benefits of sustainable forest management and the natural patterns and processes of forest ecosystems. 

The next Warnell School “Brown Bag Lunch Seminar” will feature P. Bettinger, N. Nibbelink, J. Hepinstall & T. Lowe discussing Resources for Spatial Analysis within the Warnell School. This Brown Bag Lunch will be held Friday, October 19 at 12:20pm in the Dean’s Conference Room.

James Martin and Adam Butler, graduate student in Dr. John Carroll’s Game Bird Lab, are coordinating a ‘Bobwhite and Rangeland Management Field Day’ on Friday, October 26 at the Escape Ranch in Kenansville, Fl., sponsored by Tall Timbers Research Station and the Society for Range Management.  They will also be presenting their research at this event. For more information visit the Field Day website. More information can be found on the Tall Timbers Research Station website.

“Public Hearings Set on Revised State Water Plan”

A series of public hearings will take place October 15-19 to receive public comments on the revised draft Comprehensive Statewide Water Management Plan.

The revised draft should be posted to the Water Council's web site by October 1, if not earlier. Each of the meetings will get underway at 6 p.m. Members of the forestry and natural resources community are encouraged to review the draft and participate in as many of the hearings as possible. Lengthy comments should be put in written form for the official record.

Oct. 15
Fort Valley - Fort Valley State University, Pettigrew Center
Statesboro - Georgia Southern University, Nesmith-Lane Building
Augusta - Augusta Technical College, Information

Oct. 16
Gainesville - Gainesville State College, Continuing Education Building
Albany - Albany State University, Criminal Justice Bldg. Room 111

Oct. 17
Savannah - Armstrong Atlantic St. University, Armstrong Center Auditorium
Waycross - Okefenokee Technical College, Miller Lecture Hall

Oct. 18
Rome - The Forum
Athens - UGA Center for Continuing Education, Masters Hall

Oct. 19
Valdosta - Valdosta-Lowndes County Conference Center/Tourism Authority
Columbus - Columbus State University, Elizabeth Bradley Turner Center
Atlanta - Atlanta Technical College, Cleveland Dennard Building Ballroom

Achievements from the Previous Week: Sept 21 – Oct 5

“In the News”

New dean plants seedlings for growth
Columns newspaper’s ‘Conversation With the Dean” series features new Warnell School Dean Mike Clutter
Read More Here

“State can only manage, not end, drought” – AJC column by UGA associate professors of hydrology Rhett Jackson and Todd Rasmussen, and assistant professor of natural resource economics Rebecca Moore, comments on the statewide water management plan.
Read More Here

Gene catalog
(Jeff Dean’s research on conifer genomes mentioned in COLUMNS item)-2^nd item
Read More Here

Hang on, fall leaves: Freeze, then drought have made it a tough year on trees, but there's still hope for a colorful autumn display
(UGA forestry professor Scott Merkle quoted)
Read More Here

David E. Stallknecht of the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study at UGA, is quoted in a story in the New Jersey Star-Ledger on an increase in Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease among white-tailed deer along the U.S. East coast.
Read More Here

SUNY-ESF Names New Department Chairs
(Dr. David Newman, former associate dean and professor of forest economics at UGA's Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, among new chairs)
Read More Here

“Awards/Appointments”

Dr. Dale Greene, professor of forest operations, was inducted into the Georgia Forester’s Hall of Fame at the Southeastern Section of SAF Annual meeting held Sept. 25-27 in Destin, Fl. Greene, also current chair of the Georgia State Board of Registration for Foresters, was inducted for his career long efforts at research and education improving timber harvesting and forest operations. Dr. Greene was inducted this year along with (from left) Mr. Charles M. Tarver, founding principal and president of Forest Investment Associates, Inc, and Mr. Charles B. Place, Jr., forest education specialist for the Georgia Forestry Commission for many years. Congratulations to all of the 2007 inductees into the Georgia Forester’s Hall of Fame.

“Congratulations”

The UGA student chapter of SAF Quiz Bowl team was victorious in the Quiz Bowl competition held at the annual meeting of the Southeastern section of SAF held Sept. 23-25 in Destin, Fl. The team, consisting of (from left) Patrick Work, Nathan Jensrud, Stephen Purvis and Morgen Ingerson, were overwhelming victors against the Florida team (UFla) and the Alabama team (Auburn, Alabama A&M). Go Dawgs!!!

“Giving”

The Family of C.M. and Bernice Stripling is once again showing their tremendous generosity with another significant gift to the UGA Foundation in the form of a $60,000 Entrepreneurial Gift for SW Georgia as a way to honor the family patriarch. This contribution is to be split three ways between CAES (for student internships), Academic Affairs (for economic development in SW Georgia), and the Warnell School (to support Dr. David Moorhead’s research on managing the invasive species Cogongrass).

C.M. (who passed away in 2006) and Bernice Stripling are avid supporters of education, agriculture and forestry in Georgia. Mr. Stripling was the 1986 Georgia Tree Farmer of the Year and the 1987-88 National Tree Farmer of the Year. Long-time residents of Camilla, Georgia, the Striplings have fought with much success for timber tax relief and have been major contributors to the success of the School and the forestry community in the state. To date, the Stripling family has funded two separate student scholarships at the Warnell School. This most recent gift was organized by the couples’ son Charles, and presented to UGA officials on August 28 at the Stripling Irrigation Park in Camilla, Ga.

The Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at The University of Georgia provides UGA students with five degree path programs in forestry and natural resource science and management, include the forestry, fisheries and aquaculture, natural resources recreation and tourism, water and soil resources, and wildlife management and ecology majors. With more than fifty faculty and 23,000 acres of teaching lands, the Warnell School is the southeast’s oldest, and one of the most respected forestry and natural resource education providers in the United States. The school also houses one of the largest study abroad programs in the nation covering all seven continents to provide global learning opportunities for its students. For more information visit the Warnell School website at www.warnell.uga.edu.