Dr. Ben Jackson, professor of Timber Harvesting in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources with a joint appointment at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education, has been elected to serve as the 2006 President of the Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals (ANREP).

ANREP is a national association for Cooperative Extension Service (CES) professionals working in environmental education, fisheries, forestry, wood sciences, range, recreation, waste management, water, wildlife, and related disciplines. Members are active and retired CES employees at the county, area, state, or national level.

According to Jackson, ANREP is ten years old and has grown steadily in new members and membership services. It has developed increasing influence on policy and fiscal improvements for natural resource programming within Cooperative Extension at the state and federal level, and increased interaction with other Extension associations through JCEP, Joint Council of Extension Professionals - http://jcep.org/.

“My job is to see that we continue to make those improvements,” Jackson explains.

As for specific goals during his tenure, Jackson says, “We have six state ANREP chapters – Georgia is one of them. I hope to at least double that number in 2006.” Adding an international component to the organization is another desired goal.

“I also hope to broaden our membership to include college members interested in Extension natural resource education as a career.”

Increasing professional leadership development opportunities for ANREP members is another initiative Jackson intends to promote in 2006.

Typical of his positive nature, Jackson explains that he is truly looking forward to his term as president.

“Our biennial conference will be in Park City Utah May 14-17, 2005 – Putting the Ability in Sustainability. Attending this meeting is my favorite part of being an ANREP member. I’m always amazed at the excellent and creative work that fellow Extension professionals do in designing and delivering their various programs to different audiences on different subjects related to natural resources. Their creativity in attracting funds to accomplish their goals, their ability to bring different groups, agencies and organizations together to tackle and resolve issues, and their excitement about their jobs makes me proud to be one of them.”

“This is my opportunity to strengthen ANREP and make it a more valuable resource for its members. I look forward to that challenge,” Jackson concluded.

The Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia provides four degree path programs in forestry and natural resource science and management. These include the forestry, wildlife, fisheries, and water and soil resource programs. With more than fifty faculty and 23,000 acres of teaching lands, WSFR is the oldest, and one of the most respected, forestry and natural resource education providers in the southeastern United States. The school also houses one of the largest study abroad programs in the nation to provide global learning opportunities for its students. For more information visit the WSFR website at www.uga.edu/wsfr.