in Shakerag Hollow

Students were in Shakerag today looking at forest stand structure.

canopy walkway fall 2010

Intro to Forestry was back in the canopy on a fine fall day!

Chris Hehmeyer teaches in Snowden

Chris Hehmeyer (C'77) visited us today and spoke to Scott Torreano's Decision Making class about futures trading in lumber and carbon trading in Chicago. Chris was brought back to Sewanee by the Babson Center for Global Commerce as the first Humphrey's Entrepreneur-in-residence.

Steverson Moffat visits Snowden

We were lucky to have Steverson Moffat (C'88) come visit us last week. He is now working on the Nantahala National Forest, and he drove over with his daughter for a day in class with Ken Smith's Intro students and Scott Torreano's NR Decision Making class. Steverson then gave a well attended talk about the USFS in the afternoon that was sandwiched around tornado sirens and heavy rain. Hopefully we will get him to come back soon since he is so close to Sewanee these days.

Laurie Fowler and David Stooksbury

Laurie Fowler (C'80), the UGA associate dean of the Odum School of Ecology (and law professor) and Dr. David Stooksbury, Georgia's state climatologist, lectured at several classes in Snowden Hall today and also conversed with faculty about possible collaborations with the University of Georgia. They also discussed UGA's tropical watershed course and hoped to attract some Sewanee students to this summer's program.

more on the Snowden Hall dedication

The Baird family (along with Milton Schaefer and Emily Puckett) were in attendance as well as the Candler family. All long time supporters of our program. A big thanks to one and all for re-energizing the faculty and students in Forestry and Geology!

Snowden dedication

What a great day! Snowden Hall was rededicated on Oct. 20 in front of a large crowd. It was an honor to have Mr. Bayard Snowden visit us and deliver some remarks. Bran Potter was also his usual eloquent self.

The old Snowden has retained the charm

In case you are wondering, the original part of Snowden received a facelift but still has some of that old charm.

We are back in Snowden Hall!

We are moved back in and looking forward to seeing everyone at Homecoming or at any time when you are in town. Thanks to all of you for your support, the building is beautiful, and the students are very excited to have such a nice place to study forestry, geology, and natural resources.

Island Ecology news

Sewanee's home page has an article about Sewanee's Island Ecology Program and some changes in the program that involve faculty from Snowden Hall.

http://news.sewanee.edu/news/2010/09/08/island-ecology-program-marks-its-25th-year.750

recent news from Snowden alumni

Ian Turner (C'08, Nat. Res.) recently wrote in and let us know that he was living in South Lake Tahoe, working for the Tahoe Resource Conservation District. His work focuses on aquatic and terrestrial invasive species---sampling, mapping, education and outreach.

The real reason that he wrote was to inform us of some great work conducted by another alum, Patrick Rakes, a former Natural Resources major. Ian wrote "Conservation Fisheries, a non-profit that specializes in breeding rare and endangered freshwater fish, was started by a Natty Re Alum: Patrick Rakes. A number of fish from his lab were featured in a National Geographic article last year."

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/04/freshwater-species/chadwick-text/1
http://conservationfisheries.org/

It is always good to hear from the Snowden people around the world, and please let us know what you are up to!

more on St. Catherines Island

Potter, Knoll, Smith and students in action during June 2010

Island Ecology on St. Catherines

As usual, Bran Potter and TKL started off the St. Catherines Program this year. Martin Knoll and Ken Smith also spent time on the island teaching 10 excellent students. Shown here are Mary Michael Forrester (Geo/Math C'12, driving the boat with TKL) and Arden Jones (C'13) during a trawling session in June.

Summer news from Snowden Hall

Karen Kuers is part of a team that has received a $494,980 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish an ecological research and education network among faculty at primarily undergraduate institutions. The network, known as EREN (Ecological Research as Education Network), will begin with 12 institutions, including Sewanee, and will be expanded over time to include additional partners.

On May 25, President Barack Obama announced his intent to appoint Ken Smith as a member of the Board of Directors of the Valles Caldera Trust, which manages the Valles Caldera National Preserve in New Mexico. Smith was nominated for the position by N.M. Senators Jeff Bingaman, the chair of the US Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee, and Tom Udall.

Further information about both of these events is located at Sewanee News on the University's home page.

More prescribed fire

Deanna Wolford (C'12, Nat Res.) obtained experience using a drip torch at the Compartment 46 restoration site during the first week of May. Under the supervision of Nate Wilson, our new Domain Manager, she helped finish the burning at the 30 acre site.

Restoration burning continues on the Domain

On April 20, students, staff, and faculty participated in a 20 acre burn at the restoration site near Armfield Bluff. Students dug the fire line, used the drip torches and collected all the pre- and post treatment data.

Forest Ecology Class Seeking the Gopher Tortoise

Students in the Forest Ecology class traveled to south Georgia to visit the Jones Ecological Research Center. In addition to visiting a cypress swamp and a prescribed burn in a longleaf pine forest, the class learned about the importance of the longleaf-wiregrass ecosystem to amphibians such as the tiger salamander and reptiles such as the gopher tortoise. In this picture the class is sending a camera down into the gopher tortoise burrow to see if anyone is home.

Forest restoration project continues

On April 13, the last load of logs from the Compartment 46 restoration project left the site. The logs (white pine, loblolly pine, and hardwood pulp) went to three different locations. Students will now conduct post-harvest fuel and tree inventories, apply fire to part of the unit, treat invasives, seed native grasses, and plant approximately 200 shortleaf pine before the end of the semester.

Prescribed fire on the Domain

The Forest and Watershed Restoration class applied fire to the landscape during the first week of April at Compartment 6 (an oak regeneration study). Johnson Jeffers ( Nat. Res. C'10) and Julie Bennett (Eco/Bio C'11) are shown using the drip torches.

Snowden alum delivers white oak

Big thanks to Doug McConnell (C'80) for milling and delivering some nice white oak for the new Snowden addition. Apparently, this oak fell near his home in Mississippi. We all appreciate his time and effort!

Tree planting at SUD

Finally, a warm and sunny day for some tree planting at the Sewanee Utility District. Sewanee students recently planted shortleaf pine on a cleared area of the wastewater sprayfield with Nate Wilson. Nate will become our Domain Manager in mid-April.

2010 SAF meeting in Lexington

Ashley Bardet (C'10), Ken Smith, Mary Elizabeth Watson (C'11), Deanna Wolford (C'12), and Johnson Jeffers (C'10) met briefly with Wilbur Hitchcock at the 2010 Society of American Forester meeting in Lexington, KY. Mr. Hitchcock supervised several harvests on the Domain in the 1960s.

Homer Kunz and VC McCrady

Homer Kunz is seen here in younger days with Vice Chancellor McCrady. Mr. Kunz was instrumental in building Snowden Hall, Woods Lab, and other buildings at Sewanee.

Class of 2010 sets a stone in Snowden

Sydney Bowles (Geology C '10) and other students attended the recent ceremony at Snowden Hall to set one of the stones into the building. The stone was donated by Houston King.

Homer Kunz comes back to Snowden Hall

Homer Kunz, a long-time local contractor who helped construct many of our buildings at Sewanee (and who supervised the original construction of Snowden Hall) came to the Snowden renovation on a cold February day to lay a stone into the new building. The senior class also came to do the same.

Natural resource grad speaks to NR Policy class

Alex Richman (C'05, Nat. Res.) recently visited with the Natural Resource Policy and Issues class to discuss her work experiences in Washington, D.C. with TNC and AFF. Her tips on networking and internships were well appreciated by the students. She is currently working with Panther Creek Forestry and is applying to several graduate schools. Her long-term interests include working with private landowners and finding ways to keep them on their land.

A tornado on the Domain? It is not the first time!

The 2010 tornado was not the first in recent times. In 2004, an F0 tornado crossed over Sherwood Road and down into Lost Cove. The image is a map developed by Karen Kuers and her students that displays the number and direction of trees that were snapped off or knocked down during that event (click on it for more detail). The 2004 tornado impacted mature forest, a thinned hardwood forest, the white pines planted along the fire lane, and some other planted pine.

2010 Tornado map - Domain touchdowns (5 of 5)

This map, created by Richard Winslow, indicates where most of the forest damage on the Domain occurred. Click on the map for a more detailed view.

2010 tornado damage from the air (4 of 5)

These two photos were taken by Richard Winslow. The first is near hat Rock Road, and displays part of the swath. The second is south of lake O'Donnell. The large cleared area is used by the fire department as a practice area and by PPS as a wood waste dump. If you click on each photo, you will see the details more clearly.

Tornado damage near Hat Rock Road (part 3)

These two photos are from near Hat Rock Road. In this area, there was a clear swath of damage where hundreds of trees were pushed down. The downed trees included white pine planted along the fire lanes, mature oaks, and planted loblolly pine.

Tornado damage (part 2)

An orange shipping container near compartment 6 was thrown into the adjacent forest, and the tornado crossed Jump Off Road near Afton Lane and pushed down dozens of large oaks before heading towards Midway.

F1 tornado damage on the Domain (part 1 of 5)

These two shots are from Compartment 6, just south of Lake O'Donnell and adjacent to Jump Off Road. Approximately 20 acres were affected in this area. Most of the damaged or fallen trees were large diameter oaks left in the 2006 thin from below research project and in adjacent unthinned forest. This area will be salvaged logged (downed or leaning trees) as soon as we get a drier weather pattern.

Forest Restoration at Sewanee

Students enrolled in Forest and Watershed Restoration recently completed fuel and tree inventories prior to the thinning and burning of the site in compartment 46 (near Armfield Bluff).

Snowden alums visit Natural Resource Issues

Michelle Harvey (Fors., C'76 and Mitch Robinson (N.R. C'07) recently visited the Natural Resource Issues and Policies class (one of Charlie Baird's successful legacies) to discuss Michelle's work with the Environmental Defense Fund and WalMart and Mitch's work with the WildBasin Preserve in Texas.

Forest Restoration at Sewanee

Sewanee alums Richard Winslow (Domain Manager), Nicole Nunley (Snowden Lab Coordinator), and John Kunz (Tennessee State Forestry), and met with Ken Smith's Forest and Watershed Restoration class this week to kick off the pre-treatment inventory of the site that will be thinned and burned during the course of the semester.