The School of Natural Resources and Environment is hosting a retreat of the David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellows at the University of Michigan Biological Station this week.
The four-day event begins Wednesday (Oct. 1) and brings together the fellows, their mentors and environmental leaders to discuss major conservation issues in the Great Lakes region. The Smith Fellows program started 10 years ago as a way to identify and support early-career scientists who will shape the field of applied conservation biology.
In addition to hosting the conferees, J. David Allan, acting SNRE dean, is a mentor to one of the four Fellows from the class of 2007, Peter B. McIntyre. McIntyre is also a research investigator at SNRE. McIntyre, Allan, and Patrick Doran, director of science for The Nature Conservancy in Michigan, planned the retreat.
"The School of Natural Resources and Environment is eager to welcome the Smith Fellows and their mentors to the Biological Station," Acting Dean Allan said. "The Smith Fellows are an extraordinary group of young scientists, and we're looking forward to hearing from state and regional environmental leaders who are participating in our discussions."
The retreat's focus is on making scientific research more relevant to local environmental policy. Its broad goal is to inform Fellows about the role of science in the process of regional and local policy making, and to discuss strategies for establishing mutually-beneficial relationships with regional and local policy makers and practitioners.
Speakers include: Lana Pollack, president of the Michigan Environmental Council; Becky Humphries, director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources; and Mike Dombeck, director of the Smith Program and former chief of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service during the Clinton administration. As a whole, speakers represent government agencies (Michigan DNR, U.S. Forest Service, Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians), national NGOs (The Nature Conservancy, National Wildlife Federation), and regional NGOs (Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council, Michigan Environmental Council, Little Traverse Conservancy).
Graduate and post-doctoral training in environmental sciences generally emphasizes data collection and conceptual synthesis, with much less attention toward whether results and recommendations are ever put into practice. This Smith Fellows retreat focuses on two aspects of the science-policy interface: the scope for science to influence policy and management, and strategies that young conservation scientists can use to strengthen ties with conservation practitioners.
To take advantage of the proximity of the retreat site to the Great Lakes, workshop discussions and field trips will highlight management and policy issues in this region. In addition, the landscape surrounding the lakes includes areas that are intensively managed for production of food and timber, as well as many state, federal and private conservation areas.
About the David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellows Program
The David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellowship Program identifies and supports early-career scientists who will shape the field of applied conservation biology. The fellowships are available to post-doctoral researchers affiliated with a United States institution, proposing research that addresses pressing conservation issues for the United States.
http://www.conbio.org/SmithFellows/
About the University of Michigan Biological Station
The University of Michigan Biological Station is one of the premier biological research stations in the United States. It lies at the northern tip of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, only 15 miles from the bridge to the Upper Peninsula. The station sits on the shore of Douglas Lake, and houses both year-round residents and a large summer population of students. Notable research projects at UMBS include an AmeriFlux tower for measuring gas fluxes to/from forests, facilities for testing the effects of elevated CO2 and a stream lab.
http://www.lsa.umich.edu/umbs
About the School of Natural Resources and Environment
The School of Natural Resources and Environment's overarching objective is to contribute to the protection of the Earth's resources and the achievement of a sustainable society. Through research, teaching, and outreach, faculty, staff and students are devoted to generating knowledge and developing policies, techniques and skills to help practitioners manage and conserve natural and environmental resources to meet the full range of human needs on a sustainable basis.
http://www.snre.umich.edu/
For more information, contact
Kevin Merrill
School of Natural Resources and Environment
O: 734.936.2447 | C: 734.417.7392
merrillk@umich.edu