Building Energy Extension Assistant Professor Position Announced

  POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION and UMASS-EXTENSION UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS-AMHERST Title: Extension Assistant Professor - Building Energy Appointment: Academic Year (9 Month) – Non-tenure track Available: Earliest appointment date is September 1, 2010 Application: Review of applications begins May 1, 2010. Search will continue until the position is filled. The Position: The position includes an appointment for 20% Teaching, 20% Research and 60% Extension/Service and Outreach. The candidate will be expected to teach two classes. These will include: Energy Efficient Housing and an additional course to be developed in Building Energy. The candidate will oversee an online professional development series in green building that will serve multiple roles in traditional teaching and in outreach and extension. The candidate will develop and implement an integrated research and extension agenda including: engaging university faculty, industry and government partners in identifying, conducting and funding building energy research, education and extension/outreach; Serving as a clearinghouse for research-based knowledge, ideas, information and techniques; engaging and involving partners and collaborators in the delivery of programs. Research...
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NRC Forestry Students’ Geographic Information System Project Helps Firefighters Stop 25-acre Forest Fire in Erving State Forest

Two NRC Forestry students, William Ashton and Christopher Capone, took advantage of the class project in NRC’s “Introduction to Spatial Technologies” (NRC297s) course to develop a Geographic Information System to inventory and map 16 “fire holes” in Erving State Forest. These fire holes are human made ponds constructed back in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Core meant to store, pump and draft water for forest fires. Ashton, a seasonal firefighter and fire tower operator for this forest, saw the need to map these because many of the fire ponds have been lost or forgotten over time, and recently, the fire control district began a project to find, brush-cut, dredge, and clearly mark these ponds with signs. Ashton and Capone decided to complement this effort by geo-locating these water sources using Global Positioning Systems, and then developing a set of map products using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) that could be kept in Fire Trucks and at the main office. Shortly after...
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NRC Student Marshall remarks from the College of Natural Science graduation

Jeffrey Hutchins, graduating forestry student in the Department of Natural Resources Conservation, was selected to lead NRC students to the stage to receive their medallions and recognition during the College of Natural Science graduation ceremony. Student Marshalls from each department were invited to make brief remarks, and Jeffrey's were the following: "The department of Natural Resources Conservation develops leaders in fisheries, wildlife and forest ecology, environmental science, natural resource studies and green building technology. As we move forward into a world fraught with over-consumption, the challenges we face seem overwhelming. I remind you, though, of Aldo Leopold's words: 'In these higher aspirations, the important thing is not to achieve, but to strive.' We have a responsibility as stewards of environment to ensure the wise, sustainable use of our natural resources. We have the tools; we have the dedication; we will forever strive to lead and promote this global initiative for conservation."...
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Graduate Students, Susannah Lerman and Noah Charney Awarded Switzer Fellowships

OEB graduate students, Susannah Lerman  and Noah Charney, have been invited to become Switzer Fellows! http://www.switzernetwork.org/fellowship-overview.html The goal of the Switzer Environmental Fellowship Program is to support highly talented graduate students in New England and California whose studies are directed toward improving environmental quality and who demonstrate the potential for leadership in their field. The application process for the Switzer Environmental Fellowships is highly competitive. Each year, through an extensive application and interview process, twenty Environmental Fellowships are awarded, ten in California and ten in New England, out of an initial pool of well over 300 applicants. ...
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Simon Nampindo, PhD. Candidate Receives Kathryn Fuller Doctoral Fellowship

Simon Nampindo, a doctoral candidate in our department, was selected for the Kathryn Fuller Doctoral Fellowship by the WWF's Conservation Science Program ( http://www.worldwildlife.org/science/fellowships/fuller/doctoralfund.html). Simon is one of only five winners worldwide. This is a very competitive fellowship and all submissions are rigorously reviewed. Simon plans to conduct spatial analysis of ecosystem services and resource degradation in the Congo River Basin and to develop an Ecosystem-Based Spatial Decision Support System. ...
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