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The New England section of the Society of American Foresters (SAF) has announced that David B. Kittredge, Jr. has been elected Fellow to the Society for 2007.  SAF recognizes members who have provided outstanding contributions to the Society over a sustained period and have distinguished themselves in the forestry profession with the title Fellow.  Candidates are determined by a District Fellow Committee within each SAF Voting District and are then elected by their peers in their respective regions.  SAF Fellow Committee member and UMass NRC graduate student Bob Ricard explained that the award is one of the most prestigious in the Society (less than five percent of the SAF national membership are Fellows).  There are only 38 Fellows in New England (out of a membership of 1,100) and this includes notably David Kittredge's major professor at Yale University, Dr. David M. Smith.  Dr. Kittredge joins Dr. William Bentley, Connecticut resident and Professor Emeritus at the State University of New York...

This new, non-thesis degree concentration in the Forest Resources graduate program will focus on professional training in environmentally responsible building practices. Students will be required to think critically about the environmental impact of building in relation to many disciplines, integrating concepts of resource stewardship, economic vitality, and social equity. Students will master skills that are necessary for advanced practice; for example, in energy conservation methods, in LEED-certified building requirements, in structural design with sustainable building materials, or in green initiatives on infrastructure, roads and bridges. The degree will be of direct benefit to those currently studying or practicing Architecture, Engineering, Construction Technology, or Public Policy who will make important decisions in our future building industry. The degree will arm students with the latest knowledge in energy efficiency and environmental stewardship to help lead the way in sustainable building and construction. Seehttp://www.umass.edu/bmatwt/academics/greenbuilding/ for more....

Charles M. Schweik, Associate Professor of Natural Resources Conservation and Public Policy and Associate Director of the National Center for Digital Government, has been awarded a grant from the USDA Forest Service to develop an online carbon calculator....

There was widespread news coverage on the work of NRC graduate student Malik Marjan and a research team that found huge herds of animals in southern Sudan despite decades of civil war and conflict in the region. This could be the largest concentration of migrating large animals in Africa, researchers say. Stories on the research were reported in the New York Times, Science Daily, PhysOrg.com [Virginia], and the International Herald Tribune [France]....

The University of Massachusetts - Amherst Department of Natural Resources Conservation (NRC) and the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station (NRS) has awarded Dr. Justin A. Compton a two-year post-doctoral fellowship in sustainable forest management (SFM). The aim of the SFM Fellowship is to conduct innovative research in forest conservation in the northeastern U.S. Dr. Compton will collaborate with Dr. Stephen DeStefano, Unit Leader for the USGS Massachusetts Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Unit, to examine the impacts of moose in southern New England on forest structure, composition, regeneration, and sustainability. This research will be a collaborative effort involving federal, state, and local management agencies. In addition to Dr. Compton's research efforts, he will be conducting courses in the spring semesters. Justin comes to UMass-Amherst from The Pennsylvania State University where he completed his dissertation in Wildlife & Fisheries Sciences....