CNR Alumni Magazine Fall 2023

WINTER 2023 - 24 | VOL. 39

RESOURCES Three Decades of Unconventional Science Environmental Science program celebrates 30th anniversary, re-envisions future page 4

Solutions for Reforestation

Engineering plants, growing multigenerational forests to respond to drought and wildfires through “drought memory” and “dose-response” experiments page 12

The Fish and Wildlife Internship Experience Diversity of internships, agency partnerships helmed by nationwide alumni connections page 22

STUDENT SUCCESS | SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS | THRIVING IDAHO

WINTER 2023 - 24

Volume 39

Celebrating Natural Resources is published annually for alumni and friends of CNR. Subscription is free. The magazine is also available online in its entirety at uidaho.edu/cnr.

INSIDE 3

Letter from the Dean

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Thirty Years of Environmental Science

Magazine Staff & Contributors Dennis Becker, Dean Kelsey Evans, Editor and Contributing Writer

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Where the Wild Things Roam

Megan Lolley, Writer in Residence

12

Solutions for Reforestation

Ralph Bartholdt, U of I Communications

17

CNR Making Headlines

19

Natural Resource Entrepreneurship Degree

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Human Dimensions

22

Fish and Wildlife Internships

25

Letters From Taylor Ranch

27

Experimental Forest Debuts Ski Trails

28

Living Archives Visualize History and Land

30

Ancient Charcoal Dig

31

Alumni Engagement, News and In Memoriam

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Keeping Up With CNR, Leadership and Award Winners

Leigh Cooper, U of I Communications University of Idaho 875 Perimeter Drive MS 1142 Moscow, ID 83844-1142 Email: cnr-alumni@uidaho.edu Design – U of I Creative Services Photography – U of I Visual Production. Other image credits noted on the pages where they appear.

U of I Moscow is located on the homelands of the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce), Palus (Palouse) and Schitsu’umsh (Coeur d’Alene) tribes. We extend gratitude to the Indigenous people that call this place home, since time immemorial. U of I recognizes that it is our academic responsibility to build relationships with the Indigenous people to ensure integrity of tribal voices.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! As a part of our CNR family, it’s important to us that you stay connected and update us with your latest news, accomplishments, and contributions. Please visit uidaho.edu/ cnr/alumni-and-friends to share.

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Scan QR codes with your mobile device’s camera to instantly access online links throughout the magazine.

On the cover: Former graduate student Moureen Matuha points to juvenile (fingerling) burbot during the early rearing stage once they have been transitioned to commercial aquaculture feeds, taken at the Aquaculture Research Institute in 2019. Matuha and Distinguished Professor of Aquaculture and Fish Health, Ken Cain, have been a part of an international effort to restore Idaho’s burbot population.

LETTER FROM THE DEAN

If you attended CNR’s welcome back BBQ in Fall 2022, you likely remember the rope snap heard around the world. After years of being defeated by students in the annual students vs. faculty/staff tug of war match, Dean Becker couldn’t stand another loss. He put the order out to tie the end of the rope to the horseshoe stakes behind his team. After what seemed like an eternity of tugging, the rope snapped in the middle and both teams tumbled to the ground.

Everyone was okay, but the tied rope was revealed to the students and the dean’s reputation as an honest man was destroyed, making him worthy of a Bootin-the-Butt award. Above, Dean Becker proudly accepted this award at the 2023 CNR Awards Banquet. The Boot-in-the-Butt award is a special prize typically reserved for a faculty member who has done something out of the ordinary, humorous, or made a flawed decision.

Dear CNR Alumni, Colleagues and Friends, I’ve been lucky in life to have mentors that inspired me. They encouraged me to challenge conventional ways of thinking and motivated me to work hard. They were creative thinkers who inspired generations of students to strive for solutions to our natural resource challenges.

In this issue, you’ll read about the people and programs that have collectively built our college into an inspiring platform for groundbreaking results. You will have the opportunity to dive into stories highlighting the skills and valued work being done by our students and faculty.

We are faculty who came to Idaho for the mountains and streams. We are first-generation students who arrived this fall in record numbers. Some of us have ties to Idaho going back generations. And some of us are Tribal members who have called our university campus and land home since time immemorial. We share a common purpose to improve natural resource management for future generations.

Idaho needs our solutions. And I like to think that we inspire students to dream big. We always have. But to keep advancing in today’s world we must learn from each other. For me that includes listening to you, our alumni, about how to expand educational opportunities, such as our new two-year Associate of Science degrees, or expansion of Environmental Science curriculum. For our faculty, I know it includes learning from our students about what they need to be successful.

Inspiration is a two-way street, and I was lucky enough to have mentors who believed in me and took the time to make an investment in my future. They inspired me. And I hope that we inspire you: our students, alumni, and our partners and friends.

Sincerely,

Dennis Becker, Dean

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FEATURE

Emma Arman ’21 teaching water quality lessons at Camp Sanders in North Idaho.

THREE DECADES OF UNCONVENTIONAL SCIENCE ENVS celebrates 30th Anniversary

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WHAT STARTS HERE CHANGES THE WORLD We are bridge-builders, jacks-of-all-trades, lovers of people, the earth and the sciences and arts within. We are ambitious, passionate, and unconventional. From the words of students, alumni, faculty, and staff, these are some of the trademark descriptions of the Environmental Sciences (ENVS) program at the U of I. In honor of the program’s 30th anniversary, we trace the rich history of the ENVS program at U of I and the incredible people who have contributed to its successes.

“The 30th anniversary of the ENVS program provides a great moment to celebrate the achievements of the past and to reconnect with our alumni and recognize their accomplishments.

It is also a time to look ahead and ask ourselves what we want the next 30 years to look like,” said Jaap Vos, Director of ENVS and Department Head of Natural Resources and Society.

Fortunately for U of I, many of our environmental scientists do not overlook the interdisciplinary nature required to address complex environmental issues. Instead, they have embraced it, even if that means sometimes disagreeing with how to maintain a universitywide program within a traditional, department-based university format.

This vision came together in 1993, when members from colleges all across campus interested in environmental issues joined a task force to bring the program and its potential to fruition.

Representatives from agriculture, natural resources, science, engineering and other disciplines united to create a curriculum with specializations in social, physical, and biological science.

Within a year of launching, professors in every college were teaching and advising.

“U of I had all the building blocks,” said Margrit von Braun, who chaired the committee and directed the program for its first decade. “I felt I needed to push against the wall. For much of my career, I’ve worked with communities where there were public health implications, and there were always environmental, financial and social impacts.”

For the following decade, von Braun, an environmental engineer, directed the program while teaching courses in hazardous waste management and risk assessment. In 2011, Jan Boll took over and Dr. von Braun became dean of the College of Graduate Studies.

BRAD SMITH (B.S. ENVS ’03)

North Idaho Director, Idaho Conservation League, Sandpoint, ID

Jan Boll, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Washington State University, began teaching ENVS courses in 1996 and directed the U of I program from 2011 to 2015.

“One of many things that we all learned in the ENVS Program at U of I is that science can be helpful when making decisions about environmental policy or management. But we also learned that values, beliefs, culture and politics are given considerable weight. The interdisciplinary nature of the ENVS Program proved invaluable to my professional career, and I think it’s something that many science programs and degrees unfortunately overlook.”

— Brad Smith COLLEGE OF NATURAL RESOURCES | 5

Engineering tries to prepare students for every aspect, but it’s a specialized discipline. With engineering alone, “I always felt like there were pieces missing,” von Braun said.

ENVS students are bridge-builders, “interested in looking at a problem in many different ways,” von Braun said, and U of I needed a degree to embrace that.

“The core of ENVS is a breadth of coursework. If you want to study ENVS – no matter what the emphasis – you require a foundation. The breadth is fascinating and fruitful because it constantly facilitates relationships across campus that we never would have had if this program had not come together in the 1990’s,” said J.D. Wulfhorst, Professor of Rural Sociology and Environmental Science in the Department of Natural Resources and Society, and former ENVS director.

AN ATYPICAL PATH True to the nature of environmental problems, the program’s path to success hasn’t been simple. “At first, the program was housed in the Provost’s office. Then, it reported to a council of deans from the colleges,” von Braun said. This was reflective of faculty and student interests that disagreed on which college would best house the program.

Bob Mahler, professor of soil, water and environmental science in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, was one of many who spearheaded the program, developing foundational coursework and later directing the program from 2015 to 2017.

“In Fall 1993, I developed the Intro to ENVS course. I had 27 students in my first class. Then, I taught that course for 50 straight semesters – 25 years, with a peak enrollment of 350 students. I taught over 12,000 students in that course alone,” Mahler said.

Currently, ENVS 101 is in the common core curriculum and typically has 200 students each semester. In addition, the course is taught at several high schools as a dual credit course.

When ENVS moved to being administratively housed in CNR in 2013, it wasn’t a particularly popular choice due to concerns that the program would lose its university-wide focus.

Still to this day, maintaining a university-wide presence is no easy feat, as “traditional institutional incentives work against cross-college collaboration with shared curriculum. But it’s worth fighting for. Environmental problems cannot be solved by a single discipline or way of thinking,” said CNR Dean Dennis Becker. Jaap Vos concurs that despite the challenges of a traditional university setting, we are becoming more deliberate with how we create our university-wide presence.

“Through U of I ENVS, I met incredible people who became friends for life. I had a great academic advisor, an internship at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who helped me get into a Ph.D. program there, and I co-published papers in scientific journals and we had lots of fun together traveling to conferences.”

Varduhi Petrosyan, ENVS M.S. ’00, professor and dean of the Turpanjian College of Health Sciences at American University of Armenia

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“Now, different colleges across campus will host ENVS faculty meetings to hopefully make it easier for faculty throughout the university to be active within the environmental science program,” Vos said.

Despite the challenge of being housed in one college, there are positives too. Ronald Robberecht, professor emeritus of ecology in the Department of Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences, for one, sees CNR as a home for ENVS in a college with a long history of the study and management of natural resources. “The college offers a large suite of courses in that area, including the science of ecology and its application to the management of natural resources, and human interaction with the environment.

This provides ENVS students great opportunities to interact with other CNR students that have similar interests,” Robberecht said.

Robberecht is hopeful for the future of ENVS at U of I. “I’d like to see the program have more visibility,” he said. “We need more connections. As the ENVS program continues to grow, it will increase its influence across Idaho.”

GROWING COLLABORATIONS: Many original faculty are still active, and many others from law, education, engineering, and architecture continue to push for interdisciplinary, university-wide curriculum. But while the ENVS program has stayed true to its interdisciplinary origins, there has historically been a dominant biophysical emphasis.

That began to shift around 10 years ago, with a “refresh” gaining strong momentum in the last 5 years.

“The program had reached a point where our students and faculty needed a ‘re-fresh’. In particular, the undergraduate curriculum had become very difficult for students to navigate,” said Lee Vierling, University Distinguished Professor and ENVS Director at that time.

Through new interdisciplinary collaborations across campus and conversations with our alumni and employer stakeholders, ENVS faculty then realized the opportunity to reconsider the curriculum for the first time in program history.

“We reimagined the degree tracks to help students prepare for more specific career paths while maintaining the program’s interdisciplinarity hallmark. At the same time, we revamped our graduate degree programs to be more responsive to working professionals and saw graduate enrollment double in just two years,” Vierling said.

In response, faculty across campus further integrated teaching essential skills like critical thinking, creativity, and interacting with diverse perspectives.

“Faculty members such as English Professor Jenn Ladino have spearheaded the growth of the culture and communication track and done much with our humanities colleagues to integrate humanities with environmental science at undergrad and graduate levels,” Vierling said.

Wulfhorst also reflects on the 25th anniversary celebration in 2018 as a bright spot in the program’s history because it celebrated the growing incorporation of humanities and social sciences while helping everyone look beyond disagreements.

“ENVS is always expanding our conversations. This time in the program’s history proved that humanities studies are not just

welcome but must be embraced as we continue to redesign curriculum, because it’s more inclusive for all the students to come,” Wulfhorst said.

The Semester in the Wild Program, for example, showcases ENVS’ “strong vision of a multi-disciplinary experience that includes the humanities and social sciences not as add-ons, but as central elements of the curriculum,” said University Distinguished Professor of Environmental Humanities Scott Slovic.

According to Slovic, with SITW, former CNR Dean Emeritus Kurt Pregitzer and Associate Dean Emeritus Tom Gorman embraced the idea that subjects like environmental writing, which enable students to integrate all aspects of their environmental knowledge and experience, could be “the glue” that would help hold together and make coherent everything students take away from their time in the wilderness.

WHERE WE ARE NOW: PIONEERING SUSTAINABLE EDUCATION ACROSS THE WORLD Jaap Vos emphasizes that curriculum is ever-evolving, along with class formats.

“We need to make sure that we continue to have a curriculum that serves our students and provides them with a solid foundation for a successful career. At the same time, we need to think about how we deliver our courses. Thirty years ago, nobody imagined that our online, non-thesis master’s program would have 150 non-traditional students in it,” Vos said. And that’s even with the work of countless others, such as Robberecht and Mahler, who pioneered the online platform of the ENVS in the early 2000’s.

Above all, “we need to stay true to the vision that the faculty taskforce had in 1993 and recognize that what makes ENVS unique is that it is a university-wide program,” Vos said.

Today, popular classes among graduate students include Principles of Sustainability, taught by Greg Moller, professor of soil and water systems, and fire ecology with Leda Kobziar, associate professor of wildland fire science.

For online ENVS master’s students, it is a build-your-ownadventure style of education. There are over 130 classes offered every semester. For their capstone projects, master’s students can, with faculty help, dive into their specific interests.

Being able to access courses online is especially beneficial for ENVS because it allows students from around the globe to study while managing other commitments.

“We have many students working for the U.S. Forest Service or other government agencies on ecology and public awareness.

We have high school teachers looking to bolster their environmental science classes. We have a lot of students with leadership roles in local governments, and we have many who work in water treatment and environmental compliance,” said Elise Kokenge, assistant director of graduate studies..

ENVS LEADERSHIP AT A GLANCE ■

1992: Task force unites

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1993: ENVS program begins

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2000s: ENVS classes go online

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2013-14: ENVS is administratively housed under CNR

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2018: 25th anniversary

Directors through the years: Margrit von Braun

Jan Boll

Lee Vierling

Don Crawford

Bob Mahler

Jaap Vos

Stephen Mulkey

J.D. Wulfhorst

With this flexibility, the ENVS core faculty from across the university are propelling the program to ever-growing heights: online master’s ENVS enrollment has grown from 46 students in Fall 2013, to 128 in Fall 2023. Demographically, students have shifted from being 48% on-campus residents to 85% nonresident students.

For the ENVS Ph.D. program, there have consistently been around 20 to 30 students from around the world. As of Fall 2023, there are 39% international students, 39% nonresident and 22% residents enrolled. Graduate students represent 40 different states and 15 different countries (and 30 different countries since 2013).

Since the online degree was offered, and still true today, “people don’t just want to be an engineer, architect or ecologist.”

They want to be environmental scientists with specific skills so they contribute in an ecological and beneficial way, especially in the world we live in now,” Kokenge said.

With this growing relevance, Wulfhorst regularly receives “so many inquiries from around the world that it’s hard to even get back to people. High demand is a great problem to have. It’s phenomenal to see all the individuals with diverse interests coming together. This diversity is game-changing,” Wulfhorst said.

But it’s also difficult because of the small scale of the university.

More diversity requires more collaboration, for example. “We have many different students, but we still have to decide whether a student should take this class or that class, for example. But regardless of where students want to go with their degree in the future, they get a breadth of study and a unique opportunity to take on significant research opportunities,” Wulfhorst said.

Fortunately, flexibility, especially with online learning, facilitates engaging conversations and research in beneficial ways.

“Information sharing creates more translations and deeper learning. It doesn’t mean that traditional classes are bad, but that being interdisciplinary and learning in different formats is incredibly valuable and essential to tackling tremendous environmental challenges,” Wulfhorst said.

COLLEGE OF NATURAL RESOURCES | 7

IT TAKES A TEAM From online classes to international fieldwork, throughout 30 years of ENVS at U of I, there are a few things that have stayed the same: incredible staff, enthusiastic students and driven faculty from every discipline, coming together to make the program what it is today.

Behind every student’s success, there has been a team of staff members and advisors supporting them. These people deserve credit for uniting and developing ENVS at U of I. “Advisors are integral for communications and making the program work. And the ENVS advisors have been incredible — they have always had student success at heart. They were the ones who built the program,” Boll said.

Chris Dixon, an administrative assistant for many of the program’s foundational years, motivated students and helped keep the program progressing. “Chris was the star who made everything click. None of us would be here to celebrate thirty years if it weren’t for her,” Wulfhorst said.

Now, as of Fall 2023, there are 58 different faculty and staff, from across all nine colleges, directly and actively advising current ENVS graduate students. Specifically, since summer 2016, campus-wide, 35 faculty advise master’s theses. For non-thesis students, there are 56 faculty advisors, and another 35 faculty advise Ph.D. students.

ENVS undergraduates Yvette Bonney ’24 and Brock Keller ’24 traveled to Uzbekistan to assist with a TIFO project, where they took samples in a region impacted by severe water contamination. Here, Bonney is at the former Aral Sea port in Uzbekistan.

Kokenge is optimistic for the future of ENVS mentoring. “We need to continue to build more faculty expertise and engagement into student projects, especially those non-thesis capstone projects, to give as much depth as possible. The mentor/mentee relationship is one of the most valuable and potentially longlasting aspects of graduate school,” Kokenge said.

For staff beyond Vos as director, the program now has Erin Rishling as an administrative assistant, while Kokenge and JayCee Hollingshead provide graduate advising and additional administrative assistance within CNR. The ENVS program is also actively recruiting for an associate director to ease the burden of a growing program with significantly expanding online demands.

Vos is excited about the associate director search. “The core faculty sat down together and came up with an exciting job and a great opportunity for somebody to take an active role in helping shape the future of the program. It will not only spread the workload, but also allow us to think ahead to the future. And inline with the original vision, the hope is that the associate director comes from a different college.

When I see the number of students that have graduated from the program, the growth in the program and the amazing things our students and our alumni do, I am grateful for that group of faculty in 1993 who not only had a vision for a university wide ENVS program but also made it happen. It might not look exactly the way they imagined it 30 years ago, but we are a truly interdisciplinary program with university wide involvement and young faculty who are bringing their own vision and ideas to the program. I can’t wait to see what ENVS at U of I will look like 10 years from now,” Voss said.

Keller (left) works with local partners in Uzbekistan, 2023.

“I was a nontraditional student in that I came into U of I after spending time in the Peace Corps and working on other public health jobs. I started working at TerraGraphics International Foundation (TIFO) in early 2010, and I started taking classes in 2012. There were semesters where I was abroad doing research instead of taking classes. The flexibility of the program allowed me to make progress on my research for a lead contamination project in Zamfara, Nigeria, while completing my degree. Now, on any given day, I am busy directing projects that include fieldwork, analyzing laboratory results from samples collected in Uzbekistan, and collaborating with partners.”

— Casey Bartrem, ENVS Ph.D. ’16, Executive Director of TIFO. TIFO is a Moscow-based nonprofit co-founded by von Braun and her husband, Ian von Lindern, in 2011. TIFO NGO has worked in places like Nigeria, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan to help identify where environmental issues are causing health problems.

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SPIRIT FOR THE FUTURE Rula Awwad-Rafferty, design and environments department chair, professor of interior architecture and design and U of I service learning fellow for the College of Art and Architecture, has been a social sciences core faculty for ENVS since she first came to U of I in 1998.

Awwad-Rafferty immediately embraced the importance of place and space in ENVS. Each student, regardless of ENVS “track,” must consider their impact on people, places, communities and ecology. According to Awwad-Rafferty, this relationship forms the “living spirit” of the environment.

Throughout those years, sustainability has been a core pillar for the College of Art and Architecture, offering specializations such as certificates that embrace “living futures” where students are learning to be responsible not just to sustain life, but to regenerate it. “We study how to be regenerative of life, Indigenous communities and their respective resources, and the behaviors we engender as we form the next seven generations,” Awwad-Rafferty said.

Awwad-Rafferty reflects on projects such as researching oncethriving railroad towns in Idaho that faded during the age of highways, and are now, in some places, growing again. “We look at how culture is expressed in infrastructure and the resulting ecological impacts,” Awwad-Rafferty said.

Rula Awwad-Rafferty

“I’m always fascinated to learn about not only the ecology, but the art, the livelihood, the creatures, and the possibilities of mitigating our relationships within that given environment. It has been an amazing thirty years,” Awwad-Rafferty said.

Awwad-Rafferty has also worked on projects with migrant workers in rural Washington who built Hispanic culture into the local landscape in unique ways.

Throughout all endeavors, Awwad-Rafferty and her students and peers “work with stakeholders and local communities to allow them to be co-authors or co-designers so that we can decolonize our approaches to ENVS. The resulting outcome is design that speaks to the people who are going to be living and using it. It is responsive to them, their skills and their landscapes,” Awwad-Rafferty said.

Fellow U of I ENVS core faculty member, Romuald K. Afatchao, associate director of the Martin Institute and clinical professor at the School of Global Studies in Togo, Africa, also works to address climate change, food production and capacity

buildingtogether with the community. Afatchao recently invited other U of I faculty and a group of students to assist in designing a school in Togo.

Awwad-Rafferty emphasizes that ENVS, “above all else, centers on the language, people, art and even the food that forms each place. This is the essence of the living spirit.”

Therefore, throughout the program’s history, “the action component of ENVS at U of I is the program’s spirit carried out into the world,” Awwad-Rafferty said.

Consider this article not just a celebration of success, but a thank-you letter to those who continue to contribute to U of I ENVS’ endeavors, action and spirit.

“I’m always running into former students. It is joyous to see how their careers and lives have expanded, and to know that, collectively, we’ve given them the background to do that,” von Braun said.

Article by Kelsey Evans, CNR Editor, June 2023.

“This third decade is a capstone to that first era – and who knows what possibilities are on the horizon. But the fact is, that there’s so much demand, and a great need due to climate change and the politics of natural resource management, that ENVS is only going to become more of a driver,” Wulfhorst concluded.

“I attribute much of my career success to Professor Margrit von Braun, my advisor.

She was a role model and did not allow for mediocrity.

She showed me how to elevate my work products and bring technical knowledge to a project that improves environmental health impacts. In addition, Chris Dixon brought positivity and spirit every single day that guided, engaged, and opened your mind, and fostered ambition and friendships.

Together they created a program that not only allowed students to succeed in their education and careers, but a place where lifelong friendships were built.”

Susan Spalinger, M.S. ’18, Principal Scientist and Vice President of Alta Science & Engineering in Moscow.

Spalinger (right) with business partner Jon Munkers, ENVS M.S. ’00.

COLLEGE OF NATURAL RESOURCES | 9

FEATURE

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ROAM A tribute to Maurice Hornocker, Endowed Chair

Cougars on the Cliff recounts the early years of Hornocker’s research (1964–1973) when he tracked mountain lions following scent hounds and cat tracks in the snow, before telemetry was available. Hornocker was first to learn that mountain lions living in stable populations limit their own numbers through

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territoriality and a concept he called “mutual avoidance.” This insight flew in the face of long-held beliefs that cougars were prolific and wanton killers that needed to be controlled as vermin. Thanks to Hornocker’s work, today cougars can be found throughout the West and have even started to reclaim their place in eastern US.

Alum Toni Ruth Reflects on Tribute “Earlier this Fall, I spent a week in Moscow reveling in sharing stories and belly laughs with many friends and colleagues as we gathered to pay tribute to our mentor, friend, and carnivore conservationist extraordinaire, Dr. Hornocker. I was so honored to serve on a small planning team of Hornocker Disciples including Dr. Dale Miquelle, Dr. Michael Tewes, Dr. Gary Koheler, and Dr. Kathy Quigley, who worked with CNR to recognize the lifetime achievements and impact Maurice had on so many of us.

Maurice is a wildlife biologist best known for advancing knowledge of the elusive mountain lion’s behavior and ecology.

During his fifty-five years of research in Idaho and around the world, he published numerous scientific papers and books. At U of I, he served as Unit Leader of the Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit from 1968 to 1985, and also established the Hornocker Wildlife Institute in Moscow.

Hornocker enters a notebook entry about the day’s data collections, hunts, and discoveries. Photo by co-researcher Wilbur Wiles.

Titled “Where the Wild Things Roam: A Tribute to Dr. Maurice Hornocker,” the 3-day celebration, held September 13th - 15th, 2023, kicked off with Maurice and co-author David Johnson signing copies of Maurice’s memoir, Cougars on the Cliff, at the Moscow Contemporary Art Center. It’s a page-turning read, and I encourage you to pick up a copy and settle in as you join Maurice and houndsman Wilbur Wiles on their ground-breaking, learning-adventure-of-a-lifetime studying cougars in one of the most remote places in the US. Dr. Miquelle summed it up so well for all of us: “Those of us who were fortunate enough to come under Maurice’s sphere of influence were imparted with wisdom, grace, a joy of life, and the opportunity to do what he had done: to imagine a wildlife study that others said could not be done, and then do it; to experience the fear of failure, the frustrations of fieldwork, the miracles of minor successes, the wonder of discovery, and the battle to turn all of it into conservation success. Maurice gave all of us that rare opportunity to go into the wilds to discover something about an animal that was poorly known, and in the process discover something about ourselves”.

Late December 1964, Idaho Primitive Area: Trekking with full packs toward Horse Mountain early in the ”Idaho Cougar Project” study.

In celebration of Maurice, we are so excited to announce the Maurice Hornocker Endowed Chair of Wildlife Conservation at U of I. We are thankful to the Richard King Mellon Foundation for their $1 million donation to honor Maurice and his legacy.

With generous support from the Hornocker Disciples and their worldwide connections and influence, we are now underway to complete the $3 million endowed chair to honor Maurice for generations of student impact. We hope that you will join us by sharing this opportunity and considering a giving plan that matches your personal and financial goals. To learn more about making a gift, contact Mary Ellen Brewick, Director of Development for CNR, at mebrewick@uidaho.edu.

I’m still reflecting on the time we spent together catching up and honoring Maurice’s legacy. It’s a moment in time that I’m grateful for and I’m filled with memories I won’t forget!”

—Toni Ruth (Ph.D., Wildlife Science ’04)

COLLEGE OF NATURAL RESOURCES | 11

FEATURE

ONE SEEDLING AT A TIME How U of I integrates reforestation research approaches to drought, fire mitigation

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“DROUGHT MEMORY” Engineering plants to respond to drought and wildfires Seedling mortality in reforested areas following fires, harvesting or disturbances is posing a challenge to reforestation researchers.

“We’re seeing increases in intensity and duration of droughts across the West, and it’s connected to climate change and wildfires,” said Andrew Nelson, director of Center for Forest Nursery and Seedling Research (CFNSR) and Franklin H. Pitkin Forest Nursery, and the Tom Alberg and Judith Beck Endowed Chair of Native Plant Regeneration.

In response, the Pitkin Nursery is conducting research and building new greenhouses to optimize growing environments for reforestation seedlings. They are increasing the quality of seedlings produced and training students on modern greenhouse technologies.

“Reforestation efforts are futile if seedlings die along the way,” Nelson said.

One of U of I’s research tactics is nursery drought preconditioning, which challenges seedlings in the nursery with drought conditions by reducing irrigation at various times of their growth. This alters the physiology and morphology of the plants.

“We’re training and engineering the plants to recognize and better withstand drought in the forest. We can optimize nursery conditions to match the environmental conditions,” Nelson said.

Vovener de Verlands Edmond, a second-year Ph.D. student, says his background working with vanilla plants while obtaining his master’s in horticulture sciences at the University of Florida informs his research on horticulture practices at U of I. Edmond received his bachelor’s in natural resources from the State University of Haiti.

Associate Professor Rob Keefe assessing forest conditions on the U of I Experimental Forest.

At U of I, Edmond has done experiments exposing different seed sources of plants to various watering regimes.

“Drought exacerbated by climate change can have a fatal effect on seedlings, often close to 80%, because of the lack of moisture, high temperature, etc. By understanding how seedlings respond to drought, and how to optimize conditions

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in the nursery, we can provide information and instruction to nursery managers to help widescale forest regeneration,” Edmond said.

At U of I, the focus is on native Idaho conifers including Douglas fir and western larch. Results are promising thus far. For the western larch, changes in plant physiology, including growth rates and the ability of the plant to transport water, have been significant.

“Current collaborations are with Purdue University, Oregon State University, and the Rocky Mountain Research Station, to name a few. We’re branching out to a large network to find commonalities and differences for species. We need to develop species-specific propagation protocols,” Nelson said.

Black Walnut research at Purdue University, for example, produces no response to drought preconditioning, unlike the western larch here in the Pacific Northwest. “And then in the Douglas fir, we see more production above ground, as opposed to underground in the western larch,” explained Nelson.

“Drought memory research, however, is just the beginning for new work at the nursery. We’re always performing many research projects, from testing different fertilizer and irrigation regimes, and different container types, to modifying the greenhouse climate. At the end of the day, it’s always about how we can improve seedling quality,” Nelson said.

Edmond thinning Douglas fir seedlings a few weeks after their germination in a greenhouse at Pitkin Nursery, May 2022.

“When we challenge the seedlings with severe drought conditions in the nursery, afterwards, when they are planted in the field, they allocate more resources to producing roots underground, which is a strategy for reaching deeper pools of water in the soil,” Nelson said. This is a form of “drought memory” in which seedlings remember their early environment.

Reforestation is a global endeavor. Schools in other regions are working on different species, which often respond differently to various intensities and timings of the drought exposure – whether it happens at the beginning or end of a growth cycle.

Meanwhile, the U of I Center for Forest Nursery and Seedling Research (CFNSR) Seedling Quality Lab, for one, is dedicated solely to refining operational seedling testing protocols and operationally testing seed lots, which helps understand potential seedling success in the field.

“We’re the only place in the Western U.S. that offers quality testing for third-party seedlings, which are seedlings that landowners are going to plant. We serve as an unbiased source of information,” Nelson said.

Edmond preparing a research field site for seedlings in Bovill, Idaho, April 2023.

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U of I is also testing more sustainable container technologies that can enhance rooting development in seedlings. “We’re seeing a transition away from the traditional Styrofoam block containers, which often end up in landfills, towards Earthpots,” Nelson said.

Earthpots are placed into reusable trays and are configured to the rooting environment, leading to changes in root system architecture in the nursery and following planting. This may further increase drought resistance.

The main goal is to have models that will predict fire behavior for trees ranging from seedlings to adults to inform land managers, foresters, agriculturalists, and anyone who takes a stake in the forest.

For Blanco, however, the research is about more than local fires.

“U of I is having four to six publications every year on different trees and regions,” Blanco said.

Blanco concurs that reforestation is a worldwide effort. “I’d like to research and study in northern Thailand,” Blanco said, “because there are a lot of wildfires and pine species there too.”

“We even have high school students working on these reforestation projects. And now they are authors in our publications. It’s not just grunt work – it’s research and environmentalism. We’re connecting the dots,” said Blanco, whose background is in marine science.

For example, “better reforestation practices means there’s less harmful erosion and pollutants going into the rivers and oceans,” Blanco said.

Moscow and Beyond At the U of I Experimental Forest (UIEF) specifically, one of the biggest experiments involves monitoring growth of a 30-acre area burned in 2014.

Edmond installing a weather station and soil moisture sensor at a research field site in Bovill, Idaho, May 2023.

“Now, We Let Them Burn” Beyond the nursery, recent wildfire related projects include “dose-response” experiments, where trees are subjected to increasing doses of fire intensity to see how they respond in terms of mortality, growth, and physiological changes after the fire. Different sensors are taken out to the forest to quantify energy release from the fire and its subsequent effects on the trees.

“This information is useful for prescribed fires. It can tell us what intensity level may be required for landowners to thin or maintain the trees they have. It also informs replanting needs required after a fire,” said Aaron Sparks, a CNR research faculty member who focuses on fire ecology and digital forestry.

Ph.D. student Alex Blanco is examining the effect of varying intensities of fire on younger trees. Blanco is currently working on dose-response experiments for western white pine and Douglas fir, but says that collectively, their current project includes a wider range, with eight species of younger plants aged up to approximately two years old.

“We’re seeing that trees exposed to more intense fires in 2014 are growing slower because they must allocate more resources for repair and maintenance. We’re seeing these results in both field-collected diameter cores from the trees, and in height measurements taken with LiDAR remote sensing,” Sparks said.

In October 2023, Sparks and Rob Keefe, professor and UIEF director, published “Integrating active fire behavior observations and multitemporal airborne laser scanning data to quantify fire impacts on tree growth: A pilot study in mature Pinus ponderosa stands” in Forest Ecology and Management, vol. 545. This LiDAR-based study measured the growth of individual trees for nine years following the 2014 treatments.

Both Nelson and Sparks say students contribute directly to these research projects and papers like this.

“We’re student focused. We have six different summer interns at the nursery – and 25 plus interns during the year – all funded through donations. The end goal is always to increase the flow of skilled people for the industry,” Nelson said.

Meanwhile, in the forest, students take measurements before, during, and after burns.

“We are varying the intensity of the fires and then observing the effects. At the end of the day, we want information from many species and ages to develop robust mathematical models to inform land management,” Blanco said.

“They plan treatments, do the prescribed burning, they monitor after, and then we’ve had several follow-up projects, such as Emily Yurcich’s project,” Keefe said. Yurcich is a Ph.D. student student of Charles Goebel, professor of forest ecosystem restoration and ecology and department head of Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences, who is studying how goats graze shrubs, and the effect that has on reforestation growth.

Right now, models are limited to adult trees. “Land managers need a better understanding of how much fuel – as in young growth – they may need to add or clear for a prescribed fire, depending on what they want for the land,” Blanco said.

Even though thousands of acres are currently being treated this way in Idaho, “we still don’t know how this affects seedlings,” Keefe emphasizes, let alone other ecological and sociological impacts.

COLLEGE OF NATURAL RESOURCES | 15

Dalyna (Lyn) Hannah, a forestry Ph.D. student, is also working with Keefe and Goebel to test how seedling phenology and soil chemical properties are affected by mastication. Mastication, or mulching, is a fuel reduction treatment that returns the forest to natural conditions.

At the UIEF in June 2023, “we created eight plots; four were masticated and four were nonmasticated. We planted a total of 800 seedlings including white pine, western larch, Douglas fir, and western red cedar,” Hannah said.

After planting, seedlings were measured in two rounds for height, DRC (diameter at root collar) and mortality rate. Also collected were five soil samples from each plot to compare the nitrogen levels held within the masticated and nonmasticated plots.

Hannah, a National Science Foundation fellow in the Bridge to Doctorate Program and Navajo Nation tribal member, says that they are working on methods to include indigenous knowledge into their research, with the long-term goal of improving mortality rates for tree species that have cultural significance to the indigenous community.

Through all reforestation efforts, the forest must be prepped for decades of growth, explains Keefe. That means that behind every reforestation endeavor is foundational work including management techniques such as prescribed burns to remove fuels and dangerous plant material before planting and studying seedlings can even begin.

Think of prescribed burns as a primary, real fire that enables future resiliency and more positive burns in the forest. Then, once trees are big enough, “we can burn in the understory, creating the possibility of multiple prescribed burns for generations of plants,” Keefe said.

In this way, the longevity of our forests is a team effort, not just here at U of I and in our Pacific Northwest forests, but around the world. Every individual plant and researcher play a role in regenerating the forest for generations to come.

Looking into the future, reforestation and restoration needs are only going to increase.

“Our forests and rangelands are facing so many challenges, from increased drought, wildland fire, invasive species, to insects and disease,” Goebel said. However, “It is exciting is that reforestation and restoration efforts provide a unique opportunity to help improve the health of our forests and rangelands, and our students and faculty are leading the way in many of these efforts.”

Article by Kelsey Evans, CNR Editor, June 2023.

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The 2014 prescribed burn at UIEF.

MAKING

HEADLINES MICROBES IN WILDFIRE SMOKE EARTH ISLAND JOURNAL Earth Island Journal highlighted Leda Kobziar’s work in the new field of pyroaerobiology by profiling the harmful microbes that could be found in wildfire smoke and the work scientists are doing to study and control them. Kobziar is an associate professor of Wildland Fire Science at U of I.

‘NEW STUDY EXAMINES STREAMFLOW PERMANENCE’ JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY

“HUMAN FOOTPRINT” PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE A new series examines the footprint left by humans on the natural world. The series is hosted by Shane Campbell-Staton and features Fish and Wildlife Sciences faculty Ryan Long. Long is featured in the second episode, which focuses on the role that humans play as top predators.

“The opening act of the episode was filmed at my home and my storyline revolved around the idea of hunting for food. I harvested a deer and walked Shane through preparing for a hunt, harvesting an animal and butchering that animal to feed my family. The segment closes with Shane sharing a game meal with my family while he and I discuss the role of hunting in conservation.” — Ryan Long

RESEARCH PUBLISHED ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CANCER AND PESTICIDE USE SCIENCE MAGAZINE Research by CNR faculty member Alan Kolok and postdoctoral student Naveen Joseph was recently featured in an editorial article in Science magazine. Kolok and Joseph’s research analyzed the relationship between cancer and pesticide use across Western states. A commentary by Kolok, Joseph and several others was published in response to the Science article by the Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry journal, Issue 8, Volume 42.

U of I’s Paul Gessler, professor of remote sensing and geospatial ecology in the Department of Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences, and doctoral student Konrad Hafen worked with a team from the U.S. Geological Survey to improve modeling and prediction of streamflow permanence. This research applied the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model in study areas of the Pacific Northwest that represent wet and dry climate gradients. Annual streamflow permanence was simulated using WEPP and validated using seasonal stream monitoring data.

COLLABORATION HELPS IDAHO’S FORESTS IDAHOME MAGAZINE Department of Earth and Spatial Sciences Professor Jeff Hicke, along with CNR associate professor Greg Latta, associate research professor of forest economics, co-authored a report detailing the effect of climate change on Idaho forests.

The report finds that areas of certain tree species may constrict as climate conditions get hotter and drier, but other species may thrive. The study examines how different forest management tactics, like tree planting and harvesting, might address climatic stressors.

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RESPONSE TO WORKFORCE CHALLENGES FORESTRESOURCES.ORG

IDENTIFYING POLAR BEARS

BY THEIR FOOTPRINT

LENA WHITMORE STUDENTS SNAG STEM AWARDS

GEOPHYSICAL INSTITUTE

DAILY NEWS

The Geophysical Institute featured Distinguished Professor of Wildlife Resources Lisette Waits’ discovery of a new method of wildlife sampling that involved sampling snow from polar bear footprints. These samples include cells that provide a DNA fingerprint and can provide insight into how the bears are surviving amidst a changing climate.

The Moscow-Pullman Daily News highlights two teams of students from Lena Whitmore Elementary School, the “Lena Beetle Busters” and the “Lena Salmon Spinners,” who both placed in the Idaho Exhibition of Ideas, which was held at U of I. Both teams were dedicated to creating 3D printed items to benefit plant and animal populations in Idaho.

Multiple new Associates of Science degrees within CNR were developed to provide training and to bridge graduates to employment to navigate the workforce shortage in the forestry industry.

SAGEBRUSH SHOW RESILIENCE THROUGH ADAPTING GENOMES IIDS NEWS U of I doctoral student Lukas Grossfurthner studied the genetics of sagebrush to analyze the plants’ capacity to adapt to a changing environment.

His work is featured in the Institute for Interdisciplinary Data Sciences.

RESEARCHERS STUDY UNDOMESTICATED HUCKLEBERRY CAPITAL PRESS U of I CNR researchers, including Pitkin Nursery Director Andrew Nelson and Extension Forestry Professor Randall Brooks, are working to understand what environmental threats and pests wild huckleberries need to overcome to thrive and meet the demands for picking.

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U OF I BIG FISH IN AQUACULTURE U OF I CALS NEWS U of I students, postdoctoral researchers and faculty involved in the Aquaculture Research Institute were a prominent presence at the Aquaculture America 2023 conference, which attracts top scientists from around the globe.

Jei (Jesse) Ma, research assistant professor (FWS/ARI) on the left and graduate student Moureen Matuha, doctoral candidate (FWS/ ARI), right.

U OF I RESEARCH PROVIDES GUIDANCE ON FUEL BREAKS FARMS.COM Eva Strand, associate professor of rangeland ecology and management, and Tim Prather, professor of Agricultural and Life Sciences, are collaborating with officials at the federal Bureau of Land Management in Twin Falls to better understand how and where to implement fuel breaks to control wildfires.

FEATURE

The B.S. in natural resource enterprise management, a new program in the department of Natural Resources and Society, combines traditional natural resource management curriculum with the College of Business’ entrepreneurship minor to teach students about private sector involvement, with attention to recreational perspectives.

The program will give students creative, entrepreneurial and private skills to manage natural resources, training them to be leaders who embrace the evolving relationships between landowners and government agencies.

Natural Resource Management Meets Entrepreneurship in New Degree Program

Veeneman helps a high-school student catch a hex trout, summer 2023.

“What’s happening in Idaho and across the country is that we are enjoying outdoor spaces more than ever. We need people who know how to steward and operate in those spaces. At U of I, we’ve been preparing students in conservation and recreation for decades, and now, we’ll be providing additional curriculum to address their interests – whether for starting a natural resource-related business, protecting an ecosystem using innovative methods, or both,” said Chris Zajchowski, assistant professor of parks, tourism, and recreation ecology. Zajchowski holds a joint position between U of I and Department of Idaho Parks and Recreation.

The degree offers two emphasis areas: natural resources stewardship, which prepares students for the management of natural resources by the private, non-profit, and public sectors, and natural resources development, which prepares students to manage their own natural resource-based businesses.

“Any career ranging from a recreation-oriented business, to working with the Bureau of Land Management or Idaho state parks, benefits from an entrepreneurship mindset,” Zajchowski said.

COLLEGE OF NATURAL RESOURCES | 19

WORKFORCE AND ECONOMIC NEED With the world’s outdoor recreation economy being just shy of one trillion dollars of output and growing, the degree is a timely addition to CNR’s programming.

The opportunities to advance business-oriented and privatesector approaches to natural resources management, outdoor recreation and conservation education have grown exponentially in recent years.

“It’s an innovative, interdisciplinary program that really benefits students for the way the market is moving, so that they can be nimble and respond to opportunities that don’t even exist yet,” Zajchowski said.

Some of the opportunities the degree prepares students for can be found with Idaho’s Department of Parks and Recreation, which administers 10 million dollars in state and federal grants a year to support outdoor recreation enterprises, infrastructure and development – and anyone in Idaho can apply for those funds. So, if a student wants to build a new boat ramp for their community, for example, they need to know about local ecology to how to navigate federal and state permit systems – in addition to forming a pitch, funding, and marketing their idea.

“The degree allows a student to gain experience formulating ideas in a team setting while understanding policies for recreation and conservation locally, nationally and internationally,” Zajchowski said.

Jason Veeneman, a master’s student in natural resources, says the community mindset of outdoor management, recreation and education is essential. Veeneman is working with Zajchowski on an independent study for his capstone titled “Youth Engagement in Natural Resources.” For the project, Veeneman is organizing a future fly-fishing camp in partnership with Trout Unlimited, a nonprofit dedicated to freshwater conservation.

“Chris is very practical, which has helped me put this study together in that it’s not just a project for a course – it’s a way to help a positive organization, Trout Unlimited, with outreach, recruitment and stream restoration projects,” Veeneman said.

For the camp, Veeneman is planning to have educational activities with fisheries and aquatic biologists, US Forest Service employee, local fly fishers, and he is collaborating with local businesses including fly shops, lodging and restaurants.

“It’s a community mindset that’s entrepreneurial in nature, because we want to all support each other. It’s only through these local businesses and entrepreneurs in this industry that our conservation efforts and educational opportunities

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can happen. Without them and their dedication to our organization, we wouldn’t exist. And for the students, they get to see opportunities to work in outdoor sectors through either government agencies, but also through local businesses,” Veeneman said.

Given that Veeneman’s proposed camp is designed for older teenagers who are gearing up for college and future careers, it could directly encourage students to pursue NREM degree.

“There is a gap in education for the outdoor recreation industry for 18 to 25-year-olds and this type of camp will help fill it,” Veeneman said.

THE ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET For the entrepreneurship side of the degree, students will start with an ideation and design course, and then move onto a second course, focused on feasibility analysis. Then, they will take “business models” to learn effective ways to bring that idea to the market through costumer relationships.

Students will then dive into their choice of relevant courses such as intellectual property, prototyping, small business marketing and financing, social ventures for non-profits, NGOs and technology start-ups.

The addition of natural resources students to entrepreneurship projects will make a crucial impact.

“Interdisciplinary teams are the hallmark of entrepreneurship.

Less than half our students are business majors. We need biologists, engineers, communication students, computer scientists – every discipline,” said George Tanner, Idaho entrepreneur director and senior instructor of entrepreneurship in the College of Business and Economics.

CNR students will be able to connect their natural resource management ideas to not just fellow students, but other resources.

“Entrepreneurship is experiential, but we are trying to build real businesses, from idea to launch. And we use competition platforms to help fund those projects. That money goes directly to those students and their businesses,” Tanner said.

“As new CNR-specific courses are developed, natural resource ideas stay at the forefront of every program and course for NREM,” Tanner said.

Article by Kelsey Evans, CNR Editor, June 2023.

FEATURE

HUMAN DIMENSIONS of Natural Resources Management

Kenneth Wallen, associate professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Society, teams with Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) to learn people’s opinions on how natural resources should be used.

Working with doctoral student Kerrick Robinson, Wallen is also interviewing hunters across Idaho to give IDFG a clearer picture of why people may or may not be satisfied with recreation and hunting access in Idaho.

When you think about fish and wildlife management, do you think about the people? We often consider species and habitat but forget the human element, which completes the triad of management — species, habitat and people. Wallen helps ensure people’s viewpoints are included in management decisions and actions.

Both of these projects require a lot of on-the-ground fieldwork and public engagement. Wallen’s research group talks with managers, wildlife viewers and all types of outdoor recreationists.

“People and nature are not separate. We are a part of the problems and the solutions,” Wallen said.

“Everyone thinks of [recreation] access in different ways. It’s multidimensional: each person and agency have a different stance,” Wallen said.

The human dimensions of natural resource management focuses on that human element and its interaction with species and habitat. Wallen holds a joint position with CNR and IDFG, allowing his research to be directly integrated into state management plans and policy.

“It increases the capacity of IDFG to make informed management decisions based on rigorous data, such as surveys of hunters and their needs, wants and behaviors,” Wallen said.

One study, for example, asks how IDFG can incentivize anglers to harvest rainbow trout to better conserve native cutthroat trout in southeast Idaho.

“We have to find a balance between catch, release and harvest so we can eliminate the need for IDFG to use other methods,” Wallen said.

HEAR MORE ON HUMAN DIMENSIONS: Listen to Wallen and other U of I researchers discuss a wide variety of topics on “The Vandal Theory Podcast.” Season 6, Episode 3

COLLEGE OF NATURAL RESOURCES | 21

FEATURE

THE FISH AND WILDLIFE

Summer Internship Experience DIVERSITY OF INTERNSHIPS HELMED BY NATIONWIDE ALUMNI CONNECTIONS At the core of every U of I Fish and Wildlife student’s experience is an internship built upon generations and networks of support. As a requirement for a B.S. in Fisheries or Wildlife Sciences, internships ensure that every student has an in-depth opportunity by working for state and federal agencies that manage fish and wildlife and their habitats. They also work for organizations such as the Student Conservation Association and the Nature Conservancy, aquaculture companies, Tribes, wildlife rehabilitation centers and zoos. Many students do on-the-ground research with U of I faculty and staff, as well as with alumni in their respective agencies and positions.

“Internships are a unique component of our undergraduate education program that makes our students highly competitive for jobs after graduation,” said Lisette Waits, distinguished professor of Wildlife Sciences.

PARTNERING WITH LOCAL AGENCIES WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE In 2015, Bob Dice, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (WDFW) manager for the Chief Joseph and Asotin Creek wildlife areas of the Blue Mountains region, and a U of I ’89 alum, helped set up a program to host two summer interns every year. Dice, then Fish & Wildlife department head Kerry Reese, and later Waits, created a contract between the WDFW and U of I for student internships funded by agricultural lease income from the Asotin Creek Wildlife Area. This allows students to be paid for their hands-on work experience.

Dice is proud that the program helps teach students of all levels essential skills, including everything from towing trailers to fence repair to communication skills, all of which are crucial for obtaining jobs after graduation.

be professional references, and help me find other WDFW job opportunities,” Charlet said.

As a result, Charlet made valuable connections.

“The internship led to my current position by giving me the opportunity to introduce myself to WDFW. It has been my experience that if you show yourself as a valuable employee, your coworkers will help you achieve your goal,” Charlet said.

Dice fondly remembers a 2016 dedication ceremony for the 4-O Ranch Wildlife Area, a 10,000-acre subunit of Chief Joseph Wildlife Area. Amongst the Agency workers, legislators, Nez Perce Tribal representatives and community members that gathered for the ceremony, “our interns were there to help. After, they sat on the grass having lunch with the director of WDFW, U of I alum Jim Unsworth,” Dice said.

“Some of our great U of I/WDFW interns are now in permanent positions with WDFW, such as Emma Charlet, Oak Creek Wildlife Area assistant manager at WDFW, and Reagan Barron Harris, private lands/ wildlife conflict technician in Colville,” Dice said.

Wade Hammon, Wildlife Resources ’23, WDFW Summer 2022 intern.

Emma Charlet went into her internship wanting to prove herself as a hardworking, competent and reliable employee.

David Woodall, Chief Joseph and Asotin Creek Wildlife Area Assistant Manager, works with Dice in Clarkston to keep the program running. Woodall conducts interviews and networks before and after internships. Throughout the year, Woodall also regularly hosts daily field trips for other students as a part of the mentor/ mentee program in the course “Fish and Wildlife Applications” taught by Waits.

“I had supervisors that were willing to make introductions to other WDFW staff,

Woodall tries to be understanding and patient with all students. He knows that

Emma Charlet, summer 2019.

Grace Holwagner, a senior Wildlife Sciences major with a human-wildlife interactions emphasis, interning for IDFG in summer 2023, removing a tooth from a harvested mountain lion to determine age.

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it might be their first time interviewing, interning and getting work experience.

“I try to encourage them to open up about their passions and goals. I tell them that you have to start somewhere,” Woodall said.

Woodall especially enjoys mentoring because he never had this chance when he was at U of I. “I was a non-traditional student. So anytime I can help and tell them what it takes to be successful and give them direction, it’s especially gratifying,” Woodall said.

IDAHO FISH AND GAME Similarly, U of I internship collaborations are gaining momentum at IDFG. In 2022, a new program through state operations debuted, thanks to collaborations between Waits, Chip Corsi (alum, former member of the CNR advisory board, and recently retired IDFG Panhandle regional director), and JJ Teare (alum and IDFG’s Clearwater supervisor). The program has grown to 12 students in summer 2023.

Laura Wolf, regional wildlife biologist from the Panhandle; Cassie Sundquist, fish production program coordinator, and Matt Falcy, of the U of I USGS COOP unit, also played major roles in this growth.

“You get the right people in the right place, with similar attitudes and drives, and then you can be creative to develop programs, such as the U of I-IDFG internship program, which makes a big difference in a lot of students’ lives and careers,” Teare said.

AQUACULTURE RESEARCH INSTITUTE Fishery Sciences students can pursue an internship with the U of I Aquaculture Research Institute (ARI), which offers two positions directly through CNR every summer: one in Moscow, and one in Hagerman in Magic Valley region, where about 75% of the country’s farmed trout are produced.

Ethan Leininger, a Fisheries Science major and aquaculture minor, spent the summer of 2023 working on the hatchery crew at the ARI Hagerman Fish Culture Experiment Station, where he played an integral role in collecting genetic samples used in various fish studies. Leininger has a strong interest in aquaculture, having previously worked at Mt. Lassen California Trout and Steelhead farm in Northern California. As an intern at Hagerman, he learned new aquaculture management skills and how to apply critical thinking to solving hatchery and aquaculture problems.

Hallie Morris, an Ecology and Conservation Biology major, showcases that internships like these are not limited to Fisheries or Wildlife Resources majors.

Morris has made the most of her time at U of I, starting with an IDFG internship in 2021, in addition to being an ARI intern in Hagerman in 2023.

The goal of the program, to Teare, is to make the internship experience a part of “what we do, as alumni and within our agency. It’s something we build together.”

Not only does the student have an unforgettable experience, but the agency gets great help.

“It allows IDFG to use operating funds to give back. And it helps IDFG to develop and recruit new talent in a collaborative way,” Teare said.

Leininger, center front, taking fin clips for genetic analysis in the fish culture lab at the ARI Hagerman Fish Culture Experiment Station, 2023.

The program is still adapting and becoming even more accessible for underclassmen.

“I always look back on those first jobs I had and thought ‘I made it’ – but to be doing that a freshman or sophomore now – that’s something else,” Teare said.

Morris corralling fish at the Moscow ARI lab, 2023.

“My first internship was very broad but amazing. I helped with population surveys, replanted after fires, cleaned up refuges, learned to snorkel and more. In 2023, I further learned about the inner workings of ARI by helping with experiments, sampling, feedings and daily maintenance tasks. My internships meant a lot to me, and I’m thankful as they cemented my drive to have a successful career in natural resources once I graduate,” Morris said.

At all locations, CNR ARI interns participate in hands-on aquaculture research, in addition to learning more specialized expertise depending on their interests and the systems at their location, such as recirculating aquaculture water reuse systems for trout, salmon, burbot and tilapia in Moscow, and flow through systems for trout, salmon and sturgeon in Hagerman, for example,” said Brian Small, professor of fish physiology and director of the Aquaculture Research Institute.

ARI also hosts interns from other programs and fellowships, such as NSF EPSCoR Summer Authentic Research Experiences (SARE), IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE), Adele Berklund Scholars and the Mandela Young African Leaders scholars.

Biannually, ARI interns also participate in the Coldwater Aquaculture workshop, an intensive one-week workshop put on by ARI to provide training to new and seasoned IDFG hatchery staff, aquaculture company staff, regional tribal hatchery staff and U of I students.

Small’s favorite aspect of the internships is mentoring students, helping them

Morris helping with Hummingbird banding.

COLLEGE OF NATURAL RESOURCES | 23

identify their interests and get excited about fisheries and aquaculture.

“Jose Ortiz, for example, was another exemplary intern. He was a sophomore and wasn’t too sure what he wanted to do, but by the end of the internship, he decided he was going to pursue his master’s in natural resources with a focus in trout and salmon appetite regulation, looking at how different fatty acids in the feed might stimulate fish to eat more and grow more,” Small said.

“We take young pups less than 10-days old from captive sites across the United States and put them into wild dens.”

The mothers readily adopt the now wild pups, but research is still taking place to determine how successful the process is.

The important part, Oakleaf emphasizes, is that “nothing happens in a vacuum.

Oftentimes, for an endangered species, there’s a lot of collaboration and on-theground work from students.”

programs and host students directly. We look forward to continuing to grow this program with our current partners and new future partners,” Waits said.

Article by Kelsey Evans, CNR Editor, June 2023.

As the first ever summer intern at the Hagerman ARI in 2019, Ortiz worked under the supervision of faculty researcher Vikas Kumar for a project on Nile tilapia entitled “Novel Feed Ingredient (processed soybean meal, EnzoMealTM) for Sustainable Aquaculture.” Ortiz then received an Adele Berklund Scholarship to do another internship on appetite regulation in trout, which led to his interest in pursuing his M.S. degree.

Scan to learn more about the ARI.

Alexander (Zander) Dash, environmental science major and fisheries resources minor ’24, interned summer 2023 for IDFG at the Pahsimeroi Fish Hatchery.

Corbin Scott, Wildlife Resources, ’24, working hard at his USFWS Mexican wolf summer 2023 internship.

U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE At the national level, John Oakleaf, U of I M.S. ’02 and Mexican wolf field projects coordinator for US Fish & Wildlife Service, has hosted students for the last five years.

“Interns do a lot of on the ground management,” Oakleaf said.

Interns get to the heart of the issue, working on proactive projects to prevent conflict with land users.

Another way students contribute to research is by collecting and running genetics analyses from Mexican wolf scat.

They do pedigree analyses in the wild and document animals.

“If you can connect enough scat from puppies, you can reconstruct the DNA and find out who the parents are,” Oakleaf explains.

Oakleaf’s team is fostering pups to increase genetic diversity.

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ALUMNI CHAMPIONS For every student internship, there’s a team of supporters and organizers.

Many students and mentors point to one individual, Lisette Waits, for making their internship experience possible.

“Lisette has helped establish the studentinternship experience as a pillar of the FW department,” said Janet Rachlow, professor of wildlife ecology and department head of Fish and Wildlife Sciences.

Both Rachlow and Waits are humble, though, crediting alumni specifically.

“Alumni have spearheaded the development of the programs and helped come up with funding at their agencies, in addition to contributing to the Fish and Wildlife Excellence Fund, which we are using to support these partnerships with federal agencies. They model and adapt cooperative partnerships, projects,

Liam Ryan, wildlife resources with a wildlife science and management emphasis ’24, completed a summer 2023 wildlife internship with IDFG in the Craig Mountain wildlife area.

FEATURE

KEEPING

UP

with Taylor Wilderness Research Station

For Ph.D. student Grace Peven, Taylor Ranch is a special place. “Taylor is the reason I applied to graduate school at U of I. With large patches of burned forest, steep rocky canyons, and few maintained trails, the Frank Church wilderness is an unforgiving and difficult place for human travel. The inaccessibility of this place allows the non-human world to run through its constant cycles of disturbance, renewal, and change. Water is a key driver of the cycle of change here.

For this reason, I was drawn to research how water and ecosystems interact to maintain wild watersheds in the Frank Church wilderness. Taylor opens access to an inaccessible place so that researchers like me can better understand how wild environments function.”

Research at Taylor Wilderness Research Station, or Taylor Ranch as known by most, provides essential data about relationships between the earth and its

Taylor Wilderness Research Station is located in the heart of Idaho’s Frank Church - River of No Return Wilderness — the largest contiguous wilderness area in the lower 48 states. It is the only university-operated research station located in a federally designated wilderness.

As part of CNR since 1969, Taylor offers unparalleled ecosystem-based research, monitoring and education.

Accessible only by light aircraft or a 35-mile hike, the field station allows long-term research and hands-on learning for students. Undergraduates in the Semester in the Wild program take an integrated set of courses in the sciences and humanities while gaining direct field experience. Undergraduate students may also assist with research projects in a variety of areas — from herpetology to fire management — through the Bleak and DeVlieg internships.

Graduate student assistantship programs offer collaborative interdisciplinary research opportunities in several natural resource areas.

inhabitants that are hard to collect in populated areas. Taylor Ranch not only serves university students, but also draws faculty from many other institutions.

Idaho Fish and Game, US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA and many other international weather and environmental monitoring entities come to Taylor Ranch to conduct independent research.

Interns use a repurposed U of I dairy hay fork to throw loose hay, 2022.

funds needed to fully endow programs and operations at Taylor Ranch. This will provide financial protection for this very special place for future generations of students and researchers. We’re planning new opportunities to share this wonderful place with more people, including life-long learners, researchers from universities and other entities, and larger numbers of U of I students,” said Dean Dennis Becker As of Fall 2023, generous donors have given almost $900,000 towards this $4 million endowment goal through gifts of cash, appreciated stock, Required Minimum Distributions, Qualified Charitable Distributions, donor advised funds, family foundations, and bequest documentation as part of estate planning.

For Mary Ellen Brewick, Director of Development for CNR, fundraising for Taylor Ranch is one of “the best parts of her job.”

SUPPORT TAYLOR To ensure that we continue offering immersive educational and research opportunities in America’s wildest classroom, CNR has embarked on a fundraising effort to raise $4 million for the Taylor Operational Endowment by 2026.

“Over the next three years, we are working on securing the remainder of the

Jim Akenson, Janet DeVlieg Pope, Gabriella Green and U of I President C. Scott Green (all donors to Taylor Ranch) at the Summer 2023 Taylor Intern Reunion in McCall, Idaho.

COLLEGE OF NATURAL RESOURCES | 25

“Taylor Ranch is fortunate to have so many champions, both individuals who send charitable gifts, and private foundations who fund student scholarships and research support. Some people choose to document a bequest to Taylor when they are working on their estate plans. For example, we were recently honored by the trust of William B. Wallace to create an endowment in his name. To reach our goal of a fully funded operations endowment, we will need financial support from more of our friends and alumni. Gifts of any size make a difference to our students, so please reach out to me at mebrewick@ uidaho.edu if you would like to discuss how you can contribute!”

and fuel reduction take place to protect facilities from wildfire. Game cameras are positioned, and hydrology equipment is calibrated. Graduate students from the McCall Outdoor Science School also make their annual spring trip to capstone their year-long intensive training.

Hermann is grateful for the mentorship provided by Armstrong, who taught them to prepare for fire season, how to build fences, work with hydropower and repair traditional hay-mowing equipment.

“Andrew’s patience while teaching me and Bella how to complete projects around the ranch was a great reminder that we all come from different backgrounds and therefore have different skills to offer and learn from one another,” Hermann said.

LETTERS FROM TAYLOR

For all interns, gaining confidence in themselves is a part of the Taylor journey.

Taylor Ranch superintendent Andrew Armstrong, along with interns, is expanding research opportunities and reviving cherished traditions.

As Armstrong describes it, “winter is project time.” He and his crew work on winterizing buildings, landscaping, and keeping up with the animals, tools, plumbing, and pests, as well as inventory and repair of scientific instruments and generators.

“It’s time to go through files, take stock of Taylor’s history and think about how to display things that have disappeared into the shadows of Taylor’s history,” Armstrong said. As Armstrong describes it, winter is “raw. All the wolves and predators come down and make kills on the creek. The creek is frozen in beautiful green ice. Otters come up in the holes in the ice. It’s cold and dark and a struggle for everything living. But there is stark simplicity to winter which allows for reflection and focus.”

With spring comes new growth in the pastures and preparations for the approaching season. Prescribed burns

Wiuter at Taylor Ranch

26 | WINTER 2023 - 24

to needing to adapt; however, living out in the backcountry requires a different type of creativity. Whether it’s changing weather conditions, making use of available tools and equipment to fix the hydropower, or trying to install metal fence posts into rocky ground, there’s never a dull project,” Hermann said.

Elizabeth Hermann and Andrew Armstrong measure water quality at a spring.

Summer brings internship students, such as Jack Kreddell, Grave Peven, Bella Canifax-Broesch and Elizabeth Herrmann.

In 2022, Kreddell, an ENVS Ph.D. student, worked on a GIS-based archival project about TWRS that accounts for the human voices, desires, and relationships that collectively inform Taylor’s history as a scientific field station. “The goal of the project is to narrate Taylor by digitally re-situating or grafting its human history onto the breathtaking and remote physical environment for which Taylor is known by combining video storytelling and GIS mapping,” Kreddell said.

Hermann was immediately awestruck by Taylor Ranch.

“When Weller (my dog) and I first stepped out of the plane on a blue-bird Wednesday morning, we were greeted by Andrew Armstrong, Grace Peven, Bella CanifaxBroesch, and Andrew’s dogs. While I was excited to greet my friend and two new colleagues, I was completely awestruck by the landscape and struggled to actively participate in the conversation,” Hermann said.

One of Hermann’s favorite things about working on the ranch is having to constantly adapt and brainstorm to find solutions. “As a student, I’m accustomed

“The biggest thing I’ve gotten out of this internship is independence. I’ve also gained a lot of confidence in myself and my ability to learn and do things,” CanifaxBroesch said.

With Fall comes Semester in the Wild (SITW), where students of different disciplines spend a semester together at Taylor learning ecology, environmental writing, wilderness management, outdoor leadership and environmental history.

“SITW has been amazing. There is a wonderful community back here – we have 11 students, a grad student, professors Scott Slovic, Brian Kennedy, Jaap Vos, and Kerri Clements. Students do ranch work, cooking, packing, chores, studies, hunting, packing meat, hiking and adventuring, trail work, gardening, hide tanning, wood cutting, archery, painting and taking care of stock,” Armstrong said.

Other Fall 2022 highlights included collaborations with the Idaho National Lab to install a high precision GPS instrument for tracking motion of earth’s tectonic plates, and the Idaho Geological Survey, which installed a seismometer for measuring earthquakes. Visitors included U of I President Scott Green, CNR Dean Dennis Becker, Boise State University students and many other researchers and companions.

Per tradition, Fall 2023 is carrying out another great year. Research and field season preparations are underway, and there is a new cohort of 12 eager SITW students immersing themselves in all Taylor has to offer.

FEATURE

Students hiking down from Rush Lookout, Fall 2022.

Semester in the Wild students ready for a day of trail-work, Fall 2022.

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SKI TRAILS

For northern Idaho residents, the arrival of winter brings with it a variety of frigid fun, including the popular winter sport, crosscountry skiing. University of Idaho Forestry students and faculty are providing more resources for cross country skiers within the U of I Experimental Forest (UIEF) on Moscow Mountain.

Rob Keefe, UIEF director, and students set about grooming the ski trails this last winter. Since the creation of the trails, students have been grooming them with snowmobiles regularly during the snowy season to keep them fresh. These maintenance practices allow U of I students to gain experience in recreation management.

So far, the ski trails have been a success. “We issued 160 permits, and they brought far more people with them,” Keefe said. The UIEF even hosted the ‘Vandal Swoosh 7K’ on January 28, 2023, an untimed Nordic skiing race to celebrate the opening of the new trails.

The ski trails could be the beginning of more non-motorized recreational access within the UIEF and collaboration with local groups.

“It’s a community gem,” Keefe says, “It’s a way to fulfill the UIEF mission of research, teaching, and demonstration, so it helps us share that information and allows people who might not know much about forestry to come out and ski and learn something.”

Skiers can access the trails at Flat Creek and Cabin Creek off Idaho Highway 9. To learn more about the trails and the UIEF, patrons can complete a free Cross Country Skiing Permit form on CNR’s UIEF webpage. Downloadable trail maps for Flat Creek and West Hatter are also available. Donations are accepted to support the grooming of the trails.

Article by Megan Lolley, Writer in Residence, September 2023.

COLLEGE OF NATURAL RESOURCES | 27

FEATURE

Dive into CNR’s New Digital Archives Database here:

“LIVING ARCHIVES” VISUALIZING IDAHO’S HISTORY AND LAND

to UIEF research and related content to help inspire scientific inquiry and inform forestry and natural resource management. It brings together a variety of sources including historical press, outreach materials, publications, theses and dissertations, presentations, and other research products.

The UIEF Research Exchange and its contributors, along with Bruce Godfrey, U of I GIS Librarian, are also compiling digital and visual archives to create the new UIEF Web Mapping Application, called “UIEF 4.0,” which enables users to explore GIS datasets to support research, teaching, and collaborations among departments and colleges across campus.

“The UIEF 4.0 web app is neat because it includes our new, cutting-edge LiDAR digital inventory combined with almost a century of historical data,” Rob Keefe, Director of the UIEF, said. Historical data includes items like 10 georeferenced maps of fire history from the early 1900s, vegetation cover type, ownership, and building locations on Moscow Mountain in the 1930s, logbooks and images, while LiDAR inventory, or “light detection and ranging”

In 1987, Pat Hayward records measurements of 26-day old boreal owl, at nest site in Chamberlain Basin to determine patterns of growth and development. The young owl and its sibling were removed from their nest cavity for only a couple minutes every five days for measurements.

Documentation plays an integral part in building a legacy of natural resource expertise. And as for CNR’s archives, the future – and past – are bright.

The U of I library is always growing data repositories, digitalized collections, and finding aids for archives. Repositories feature data of all kinds, including documents, correspondence, brochures, pictures, journals, video and audio files, and GIS information such as “INSIDE Idaho,” a collection that provides information about the state from a spatial perspective.

There are collections on the Rangeland Center, Taylor Ranch, Women in Natural Resources, and the Idaho Forester, to name just a few, as well as collections on long-term studies such as Adult Salmon and Steelhead Migration from 1996-2014.

One of the many CNR related growing data repositories, the U of I Experimental Forest’s (UIEF) Research Exchange, was released in May 2023. This is an active, living database that provides access 28 | WINTER 2023 - 24

Prescribed burn on Moscow Mountain.

See the Digital UIEF Research Exchange here:

imagery, includes precise, 3D scans giving information about the forest terrain.

The Research Exchange will continue to grow as a living archive. “Every time someone publishes research, they are now required to submit to this database.

It spans the whole forest history, we’re always adding to it, and everyone can access it,” Keefe said.

In addition to new research, UIEF staff and students including Axel (Andrea) Wall (B.S. environmental science ’23) and Kelsey Roach (B.S. forestry ’22) have worked with U of I Library Digital Librarian Evan Williamson to locate, digitize and reference past articles for the research exchange. This work helps improve the quality over time and has made it possible to reference the locations of past studies on the UIEF to help inform current and future research.

As with all projects documenting history, “It’s a collaborative work in progress,” said Jeremy Kenyon, U of I’s research librarian specializing in Natural Resources. “It inspires scientific inquiry and informs forestry and natural resource management.’

“The UIEF has been in the college for 90 years, and now we have a place to analyze and reflect upon that history,” Keefe said.

The expansion of UIEF archives is a part of a wider endeavor to make geospatial information more available. Much of the work on the UIEF 4.0 web application took place at the Library’s Data Hub, a space for geospatial and data science support and collaboration.

Web GIS is just one innovation of technology which “has evolved significantly over the past two decades to a point where it is much more accessible to a wide range of users.” With UIEF 4.0, “Rob Keefe is taking advantage of that to share geospatial data and information,” Godfrey said.

Historically, U of I has been a foundation for GIS information, beginning in the late 1990s with “INSIDE Idaho,” the geospatial data clearinghouse for the State of Idaho. “INSIDE has served as a valuable geospatial data discovery resource,” Godfrey said.

According to Godfrey, U of I is also host to a number of GIS resources such as Idaho’s recent and historical georeferenced aerial imagery, which is publicly accessible.

As for other CNR-related sources of information, the Library and the Center for Digital Inquiry and Learning (CDIL) are taking initiatives to improve quality and accessibility.

In accordance with the University’s Maurice Hornocker and a mountain lion with a marking device in the central land-grant Idaho primitive area, 1968 [Library Archive file location PG 1 255-06] mission, the library has only available to U of I affiliations because public-facing of licensing agreements, the library can federal and state government-produced still offer help to the public by providing reports for everyone to access. “Our access. information is a treasure trove waiting for the public to dive in. The library has been a “We might be able to provide physical pillar since the beginning of the university, access in the building. And if there’s only so our resources go back over a century,” one or two articles that an individual has Kenyon said. in mind, they might be available from the As of Fall 2023, CDIL has produced a new, extensive digital collection dedicated to all types of CNR materials. The collection allows website users to view a comprehensive timeline, as well as search by subject keywords, titles and dates. This is thanks to archivists such as Flori Tulli, who have organized, scanned, described and made the materials digitally available.

Tulli says that CDIL helps students, faculty and collaborators campus-wide create engaging multimedia projects.

“Whether you’re working on a fellowship or independent research, CDIL can help make it more accessible through digital platforms,” Tulli said.

Other CNR repositories are housed in the special collections, which are material archives located at the library. The library also has a new finding aid for these CNR-related primary materials, making navigating physical archives much easier.

What isn’t on the shelves is usually a part of the library’s large breadth of subscriptions. While some journals are Finding Aid for Navigating CNR’s Physical Archives

local public library,” Kenyon clarified.

Kenyon says he enjoys helping students with their research. “I recently had a student come in for a forest policy project to study the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974. You could see everything about the Act from BLM reports, public hearings, expert testimonies and more. He ended up leaving with a huge stack of books about how the legislation came into being.

Sometimes, you don’t know where to look, or where to start, but librarians are always happy to help,” Kenyon said.

With this, it’s clear that the past and future of research information, and its accessibility, is becoming brighter for not just U of I students, but for adjacent natural resource and data researchers and the greater public.

Article by Kelsey Evans, CNR Editor, June 2023.

Explore Kenyon’s CNR Library Guides here. Library guides

are helpful tools for navigating specific topics or courses.

COLLEGE OF NATURAL RESOURCES | 29

FEATURE

ANCIENT CHARCOAL DIG

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH COMBINES LOVE OF FRENCH AND NATURAL RESOURCES Charcoal may just be burned wood to hikers who step over it and leave it behind as they forge ahead through landscapes once touched by fire.

To Peter Goebel, charcoal, especially the kind found in an excavation in the Nevada desert, can lead to an investigative journey that crosses the Atlantic to a science lab in Nice, France, and back to Idaho.

Goebel, ecology and conservation biology ’23, spent three months in Fall 2022 in Nice, analyzing data collected from discs of charcoal and comparing it with specimens that resulted when early humans burned Mormon tea and sagebrush south of West Wendover, Nevada. Researchers sought to learn how early humans used wood and fire for daily tasks.

“The work he will present to us when it’s completed integrates his interests in biological field and laboratory studies, languages and international collaboration,” Strand said. “Through his senior research project Peter has gained experience working with teams in field and laboratory settings, and across the globe.”

Duplicating burn patterns and cracks in discs of wood cut from Mormon tea and sage and comparing them to ancient samples helps researchers better understand the relationship ancient humans had to their environment, particularly how they used certain woody species for preparing food or for heat.

The research, which falls under the banner of anthracology, is a mix of archaeology, anthropology and ecology.

Goebel, who learned French at Moscow High before enrolling at U of I, was unsure what project to pursue to cap his undergraduate degree when he learned of the French researchers studying ancient campsites in the high desert.

“Researchers look at the microanatomy in a piece of charcoal from 20,000 years ago and are able to identify, using comparative morphology and other clues, a variety of information about the paleoenvironment,” Goebel said.

The idea of visiting the sites intrigued him, and he soon got to know the scientists who invited him to join their work and pursue a final undergraduate project.

Goebel and French researchers inspected radial shrinkage cracks made when wood burns and used those to differentiate if the wood was burned green or seasoned.

“They needed someone to look at charcoal and to help extrapolate information,” said Goebel, who worked with the French team in Reno, Nevada before flying to Nice for a several months of data analysis.

“That can imply a lot about early humans’ relationship to wood in the Great Basin,” he said. “If it was green wood, it may imply a technical adaptation, because green wood burns longer than seasoned wood, so green wood may have been advantageous for a certain function.”

“We did field collection of live specimens in the desert and burned those discs of wood at the Desert Research Institute in Reno,” Goebel said. “I hung out there for a month, before heading to France to run some more analysis.”

Fuel use systems and how wood was acquired was also investigated, he said.

An Adele Berklund scholarship helped pay for a portion of Goebel’s research, and he was also awarded a $1,000 U of I Office of Research and Economic Development scholarship.

Goebel did not consider melding a minor in French and a natural resource degree into a career path, but the experience he acquired studying burned wood on two continents has broadened his horizons.

Professor Eva Strand, professor of rangeland ecology and management and CNR associate dean of academic affairs, said watching Goebel piece together a senior project that included his many interests was fascinating.

“The experience in France changed my trajectory,” he said. “I had always considered being a marine biologist, but working in dirt, with charcoal and archaeology, it opened up so many options.”

Article by Ralph Bartholdt, May 2023.

30 | WINTER 2023 - 24

ALUMNI

ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT in memory JOHN BLACK John Black, 73, a longstanding member of the CNR family, passed away in his Moscow home on March 26, 2023. John graduated from Moscow High School in 1967 before going on to receive a B.A. in Architecture from U of I, which led to his work in hydrology with the US Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station. He fostered an interest in combining technology and art and is remembered for his graphic design and photography work for the Fire Research and Management Exchange System (FRAMES) in the Department of Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences from 2000 to 2021. His work is housed on various websites, conference brochures and in Phinney Hall.

An avid traveler and nature enthusiast, John and his wife, Fiona, spent a lot of time enjoying the views at their primitive cabin on Lake Coeur d’Alene. They loved touring the Northwest, the Oregon Coast, Canada and Paris when it was possible. John entertained multiple hobbies, such as disc golf, climbing, rollerblading, bicycling and virtual racing on PlayStation. His life was also enhanced by his love of music, and he often quoted the words of Kurt Vonnegut: “No matter how corrupt, greedy, and heartless our government, our corporations, our media, and our religious and charitable institutions may become, the music will still be wonderful.”

DONALD P. HANLEY Donald P. Hanley, 76, passed on Sept. 2, 2023. In 1974, Don began at U of I as a research associate before becoming a forestry instructor. Don then moved to WSU in 1983 to become an Extension Forestry Professor, where he had a unique position coordinating research findings between WSU and University of Washington. In 1978, Don became the Idaho State Extension Forester. In that role, he traveled across Idaho to educate citizens on tree-related issues. Throughout his life, Don was an exceptional leader through the Society of American Foresters and he was a founding member and first president of the Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals (ANREP), an education program for natural resource professionals. Don was instrumental in the establishment of the National Resource Extension Education Fund (NREEF), a charitable foundation that funds educational opportunities for extension professionals.

CHARLES “CHUCK” HARRIS Charles “Chuck” Harris, 73, professor emeritus in the Department of Natural Resources and Society, passed on March 15, 2023. Chuck spearheaded interdisciplinary research through his understanding of English, social psychology, economics and theology to advance studies of human and organizational behavior. He wrote extensively about human interactions with

the environment and was a mentor to students and faculty in the college, helping them to appreciate natural resource policies. Retiring in 2015, he devoted his time to being involved and active in the Unitarian Universality Church of the Palouse.

Excelling in his roles as researcher, husband, father and mentor, Chuck’s impact and legacy continue to shape CNR’s social science program and inspire students in the college.

CHARLES “CHUCK” R. HATCH Charles “Chuck” R. Hatch, 80, dean emeritus, passed away October 10 after a long fight with cancer. Chuck attended the University of Montana in 1964 and paid for his education by fighting fires and smoke jumping during the summers. Following graduation, he worked for the USFS in California as well as the Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station in Bozeman, Montana. He then earned a Master of Forestry degree from Oregon State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.

He began his academic career in 1971 as an assistant professor at Southern Illinois University, before coming to U of I, where he then dedicated 34 years to academic and administrative positions, including 9 years on international assignments in India and Pakistan and 6 years (1995-2001) as Dean of the College of Forestry (now CNR). Chuck retired as Vice President for Research at U of I. Many remember him as a visionary leader and hard worker who helped to modernize the college and create the stability we enjoy today.

HAROLD LEE OSBORNE Harold Lee Osborne, 76, U of I Experimental Forest Manager from 1978 to 2003, passed away on Feb. 10, 2023. In addition to serving as the forest manager, he worked in the college as a research assistant, research associate and instructor from 1972 to 1983. He was integral in the creation of the Sustainable Forestry Tour, an annual event for high school teachers that continues today. Harold also oversaw the Student Logging Crew, which is now in its 50th year of operation. A hard worker until the end, he co-taught a workshop on the fire ecology of the ponderosa pine in September 2022, and his last prescribed burn occurred a month later.

Harold worked intensively on prescribed fire research with Leon Neuenschwander as UIEF Manager. This happened alongside his development of multiple demonstration areas used to highlight silvicultural systems, fuel treatments, smallscale logging practices and prescribed fire use. He enjoyed connecting with students and landowners through learning, and

COLLEGE OF NATURAL RESOURCES | 31

his enthusiasm for forest history and research was inspiring to many professionals in the field.

Harold will be deeply missed, and his legacy of hands-on learning and active participation in the college will continue to shape the forest and fire programs for years to come.

JOE ULLIMAN Joe Ulliman, 87, department head of Forest Resources, passed away on May 14, 2023. After serving six years in the U.S. Army Artillery, Joe received his doctorate from the University of Minnesota. Shortly after, he started his career in Forest Resources at the University of Idaho, where he earned the nickname “Airphoto Joe” after flying over the northern Rockies with colleague Bob Heller.

Joe played an important role in developing a world-class program within CNR. He was also known to many as the CNR historian and served as a faculty advisor to the SNAG and Idaho Forester publications, the latter of which won the Society of American Foresters national student publications contest.

Joe is survived by his wife, Barbara, and his children, Kathryn, Barbara Anne and Mark. He is remembered as a long-term member of the CNR family, and his devotion to the college is cherished as a critical part of his legacy.

DONALD “DON” WHITE

Harold Lee Osborne

EDWARD ‘ED’ ALLEN POMMERENING Edward ‘Ed’ Allen Pommerening, 75, (B.S. Agriculture/Forestry, M.S. Forestry), died on Dec. 24, 2022 in Kellogg. After earning his bachelor’s degree at U of I, he served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War in the 101st Airborne Rangers. He eventually returned to U of I to pursue a master’s degree. Ed served as a forester for the Bunker Hill Mining Company starting in 1972, where he made a tremendous impact by implementing a massive reforestation project. Ed’s leadership led the mining industry, along with local high school and college students, who helped to recover what had been lost in a major environmental problem. He was also the owner and operator of Riverview Timber Services, LLC. A lifetime member of the V.F.W. and the American Legion, he served on the Kellogg School District board and the Shoshone Medical Center board of trustees. Ed also made an impact as president of the Kootenai/Shoshone Soil and Water Conservation District.

He is survived by his wife, Sandra, their four children, nine grandchildren, one brother, and several nieces and nephews.

Edward ‘Ed’ Allen Pommerening

32 | WINTER 2023 - 24

Donald “Don” White, 92, U of I professor emeritus, passed away due to natural causes on March 10, 2023. Don led a rich life of diverse experiences, working as a farm forester for Oregon and Woodland Forester for Idaho after serving as first lieutenant for two years in the Marine Corps during the Korean War. Before performing his military service, he qualified for five Olympic skiing events while he was a student at Colby College in Maine pursuing a degree in geology. Don and his wife, Peg, also managed and ran a horse ranch in Cougar Gulch before it was converted into a Christmas tree farm. During his time at U of I, Don served Kootenai, Benewah and Latah counties as an extension agent in forestry until his retirement.

An appreciator of nature and wildlife, Don is remembered for his vibrant life and the impact he had on the students and colleagues who had the opportunity to work with him.

Watch Ed discuss the reforestation of Silver Valley in this video.

KEEPING UP WITH

CNR

WELCOME NEW FACULTY AND STAFF • Ann Abbott, Postdoctoral Fellow • Sarah Bassing, FW Coop Research Scientist I • Lee Berryhill, FWS Admin. Specialist • Alexey Egorov, FRFS Postdoctoral Fellow • Kathryn Fuller, FRFS Postdoctoral Fellow • Adam Hackbarth, Nursery Production Associate • Casey Huffaker, Director of Recruitment and Student Engagement • Andrea Jenkins, Business Specialist, Idaho Fish and Wildlife Coop Unit • Jamie Jessup, CNR Professional Advisor • Austin Kobernuss, FWS Research Aide • Khris Kohlmeier, CNR Professional Advisor • Mikhail Kondratev, FRFS Postdoctoral Fellow • Kira Long, FWS Postdoctoral Fellow • Jessie Ma, FWS Research Asst. Professor, Aquaculture • Patience Mateer, Boise Admin. Specialist • Chelsea McIver, Policy Analysis Group Associate Director • Jessica Miesel, FRFS Assoc. Professor, Fire Ecology • Blake Manley, UIEF Program Manager • Vlad Oles, FRFS Postdoctoral Fellow • Luke Oliver, Postdoctoral Fellow • Simona Picardi, FWS Asst. Professor, Wildlife Ecology • Peter Rebholz, FW Coop, Research Specialist • Erin Rishling, NRS/ENVS Admin. Specialist • SheilAnne Smith, CNR Asst. Director of Student Recruitment and Support • Eloise Zimbelman, FRFS Postdoctoral Fellow

CONGRATULATING AWARD WINNERS STUDENTS Outstanding Seniors: Fire Ecology and Management: Ethan Baiocco Forestry: Forrest Carbaugh Rangeland Conservation: Tyler Ernst Renewable Materials: Cameron Birch Wildlife Resources: Jonathon Dixon Fishery Resources: Kyle Ureta Ecology and Conservation Biology: Harrah Friedlander Natural Resource Conservation: Ashley Paine Environmental Science: Phoenix McFarlane

Outstanding Graduate Students: FRFS: Danielle Berardi (Ph.D.) FWS: Eric Van Beek (M.S.) and Hallie Walker Brown (Ph.D.) NRS: Grace Little (M.S.) and Catherine Hughes (Ph.D.) ENVS: Mackenzie Lawrence (M.S.) MNR: Stephanie Runs Through (M.N.R.) MOSS: Paxton Bolen (M.N.R.)

NEW FACULTY APPOINTMENTS

Jason Karl

Rangeland Center Director

Janet Rachlow

FWS Department Head

Eva Strand

Associate Dean of Students and Faculty Affairs

Jaap Vos

NRS/ENVS Department Head

Lee Vierling

Associate Dean for Research

Armando McDonald Newest Endowed Professor

McDonald, now endowed professor of Forest & Sustainable Products, was also awarded the CNR Advisory Board Faculty Excellence Award for 2023.

McDonald joins the ranks of CNR’s current repertoire of endowed professors including Lisette Waits, Ken Cain and Lee Vierling.

Endowment is the highest rank of tenured faculty positions.

COLLEGE OF NATURAL RESOURCES | 33

ALUMNI

THE STAFF DRIVING CNR

Alumni Achievement Award

While new additions to the CNR team are always something to celebrate, it’s also important to recognize those who have been around for longer. From navigating the pandemic to helping hire our new team members, it’s impossible to fully acknowledge all the hard work our dedicated faculty and staff have done to keep CNR moving in the right direction.

Rob Lonsinger (Ph.D. Natural Resources ’15 and President of the Wildlife Society Molecular Ecology Working Group)

Mid-Career Alumni Achievement Award

Ken Clark (B.S. Environmental Science, M.S. Natural Resources

and Environmental Science ’01, ’14, Director of the Water Resources Division for the Nez Perce Tribe)

Honor Associate Alumni Award

J. Michael Scott (Distinguished Emeritus Professor, U of I

Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources Professor and Initiated the Gap Analysis Program)

Celebrating Natural Resources Award Kathy Granillo (M.S. Wildlife Resources ’85 and USFWS Regional Climate Coordinator for the Southwest Region)

International Alumni Achievement Award Kofi Akamani (Ph.D. Natural Resources ’11 and Associate Professor of Forest Recreation and Conservation Social Science at Southern Illinois University)

Bridge Builder Award

Tim Yurkiewicz (Technology Transfer Specialist in Fuels and Fire

Ecology for the Forest Service National Advanced Fire and Resource Institute)

Honor Alumni Award Recipients: Ed Pommerening (B.S. Agriculture and Forestry, M.S. Forestry,

Dedicated forester; implemented a massive reforestation project and underground nursery working with Bunker Hill Mining Company.)

Mike Tewes (Ph.D. Wildlife Science ’86, Texas A&M University-

Kingsville Regents Professor/Frank D. Yturria Endowed Chair in Wild Cat Studies in the Department of Animal, Rangeland and Wildlife Sciences)

“The college is always changing and adapting, but it’s those longtime employees who remind us why we do this work,” Dean Dennis Becker said. “They are our backbone.”

Administrative staff like Steve Hacker, director of Operations and Outreach, Tricia Maxey, assistant to the dean, Kaella Dinius, FRFS assistant, Erin Rishling, NRS and ENVS assistant, Patience Mateer, Fish and Wildlife assistant and now our administrative specialist in Boise, and Elise Kokenge, assistant director of Graduate Student Support, have been the glue of the college’s departmental day-to-day operations.

“Watching the CNR team grow has been incredible. I started as an administrative financial specialist in 2020, right in the midst of the pandemic and budget crisis. I could count the number of administrative/fiscal staff on almost one hand, but as a new employee I was never worried. I had the most amazing and helpful people training me and was always given opportunities to grow. This job has taken me all over the state, and to some parts of the country that I never anticipated. CNR’s leadership team ensures we have what we need to succeed, and we’re always finding ways to have fun, too,” Tricia Maxey said.

A comprehensive fiscal staff including, but certainly not limited to, Andrea Jenkins, Karen Johnson, Jacob Brewer, Tom Zimmer and Joe Christensen, are essential for CNR’s operations.

Graduate Programs Coordinator JayCee Hollingshead helps our many graduate students navigate their CNR experience. Amy Huck, senior budget specialist, and Jen Meekhof, grants and contracts manager, are instrumental to our research prosperity.

Motor pool staff Darrell Stout, Coltin Pope, Ryle Flodin and Sam Spence ensure our vehicle fleet runs efficiently for fieldwork and other university uses. They also help to ensure that CNR offices are safe and efficient workspaces. These individuals, among many other staff members, help make CNR a treasured place.

Student-Nominated Awards: Outstanding Faculty Advisor: Leda Kobziar, NRS Outstanding Instructor: Randy Brooks, FRFS Outstanding Staff: Patience Mateer, Admin Specialist Outstanding Student Club: Logger Sports Boot-in-the-Butt: Dennis Becker, Dean

University Awards Distinguished Professor Award: Armando McDonald, FRFS Mid-Career Faculty Award: Jan Eitel, NRS General Education Service Award: Ann Abbott, FRFS

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CNR staff members, Fall 2023. Photo provided by Tricia Maxey.

Back (left to right): Erin Rishling, Mary Ellen Brewick, Jamie Jessup, Karen Johnson, Tricia Maxey and JayCee Hollingshead.

Front (left to right): Lee Berryhill, Dorah Mtui, Stephanie Perez and Andrea Jenkins.

LEDA KOBZIAR Leda Kobziar Named Distinguished Leader in Education by the Association for Fire Ecology

JASON KARL Jason Karl Recognized for Outstanding Teaching Jason Karl, associate professor of rangeland ecology and the Harold F. and Ruth M. Heady Endowed Chair of Rangeland Ecology, was honored by the Society for Range Management with the Rangeland Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching award at their annual conference in February 2023. Karl’s engaging and hands-on teaching methods support high levels of retention and strong understanding of rangeland ecology and management tools, which led to his recognition by an international organization as this year’s most outstanding undergraduate range professor.

Leda Kobziar, associate professor of Wildland Fire Science, was recently awarded the title of 2022 Distinguished Leader in Education by the Association for Fire Ecology. She is recognized for her outstanding work with students in higher education and original pyroaerobiology research. A longtime leader within the Association for Fire Ecology, serving as both president and member of the board of directors, she also started the Student Association for Fire Ecology alongside a group of graduate students. Her mentorship of eight doctoral students and over 150 master’s students from around the world demonstrates her dedication to learning and growth. Kobziar is also well-known for establishing the study of pyroaerobiology, which focuses on the biological impact of wildland fire smoke.

“Working with students is the most rewarding part of being a faculty member. Having the opportunity to help them in their discoveries and careers is a real privilege,” Kobziar said.

LISETTE WAITS Lisette Waits Recognized With Caesar Kleberg Award Lisette Waits, professor in fish and wildlife sciences, was recognized with the Caesar Kleberg Award for Excellence in Applied Wildlife Research.

Waits’ work is dedicated to utilizing genetic material through noninvasive genetic sampling to recover and better understand a variety of species, overall enhancing the field of conservation and wildlife management.

She has also pioneered the application of environmental DNA, or eDNA. Her innovative techniques are essential to many professionals working on wildlife research, management and conservation.

Waits monitoring genetics of the caribou’s predators in Newfoundland, Canada. Photo credits to Matthew Mumma, IDFG Wildlife Research Manager.

Doctoral student Phinehas Lampman (left), MNR student and member of the Incident Management Team, Nic Elmquist (right) and Kobziar (middle) at the River Complex wildfire in California.

COLLEGE OF NATURAL RESOURCES | 35

COLLEGE OF NATURAL RESOURCES 875 Perimeter Drive MS 1138 Moscow, ID 83844-1138

Middle schoolers built, programmed and flew drones during a four-day “iDrone NASA camp” in Sandpoint in August 2023. Students were encouraged to think about ways that drone technology could be used to answer questions about the world around them, such as for finding wildfires and floods, tagging wildlife, helping lost hikers and measuring volcanic activity.

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