ESF
www.esf.edu/strategicplan
the right questions
Envisioning the world we want…
and a college to create it
ESF: 2015-2020
State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry
2ND DRAFT
NOVEMBER 18, 2014
WORKING DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION ONLY
NOTE:
EXAMPLES ARE GIVEN FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES ONLY, INTENDED TO
ELICIT YOUR IDEAS AND SUGGESTIONS. ANY OR NONE MAY APPEAR IN THE
A
FINAL DRAFT.
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“Historians of science often observe that asking the right question
is more important than producing the right answer. The right
answer to a trivial question is also trivial, but the right question,
even when impossible to answer in exact form, is a guide to major
discovery.” — E. O. Wilson
MISSION AND VISION
Vision: A world that is biologically diverse, environmentally resilient, and filled
with possibilities
Mission: To create a better future through environmental education, discovery,
and leadership
THE WORLD WE WANT
Humankind faces environmental problems of unprecedented number, kind, and
complexity. We are ill prepared to adapt the rapid changes occurring around us.
Our population is insufficiently science literate to fulfill its ethical obligations to
help determine the future through democratic processes and children are
increasingly apart from the natural world of which they are inextricably a part.
The segment of society that feels ownership of the problems and a responsibility
to be a part of the solution is too small and does not reflect the full diversity of
races, religions, politics, cultures, or beliefs that must be engaged for success.
See table, page 11.
Thus, solutions to the environmental challenges ahead transcend science and
technology. We must also confront powerful social forces and develop a
comprehensive and more holistic approach to problem-solving. Success will
depend on many factors, not least of which are institutions with the vision and
courage to adapt to meet these rising needs. ESF is such an institution.
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DESIGNING AN ENVIRONMENTAL COLLEGE FOR
TOMORROW
ESF, America’s first college focused on the environment, is reimagining itself for
the unprecedented challenges that lie ahead. What attributes should the leading
environmental college of tomorrow possess? What will ESF look like after it has
successfully transformed to meet these challenges? We believe this recommitted
ESF of tomorrow will be…

Agile — ESF will adopt an attitude of agility, a willingness to seize
opportunities and act quickly to meet them. How can we adapt to meet
this challenge most efficiently?

Risk-taking — We will create an environment that encourages risk-taking
and embraces failure: Try. Fail. Try again. Succeed.

Creative— We will challenge the status quo seeking innovative, better,
and more sustainable solutions. What is the best, most effective, most
efficient answer?

Diverse — A community diverse in every respect: perspective, culture,
thought, race, gender, geographic origin, and more.

Trans-disciplinary— We will practice collaborative exploration, discovery,
and problem-solving engaging all relevant expertise: Form team. Solve
problem. Disband. Form new team.

Leading— We will assess what is most important, impactful, and relevant
given our strengths and priorities, and deploy our efforts and resources
to be a leader. What can ESF do uniquely or uniquely well?

Passionate— We will challenge our students to find their passion and
provide an atmosphere in which they can follow it, just as we are
passionate about creating a brighter environmental future. What do you
care most about?

Uniquely excellent— We will define excellence on our own terms and
reject mediocrity.

Maker of leaders —We will differentiate the ESF Experience from all
others, providing the literacies, competencies, skills, and experiences
appropriate to educating and inspiring the environmental leaders of the
future. ESF alumni will define leadership in their own way, whether
writing a letter to the editor to influence community opinion or occupying
a position of power in making decisions.
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
Relevant and impactfull — ESF will constantly assess the challenges and
opportunities ahead of us keeping our research and scholarship relevant
to the most important and urgent issues and maximizing our positive
impact on our communities, country, and planet.

Collaborative — working effectively with partners across SUNY, New York
State, the U.S., and the world. How can we amplify our impact through
strategic partnerships?

Resilient and adaptive — responding to challenges and opportunities as
they arise and adapting to meet them.

Integrative — bringing together ideas, theories, methods, and practices
to solve complex problems.

Value-guided — living up to and guided by our values.

Student centered — keeping quality of education and ESF experience at
the forefront of all that we do.

Embedded — we will be a valued member of our central New York,
Adirondack, New York City, and other communities aware and responsive
to their needs.
THE RIGHT QUESTIONS… FOR ESF
For which questions can ESF make a uniquely transformative impact? The
following questions are only a fraction of the questions pursued by ESF faculty,
staff, and students, but they are questions with both fundamental and applied
dimensions, questions of such importance, scale, and complexity that they
require bringing together diverse teams of experts from across the sciences,
humanities, and social sciences to be understood and tackled in all their facets.
They are questions with no immediate or definitive solution, but they present
opportunities for major scientific and societal breakthroughs as their solutions
are sought. These questions lead us somewhere, from basic understanding to
through increased possibilities to a society capable of adapting to environmental
change.
See flowchart, page 12, pyramid, page 10, and intersection of
questions, page 13.
Beyond these four flagship questions, asking the right questions will be integral
to the campus culture. Whether students in class or faculty in the laboratory,
each member of the ESF community will ask and pursue the right questions,
those that lead to breakthroughs in learning, discovery, and problem-solving.
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1. What are the relationships between humans
and the environment?
Understanding the natural world… and ourselves
Nothing is more critical or fundamental to addressing environmental problems
than understanding ourselves and our complex relationships with nature. Our
decisions and priorities are shaped by our understanding of these relationships,
and by the values that we bring to their assessment. These relationships exist
on multiple scales, from the experience of individuals in wilderness and our
biological, evolutionary, aesthetic, and spiritual connections to other life forms,
to the sum global demands placed by humankind on a world of finite dimensions
and resources.

How should our values shape our demands on the globe?

What can we learn from belief systems of native peoples and the world’s
religions about our relationship to earth?

What is the importance of personal experiences with wilderness and
nature?

How do we communicate what we know of the natural world to the public,
improve public science literacy?

What can we learn from the world’s diverse cultures about the benefits
and uses of species and their products?
Existing Strengths

Ethnobotany
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Environmental communication

Environmental resource policy
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Cultural landscape architecture
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Environmental chemistry
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Ecological engineering

Environmental ethics
the right questions
Potential Strengths

Creative nonfiction writing
New and high risk/high reward Ideas

Nature and environment in film, media, and popular culture
6
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the right questions
2. What are earth’s species and dynamics?
Exploring the diversity of life and functions of the biosphere
Essential to all environmental goals is fundamental knowledge of the kinds of
plants, animals, and microbes that live on earth and an understanding of the
dynamics of the biosphere at multiple scales, from local to global. It is
important to know what makes each species unique, how they are distributed
geographically, how they interact ecologically, how they are related in
evolutionary history, and as many aspects of their natural history as possible.
ESF will be a leader in field studies of “wild life,” organismal biology, scientific
natural history, and conservation.

What species exist? What makes each unique? How are they related
evolutionarily and ecologically?

How does species diversity change through time at multiple geographic
scales?

How can scientists and the public collaborate to expand knowledge of
natural history of species?

How does the flora and fauna respond to climate change?

How can conservation efforts maximize biological diversity on earth?

What can we learn from evolutionary adaptations of other species to
design and engineer more sustainable materials, processes, and built
environments?

How can we detect and respond quickly to invasive species?
Existing Strengths

Biodiversity, natural history and field biology studies

Organismal biology

Biogeochemistry (water)
Potential Strengths (w/ additional investments)

Biomimicry through fusion of biodiversity informatics, species
inventories, systematic biology, and entrepreneurism
7
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New and high risk/high reward ideas
3. How can we meet human needs while
conserving the environment?
Securing the future well-being of humans and the biosphere
A growing human population is placing increasing demands on a globe of fixed
size and finite resources. In order to secure a future in which human needs are
met it is imperative that resources be managed in a sustainable manner and that
renewable and alternative ways to meet needs are discovered. At the same time
we must maintain biologically diverse ecosystems that are inherently resilient to
change.

How can conservation and land management assure that ecosystems are
diverse and resilient?

How can the unique properties and potential value of the world’s
thousands of woody tree species be made known to local populations to
encourage maintenance of biologically diverse yet commercially
productive forests?

What can we learn from the successful American chestnut restoration
project to save and restore populations of other threatened tree species?

How can natural resources be managed to meet demands today without
so diminishing them that needs cannot be met tomorrow?

How can built environments be informed by nature to be low in
maintenance and high in resilience, including hardened against
catastrophic weather events?

How can we conserve a maximum level of biodiversity?
Existing Strengths

Natural resource management

Conservation biology

Environmental policy

Water resource management

Fish and Wildlife biology

Geospatial
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Environmental chemistry

Landscape architecture
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Potential Strengths (w/ additional investments)

Urban forests, ecosystems, design

Diversity of tropical forests and wood properties
New and high risk/high reward ideas
4. How can we adapt to changing environments?
Using knowledge to anticipate and adapt to environmental change
While taking all reasonable steps to mitigate negative environmental changes, we
must be prepared to adapt to those changes beyond our control and that will
inevitably come. Through a combination of fundamental exploration of the
biosphere, improved policies, and innovations in technology, engineering, and
design, we can create a large and diverse set of options with which we can adapt
to environmental changes whether predicted or unforeseen. ESF will be a leader
in creating possibilities for current and future adaptation.

How can biological processes of assimilation and decomposition teach us
about more sustainable ways to engineer new processes to better meet
human needs?

What can we learn from diverse biological processes about alternative
sources of energy, from the efficiency of photosynthesis to the chemicalbased life forms along seafloor vents?

How can we learn from evolutionary adaptations of plants and animals to
develop a vast library of biomimicry inspirations for design, construction,
materials, and processes? Can we create an “evolutionary economy” that
relies on biomimetics to generate new and better alternatives to meet
human needs?

What can ecological principles teach us about more efficient and
sustainable built environments?

How can we increase the energy efficiency of buildings and cities?

How can we monitor and forecast environmental change?
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Existing strengths
Natural products and wood chemistry
Bioprocess engineering
Ecological engineering
Potential strengths (w/ additional investments) and high risk/high reward
ideas
Sustainable energy
Sustainable construction
10
ESF
www.esf.edu/strategicplan
diversity of life | efficiency of resource use | reduction of human impact on earth | quality
of life
enhanced human condition | security | wisdom
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The world we want
How do we adapt to a
rapidly changing
world?
How can we assure access to
sustainable resources and
resilient environments?
What are earth’s species
and systems?
What are relationships
of humans to the
environment?
The world we have
How do we progress from the world we have to the one we want?
Exploring earth’s species and systems, as well as human nature and
connections to the environment, establishes the fundamental information
and knowledge with which to effectively manage, design, conserve,
engineer, and invent as many options for the future possible. Knowing self,
world, and options, we aspire to the wisdom to create the world we wish to
live in.
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the right questions
World We Have
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Limited resources
Ecosystems diminished and degraded
Rapid loss of species
Uncertain future quality of life
Threats of invasive species, emergent
diseases, ecosystem disruptions
Fractional knowledge of plants, animals,
and microbes, their role in ecosystems,
and their status
Partial understanding of biotic and
abiotic dynamics of earth
Abundant data, limited knowledge, little
wisdom
Limited options for adapting to change,
developing new technologies, improving
designs, materials, and processes
Distrust of objectivity of environmental
science, such as climate change data
Limited public science literacy
Children increasingly divorced from
nature
Few citizens feel ownership of
environmental problems and
responsibility to address them
Environmentalism seen as emotional,
zealous, dogmatic
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World We Want
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Sustainable and renewable resources
Diverse, resilient ecosystems
Little or no loss of species
Assured quality of life
Ability to detect and effectively respond
to emergent environmental threats
Complete knowledge of plants, animals,
and microbes, their properties and their
status
Deep understanding of biotic and abiotic
planetary dynamics
Data, information, knowledge, and
wisdom in abundance
Many options for adaptation, new
technologies, improved designs,
materials, and processes
Trusted scientific data available equally
to all in society
A public that is science literate
Every child with personal experiences
with natural world
All citizens feel ownership of
environmental problems and the
responsibility to be part of solution
Environmentalism seen as fact-based,
values-informed, problem-solving
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fundamental
knowledge of
environment
and self
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wisdom to
adapt
creation and
conservation
of options
Generalized road map from the world we have to the one we want. The
strategy is built on a foundation of deep, fundamental knowledge of earth’s species
and dynamic systems. That data, information, and knowledge is used to create
new technologies, products and possibilities in conjunction with conservation of
biodiversity and natural resources to maximize options open and known to us.
Those options, coupled with self-examination of our values, priorities, and goals
lead to the wisdom to make the best decisions, employ the best options, and arrive
at best relationships between humankind and the natural world.
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the right questions
How can we assure access
to sustainable resources
and resilient environments?
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How do we adapt
to a rapidly
changing world?
ESF
What are earth’s
species?
What are
relationships
between humans
and nature?
Four spheres of inquiry guide ESF. ESF creates fundamental understanding
of environmental science and the human-nature connections to develop,
design, engineer, discover, and conserve as many options for future as
possible. All that knowledge and self-awareness aspires to the wisdom to
choose among best options to adapt to the uncertainties of a rapidly changing
planet.
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The ESF Experience
We will define an ESF Experience for our undergraduate students that uniquely
prepares them for success in a world of multiplying, accelerating, and ever more
complex environmental challenges. This experience will include elements of
formal curriculum, extracurricular opportunities, and supplementary
experiences. The ESF Experience will differentiate ESF from its competitors and
include:

A general education experience that amounts to an environmental
science “liberal arts” curriculum including, e.g., history of science,
philosophy of science, ethics, etc.

An emphasis on natural history, field biology, and organismal biology.
This is a great strength of ESF and increasingly unique as it is
deemphasized in other universities. While it continues to prepare our
alumni for hands-on understanding of resource management,
conservation, and related matters, it is also superb preparation for
students who progress to graduate studies regardless of their focus.

An encouragement and opportunity to discover or pursue your personal
passion. As one possibility, each student could receive a “grant” that
could be used individually (or pooled with fellow students) for any
purpose: travel, research project, contributing to NGO, etc. This could be
funded through an endowment as a fund raising priority. Or

A “field” experience utilizing ESF’s extensive properties outside Syracuse.

Participation in a long-term ecological, conservation, or natural history
project of the college. For example, a class could survey flowering and
insect emergence dates annually to track climate change over long term.
Students would add new data and reanalyze accumulated trends each
year. Another example would be the Adirondacks ATBI, accumulating
over the years a complete inventory of plants, animals, and microbes and
coordinating this data with original natural history observations and
notations of evolutionary adaptations to flag potential biomimicry
models.

Demonstrating tolerance. The college should host events that invite
views through lectures, debates, interviews, and other devices for the
purpose of demonstrating respectful discourse over contentious topics
and tolerance of the full diversity of views and beliefs in society.
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
Effective communication. Every student should be required to articulate
in a clear, effective, persuasive way a topic or idea that she or he feels
strongly about. This should employ creative writing, rhetoric, video, or
other tactics and media and be aimed at explaining the issue to the
general public.

Environmentalism. Every student should consciously examine the lines
between objective science, advocacy, and activism, thinking critically
about the ethical issues underlying the tensions among them and finding
their personal comfort zone.

Leadership. We should educate environmental leaders. Each individual
defines leadership for themselves, whether it is expressed through
engagement in a local community, professionally by suggesting improved
practices or being involved in policy work, by writing or advocacy, etc.
Leadership may be as small as a zoning board or a letter to the editor or
as large as changing the course of a science.

Women in STEM fields. ESF will have a set of programs aimed at engaging
future generations of women in science, assuring success of women
students, increasing number of women on the faculty, and inviting
leading women in science to campus.

SECS in the City. Can students be organized to share their knowledge
and enthusiasm for sustainability and the environment in a coordinated
program of activities in New York City where we can reach large numbers
of urban students, piloting and delivering in parallel such programs also
in Syracuse? Sustainability Education and Citizen Science in the City can
be used as valuable hands-on experience for ESF students while having a
huge impact on children and adults in NYC who should understand
environmental issues and be more science literate and engaged. Beyond
the outreach impacts of such a program we offer to students important
hands-on experience in doing such public outreach.

Diversity. How do we best recruit, encourage and support students of
diverse backgrounds on campus and cultivate future potential science
majors (at ESF or elsewhere) through outreach activities (such as bullet
above)?

Institutional or Organizational Partnerships. What institutions or
organizations (in central NY, NYC, nation, or internationally) sharing our
goals could be developed as partners that enrich ESF student experiences
through joint activities, internships, exchanges, etc.? Could we have a
network of institutions opening new opportunities for our students?
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There is interest, for example, at the Universidade de Sao Paulo in Brazil
for engaging students in comparative studies of the Atlantic Coastal
forest and the Adirondacks, if we chose to pursue it. Another possibility
is identifying a “sustainability ivy league” of sister institutions and
leverage strengths off one another, including developing programs for
exchange of students.
“Department” of Shameless Self-Promotion
We will develop, reexamine, and refine a strategy each year for self-promotion
that maximizes visibility of ESF in print, broadcast, web, and social media. This
will include recurring annual events, e.g., the Top 10 New Species list, and highprofile one-time events such as those by the Center for a New American
Environmentalism held in New York City or Washington, DC to make national
media coverage as convenient as possible. Each of the “right” question priorities
will explore additional ways to capture media attention and build national
visibility for ESF.
In addition, we will target markets where we know pockets of interest in “green”
solutions, sustainability, and the environment exist to increase ESF visibility.
Examples include Seattle, San Francisco, Denver, and Portland. One idea being
explored are specimen mounts of North American animals in public spaces such
as airports or shopping malls with high ESF identity and text the aims to educate
public about challenges associated with conservation.
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