Fall 2004
Alumni Association Publication•Fall/Winter 2004
Warnell School of Forest Resources—UGA
1
Message from the Dean
A
nother fall term
is underway, and
the School and
University are bustling
with students. Think back
to what you were learning–and dreaming about–
when you were on campus.
Though some will disagree,
I believe that young people
today are not much different than they ever were.
In the Warnell School,
educating young people in
Richard L.
forest and natural resources is still our primary focus, despite our many
other responsibilities and demands. We welcomed 45 new undergraduates into the professional program this fall, bringing our total
junior/senior enrollment to 139, the largest in
five years. Add to that another 70 pre-professional students, and our total undergraduate
enrollment is well over 200.
Graduate student enrollment is at an alltime high of 161. Forty-six of these are incoming students, another new record. These
numbers are driven by the outstanding reputation of our graduate faculty and the breadth
and strength of our programs.
As you recall your undergraduate days,
remember your dreams of success. If we are
honest, many of us will have to admit that
we’ve achieved far more and reached far higher than what we aspired to as undergraduates.
That, too, is a testament to our outstanding
faculty, past and present.
2 Warnell School of Forest Resources—UGA
I am reminded of the
many contributions of our
past faculty as we mourn the
recent passing of three of the
School’s former professors,
John Hewlett, Peter Dyson
and Archie Patterson. All
left their unique mark on
the School and their students. Though I have been
Dean for only 10 months, I
have heard time and again
about the contributions of
Professor Patterson. He
Porterfield
is consistently listed as a
“favorite professor” in the surveys completed
by alums attending their class reunions. And
last summer, as I studied the School’s history
in preparation for a presentation, Professor
Patterson’s letters, essays and notes guided
my task.
In last spring’s exit interviews with graduating seniors, their praise of staff and faculty
support, helpfulness and availability was
effusive. It seems we still share that sense of
family, which I find rare at a University of
this size.
Times and circumstances change–as do
jobs, public attitudes–and even deans. But the
School’s commitment to our students, our forestry and natural resources professions, and
the people we serve remains constant. That is
our legacy, and you help keep it alive.
Please come by for a visit.
Alumni Association Publication•Fall/Winter 2004
Warnell School of Forest Resources
The University of Georgia
Pages 4, 5
Tracking Georgia’s
Loggerheads
On the cover:
Page 7
Croatia: reborn nation
strives for ecological,
social balance
Onyxx, a research turtle,
returns to the ocean after
being fitted with transmitters.
See pages 4 & 5
Editor
Helen Fosgate
Graphic Design
J.P. Bond
www.uga.edu/wsfr
Page 13
Master Timber Harvester Program
coordinator Donna Gallaher
supports loggers on the frontline
The Forester’s Log is an
Alumni Association publication.
It is published twice a year in the fall
and spring.
Page 18
Robert Dasher:
Growing a family business from
the ground up
Alumni Association Publication•Fall/Winter 2004
Submit news items, questions and
address changes to:
Helen Fosgate, editor
The Forester’s Log
Warnell School of Forest Resources
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30601
hfosgate@forestry.uga.edu
Warnell School of Forest Resources—UGA
3
By Helen Fosgate
red glow appears down the beach and is
soon followed by the muffled sound of a
four-stroke engine. Mark Dodd stops the
ATV near the small group and turns off the engine,
shaking his head. “Nothing,” he says quietly,
swinging his leg over the seat.
It is 3 a.m., but this has been the scene on Jekyll
Island beach since 9 p.m., when the “turtle watch”
began. Every hour, on the hour, Dodd, sea turtle
state coordinator with the Georgia Department of
Natural Resources, drives slowly down the beach in
one direction, while another researcher drives off in
the other, looking, hoping. But no turtles come out
of the water on this night–or many other nights this
summer.
“In 2003 we had more than 1,500 nests in
Georgia,” says Dodd. “And we know from our data
that nesting is highly variable from year to year. But
anytime we see fewer than 400 nests in one year, it’s
cause for concern.”
Loggerhead sea turtles have been nesting along
Georgia’s beaches and barrier islands for 10 million
4 Warnell School of Forest Resources—UGA
years. Scientists say thousands of females once
hauled onto the beaches at night, patiently digging
holes to incubate their 115 or so round, leathery eggs
before disappearing back into the dark surf.
“They have so many obstacles to overcome that
nesting represents a great triumph,” says Jason
Scott, wildlife graduate student in the University of
Georgia’s Warnell School of Forest Resources.
Scott and major professor Steven Castleberry
joined Dodd and a team of other scientists and
volunteers–including WSFR undergraduate Glenn
Martin–in research last summer that uses satellite
telemetry to document the turtles’ movements during
and after the nesting season. The turtles’ movements
will be compared with the distribution of shrimpers,
who trawl the waters just offshore. Findings will
guide management recommendations to protect adult
loggerhead sea turtles and their preferred pathways.
“We wanted to follow as many females as
possible because they are so important to this
recovery,” says Scott.
Because it requires an enormous amount of
energy, females only nest every few years, making an
average four nests in a season at two week intervals.
Alumni Association Publication•Fall/Winter 2004
WSFR undergrad Glenn Martin (left) and Adam
Mackinnon (Georgia DNR) attach transmitters to a
research turtle
Females don’t begin breeding and nesting until
they’re 30 to 35 years old. But since 1989, when
state wildlife officials began keeping track, Georgia’s
loggerheads have been declining about one percent
a year. And in 2004, less than 100 females nested on
all of Georgia’s beaches, the fewest ever recorded.
“Seventy turtles washed up dead in just one twoweek period in June,” says Scott with a deep sigh.
“And these are significant losses when you’re talking
about a species that’s on the threatened list.”
In the ocean, the turtles encounter natural
predators but many more unnatural dangers–ship
propellers, pollution, dredging, oil slicks, discarded
fishing gear and ingested plastic and styrofoam.
Commercial fishing, which drowns turtles in deep
sea nets, trawl lines and hooks, is by far the most
ominous threat to loggerheads, killing between
5,000 and 50,000 a year along the East Coast. Once
ashore, nesting females must negotiate beachfront
development, disorienting bright lights, troublesome
humans, pets and beach erosion.
“The Turtle Exclusion Devices (TEDs) are 97
percent effective when used properly,”
says UGA wildlife ecologist
Steven Castleberry.
“But many shrimpers
believe that TEDs
hurt their catch,
and some adjust
the TED to
Alumni Association Publication•Fall/Winter 2004
reduce shrimp losses, which also reduces the chances
turtles will escape. ”
The researchers spread out along Georgia’s
coast at night, waiting for nesting females to come
ashore on Jekyll, Cumberland and Sapelo Islands.
Once a female finished nesting, researchers sprang
to action, sanding barnacles off the shells so they
could attach two small transmitters. The first, a
satellite transmitter, emits a signal only when the
turtle breaks the water’s surface. The signal is picked
up by orbiting satellites and sent to researchers’
computers, allowing them to plot turtle movements
on a map. The second emits a sonic signal, like those
from a submarine that can be tracked under water.
Researchers tagged 12 turtles in all last summer.
“Now that nesting season is over, the females
move to their feeding grounds, presumably up North
to Delaware Bay and New Jersey,” says Scott, “but
we don’t know exactly where or how long they stay
there. We hope the transmitters will allow us to track
them for at least a year.”
Georgia school children took part in the research
project from classrooms across the state. More than
1,200 kids, K through 5th grade, participated in a
contest last spring to name the research turtles names
like Tea Cake, Cherokee Rose, Aurora and Oki in
honor of the eight countries participating in the G-8
Summit, held on Sea Island at the height of nesting
season. They’re now able to track individual turtles
in real-time online at the web site www.seaturtle.org.
People who visit the web site can “adopt” a
research turtle and follow her through the year.
Researchers hope to generate enough interest–and
funds–through the web site to repeat the project next
year and track another dozen or so turtles.
Continued on page 11
Warnell School of Forest Resources—UGA
5
Bruce Beck, professor and
eminent scholar of environmental
systems analysis, has been elected
for membership to the National
Academy of Sciences National
Research Council Panel on Selection
and Use of Models in the Regulatory
Decision Process. He received
renewal on a $230,022 grant from
the Environmental
Protection Agency for
the research project
“Sensitivity and
Uncertainty Analysis
Methods for FRAMES.”
ited to conduct gamebird research.
He was recognized at UGA Honors
Day for outstanding teaching.
Chris Cieszewski, associate professor of fiber supply assessment,
received $40,000 from the US Forest
Service to develop an online forest
inventory analysis data retrieval sys-
ence on Forest Measurements and
Quantitative Methods and Management and the 2004 Southern Mensurationists Meeting in Hot Springs,
AR in June.
Michael L. Clutter, Hargreaves
Distinguished Professor of Forest
Finance in the University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forest Resources, received the
Bruce Bongarten, associate dean
Alumni Association Award
for academic affairs in the University
for Outstanding Teaching
of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forest
at the School’s 73rd Annual
Resources, was named Professor of
Spring Awards Banquet in
the Year by Xi Sigma Pi, the student
April. The award recognizes
honorary academic society. The award,
presented at the School’s 73rd Annual Spring Awards Clutter’s contributions to
undergraduate and graduate
Katrine Borga, a post-doc Banquet, recognizes Bongarten’s contributions to
teaching and advising.
and expert at modeling
undergraduate and graduate teaching and advising.
contaminants in aquatic
Bongarten, who has been a teacher and researcher Clutter has been a teacher
and researcher at UGA
environments, is a visiting
at UGA for 26 years, continues to teach in addition
since 2001. He teaches forscientist working in the lab to his duties as an administrator in the School. His
of WSFR aquatic toxicolo- course in dendrology, the botanical study of trees, is a est finance, with particular
emphasis on timberland
gist Aaron Fisk. She arrequired core course for all forest resources students.
investments, financial returns
rived August 17 and will be He also teaches graduate and undergraduate courses
of forest operations, forest
at UGA for four months.
in genetics and breeding of forest trees.
portfolio analysis and the
Bongarten has been recognized for outstanding
John Carroll, associate
financial impacts of current
teaching seven times in his career, by both students
professor of wildlife ecoland colleagues. He was honored for superior teaching and proposed state and fedogy, received a $23,835
eral regulations. He was also
at UGA Honors Day in 1985, in 1992, and again in
grant from The National
recognized at UGA Honors
1994. And he was named Xi Sigma Pi’s Professor of
Academies Office for
Day for outstanding teaching
the Year in 1985, 1995, 1997 and again in 2004.
Central Europe and Asia to
Bongarten earned a B.S. in forest biology at SUNY this year .
study the Georgian pheas- College of Environmental Science and Forestry at
Clutter earned a PhD in
ant as a “flagship species”
forest biometrics and finance
Syracuse University in 1973 and a PhD in forestry
in the Republic of Georgia. and genetics at Michigan State University in 1978. He at UGA in 1992, an MFR in
He and Bob Warren, pro- and his wife, Cindy, live in Watkinsville, Ga.
quantitative timber managefessor of wildlife ecology,
ment at UGA in 1983 and
received $86,690 from USDA Wild- tem for congressional districts in 20
a BS in forest resources at Mississample states. This is in addition to
life Services and UGA for a wildlife
sippi State University in 1981. He
$150,000 received in 2003 to develop worked as a research scientist and
management and gamebird restoraa county-level online forest inventory later as research project leader for
tion project. Carroll was awarded
data retrieval system for the southtwo graduate assistantships from
Union Camp Corporation in Savaneast. He received $18,000 from the
Tall Timbers Research Station, one
nah from 1983 to 1994. In 1994 he
for $40,920 and another for $27,844. Georgia Forestry Commission to de- moved to Atlanta as manager of
velop a site-ranking analysis system
Another $12,000 grant from Tall
decision support for the Georgiafor locating manufacturing plants
Timbers is to analyze the genetic
Pacific Corporation, where he was
statewide. Cieszewski and Mike
investment of individual northern
promoted to director of decision
bobwhite quail. He also received a
Strub, WSFR adjunct professor,
support and information resources
direct donation of $49,000 from the
Weyerhaeuser Co., organized the
for The Timber Company
Northeast Chapter of Quail Unlimsecond annual International ConferContinued on page 10
6 Warnell School of Forest Resources—UGA
Alumni Association Publication•Fall/Winter 2004
The world’s next great ecotourism destination just might
emerge along the Balkan shores
of the Adriatic Sea—in Croatia.
Croatia offers visitors beautiful vistas and an unspoiled coastline
Croatia?
Perhaps so, in the vision of
noting that, during its Communist rule, the area
Warnell School of Forest Resources (WSFR) Associate focused almost solely on industrial development and
Professor Sara Schweitzer. She, WSFR Adjunct
left thousands of acres of trees untouched. Many oak
Professor and Center for Forest Business Director
forests are being managed on a 140-year rotation. “It is
Bob Izlar, and a delegation of other UGA teaching
a tremendous forest resource,” he observes, “We’d pay a
and research personnel participated last fall in an
fortune for those trees here.”
international conference at Mali Losinj on “sustainable
Much of Croatia was largely spared the horror
development of the rural areas in Croatia and the role
and devastation of the Bosnian-Serbian conflict that
of the university.” It was
engulfed the Balkan
Schweitzer’s third visit
States in the 1990s
to the country – she was
following the collapse of
there in 2002 as a UGA
Soviet Yugoslavia. The
International Fellow and
new government and
again in early 2003 as
Schweitzer’s and Izlar’s
a guest lecturer at the
counterparts at the
University of Zagreb.
University of Zagreb are
And she’s come away
eager to see their reborn
convinced the former
nation move forward. “It’s
Yugoslavian republic could
really amazing how much
be an ideal eco-tourism
they have done in a short
destination. Despite many
amount of time,” Schweitzer
WSFR & UGA Faculty in Croatia observes. Particularly so,
westerners’ misconceptions,
Schweitzer notes, most of Croatia is not war-torn ruins. she adds, given the scarce financial resources available
It is a beautiful country of lush forests, rocky coastlines
in the sputtering Croatian economy. “We don’t know
and a unique wildlife population. “I think it has a lot of
how good we have it here, and how hard some other
potential for eco-tourism,” she observes.
countries have it – whether it be removing land mines,
Izlar agrees, saying the country’s “unspoiled coast”
scrambling for funding, or managing migratory species
and beautiful, affordable real estate may be the secret
that have to cross so many different countries.”
of the Mediterranean. “They’re undiscovered,” he
Still, she says the Croatians are making admirable
says, “but when they get discovered, opportunities
progress – attempting to restore the distribution,
for eco-tourism will appear.” And he also foresees an
ranges and populations of deer, wolves and bears that
extraordinary opportunity there and throughout much
were disrupted by the war – and even encouraging the
of Eastern Europe for a revitalized forestry industry,
public to return to the country’s centuries-old tradition
Continued on page 16
Alumni Association Publication•Fall/Winter 2004
Warnell School of Forest Resources—UGA
7
Photos by Sara Schweitzer
By Kate Spear
Aaron MacNeil, who recently completed a master’s degree
in fisheries, has been awarded a three-year International
Postgraduate Scholarship of $45,000 to pursue a PhD at
the University of Newcastle in England. His research will
characterize the food web structure of the lemon shark
nursery areas on Bimini Island in the Bahamas. The work
will be conducted at the Bimini Biological Field Station,
run by Samuel Gruber. MacNeil won the Gruber Award at
the annual meeting of the American Elasmobranch Society
in April with his talk, “Variable uptake and elimination of stable nitrogen isotopes in freshwater
stingrays.” More recently, MacNeil was awarded a tuition waiver for foreign students to attend the
University of Newcastle (worth about $25,000/year.) His work at WSFR has been under the direction
of assistant fisheries professor Aaron Fisk.
Roger Grizzell, an MFR
student working with
forestry professor Dale
Greene, was selected to
participate in the Graduate School Leaders
Program during Fall Semester 2004. Grizzell is
the first WSFR student
selected to participate in
this new program. He
worked as an intern for
the Georgia Forestry Association in Forsyth this
past summer.
Natalie Hyslop, a PhD
candidate in wildlife
ecology was awarded a
$1,500 Stoddard-Bur-
leigh-Sutton Wildlife
Conservation grant to
conduct research on
the threatened Eastern
indigo snake. She also
received $1,000 from the
Wildlife Discovery Center, Lake Forest, Illinois
and a grant-in-aid award
of $2,000 from the Indigo Snake Conservation
Alliance to support her
research. Hyslop’s work
with indigo snakes was
featured in an episode
of Georgia Outdoors, a
Georgia Public Broadcasting program that
highlighted “Georgia’s
Rare, Threatened and
Endangered Species.” It
first aired in April 2004.
She works under the
direction of Bob Cooper,
Nina Wurzburger, a PhD
Jessica Rodriguez,, a master’s degree candidate
in wildlife ecology studying with associate
professor John Carroll, was awarded a
STARS assistantship through the Georgia
Board of Regents. The STARS assistantship
program helps to fund graduate students’
participation in study abroad programs.
Rodriguez will attend the South African
Wildlife Study Abroad trip next spring,
assisting in all phases of program planning and
implementation for Maymester 2005.
8 Warnell School of Forest Resources—UGA
wildlife professor and
Joe Meyers (Patuxent Wildlife Research
Center).
candidate in forest ecology, won
her age group at the World
Championship Duathlon
in Fredericia, Denmark
in August. The event
involves a 20-kilometer
run, a 120-kilometer
bike ride followed
by a 10-kilometer
run. As a high school
student Wurzburger
competed on her high
school swim and track
teams and continued
to run track and swim
at the University of
California-Davis. She
began biking as a means
of cross-training. She
will compete in three
more races this year,
which she hopes will qualify her to
compete in next years Duathlon in
Brescia, Italy. “What a great excuse
to go to Italy!” she says. Wurzburger
is “training” for her Ph.D under the
direction of forest ecologist Ron
Hendrick.
Alumni Association Publication•Fall/Winter 2004
Editor’s note: Matt Armstrong (BSFR 2000, MFR 2002) has been in Paraguay since September 2002, serving in the Peace Corps.
We invited him to write to us–and to you–about his experiences.
It is difficult to articulate everything I have gained from my
two years, as my experiences have slowly changed me as a
person. I am not going to attempt to convey everything from
my service here but rather to share some interesting points.
People
The process of learning two new languages, Spanish and
Guarani, and interacting with uneducated people has improved my communication skills. People ask me some intelligent questions, like why does the sun rise from different
points on the horizon during the year. To explain in a third
Pork
language to a person who never went to school is difficult,
I have a new affinity for the other white meat. My usual
but I have gotten better. Being immersed in a different
meal consists of rice, noodles, or
culture forces growth in my patience
corn as a base with chicken, beef,
and tolerance. Another example is
or beans to add flare, and cassava
waiting. In the States, if I needed to
(manioc) is always on the table as
go somewhere, I got in my vehicle and
filler. No vegetables. The Paraguaywent. Here, when I have business in
ans only grill pig meat for special
town, I must walk to the road, wait
occasions such as Christmas,
for a bus, ride an hour or two, do my
Easter, and birthdays. Nor do I have
errand, and then wait for the return
much shame about inviting myself to
bus. In effect, a 30 minute errand in
family birthdays in order to eat the
the States is a day’s outing in Paramagical fatty pork, simply prepared
guay. I now have a great capacity for
with salt and lime. Despite my efforts
Matt Armstrong (center) in Paraguay loitering. Another example: after exto maximize my pork intake, BBQs
plaining to a mother why barefoot children have worms, she
are still infrequent, though pork flavor is in almost everything as the rendered lard is used instead of cooking oil. The agrees to put shoes on her kids’ feet. The next week, though,
cooks put pork fat in chicken dishes, beef dishes, bread, and her children are barefoot again. Before my time in the Peace
Corps, I would have been incensed, but now I am much
also use it for frying (Paraguayans consume an unnatural
amount of fried food). Try popping popcorn in pork fat, and more accepting and tolerant of peoples’ personal decisions.
you will discover a whole new snack.
While not always easy, I have enjoyed my work experience in Paraguay. It is an enormous challenge but also very
Family
rewarding.
Spending my time around large families (usually between 6
and 12 children) and watching their dynamics has made me
(Matt would enjoy hearing from you. Contact him at
more aware of the importance of family. Children usually go
Mvarmstrong@yahoo.com)
to school until 6th grade, after which the boys help Dad in
the field, and the girls help Mom with cooking and taking
care of younger brothers and sisters. This system has families spending a lot of time together. They must work together
to get by, which is not always the case in the States. It is difficult to explain, but while I always appreciated my family, I
now appreciate them more.
Machetes
A little-used tool earlier in my life, a machete is now indispensable. It plants and harvests crops, builds furniture, cuts
grass, butchers animals, cleans fields, builds fences, and prepares food. There are many more uses that I am forgetting. I
don’t know how I ever managed without one.
Alumni Association Publication•Fall/Winter 2004
Mark your calendar no
w to attend the Annual
Wildlife Supper on Sa
turday, April 30th, 20
05
at Flinchum’s Phoenix.
Lots of food and door
prizes. Be on the look
out for information in
early spring 2005 abou
t how to get tickets.
Warnell School of Forest Resources—UGA
9
Mike Conroy, adjunct
professor of wildlife,
Georgia Cooperative
Fisheries and Wildlife
Unit, was honored
recently by officials
at the University of
Florida for “huge contributions to
the field of quantitative ecology.”
Conroy has collaborated on many
Florida issues, including waterfowl
and wading bird surveys, adaptive
management and a scientific review
of Florida panther research.
Robert Cooper, WSFR associate
professor of wildlife ecology, and
Mark Hunter, associate professor
in the Institute of Ecology, received
a $350,000 grant from the National
Science Foundation to study “Environmental gradients and variation
in the strength of bird predation
on oak herbivores.” The three-year
research project will take place at
the Coweeta Long-Term Ecological Research Site in Otto, North
Carolina.
Aaron Fisk
Fisk, assistant
professor of aquatic
toxicology, is working
on a 3-year $214,409
grant to study the
Greenland shark as
a sentinel species
for assessing persistent anthropogenic and biogenic chemicals in the
marine Arctic environment. He is
working with colleagues Ake Bergman, (University of Stockholm) and
Joundur Svavarsson (University of
Iceland) on this cooperative project
funded through the Swedish Research Council for the Environment,
Agricultural Sciences and Spatial
Planning, and the National Fund for
Environmental Research. A second
project, funded through a shared
$50,000 grant with D. Ekman, W.
Garrison, J. Kenneke, Q. Teng
at the Environmental Protection
Agency, is looking at the effects of
bioaccumlated conazoles on endogenous metabolites in rainbow trout.
Dale Greene professor of forestry,
along with WSFR faculty Jacek
Siry, Tom Harris, Bob Izlar, and
program coordinator Carol Hyldahl
received a $50,000 grant from the
Wood Supply Research Insititute to
conduct research on the status and
sustainability of the U.S. wood supply system. As a part of this project,
team members will visit several
countries that compete with the
U.S. in wood markets to examine
their wood supply chains.
Bill Hubbard, UGA/Southern regional extension forester, along with
George Kessler and Greg Yarrow,
professors of forestry and wildlife at
Clemson University, were honored
for their work on the South-Wide
Master Tree Farmer Program. It
received the USDA Secretary’s
Honors Award this year, the highest
awards presented by the department.
Rhett Jackson, assistant professor
of hydrology and Larry Morris,
professor of forest soils, hosted the
Forest Watershed Task Group of
the National Council for Air and
Stream Improvement (NCASI) for
a one-day field trip and presentation on forestry best management
practices and water quality issues in
the Piedmont. NCASI is a timberindustry funded research group that
focuses on environmental issues
related to timber management and
pulp and paper processing. The tour
group included industry representatives from Washington, Oregon,
Montana, Texas, Mississippi, West
Virginia and Georgia.
10 Warnell School of Forest Resources—UGA
Mike Mengak, assistant professor
of wildlife ecology, received $15,150
from the Berryman Institute to fund
graduate students studying armadillo ecology in South Georgia. He also
received $69,079 from the National
Parks Service’s Cooperative Ecosytem Study Unit to conduct a mammal survey at Vicksburg National
Military Park, Vicksburg, MS. He
was awarded $9,000 from the US
Forest Service to evaluation environmental education programs.
Morgan Nolan, information analyst
and distance education specialist,
was elected WSFR staff representative. She will serve as the School’s
staff representative on the UGA
Staff Council.
Bob Ratajczak, fisheries research coordinator, was elected president of the UGA Staff
Council. He has served
on the UGA Staff
Council as the WSFR staff representative for the past three years.
Sara Schweitzer, associate professor of wildlife ecology & management, was appointed an associate
editor of The Wildlife Society Bulletin. She was also selected for membership in the Fulbright Academy,
an international network of leaders
in science and technology.
Jay Shelton, associate professor
of fisheries and Byron Freeman
(UGA Ecology) received $150,000
to investigate Asian rice eels in
the Chattahoochee river system:
their occurrence, effects on aquatic
biota, and control methodology.
This project is a cooperative agreement between the U.S. Dept. of the
Interior, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, the National Parks Service
and UGA.
Alumni Association Publication•Fall/Winter 2004
2004 Forestry Conclave
Team Takes Third
T
he 2004 Forestry Conclave Team
competed in the 47th Annual
Forestry Conclave hosted by Mississippi
State University, placing third overall.
Photos by David Newman
The UGA team dominated the technical
Above: The 2004 forestry
conclave team at Mississippi State University
Left: The 2004 Team Competes in the Log burling
competition
events, taking first place in timber
estimation, compass and pacing, wood
technology and dendrology; second
place in pole classification, archery, and
the log roll; and third place in wildlife
identification and the Jack and Jill crosscut saw competition. In addition to a
plaque, the team also received a new Stihl
chain saw, for being among the top three
finalists. Team advisors: David Newman
“The lesson of loggerhead sea turtles is
one of endurance,” says DNR’s Dodd. “We’re
serious about protecting sea turtles in Georgia,
but because they travel so far and wide,
it’s important to find out what threats they
face elsewhere. We want to give them every
opportunity to survive and reproduce.”
Funding for the project came from the
Georgia DNR, UGA, the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S.
Naval Base at Kings Bay, the Environmental
Resources Network, the National Fish and
Wildlife Foundation, Cumberland Island
National Seashore, Jekyll Island Sea Turtle
project and the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Alumni Association Publication•Fall/Winter 2004
Photo by Helen Fosgate
and Amanda Newman.
Grad student Jay Scott (left) with Assistant Professor
Steven Castleberry (right)
Warnell School of Forest Resources—UGA
11
Photo by Helen Fosgate
Wildlife Team Takes Fourth at 2004 Conclave
The UGA Wildlife
Team placed
fourth overall
among 19 colleges
and universities
competing at this
year’s Southeastern
Wildlife Conclave
hosted by Arkansas
State University.
UGA’s 31-member
team placed third
in field events
such as archery,
rifle marksmanship, orienteering, game-calling, rowing, wildlife tracking and the
obstacle course. Grad student Marsha Ward earned second place in the wildlife
essay contest for her essay about ecotourism. The team took fourth place in the
wildlife quiz bowl. Team faculty advisors: Steven Castleberry and Mike Mengak.
12 Warnell School of Forest Resources—UGA
Photo by Steven Castleberry
uana Vargas,
a senior
majoring in forest
environmental
resources, received
the $1,000 Bartlett
Tree Foundation, Inc.
grant-in-aid for 2004,
available to promising
UGA undergraduates
with a career interest
in arboriculture.
Vargas, who wants
to specialize in urban
tree management,
worked with Clarke
County urban
forester Connie Head
over the summer
and plans to take the
International Society
of Arboriculture’s
Aborist Certification
Exam next year.
Alumni Association Publication•Fall/Winter 2004
By Helen Fosgate
onna Gallaher stacks the last two boxes onto
the hand truck, stretches the bungee cords
tight, and wheels the tottering stack to the
parking lot. Today she’s heading north to Jasper for her
76th three-day Master Timber Harvester Workshop.
“This was going to be a three-year program when it
started in 1996,” she says, sliding the boxes full of notebooks into the back of the Taurus wagon. “But education isn’t an event, it’s a process. So here we are, eight
years later, still going strong.”
Gallaher has traveled to every corner of the state,
driving thousands – perhaps hundreds of thousands – of
miles. More than 3,000 loggers in Georgia have now
completed the program, which includes sections on the
environment, safety and business management.
“This program was started at the request of participants in the American Forest and Paper Association’s
Sustainable Forest Initiative Program,” she explains. “It
encourages sustainable forestry practices for the entire
forest community, including mills, loggers and forest
landowners. But logger education was identified as a
priority, so that’s where we have focused most of our
Donna gallaher coordinates the master Timber
efforts.”
Harvester program
The program has been so well-received that it now
includes an eight-hour continuing education component task,” says Ben Jackson, professor of timber harvestfor those who’ve already earned the Master Timber
ing, who Gallaher credits with developing the original
Harvester designation. Those loggers return every two
program and educational materials. “She is to be comyears for updates about best management practices,
mended for her efforts.”
endangered species and transportation and safety issues.
Gallaher plans workshops for different geographic
areas of the state. Her list of speakers includes wildlife
biologists from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, foresters from the Georgia Forestry Commission, water quality specialists, safety experts from the
Georgia Department of Motor Vehicle Safety, and other
professionals from business and industry.
“We recognized early on that a single three-day
“The Master Timber Harvester designation is eduworkshop wasn’t really enough to raise the level of procational rather than a certification program,” explains
fessionalism or change behavior,” says Gallaher. “While
Gallaher. “And we’re very clear about that. Some states
concern for the environment is what drives the program, require certification, but we believe this voluntary aploggers also have a need for information about the latest proach is more effective than a regulatory system.”
on safety and business management, and we cover those
Steve Worthington, a procurement manager with
subjects as well.”
Rayonier, and Nipper Bunn, a logging company owner
Gallaher, who worked for 16 years as office manager who completed the program six years ago, are attending
for a logging company before moving into her current
the workshop again this year in order to make recomposition, has a unique perspective into the culture and
mendations about how to improve and update educaneeds of her workshop participants.
tional materials.
“Donna has set a high professional standard for the
Master Timber Harvester Program, which is no easy
Continued on page 20
Alumni Association Publication•Fall/Winter 2004
Warnell School of Forest Resources—UGA
Photo by Helen Fosgate
D
13
Faculty Profile:
T
wenty years ago this
year, Bob and Barbara
Teskey bought 30 acres
in Oconee County, with an
urge to build their own home.
“We wanted a unique house
and the challenge of building
it ourselves,” says Teskey,
UGA distinguished research
professor of forest ecology.
After studying various
designs, the Teskeys settled on
an octagonal plan that would
allow a panoramic view of the
fields and woods around them.
The original post and beam
house had two bedrooms, one
bath, a small kitchen, and a
family room with a woodstove.
They moved in after a year
and a half, though it took them
another two and a half years to
finish.
“After sitting all day at a
desk, I found the experience
of pounding nails very
therapeutic,” says Teskey,
laughing. “I think we both got
a lot of satisfaction out of the
experience.”
After sons William and
Joe came along, the Teskeys
built a large addition at the
back of the house and added a
swimming pool, the one thing
they didn’t build themselves.
Even now construction on the
house continues as they finetune by expanding the kitchen
into a former utility room.
Robert Teskey
Photo by J.P. Bond
By Helen Fosgate
Bob and Barbara Teskey on the front steps of the home they built
together in Oconee County
“It’s a work in progress,”
says Barbara, whose calm
seems unflappable.
Teskey, now so at home in
the country, actually grew up
in Chicago, just three miles
from Wrigley Field. He saw a
lot of baseball games as a kid,
since the park gave free tickets
to those who stayed afterward
to clean the stands. But it
was the summers spent at an
uncle’s lake house in northern
Minnesota that stirred his
passion for the outdoors.
“I loved the big woods,” he
says, “and spent many happy
days there hiking and fishing.”
After high school, Teskey
entered the University of
Illinois to major in forestry.
It was also there–in the same
dorm–that he met Barbara,
14 Warnell School of Forest Resources—UGA
who was studying elementary
education. She later earned a
master’s degree in business at
UGA.
After graduation the Teskeys
moved to Columbia, Missouri,
where Barbara worked while
Bob earned a degree in ecophysiology at the University
of Missouri. In seeking to
understand the biology of trees,
he became fascinated with
research. After completing
his MS, he stayed on at UM
for another two years as an
instructor, time he considered
well-spent since he discovered
that he also enjoyed teaching.
Eager to move forward,
Teskey earned his PhD at the
University of Washington in
just 2½ years. Just as he was
completing his degree, he
Alumni Association Publication•Fall/Winter 2004
branch chambers, a novel
technique to apply treatments
to large trees growing in
a forest. Placed over the
branches, the chambers
resemble large, plastic
bubbles through which
researchers blow ozone so
they can evaluate its effects
on tree growth. His work,
now used around the world to
study tree physiology, showed
that ambient levels of ozone
in the Southeast may reduce
forest productivity by as
much as 30 percent.
“Bob is always coming
“I got interested in ozone because
the Southeast is a hot spot for it.”
affect growth. To study this,
Teskey invented a number of
innovative techniques, many
of which are now standard
practice in modern plant
physiology research.
His initial work looked at
how environmental stresses
like drought influence tree
function. He later expanded his
research to study the impacts
of genetics, pollution, ozone
and climate change.
“I got interested in ozone
because the Southeast is a hot
spot for it,” he says. “Our high
temperatures and stagnant air,
coupled with sources of air
pollution to the west, creates
a kind of reactor for creating
ozone.”
In order to study the
physiology of trees in the
forest, Teskey developed
Photo by Helen Fosgate
saw a job announcement on
the bulletin board for a forest
physiologist at the University
of Georgia School of Forest
Resources.
“I was drawn to a
state where forestry was
economically important,” he
says.
Teskey soon discovered
that despite its wide appeal
in the forest industry, not
much was known about the
physiology of the loblolly
pine, especially photosynthetic
rates, carbon acquisition and
how environmental factors
Teskey measures the carbon dioxide
level inside a tree at Whitehall
Forest
up with innovative ways to
approach important problems,”
says colleague Rodney Will,
also a forest physiologist. “His
current research on carbon
dioxide transport and recycling
within trees has the potential to
change how we think about the
carbon dynamics of trees.”
In 2001, Teskey was named
a UGA Distinguished Research
Professor in recognition of his
research accomplishments.
That same year, he was among
a group of 25 scientists invited
to speak in Tokyo at the US/
Japan Workshop on Global
Change. He also has been
invited to speak on that topic
next year in Australia. In
2003 he developed a seminar
course (FORS 8000) on
Global Climate Change and
Ecosystems, which explores
Alumni Association Publication•Fall/Winter 2004
the potential effects of
climate change on ecosystems
worldwide.
“Much of my research is
about risk assessment,” says
Teskey. “Ozone and carbon
dioxide are increasing in the
atmosphere, and they both
have the potential to greatly
affect forests. I hope my
research helps us understand
and manage their effects.”
(Contact Bob Tesky at
rteskey@arches.uga.edu)
����
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Warnell School of Forest Resources—UGA
15
Secretary Norton Signs Landmark
Environmental Agreement to Protect Georgia’s
Aquatic Resources
Croatia continued from page 7
of building and living in wooden
houses whose roofs have long
been ideal stork nesting sites. “It’s
interesting,” Schweitzer observes,
“how they’re trying to maintain their
cultural heritage with their natural
heritage to keep things in balance.”
Fulfilling UGA’s mission of
public outreach and helping their
U-Zagreb colleagues develop a
similar program are key components
of Schweitzer’s and Izlar’s work
in Croatia. “European education,
both public and private, has no
concept of public outreach,” Izlar
says. “They’re strictly teaching and
research institutions, nothing else.”
But he’s confident of their future
success. “They can’t quite get at it
yet, but they know what they want
to do.” To that end, a delegation
of high-level Croatian government Croatians hope to preserve their
rich cultural history
ministers and U-Zagreb faculty
will visit WSFR in late October for
16 Warnell School of Forest Resources—UGA
further discussions and a first-hand
look at UGA outreach efforts.
The pair also agrees that their
work in Croatia highlights the
value of outreach and study abroad
programs. “This brings examples
I can provide in class, knowledge I
can give,” Dr. Schweitzer observes,
“It shows scenarios others face. This
international perspective brings a
larger viewpoint of the opportunities
here, and with these connections, it
increases the chances of our students
going abroad.” “Students miss a
lot of opportunities that occur here
outside of academics that can help
them grow as people,” Mr. Izlar
adds. “The richness of a university
education is not only what you get
out of the books you read, but the
people you meet while you’re here.”
(Kate Spear is a senior majoring
in wildlife and French. Contact her
kspear@uga.edu)
Alumni Association Publication•Fall/Winter 2004
FOR THE RECORD
Essays on education, research and issues in natural resource management
Putting the Biology in
Biotechnology
By Jeffrey Dean
M
icrobiology became my
passion in high school,
and the modern wonder
of that day -- news that researchers
had cloned and sequenced genes,
those basic building blocks of all
living organisms -- set my course
for college. Surely, if we could
discover all the genes in a creature,
we would be able to understand
what makes it tick.
Of course, it is a fundamental
rule in science that the further
your studies take you from human
scales of time and space, the more
complex and expensive your
equipment becomes. Although
we don’t need billion dollar atom
smashers or the Hubble Space
Telescope to discover genes
these days, we recently paid
the equivalent of a couple of
Maseratis for a DNA sequencer
the size of a TV set and with all
the sex-appeal of a toaster. But
for all the technological trappings,
I still squirm inside whenever
someone characterizes me as a
“biotechnologist.”
Why is this? Perhaps it is
a reaction against the narrow
definition applied to biotechnology
by so many people—“the use by
industry of recombinant DNA,
cell fusion, and new bioprocessing
techniques to develop products.”
But even broader definitions, such
as “a set of biological techniques
developed through basic research
and now applied to research and
product development,” leave me
cold. To be sure, we use genetic
engineering techniques in my lab
to probe the function of genes.
We also work with loblolly pine,
a tree familiar to all graduates of
this school for both its commercial
and its ecological importance, and
woe unto the student from my lab
who cannot immediately suggest
half a dozen ways in which loblolly
pine genes could, in theory, be
manipulated to commercial benefit.
Yet, for me, it always has
been and always will be about
the biology. Over the past couple
of years, with funding from NSF
and the USDA, my group has
generated more than 125,000 new
DNA sequences from loblolly pine
and, in the process, discovered
hundreds of genes not previously
identified in this species. This
week, computer analyses of data
identified several genes whose
expression seems to be important
for drought tolerance, and we are
working with colleagues to convert
this information into tools that can
be used to breed pines that will
better cope with the stresses these
trees face after planting. Last
week, here on campus, we used a
robot capable of printing 100,000
spots the width of a human hair
on a single microscope slide to
fabricate our first loblolly pine
DNA microarrays. These DNA
microarrays, the first generation
Alumni Association Publication•Fall/Winter 2004
of which
will contain
more than
13,000 pine
genes, will
enable us
to examine trees responding to
insects, diseases, environmental
stresses or nutritional deficiencies
and identify which genes are most
important for the tree’s survival.
If fully successful, we might one
day be able to use such arrays to
optimize silvicultural prescriptions
from analyzing a single bundle of
needles.
Over the past few months,
we’ve collaborated with several
WSFR wildlife faculty members,
helping their students develop the
skills necessary to apply some
of this complex and expensive
equipment to important problems
in population genetics, like who’s
the mommy and who’s the daddy
of all those chicks in a covey of
quail. Now that is work that really
makes me feel like a kid again!
So, while I certainly must
admit to taking pleasure from
learning how to use a fancy new
instrument to study whatever
organism is the current object of
my fascination, please do not call
me a “biotechnologist.” I am a
biologist, and I cannot imagine
a more interesting or exciting
profession.
(Jeff Dean is a forest biologist
in the Warnell School of Forest
Resources. Contact him by email:
jeffdean@uga.edu).
Warnell School of Forest Resources—UGA
17
obert Dasher turns onto a gravel
road, puts his truck in park, and slides
out to unlock the gate. “I want so
bad to get down and weed those shrubs,” he
says, pointing toward a couple of azaleas just
inside the gate. “Gerald and I planted those a
couple of years ago, and I just hate seeing them
all grown up like that. This place is usually
mowed, but we’re just so busy with onion
season, nobody’s had time to get down here.”
Along the winding drive, we pass a series of
carefully displayed antique farm implements
– a mule-drawn hay tetter, a one-row planter,
a grain drill, a disk harrow. “Gerald and I
used to buy these at farm sales and auctions
so that we could keep them around,” Robert
explains. “A lot of people who come here have
never seen some of these old things. Heck,
I’ve never seen some of them myself.”
After what seems like a mile or so, we come
to a large clearing where a low, rambling
cabin sits under towering pines. Farm tools,
glass insulators and old signs cover the cabin’s
weathered exterior. Cobbled together from several
salvaged farm buildings, the cabin serves as a
rustic gathering place for family and friends.
“We haven’t been down here in several
weeks,” says Robert, “since my wife, Debbie,
hosted a little celebration for our high school
basketball and softball teams. Pinewood Christian
Academy won the state championships this
year, and we’re all pretty proud of that.”
Robert, 52, and late brother Gerald, who died
last year, built this cabin in Long County so that
folks could gather, play, and then stay. A bulletin
board in the hall displays photos of some of its
18 Warnell School of Forest Resources—UGA
Photos by Helen Fosgate
R
By Helen Fosgate
Robert Dasher, farmer and dedicated collector
of cultural artifacts
many visitors. These include governors and
senators as well as friends and business associates,
who come to hunt, cook out, and finally bed
down in one of the cabin’s 12 unique bedrooms.
“Each room has its own theme,” says
Robert, opening a door in the middle of a long
shotgun hall. “This one is full of antique toys
and dolls. The kids love playing with all this
old stuff. This room down here, as you can
see, is for a fisherman. That one across there
with all the antique dresses – is for a lady.”
The cabin’s interior, paneled with roughcut slabs of pine milled on the property, is cozy
Alumni Association Publication•Fall/Winter 2004
and inviting. It features antique furniture, signs,
and hundreds – perhaps thousands – of once
common artifacts from farmstead, forest and field.
“Gerald and I used to collect all this old
stuff together,” says Robert, looking around
the room. “Now that he’s gone, I keep on doing
it. I guess because it reminds me of him.”
The cabin is a metaphor for G & R Farms,
the business partnership Gerald and Robert
formed in 1973. It started small, but grew steadily
The 12 bedroom Dasher cabin
with effort, time and attention to detail.
“We loved land, but didn’t have any,” explains
a broken truck axle, and over the next several
Robert. “And so in 1974 we started with 60 acres.” minutes, Robert speaks with a mechanic at the
Today G & R Farms includes some 15,000 acres, shop and the foreman in the field, whom he directs
to Reidsville for more G & R Farms onion bags.
much of the Dasher family, and about 200 yearFinally, he hangs the receiver back on its clip.
round employees. Together they manage a grading
company and 10,000 acres of timber, in addition to
“We always have something to do,” says Robert,
with a sigh. “You know a person with a half-acre
growing Vidalia onions, peanuts, soybeans, cattle,
garden can stay busy,
wheat, corn, sorghum,
pecans and tobacco.
if they’re doing all
“I don’t smoke, and
that needs doing. And
we like things done a
don’t encourage anyone
certain way. We like
else to,” says Robert,
stopping alongside a
straight, clean rows
manicured field of tobacco.
and strong fences. We
try to save any old
“But as long as it’s legal,
I say let’s grow it here in
buildings and use them
America, where we can
for something. See
control what goes into it.”
that shack over there?
Gerald Dasher, just 62
I want to move it and
fix it up...I don’t know
when he died of cancer
Dasher behind the counter in the cabin’s “fountain”
last April, was an early
when we’ll get around
organizer of Vidalia onion growers in south
to it, though. That’s a subject for another day.”
Georgia and led efforts to market and distribute the
Robert’s older son, Heath, manages the
mild, sweet onions across the country and around
crops, and younger son Blake entered the
Warnell School of Forest Resources this
the world. His wife, Pam, still works in the G & R
Farms business office, and son Walt (GA Southern/ semester with plans to study forest business.
“My ultimate goal is to have my children join
Business ‘73) manages the farm’s timber operations.
the business – and to enjoy it. That’s what I’d really
“We are one big happy conglomerate,” says
Walt, laughing. “We make a lot of compromises, but like,” says Robert, grinning. “That, and one day I’d
everyone has their job, and somehow it all works.”
like to be out of debt.”
Robert’s two-way radio crackles periodically,
and he picks up the receiver to handle all manner
(Contact Robert Dasher at D & R Farms 102
of problems, large and small. This call is about
Dasher Rd., Glennville, GA. 912-659-2100)
Alumni Association Publication•Fall/Winter 2004
Warnell School of Forest Resources—UGA
19
A Fish Tale
Teacher’s learn to include aquaculture in to classroom studies
Working in small groups, participants use Hach
water test kits and a HydroLab quanta to
determine water quality parameters
During the hands-on activities,
participants learned capture techniques. Dr. Jay Shelton removes a
35 pound blue cat one of several
caught in the net
Bunn, who has been named both the Georgia
Logger of the Year and National Logger of the
Year, currently serves as president of the Southeastern Wood Producers Association and also
chairs the Georgia Forestry Association’s Logging
and Transportation Committee. He says the logger
community in Georgia is improving.
“We’ll continue to extract resources from our
environment,” he says, “but we’re trying to get the
message out that this industry is serious about the
environment. We’ve found sustainable ways to
grow and harvest wood. Not only that, we want to
be world leaders in this.”
While the Master Timber Harvester Program
20 Warnell School of Forest Resources—UGA
Teachers
received t
he Aquac
notebook
ulture
to use th
rough th
e year
is voluntary, most mills in Georgia now buy wood
only from loggers who hold the MTH designation.
Gallaher says this demonstrates the mills’ commitment to the values and practices of sustainable
forest management.
“The program is growing every year, and we’re
adding more players all the time,” she says. “Initially we were reaching mostly company owners and
supervisors, but today we’re more often talking to
logging employees, drivers and equipment operators. That’s exciting because these are the people
on the ground who can really make a difference.”
(Contact Donna Gallaher at the Warnell School
of Forest Resources, gallaher@forestry.uga.edu)
Alumni Association Publication•Fall/Winter 2004
1940
Harry McCoy Hartman, Jr.
(BSF 1947) 12800 Growdenvale Dr. NE, Cumberland, MD
21502 retired from the Maryland
Dept. of Forests & Parks in September 1983.
1950
John F. Connelly (BSF 1950)
4343 Lebanon Pike, # T-423,
Hermitage, TN, 37076
Jack Gray (BSF 1952) 215
Spring Creek Place, NE,
Albuquerque, NM 87122,
jackgray@prodigy.net is twice
retired, first from IBM and second from Saudia National Lab.
Earned an MS in applied mathematics after his BSF in forestry.
“I loved working in aerospace.”
1960s
Fred W. Kinard, Jr. ( BSF
1962; MS 1964) 472 Huger
Street, Charleston, SC 29403,
was honored by the South
Carolina Chapter of The Wildlife
Society with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to wildlife biology and
management through education,
research and administrative
actions. He was also elected a
Fellow in The Wildlife Society at
their annual meeting in Burlington, Vermont.
John F. White (BSF 1960; MS
1963) 113 Fairway Dr., Black
Mountain, NC 28711 is retired
from the US Forest Service.
around the world. In addition to
being a member of the SAF for
30 years, he is also a member of
the Urban Land Institute.
Gary Cannon (BSR 1968, MS
1973), has a new mailing address: 202 W. Carr St., Colquitt,
GA 39837-3918.
1980s
Stuart Davis (BSF 1968) 87000
Roses Bluff Rd., Yulee, FL
32097-2346, rosesbluff@aol.com
James T. “Tommy” Lunsford (BSF 1969) P.O. Box
7308, Athens, GA 30604-7308,
sensei@ittooojo.com, is owner
and head instructor at Seif Itto
Martial Arts & Fitness.
J. Scott Osborne (BS 1972, MS
1976) 2508 Valley Road, Sanford, NC 27330; is a surveys and
research coordinator and wildlife
biologist with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.
1970s
Tom Sasser (BSFR 1970) 132
Barrington Hall Drive, Eatonton, GA 31024 was elected to
a two year term as president of
the Golf Course Builders Association of America. The 355
member Association represents
builders and suppliers of golf
course construction. Sasser, vice
president of Weitz Golf International, has worked for 35 years
in recreational development
Alumni Association Publication•Fall/Winter 2004
Dan Forster (BSFR 1986, MS
1988) was named director of
the Wildlife Resources Division, Georgia Dept. of Natural
Resources in August 2004. He
most recently served the division
as assistant director. His responsibilities include the daily operations of the division, including
development and implementation of an organizational vision
that integrates national and state
priorities for wildlife conservation and outdoor recreation. He
will also serve as the division
liaison to the Commissioner, the
Board of Natural Resources and
the Georgia Legislature.
1990s
Greg Lee (MS 1992) 3665
Forest Grove Rd, Valdosta, GA
31606, gwlee@joimail.com received the Secretary of Defense
Individual Award for Natural
Resources Conservation, and
the General Thomas D. White
Air Force Award for Natural
Resources Conservation. He accepted the award at a Pentagon
ceremony. He and his wife, Kim
Sollie Lee (BSFR 1989) currently live in Valdosta, GA with
8-year-old daughter, Brooke.
Warnell School of Forest Resources—UGA
21
Lane Garwood (BSFR
1999)1300 Williams Drive, Suite
A, Marietta, Georgia 30066,
garwood70@atc-enviro.com
works in the Environmental Assessment & Remediation Department of ATC Associates, Inc.
Jeff Billips (BSFR 1995) 142
Bob Kirk Rd., Thomson, GA
30824 (706) 595-4211, conservation ranger for Burke County,
Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources, was named the Rocky
Wainwright Waterfowl Officer
of the Year.
Bobby Bond (BSFR 1995)
15 Greer Rd., Fort Valley, GA
31030, btbond@hotmail.com is a
wildlife biologist with the Georgia Dept.of Natural Resources in
region 4.
Wendi Weber (MS 1997) has
been named the new assistant
regional director of ecological
services, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, midwest region, headquartered in Fort Snelling, Minnesota.
Phillip E. Allen (BSFR 1998;
MFR 2000) 199 Harmony
Rd, Jesup, GA 31545 phillip.
allen@rayonier.com is a timber
sales forester with Rayoneir, Inc.
and recently moved to Jesup,
GA.
Jason Dunn (BSFR 1998) 1820
Dawson Road, Albany, GA,
31707, jdunn@webbproperties.
com along with wife, Dana
and son, Jacob welcomed new
daughter/sister Jenna Maire
Dunn on June 18, 2004. Jason
is a commercial, farm and timberland real estate broker with
Webb Properties, Inc. in Albany,
GA.
Tim Lowrimore (BSFR 1998)
P.O. Box 1217, Forsyth, GA
31029, tim@gfagrow.org, works
for the Georgia Forestry Association as a staff forester and
registered lobbyist. He and wife
Wendi, welcomed their first
child, Olivia Jewel Lowrimore,
on March 6, 2004.
Anthony R. Coody (BSFR
1999) 402 N. Knights Ave.,
Brandon, FL 33510 works for
Tampa Electric.
Lane Garwood (BSFR
1999) 751 San Fernando
D., Smyrna, GA 30080,
landgarwood@hotmail.com is a
project scientist in the Environmental Assessment and Remediation Dept., ATC Associates,
Inc. in Marietta, GA. He and
wife Kelly just bought a new
house.
Rans Thomas (BSFR 1999)
(cell: 912-531-2892) left his
position as general manager of
Groton Plantation in April to
become an instructor of wildlife
and plantation management at
Ogeechee Technical College,
Statesboro, GA.
ter Quality Dept., Stetson Engineers, Inc in San Rafael, CA
Nolan Banish (BSFR 2003)
1212 Norris Street, Raleigh, NC
27604, is a fisheries biologist in
the Aquatic Nongame Division,
North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.
Ian Conradie (MS 2003) and
wife Paula welcomed a new
baby, Nicole Conradie de la
Maza, on June 1, 2004. Ian and
Paula now live in Santiago, Chile
where Ian is working as a consultant for forest products firms.
Amy Taylor (BSFR 2003)
376 Rondo Gay Rd., Moultrie,
GA 31768, (229) 941-5780,
amt74@alltel.net is a forester
with Packaging Corporation of
America, Valdosta, Georgia.
Amy Parker (PhD/water resources 2004), parker.
amy@epamail.epa.gov re-joined
the Environmental Protection
Agency’s Health and Ecological
Criteria Division in Washington,
DC in May as nutrient coordinator. She left the EPA in 2000 to
pursue a PhD in the WSFR.
2000s
Xiaoqing Zeng (PhD 2001)
2171 E. Francisco Blvd., Ste.
K, San Rafael, CA, 94901 is a
senior hydrology engineer, in
Hydrology, Hydraulics and Wa-
22 Warnell School of Forest Resources—UGA
Mary McCormack, director
Development/Alumni Relations
Warnell School of Forest Resources
Athens, GA 30602
706-542-1011
mmccormack@smokey.forestry.uga.edu
Alumni Association Publication•Fall/Winter 2004
Archie E. Patterson, 89, professor emeritus of forestry in the WSFR, died on
August 27, 2004 after a long illness. He taught forest management, history, ethics
and professionalism at UGA for more than 40 years. Recognized nationally as the
conscience of the forestry profession, Patterson was also a champion of forester
registration. He urged standardization and continuing education courses that held
registered foresters to a high level of professionalism and competency. He wrote
the first draft of a bill to establish forester registration in Georgia, and it was adopted by the Georgia Legislature nearly unchanged.
He was an active member of the Society of American Foresters and the Warnell
School of Forest Resources Alumni Association. Beloved by former students and colleagues, a scholarship set up in his name supports an annual student forestry scholarship in the School. He continued to
mentor students long after his retirement. He was inducted into the Georgia Forestry Hall of Fame in
1979.
Born in Boone, Iowa in 1915, Patterson earned his B.S. in forestry in 1937 and an M.S. at Iowa State
University in 1938. He came to UGA as an assistant professor in 1940, one of only a few faculty in the
forestry department at the time. He was promoted to associate professor in 1943 and to full professor in
1948. He retired in January 1981.
Jason P. Andrews, (BSFR 1997)
died March 31, 2004 from injuries
sustained in a motorcycle accident. A native of Albany, Ga.,
Andrews had lived in Dawson,
Georgia for two years. He worked
for Langford Associates as a real
estate appraiser and forestry consultant.
Peter Dyson, 81, former professor of forest economics in the
WSFR for 23 years, died at his
home in Athens on August 25,
2004. A native of Toronto, Canada, he was an active member of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where he was Stake
Patriarch.
Ralph A. Davis, (BSF 1949), 82,
died May 15, 2004 in Huntsville,
Texas. He served in the U.S.
Army in WWII and later in the
U.S. Air Force. He worked as a
public relations forester, promoting forest conservation in Texas,
Arkansas and Louisiana. He later
worked for Champion Paper Co.
as a forester and later became
president of Davis Paper and
Pulpwood Logging Co., Inc. He
served four terms on the Huntsville City Council and three times
as Walker County Judge.
John David Hewlett, 82, former
professor of forest resources in the
WSFR, died on July 19, 2004 at
his home in Athens. Hewlett was
a veteran of WWII, serving in
Europe until the end of the war in
1945. After completing his education in forest resources and plant
physiology, he worked for the
U.S. Forest Service before moving to the Coweeta Hydrologic
Laboratory as project director in
Franklin, N.C. He came to UGA
in 1964, where he worked until his
retirement in 1984. In retirement,
Hewlett wintered in Athens and
participated in a gold mining ven-
Alumni Association Publication•Fall/Winter 2004
ture in Arizona with a longtime
friend and colleague. He attended
Syracuse University in New York
and Duke University in North
Carolina.
Charles D. Woodard, 71, (BSF
1961) died January 19, 2004 at
his home in Sylva, NC. He was
a veteran of WWII, where he
served in the Navy. He worked
in forestry for 40 years with the
U.S. Forest Service, Mead Corp.,
W.C. Hennessee Lumber Co., and
Southern Appalachian Multiple
Use Council. He was an avid fly
fisherman and grouse hunter, and
a founding member of the Swain
County Athletic Hall of Fame. He
served as a coach and mentor to
many young athletes in Jackson
County, NC. He is survived by
wife, Alice, two sons Dickey and
Dave Woodard, and two daughters, Debbie and Becky Woodard,
all of Sylva, N.C.
Warnell School of Forest Resources—UGA
23
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit No. 165
Athens, Georgia
E
ighteen-year-old Whitney Barton’s portrayal of blue-winged teal took Best-in-Show honors last April in the 2004 Georgia Junior Duck
Stamp art contest—and received Honorable Mention in the National Competition in Washington, D.C. over the summer. Hers was
among 851 entries this year from 50 different Georgia public, private and home schools, the largest number of entries ever. Barton, who
graduated last May from Collins Hill High School in Lawrenceville, is now a freshman at UGA majoring in art education. Sponsored by
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program helps students learn about and appreciate wildlife and wetland ecosystems. State level sponsors include Georgia Power Co., the Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources, and the
Warnell School of Forest Resources/UGA.