Paper Science and Engineering Class of 2011 Celebrates With Senior Banquet

Posted on May 16, 2011 by moorman

Paper Science and Engineering seniors at 2011 annual banquet sponosored by Rayonier.

The NC State University Paper Science and Engineering Class of 2011 celebrated its achievements last week during the annual senior banquet. Sponsored by Rayonier, students were invited to enjoy the evening with great food, classmates, friends and department faculty. The accomplishments of 29 Paper Science and Engineering seniors were recognized during the event.

Senior Sonja Jones, double major in chemistry and paper science and engineering, was voted “Most Congenial Senior” by her classmates. The George T. Davis Most Congenial Senior Award is an annual honor noting the Paper Science and Engineering student who embodied a positive spirit, a bright smile on any day, and a kind heart.

Sonja Jones accepts the 2011 Most Congenial Senior Award from Dr. Med Byrd.

It has become tradition in the past 5 years for the students and faculty to take the stage to roast one another in farewell. The faculty took the opportunity to go first and roast the lively group of seniors in the Class of 2011. The students were not to be out-done! The toils of 4 years working individually with each of the faculty gave them plenty of insight on how to highlight the unique character of the Forest Biomaterials faculty.

Dr. Med Byrd took the opportunity to remind students of the industry partners, alumni and friends who have supported their scholarships and professional development over the past few years. He encouraged students to pledge to give back to NC State and the Paper Science & Engineering program. Dr. Hasan Jameel, Dr. Med Byrd and Dr. Richard Phillips pledged $4,000 to create the Class of 2011 scholarship fund. Two members of the Class of 2011 took the challenge and stepped right up with pledges!

90% of the students graduating on May 14, 2011 have secured permanent employment or will be entering graduate school. Graduates have accepted offers at Rayonier, International Paper, Kimberly Clark, Dupont and Nalco, among other companies. Other students plan to pursue Ph.d’s in Chemical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and Georgia Tech. One graduate has plans to attend law school and another is accepting her commission with the US Navy.

Many students in the Class of 2011 are completing a dual major in Chemical Engineering and will be graduating in December. The Department of Forest Biomaterials and Rayonier congratulate the Class of 2011!

Paper Science and Engineering Class of 2011 at Senior Banquet.

Megan Cain, Environmental Technology and Management Student, receives 2011 Earthwise Award

Posted on April 28, 2011 by rwgonzal

NCSU Office of Sustainability – Megan Cain, a senior in Environmental Technology and Management, is a 2011 Earthwise Award Recipient.

2011 Earthwise Award Recipients and Presenters: Vice Chancellor for Finance and Business, Charles D. Leffler, Andy Fox (faculty), Anne Tazewell (staff), Megan Cain (student), Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Dr. Tom Stafford and Campus Ambassador for Coca-Cola, Kyle Felmut.

In a ceremony held earlier this week, the Campus Environmental Sustainability Team at North Carolina State University announced the 2011 Earthwise Award recipients. Megan Cain (student), Andy Fox (faculty) and Anne Tazewell (staff) were recognized for their continued commitment to move sustainability forward on campus. The 2011 awards were made possible by a generous donation from Coca-Cola.

Presenting the awards were Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Tom Stafford and Vice Chancellor for Finance and Business, Charles D. Leffler. Kyle Felmut, campus ambassador, represented Coca-Cola.

Each year a faculty, staff and student are honored with an Earthwise Award for outstanding achievement in environmental sustainability at NC State. The Campus Environmental Sustainability Team presents the awards in order to recognize work that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

The 2011 winners received a plaque made of 100% recycled glass and a $200 check.

Megan is a senior in Environmental Technology and Management in the College of Natural Resources. Over the past four years she has utilized two internships to help pay for college while expanding her knowledge in various areas of sustainability.

In her time with NC State’s Waste Reduction and Recycling office and the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources she has: organized a cleanup of Schenck Forest, acted as volunteer coordinator for WE Recycle, volunteered to co-lead the first Costa Rica Alternative Service Break trip, organized several NC State Earth Day Concerts and assisted with many green events on campus.

Majestic Giants and Tiny Terrors

Posted on April 7, 2011 by

Submitted by Erin Mester

Call them one of “America’s Most Wanted” invasive pests: the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA).

After arriving here from Asia in the early 1950’s, these pesky aphid-like insects have devoured their way through millions of hemlock trees and left a trail of “ghosts” through the forest.

Hemlocks grow throughout the southern Appalachians where some trees are more than 400 years old and grow as tall as 175 feet and six feet in diameter. Hemlocks may live more than 800 years and thrive in shade where their thick, evergreen foliage helps maintain moderate temperatures and moisture on the forest floor as well as provide numerous habitats for wildlife.

HWA have been steadily spreading throughout the south into some of the largest and oldest stands of hemlocks in the southern Appalachians and are killing eastern and Carolina hemlocks all within only a few years of initial infestation.

One PhD student at NC State University, Kelly Oten, is researching ways hemlock react to HWA with the hope of developing HWA-resistant hemlocks. Kelly’s research focuses on the behavior and morphology of HWA as well as the chemistry of hemlocks in regards to what makes one tree susceptible to HWA and another one resistant. It is known that Asian and pacific northwest hemlocks are resistant to HWA but not why.

Kelly is currently observing HWA with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), a surface-imaging technique, to investigate their feeding behaviors. Little is known about the behavior of HWA and Kelly’s research is helping scientists to understand how they find a suitable feeding spot to feed. She is also investigating the chemical differences between seven hemlock species as well as individuals within the same species in the hopes to find what makes some species resistant to HWA. If a specific chemical is found in resistant trees, she can hypothesize that the chemical found is a deterrent to HWA, and attempt to confirm this through behavioral studies.

Kelly presented her work at the 5th Annual NCSU Graduate Student Research Symposium where she won 2nd place for her poster presentation, and at the Southeastern Meeting Entomological Society of America where she won 3rd place for the PhD student oral paper.

Chemical profiles of resistant hemlocks will be useful in developing breeding programs by screening for resistance and selecting for resistant individuals to use in these programs and will hopefully restore native hemlock forests. Eastern hemlock trees are also vital to the North Carolina nursery industry, and the HWAs that kill these trees are very costly to growers. Development of a resistant tree and/or other means of controlling this pest are required to save this industry.

Kelly’s work is of particular interest to The Alliance for Saving Threatened Forests (ASTF), part of the North Carolina State University Center for Integrated Pest Management, in affiliation with the College of Natural Resources, which supports research on developing pest resistant trees and other means of controlling the adelgids. The Alliance’s long-term goal is restoring hemlock forests and other native trees in the Eastern United States that have succumbed to the adelgids.

If you would like to learn more about ASTF and current HWA research at NC State, please visit their website at: www.threatenedforests.com

Learning + Serving = Success!

Posted on April 6, 2011 by jkpacifi

NCSU student teaches elementary school students how to measure using forestry techniques.

When you mix meaningful service in the community with experiences related to course curriculum, a powerful learning tool is created! Service-learning offers students a variety of opportunities to grow in their community involvement while examining their experiences, related to specific learning outcomes. Several faculty members in the NC State Department of Forestry & Environmental Resources have led their students through these service-learning experiences with significant positive outcomes from the perspectives of the community, faculty and students involved.

Last fall, numerous service-learning projects were incorporated into courses in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources. Some of these projects include:

Natural Resources 100 Introduction to Natural Resources —Led by Dr. Barry Goldfarb and Dr. Gary Blank, students divided into four group of 25 students to work at four different project sites. These students removed invasive species and plant native species. Through this experience, the students began to identify invasive species while learning the benefits of having native species while serving the community by improving the plant conditions at sites, including Centennial Campus and county-owned areas.

Forestry 784 The Practice of Environmental Impact Assessment—Led by Dr. Gary Blank, students created a general management plan for Lake Raleigh Woods on the Centennial Campus. Students assembled and evaluated information available about the preserve, surveyed faculty members about actual and potential use of the preserve, and investigated several questions and critical issues. Information gaps were filled and current conditions analyzed. The general management plan identifies priorities that need attention to protect values for which the preserve has been designated. NC State University administrators, the clients, subsequently named an advisory panel that will use this draft as a basis for moving forward.

NCSU students remove invasive species and plant native species.

Natural Resources 300 Natural Resources Measurements —Led by Dr. George Hess, students are developing a natural resource inventory of the Rust Property in collaboration with Wake County Parks, Recreation, & Open Space. The property is along Swift Creek and was purchased as protected open space by Wake County. The class’ inventory will provide baseline data, so the County can develop a management plan for the land. Students are developing information about soils, wildlife, plants, water, and the history of human use of the property.

Forestry 172 Forest System Mapping and Mensuration I —Led by Dr. Bronson Bullock, students worked with elementary and middle school students to teach them about forestry measurements and environmental education. These students took skills that they recently learned in this course and taught them to elementary and middle school students, so the younger srudents would have a practical application for the measuring skills they were learning in their classes. Dr. Bullock’s students lead this hands-on, fun activity giving the younger students the opportunity to get outside, enjoy their surroundings and grow in their appreciation for the environment.

Natural Resources 484 Environmental Impact Assessment – Led by Dr. Gary Blank, students spent a lab period collecting debris and flotsam from the riparian zone in Schenck Forest along Richlands Creek. The class accumulated a pick-up truck load of trash, recyclables, tires and other materials washed downstream from sources farther up in the watershed and tossed or blown off the Wade Avenue right of way. The NC State Sustainability Office assisted by providing collection bags, protective gloves, and the truck for hauling collected material for campus disposal.

NCSU student plants a native tree species.

Through all of these service-learning activities, students in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources are fulfilling NC State University’s founding principles as aland grant institution —providing extension and outreach to the community while growing in personal education. Faculty and students enjoy the opportunity to move outside of the classroom to learn in a variety of hands-on, meaningful experiences, and service-learning provides the perfect mix.

Service-Learning is an importnat academic component of the College of Natural Resources’ commitment to Learning Beyond the Classroom, and can be found in all three departments in the College.

Merit Badge University Creates Learning Environment for Scouts and CNR Volunteers

Posted on March 31, 2011 by rwgonzal

Graduate student leads Scout in hands-on exercise to earn Fisheries & Wildlife Management merit badge.

Contributors: Aletta Davis and Christi Standley

It was a cold and windy day, rain threatened on the horizon, but about 150 hardy Boy Scouts were found roaming throughout NC State University’s campus and properties, learning and working hard to earn merit badges in science-based subjects. Held March 26 this year, NCSU Merit Badge University is a one-day event hosted by several colleges and departments for local Boy Scouts.

The College of Natural Resources provided the curriculum and resources for a great group of dedicated Boy Scouts to earn their choice of five badges: Fisheries & Wildlife Management, Environmental Science, Pulp & Paper, Forestry, and Soil & Water Conservation. To offer this fabulous experience, numerous faculty, staff, and students (undergraduate and graduate) joined together to plan and lead the Scouts through a variety of requirements needed for each of these badges. For instance, fourteen NCSU faculty, staff and students, along with several Boy Scout volunteers, served as instructors and guides at Schenck Forest, the site of the Forestry and Soil & Water Conservation merit badge activities.

Forestry and Environmental Resources Department Head, Barry Goldfarb, gathers the Scouts before their next exercise.

Spending the day teaching the Boy Scouts about these fields of interest was rewarding for all involved, especially having the opportunity to observe intelligent, curious scouts who are full of energy and interested in learning new things. Seeing Scouts who were ‘repeat attenders’ this year is a strong indication of the success of Merit Badge University. Aletta Davis, graduate student and lab manager in the college, recalled her experience helping with this event over the past two years, saying, “I’m always amazed at the Scouts’ willingness to participate in hands-on learning exercises while working together to help each other earn these badges. I’ve learned a lot from working with the Boy Scouts and, I hope, in turn, they’ve learned a little bit about my field of interest, soils. ”

Aletta Davis, center, leading the Scouts through a demonstration about soil properties.

A special thanks to Tiffany McLean, CNR Director of Enrollment Management, for organizing CNR’s contribution to NCSU Merit Badge University, as she did a fabulous job of planning and organizing this event in every detailed way, even including tracking down a freezer of frozen fish stomachs!