A message from the new Director of SAFS
[taps microphone]. Um … Hello? Hello? Is this thing on? Can you hear me SAFS community? [awkward cough].
How should one feel after being asked to serve as the 12th director of the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences? Honored to be chosen to promote and enhance the leading program of its kind? Terrified by the responsibility of preserving the School’s rich legacy? Excited by the opportunity to position the School as a leader for the foreseeable future?
The answer is yes.
These are the feelings I’m still navigating four months into my term. Each day brings an opportunity for me to ask, “what can I do to help preserve and enhance the School?” This might be a close examination of our undergraduate curriculum. It might be asking hard questions about our culture and how to improve it to foster greater participation and diversity. Or it might be an isolated act to help an individual out of a bind.
Looking forward, I pledge to follow the lead of my predecessors—continually positioning the School to be ahead of the pack, providing a place where students receive world-class education and where our scholars are making groundbreaking discoveries about the aquatic world. I’m particularly indebted to André Punt for his steady leadership over the past 10 years and his gracious and generous (and patient) dedication to helping me get up to speed.
I can’t do this alone; I need the help of all of you—SAFS alumni, our generous supporters, and our extended network of colleagues. Last autumn, I enjoyed a “listening tour,” where SAFS graduate students and faculty shared their visions for the School’s future and offered candid opinions on where we can do better. I invite the entire SAFS community to reach out to me to do the same.
Enough about me! I’m thrilled to introduce our newest addition to the SAFS faculty, Amy Van Cise. Amy’s work on the behavioral, population, and conservation implications of sociality in whales is a key addition to the School’s research and teaching portfolio. We are very happy to have her as part of our community!
On a somber note, Professor Emeritus Ken Chew passed away on September 24th. Ken was a tireless and fierce advocate for the School throughout his career and after his retirement. It is impossible to overstate all that he has meant for SAFS. Graham Young and Ken’s former students give a fuller account of Ken’s career here. We also pay tribute to the life and career of Ernie Brannon, both an alumnus and a former professor at our School.
The School is currently on a bit of a hiring spree. In winter quarter, we’ll be welcoming Ronel Nel as assistant teaching professor in a joint appointment between the Marine Biology program and SAFS. Ronel will aid us in developing and enhancing the curriculum in marine ecology. Currently, we are also engaged in three faculty searches. We hope some of you have an opportunity to take part in that process.
Wishing everyone a happy and healthy new year.