Director’s Message: Autumn 2023
So two coastal ecologists and a quantitative environmental scientist walk into a bar ….
Nope, not a joke! It is just the School’s newest faculty getting together for a social hour. That’s right, this past academic year we successfully recruited three outstanding new faculty to our School. This newsletter edition includes a feature on Corey Garza, who arrived in September and is already building up his lab. Corey is a nationally recognized leader in developing evidence-based methods to enhance diversity in the Marine Sciences, and we are fortunate to have him not only as a SAFS faculty member but also as the College of the Environment’s Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Welcome, Corey! Future newsletters will introduce the rest of our new faculty.
As ever, things keep changing around the School. In addition to the arrival of new students and faculty, we have also had a change in our leadership ranks. Steven Roberts stepped down from the Associate Director role this year to enjoy a well-earned sabbatical leave. Steven has been a key member of the School’s leadership team, stepping up to meet the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic posed for our graduate student body. We are so thankful for all that Steven has done to make the School a better place. I’m happy to let you know that Chelsea Wood has agreed to take on this role, and she is already moving forward with several exciting initiatives, which you can read more about in this newsletter. Thank you, Chelsea for joining the leadership team!
Finally, I use this opportunity to applaud members of our community who often escape the spotlight – our administrative staff. The last year has been particularly challenging as the University overhauled its 40-year-old financial system with a completely new one. If you are even remotely familiar with large institutions and financial systems, it will not surprise you that this has been an extraordinarily challenging process for everyone involved. But none bore the responsibility or suffered the consequences of this transformation like our administrative staff. Were it not for our staff’s skill, dedication, and professionalism, the School’s activities might have ground to a halt. An especially large, SAFS-sized “thank you” goes out to Lisa Cantore, Taylor Draper, Kenyon Foxworthy, Jonas Louie, and Lisa Smith for tireless work to keep the financial cogs moving.