Sustainable Forestry Teachers’ Academy Garnering High Praise

Posted on June 26, 2014 by rwgonzal

The Sustainable Forestry Teachers’ Academy is just wrapping up another year and it is already getting fantastic reviews from its students — the teachers.

The Academy is a four-day residential program that focuses on the social, economic, and environmental aspects of sustainable forestry in North Carolina. This annual program is chock-full of learning experiences for the teachers who are prepared to return to their own classrooms with new knowledge and materials to share with their students.

In a recent North Carolina Forestry Association News Update, the Academy is described in this way:

Source: North Carolina Forestry Association, June 20, 2014, email News Update

“Just Fabulous”

Sustainable Forestry Teachers’ Academy Leaders Susan Moore (left), Renee Strnad, and Jennifer Grantham

That is what one teacher expressed to NCFA Executive Vice President Pryor Gibson at the conclusion of the tour of Parton Lumber Company. The teacher stopped Gibson just before she boarded the bus that was bound for the group’s next stop.

“I want to thank you and the NCFA for this opportunity. It is just fabulous. I have learned so much and everyone has just been so great at all of our visits. And these three ladies are just awesome.”

The teacher was referring to Susan Moore, Renee Strnad and Jennifer Grantham of N.C. State University Extension Forestry who organize and guide the Academies.

Needless to say, the Sustainable Teachers’ Academy had another successful week of educating teachers on forestry and the forest products industry in Asheville this past week. In addition tours of facilities, the teachers participated in workshops and PLT programs.

The coastal version of this program runs next week in New Bern.

Teachers learn about the Longleaf pine ecosystem at the Croatan National Forest

These residential programs designed for teachers feature visits to several forest products facilities in the Asheville (mountain) and New Bern (coastal) areas in addition to workshops and visits to educational forests.

The NCFA appreciates its membership hosting the teachers at their facilities in what has become an extremely popular program with teachers.

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Carnivore Mystery: Why Fishers Thrive in East, Not West

Posted on June 24, 2014 by

Zoologists Scott LaPoint and Roland Kays weigh a weasel-like fisher in the wild. Fishers, which weigh 4 to 12 pounds, are fierce predators.

For weasel-like fishers it’s a good time to live in the East. The fierce little carnivores are reclaiming historic habitats, including the Bronx, New York. But it’s a different story for fishers in the West, which haven’t been as successful in repopulating areas they once roamed in the Pacific and Northwest.

Dr. Roland Kays in the College of Natural Resources at NC State University is part of a team investigating reasons for the regional differences and devising strategies for successful reintroduction.

This National Science Foundation and National Geographic Society funded research has been published online in Animal Conservation.

Yahoo Road Trip Video Tracks Wolfpack Timbersports Athlete in Training for US Championship

Posted on June 19, 2014 by rwgonzal

Griff Wilson focuses his talents now on the US Stihl Timbersports Collegiate Championship

Griffith Wilson, a sophomore in Forest Management at NC State University, is used to working hard. That includes the work he has put into becoming the winner of the US STIHL®TIMBERSPORTS® Southern Collegiate Qualifer. And now it counts toward the challenge he will face this weekend as he battles other great student athletes for the Collegiate Championship being held at the Norfolk Scope Arena, Norfolk, Virginia, June 20-22.

Griff has a natural talent for timbersports, AND he is a natural in front of the cameras. Yahoo on the Road, sponsored by RAM Country, tested both of those qualities recently when they came out to Camp Slocum on NC State’s G.W. Hill Demonstration Forest in Durham County, NC, to film Griff during one of his training sessions. They not only captured evidence of his talent and composure, but they also picked up on the Wolfpack passion for tradition and NC State’s history in Forestry.

Watch the Yahoo! Road Trip Video featuring Griff and the NCSU Forestry & Timbersports Club at Camp Slocum

Barry Goldfarb interviewed by Yahoo Road Trip Host, Marc Istook for the video

Catch the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Collegiate Championship this weekend In Person or Stream it Live!

June 20 – Pro & College Qualifier Rounds 12pm-7pm
June 21 – US Professional Championships 5pm-8pm
June 22 – US Collegiate Championships & Team Relay Events 2pm-6pm

Myron Floyd to lead NC State’s PRTM department

Posted on June 19, 2014 by

Dr. Myron F. Floyd has been selected as head of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management (PRTM) at NC State University.

Dr. Floyd, has been the Director of Graduate Programs for PRTM since 2010 and a faculty member since 2005. Prior to coming to NC State, Floyd was the Director of the Center for Tourism Research and Development at the University of Florida and Coordinator of Graduate Studies.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Recreation and Park Administration and a Master of Science in Recreation and Tourism Management from Clemson University and a PhD in Recreation and Resources Development with a specialization in Natural Resource Sociology from Texas A&M University. He is a Fellow in the Academy of Leisure Sciences (2005). In 2008, he received the National Recreation and Park Association’s highest research honor, the Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt Award.

Over the last two decades, Dr. Floyd’s research has focused on racial and ethnic inequality in provision of parks, open space, and public recreation services.

Since 2005 his research program has focused almost exclusively on understanding the capacity of neighborhood parks and green space to promote physical activity and reduce health disparities. He has served as PI or co-investigator on numerous large multidisciplinary research teams funded by governmental and non-governmental organizations, including the USDA Forest Service, USDI Park Service and Fish and Wildlife Service, NOAA, USDOD Army Corps of Engineers, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJ).

Dr. Floyd is a frequent speaker on the topic of parks and health at national and international conferences and symposia. He is co-author of Race, Ethnicity, and Leisure: Perspectives on Research, Theory and Practice from Human Kinetics, as well as, 65 peer-reviewed journal articles, 22 peer reviewed monographs and proceedings papers, 15 book chapters and more than 100 presentation papers and abstracts.

Dr. Floyd’s has made significant contributions to his field serving as an Advisory Board Member for the National Policy & Legal Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity and on the Science Committee for the National Park Service’s Healthy Parks Healthy People Initiative.

In February 2014, Dr. Floyd was appointed to the Forestry Research Advisory Council (FRAC) by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. With a council of 11 distinguished members, he will present recommendations and advice to the Secretary on issues concerning forestry and natural resources.

Dean Mary Watzin of NC State’s College of Natural Resources had this to say when announcing the appointment, “Myron Floyd is a nationally renowned leader in natural resource sociology and outdoor recreation, with more than 25 years of experience in land grant universities. He brings maturity, imagination, and an interdisciplinary perspective that will help PRTM and our College continue our ascent to the next level of excellence. I am delighted that he is willing to take on this new challenge and I look forward to working with him in his new role.”

Originally from Loris, South Carolina, Dr. Floyd lives in Apex with his wife, Johnetta Holland. They have two sons – William, who will be a freshman at East Carolina University in the fall and Jonathan, a sophomore at Middle Creek High School.

Dr. Floyd will assume the duties of department head on July 1, 2014.

Devine Receives CESU National Network Award

Posted on June 6, 2014 by

Congratulations to Dr. Hugh Devine who has been awarded the 2014 Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) National Network Award. This prestigious award is presented biannually to recognize individuals who have contributed substantially to the development, implementation or accomplishments of the CESU Network.

Dr. Devine is an Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professor in the Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism Management and the Associate Director of the Center for Geospatial Analytics in the NC State University College of Natural Resources.

The CESU Network is a national consortium of federal agencies, tribes, academic institutions, state and local governments, nongovernmental conservation organizations, and other partners working together to support informed public trust resource stewardship. The CESU Network includes 354 partners, including 14 federal agencies, in seventeen CESUs representing biogeographic regions encompassing all 50 states and U.S. territories.