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Hello Warner Colleagues –
I hope that you have had a productive and successful semester and are looking forward to a great summer season. As we approach the end of this academic year, I want to reflect on this past year and discuss what you can expect moving forward as we proceed into the new academic year in the fall.
Last fall, we released, New Heights of Impact, our new strategic plan. We engaged the community to establish an implementation plan to drive measurable progress within our five strategic goals. I want to thank everyone from the College who brought their perspectives into these conversations and for all the work our implementation teams have done this spring to develop action plans for our goals.
You can read the action plan below, along with some highlights of accomplishments within each goal from this year. There have been many great successes within all of our units this academic year. I hope you will take a few minutes to review these and offer your comments, concerns and additional accomplishment highlights, in the survey provided.
Under Goal Five, related to our organizational culture and managing resources, and my commitment to proactively respond to feedback from my evaluation, several enhancements will be implemented in the Fall, including new formal and informal opportunities to engage with me. We will be proceeding with adjusting our all-college meeting and events structures to reflect our strategic goals and increasing transparency and engagement.
Email engagement, like these Warner Wire messages, will be refined and we will be adding an operations update from the Dean’s Office programs and an events round-up each month.
We have already implemented a digital suggestion box on the College intranet and a link will also be included in our regular email messages. Anyone is welcome to submit questions, ideas, perspectives, or feedback anonymously, or through self-identification. We will address comments through the operations emails as appropriate. We will be intentionally responsive to your thoughts and perspectives. If you have feedback on these new structures, please tell me directly or use the new suggestion box.
I am looking forward to seeing you at our end of year celebration! I am particularly excited because we will be announcing the winners of the 2024 Dean’s Transdisciplinary Grants to Address Wicked Environmental Problems. Please also look below for information about our upcoming commencement ceremonies so you can support our amazing graduates.
Thank you all for your hard work this semester and enjoy a wonderful summer, working on your field research, writing a paper or grant, or just enjoying family and friends. I hope you have time to recharge, relax, and decompress. I am looking forward to hearing about your field work, teaching, and engagements when we kick off the new academic year starting Fall 2024. |
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| WCNR All-College Awards Reception |
Warner College celebrated the outstanding achievements of members of the Warner community at the Annual College Awards Reception on Monday, April 22, which also happened to be Earth Day. Congratulations to all of the winners! |
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Val Romero - Celebrate! CSU Award Winner |
Each year, Colorado State University celebrates the teaching, research and service achievements of CSU students, alumni and friends, academic faculty, administrative professionals and classified staff as part of the Celebrate! Colorado State Awards. Val Romero, Accounting Tech III for the Warner College, won a Classified Personnel Council Outstanding Achievement Award. |
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| TJ Knutson - Udall Scholarship Winner |
TJ Knutson, a junior studying fish, wildlife and conservation biology, is named Udall Scholar, marking the 9th consecutive year that a CSU student has been named a Udall Scholar. TJ learned during a surprise visit from Warner College Dean A. Alonso Aguirre and others that he was named a Udall Undergraduate Scholar, one of the country’s top public service scholarship programs. |
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Ryleigh Gelles - UDP Scholarship Recipient |
Ryleigh Gelles, Ph.D. candidate in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology and Department of Forest & Rangeland, received the University of Distinguished Professors Scholarly Excellence Scholarship. Ryleigh’s work focuses on elucidating the effects of landscape context on native bee communities and populations. |
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Undergraduate students across CSU recently competed to offer solutions to the environmental wicked problem of human-carnivore coexistence in agricultural landscapes. In its inaugural year, the Handprint Challenge competition was held on Thursday, April 18 and hosted by the Center for Human-Carnivore Coexistence in collaboration with One Health Institute. The first place team was awarded $6,000, which included Shelby Gabrielson and Andrew Trathen from the College of Business, and Gunnar Tribelhorn from Warner College.
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Thirteen students from the CSU chapter of MANRRS, attended the national conference in Chicago March 20 – 24. CSU MANRRS Vice President, Jannai Oganeku, an undergraduate in the College of Agricultural Sciences, won her election at the conference and was named the new 2024-2025 Region 6 Undergraduate Vice-President. Jesus Trevino, an undergraduate in the Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, competed in the Impromptu Speaking Contest. Jesus only had 10 minutes to prepare his speech and placed second.
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The 2024 MURALS symposium was held on March 29, and five Warner undergraduates received awards for their scholarly work: John Porter-Salcio, Restoration Ecology major, received the Rising Star award in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship category. Link Warren, ESS major, received the 1st place award in the Service Learning and Leadership category. Ricky Winston, FWCB major, received the Rising Star and Rams’ Choice award in the Social Sciences and Humanities category. Abigail Francis, FRS major, received the Rising Star and Rams’ Choice award in the Social Sciences and Humanities category. Lyssa Lini, FWCB major, received the Rising Star award in the STEM category. Warner faculty members Dan McGrath and Seth Davis, served as MURALS faculty guides and lead teams of student researchers.
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Rick Aster, professor and department head in the Department of Geosciences, was nominated and selected to be an American Geophysical Union College of Fellows Distinguished Lecturer for the 2024-25 academic year. Rick will present on his research into using seismic background signals to assess Earth’s global ocean wave activity and its climate-related dynamics. |
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Amber Gobell, FWCB undergraduate, published the op-ed she wrote for FW455 Conservation Biology in the Texas Observer. Her piece is titled "Texas Exotic Hunts are Dangerously Unregulated." |
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Each year, the CCC engages in a competitive process to select participants for their Fellows program. They accepted a total of five Fellows projects to make up Cohort 14. Twelve of the Fellows from Cohort 14 recently traveled to Fort Collins to participate in the Fellows training retreat. In addition to some intense time learning together, the week also included field trips and the chance for the Fellows to share their stories via presentations and panel discussions. |
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| Angela Sharpe, NRHH Award |
Angela Sharpe, Academic Success Coordinator in the Department of Geosciences, was nominated by a student for playing a significant role in their academic journey. Angela received an award from the CSU Rams Chapter of the National Residence Hall Honorary for her dedication and commitment to student success.
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The digital suggestion box is now available on the College intranet. Anyone is welcome to submit questions, ideas, perspectives, or feedback anonymously, or through self-identification. A link to submit feedback will be included in Warner's regular email messages. |
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Warner College End of Semester Celebration |
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Graduate School Commencement |
The Graduate School commencement ceremony will be held on Friday, May 10 at 11:30 a.m. at Moby Arena. Please visit the Graduate School's commencement website for more information about the ceremony. |
| Warner Undergraduate Commencement |
The Warner College of Natural Resources undergraduate commencement ceremony will be held on Sunday, May 12 at 1 p.m. at Moby Arena. Please visit Warner's commencement website for more information about the ceremony. |
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For more general information about commencement weekend, please visit CSU's website. |
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Strategic Plan Implementation Update
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We are holding a digital open house to collect College-wide feedback on the action plans the strategic plan implementation teams developed over the past semester. We will revisit the plans in the early Fall and offer additional opportunities for feedback. Please take the survey below after reviewing the plans to participate! |
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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion |
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Warner College Office of Diversity & Inclusion Annual Report |
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The Warner College of Natural Resources Office of Diversity and Inclusion 2023-2024 Annual Report will be out soon and delivered to inboxes in the coming weeks. Check the WCNR Diversity and Inclusion website for past Annual Reports and other news. |
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Diversify Whitewater Community River Float |
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Join Diversify Whitewater, a nonprofit dedicated to introducing BIPOC to the beauty of paddling, for a day of free whitewater rafting on the Cache la Poudre River. They are partnering with the City of Fort Collins Natural Areas and Rocky Mountain Adventures again to hold this great event for the fifth year. |
Name: Diversify Whitewater Community River Float - Northern Colorado Date and time: Saturday, June 29, 2024 at 9 a.m. Location: Picnic Rock, Bellvue, CO |
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NH-NOCO Nature and Health Fair |
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The Collective for Nature Immersion Science and Practice (cNISP) convenes the Northern Colorado (NH-NOCO) chapter of the Nature and Health Alliance, joining sister groups in Utah and Washington. This is intended to be a space to foster community and collaboration for those interested in nature and human health.
NH-NOCO will be hosting a Nature and Health Fair on Saturday, July 27 from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. The location of the fair will be announced soon. Check cNISP's website for more information. |
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Warner College Business Services is your integrated support team for all
Financial Services, Human Resource Services, and Proposal Support Services |
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Business Services Training Workshops |
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Business Services will start holding monthly trainings on the 4th Wednesday of the month starting in June. The next two trainings will be June 26 and July 24. Information on times and locations can be found in upcoming editions of the Business Services newsletter. |
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A new kind of CSU party is happening in Denver on Friday, June 7 – Ramily 2024! The unforgettable and elegant evening on the CSU Spur campus will be full of innovation and fun with live music, appetizer stations, hosted beer and wine, and interaction with students. The event will start at 6:30 p.m. and end with a Mad Science After Party featuring fun activities enhanced by black light science. To learn more, visit the Ramily 2024 website. More than 30,000 alumni, donors, and friends received the email invitation, and deans, department heads, and center directors are encouraged to attend and host donors. For more information, please contact Danielle Young.
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The Colorado State Forest Service is pleased to announce Christina Burri as the Deputy State Forester starting May 6, 2024.
“Christina’s passion for conserving Colorado’s forests and watersheds is infectious, and her capacity for big ideas and delivering equally big outcomes is exactly what Colorado’s forests need right now,” Colorado State Forester Matt McCombs said. “I’m thrilled to have her depth of knowledge, experience and energy informing this critical leadership role at the Colorado State Forest Service.” |
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Yellowstone’s dramatic transformation through the reintroduction of wolves has become a global parable for how to correct out-of-balance ecosystems. In recent years, however, new research has walked that story back. Yes, stands of aspen and willows are thriving again — in some places. But decades of damage from elk herds’ grazing and trampling so thoroughly changed the landscape that large areas remain scarred and may not recover for a long time, if ever. Wolf packs, in other words, are not magic bullets for restoring ecosystems. “I would say it’s exaggerated, greatly exaggerated,” said Thomas Hobbs, a professor of natural resource ecology at Colorado State University.
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The Colorado Natural Heritage Program at Colorado State University has received $7.8 million from Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) to conduct a statewide survey of wildlife and natural resources. David Anderson, CNHP director and chief scientist, said the survey is necessary to provide natural resource and wildlife information equitably across the state, so communities can develop conservation programs and sustainable recreation.
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As governments around the world strive to reduce heat-trapping emissions in the atmosphere, they need accurate assessments, innovative solutions and a skilled workforce with the technical know-how to implement those solutions. Colorado State University has been providing the tools needed through intensive study of changes in soil carbon and greenhouse gas emissions for more than 50 years. “We’re here to provide our technical expertise to help the federal government and society figure out how to limit further climate change,” said Stephen Ogle, professor of ecosystem science and sustainability in the Warner College of Natural Resources.
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An op-ed by Courtney Shultz and Eliisa Carter, Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship. Forestry is an example of the importance of interdisciplinary research to engage with climate change’s complexity. Our mission at CSU, alongside many researchers, is to facilitate a transformational shift in our systems to move toward a decarbonized future, adapt to living in a warmer world, and reduce the systematic environmental injustices that lead low-income and BIPOC communities to suffer the adverse effects of climate change disproportionately.
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A team of researchers has uncovered alarming trends in the first range-wide genetic study of an endangered bee species. The study, led by Colorado State University and published in the Journal of Insect Science, will inform conservation and recovery efforts for the rusty-patched bumblebee – a species that was once common in the United States but has declined from about 90% of its historic range. “If that trajectory continues, this species could blink out in the next couple decades,” said lead author John Mola, an ecologist and assistant professor of forest and rangeland stewardship.
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Keep up with your Warner colleagues and their impactful work |
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Save the Date - Colorado Forest Collaboratives Summit |
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Each fall, approximately 100 collaborative leaders and partners gather somewhere in Colorado for the Colorado Forest Collaboratives Summit. This year, we will gather in Durango to share updates, build relationships, and learn from one another September 4-6. Save the date so you can join us and learn more on the #CFCSummit webpage. |
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Professional Development Classes |
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Registration is now available for Talent Development's summer (May 13 - Aug 2) professional development opportunities. Class selections rotate and Talent Development will alternate many classes between online and in-person formats throughout the year to provide both options. |
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| WCNR End-of-Semester Celebration |
Sherwood Forest, 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. |
Host: Warner College of Natural Resources |
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| Graduate School Commencement |
Host: Warner College of Natural Resources |
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| Host: CSU and Warner College of Natural Resources |
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| Online, 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. |
Host: Center for Collaborative Conservation & Intermountain West Joint Venture |
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| WCNR Business Services Training Workshop |
Host: Warner College of Natural Resources Business Services |
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| Diversify Whitewater Community River Float |
Picnic Rock - Bellvue, CO, 9 a.m. |
Host: Diversify Whitewater
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| WCNR Business Services Training Workshop |
Host: Warner College of Natural Resources Business Services |
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| Online, 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. |
Host: Center for Collaborative Conservation & Intermountain West Joint Venture |
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| NH-NOCO Nature and Health Fair |
Location: TBD, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. |
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You are receiving this Warner College digest because you are a member of the College community. If you would like to submit an update, announcement, or kudos for consideration, submissions are due by the last Monday of each month for inclusion in the following month’s digest. Please submit ideas to Director of Communications and Strategy, Rob Novak. |
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