UGA Columns December 8, 2014

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Global programs director to expand international relationships at UGA CAMPUS NEWS

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The University of Georgia State Ballet Theatre of Russia to perform ‘The Nutcracker’

Vol. 42, No. 19

December 8, 2014

www.columns.uga.edu

UGA GUIDE

Professor to study declining Chinook salmon in Alaska By Sandi Martin

smartin@warnell.uga.edu

Dot Paul

John Knox, an associate professor and undergraduate coordinator in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences geography department, was selected as the Georgia Professor of the Year for 2014 by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Best of the best

A UGA professor will use a nearly $500,000 grant to study Chinook salmon in Alaska, where populations of the fish have been in decline for more than a decade. Gary Grossman, a professor in UGA’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, along with Warnell postdoctoral research associate Jason Neuswanger, will assess habitat-related factors affecting the number of juvenile Chinook salmon a river can support—specifically how much water flow and food is necessary for the fish to survive. Grossman and Neuswanger’s work will focus on rivers in the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim drainage, which encompasses more than 40 percent of the land in Alaska and where the salmon is in heavy decline.

4&5

“Little is known about the factors affecting the foraging biology or habitat use of juveniles or resident adults of these species, and this information surely will aid in future conservation and management efforts,” Grossman said. Chinook salmon, also called king salmon, is the largest North American salmon and is found in the north Pacific Ocean and rivers from California to Alaska. The salmon is highly sought after by commercial and recreational fisheries; however, nine populations of Chinook salmon are listed as either threatened or endangered. According to the Acrtic-YukonKuskokwim Sustainable Salmon Initiative, salmon returning to spawn in western Alaskan rivers have been declining for more than a decade, leading to restrictions on commercial fisheries in the area.

See SALMON on page 8

UGA faculty member honored as Georgia Professor Office of Government Relations Tobin Carr named associate of the Year by CASE, Carnegie Foundation By Alan Flurry

aflurry@uga.edu

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching have selected UGA’s John A. Knox as the Georgia Professor of the Year for 2014. The honor was conferred Nov. 20 in Washington, D.C., at a national awards celebration. An associate professor and undergraduate coordinator in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences geography department, Knox is the first state winner of the award from UGA since 2004 and the first atmospheric scientist from any state to be selected since 1989. Knox and the other state w ­ inners were chosen from nearly 400 top

professors nominated by colleges and universities throughout the U.S. The U.S. Professors of the Year program recognizes the most outstanding undergraduate instructors in the country—those who excel in teaching and positively influence the lives and careers of students. Sponsored by CASE and the Carnegie Foundation, it is the only national program to recognize excellence in undergraduate teaching and mentoring. “It’s a distinct honor to be the first UGA professor in a decade selected to receive this award,” Knox said. “I never thought about a university teaching career until I was a senior in college, when my honors director and mentor at the University of Alabama at ­Birmingham, Ada Long, said I should be a professor.

Ever since, I’ve been emulating Ada and her dedication to undergraduates.This award is at least half Ada’s.” Knox has taught more than 5,000 students in his career— 97 percent of them undergraduates—in over 90 different sections of courses at the freshman through doctorate levels. In 2012, he was named one of “The Best 300 Professors” in the nation by the Princeton Review, based partially on anonymous online teaching evaluations of 42,000 professors in all fields. In 2013, Knox was honored by UGA with a Richard B. Russell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and, in 2014, was named the Franklin College Outstanding Advisor of the Year. See PROFESSOR on page 8

VP for government relations By Tom Jackson

tjackson@uga.edu

Tobin R. “Toby” Carr has been named associate vice president for government relations and director of state governmental relations at UGA. He currently is planning director for the Georgia Department of Transportation. Carr will succeed Tricia Chastain, whom Gov. Nathan Deal announced Nov. 24 will become president of the Georgia Student Finance Commission, the state agency that oversees administration of the HOPE Scholarship and other state scholarship, grant and loan programs. “Tricia Chastain has been the consummate professional in

representing the University of Georgia’s interests at the state Capitol and is a terrific selection by the governor to head this important Tobin Carr program in state government,” said J. Griffin Doyle, vice president for government relations. “Toby Carr has the knowledge and experience to continue the university’s important work in state government relations, and I am excited about his joining our team.” Carr was appointed to his

See GOVERNMENT on page 8

Office of the Vice President for Research

Finance and Administration

By James E. Hataway

in sustainability initiatives

Three UGA faculty members named AAAS Fellows Cost savings being reinvested is a major milestone in a scientist’s career, and thus the University of Georgia is enormously Three UGA faculty pleased that three of members have been named our faculty have been Fellows of the American Asselected for this honor,” sociation for the Advancesaid David Lee, vice ment of Science, an honor president for research. bestowed upon them by “This peer recognition their peers for “scientifically Alan Dorsey David Garfinkel Samantha Joye is important to our or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its rosette pin—representing science faculty, and it also brings added applications.” and engineering, respectively— distinction to the university.” The 2014 AAAS Fellows, all in These three faculty members Feb. 14 at the AAAS Fellows Forum are among 401 new AAAS Fellows during the 2015 AAAS annual UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, are: who will be presented with an of- meeting in San Jose, California. “Selection as an AAAS Fellow See FELLOWS on page 8 ficial certificate and a gold and blue jhataway@uga.edu

By Kevin Kirsche kkirsche@uga.edu

UGA continues to provide sustainability leadership through reinvestment in student engagement and resource conservation initiatives. UGA President Jere W. Morehead has approved a proposal to redirect $80,000 in annual savings garnered through efforts by the Office of Sustainability to further engage students and conserve resources—without increasing the student green fee.

The proposal first was presented to and endorsed by UGA’s Mandatory Student Fee Advisory Committee comprised of UGA students, faculty and staff on Nov.18. In 2009, UGA students voted to establish the student green fee of $3 per semester in the fall and spring and $2 in the summer as a funding source for the Office of Sustainability as well as associated programs and initiatives to reduce the university’s impact on the environment.

See SUSTAINABILITY on page 8


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