Patrick Duffy writes: “At 93, my mission this year follows some bad publicity on YouTube, see ‘Trouble in the High Country’ in B.C., casting aspersions on foresters. My response is to introduce environmental and social impact assessment to juniors in field subjects (e.g., forestry, hydrology, environment, etc.), a case that I gave to the dean of forestry at UBC recently. Is it offered at Yale?”

D. Gordon Mott writes: “Greetings from home in Lakeville in eastern Maine. It’s been 69 years since the master’s year in 1957 at Yale Forest School. It’s been a great adventure: contributions to managing two spruce budworm outbreaks, including reducing DDT and chemical pesticides, and encouraging the widespread use now of Btk. I immigrated to the U.S. 64 years ago to join USFS and do more Yale Graduate School biomathematics. After USFS, 44 years in private practice in Maine took me, with wife, Virginia, to some wonderful Maine north woods, Atlantic shore lands, and an offshore island. I had the opportunity to contribute to public forest and wildlife policy and play a few effective advocacy roles. We established a small land trust for distinguished abutting property that includes 40 acres of virgin old-growth timber and view outlooks to outstanding lake country. Professor David Smith did exceptional work up here. It’s become retirement time.”

Scott Wallinger writes: “There are only five left from our class on whom we have information: one in Spain and four in the USA. It’s nice to see forestry at Yale reemphasized in The Forest School. The current MF degree structure is similar to what we had in the 1960s, although courses and technology and forestry scope have evolved.”

Stephen Hanover writes: “Hello from SW Florida, where the tropical birds sing and dolphins joyfully play. Fortunately, no hurricanes in 2025. We have lain low in 2025 but have plans for international travel 2026! Where are you, classmates?”

Mike Gawel writes: “I’ve had a career researching and managing coral reef resources in the Pacific Islands. I retired in 2010 after a decade as cultural and natural resources manager for the U.S. National Park Service in the Marianas. I continue volunteering to advise my former team at NPS and the University of Guam’s NSF and Marine Lab programs. I also advise the regional fisheries management council and am on Guam’s Aquaculture Advisory Board. I stay healthy by outrigger canoe paddling three times weekly. I daily care for wife Isabel, who has dementia, and five nieces at our home. Daughter Ann Marie is doing forest ecology postdoc at AMNH in NYC and son James in Honolulu imports sake.”

John Welker writes: “I live in the Greater Asheville, NC, area. The local Yale Alumni Club meets once a month and it is good to report that there are many Yale School of the Environment graduates living in the area who have the opportunity to interact at this monthly event as well as through volunteer events, Pisgah Chapter SAF events, and various natural resources professional services events. This is certainly an incomplete list of some of the individuals from various class years: Joe Standaert ’71, Mary Standaert ’71, Alison Ormsby ’96, and David Ellum ’01, ’07 PhD. We all shared the common and continuing experience of Hurricane Helene effects from September 2024 till now and ongoing for many years to come.”

Roy Deitchman writes: “I have continued to work full time as an environmental safety contractor at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD, for the past four years. My work includes safety risk assessments and occupational health evaluations. I retired as vice president of environmental health and safety at Amtrak. I then discovered that my retirement hobby will be working.”

Gerard “Rod” Hennessey writes: “In May 2025, I met the Yale Club of Hampton Roads for a hike at the Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR (https://www.fws.gov/refuge/eastern-shore-virginia). We put in 15,000+ steps, five miles over trails through dunes, maritime forest, and wetlands. The site was a coastal defense fortification at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay during WWII. A gun barrel from “Mighty Mo” is on display. Drop in at the refuge on any trip south via U.S. Rt. 13. It’s a nice easy stroll. I live nearby on our farm along the Machipongo River. We can meet there!”

Norman Noyes writes: “I retired from the U.S. Forest Service in 2018 as the regional realty specialist but continue to do contract work on a very limited basis. We now have five grandchildren, all nearby, who keep us happily busy. Our most recent exciting adventure was a 10-day trip to Patagonia in Chile — a spectacular place to visit. We still live Southern California.”

Diddahally Govindaraju writes: “What a remarkable year 2025 has been for me and my family. Our 50th reunion brought back fond memories. Reconnecting with friends after half a century, as if no time had passed since our days at YSE (formerly F&ES), was a sheer joy. My family also celebrated our second daughter’s wedding in Paris. Soon after, I spent over two months as a visiting scholar at the University of Münster in Germany. During that time, I traveled with my family through Central Europe, visiting grand cathedrals and museums. Finally, as a geneticist, visiting Mendel’s monastery in Brno, where he conducted his experiments on garden peas, and paying my respects to his grave fulfilled my long-cherished dream.”

Evan Griswold writes: “I retired from a career in land protection and private real estate near the end of the COVID outbreak. I am now serving on the town of Old Lyme, CT, Open Space Commission as well as the Lyme Land Conservation Trust board of trustees. I also spend time wielding my trusty chainsaw to help keep the home fires burning and enjoying the Yale Forest Forum’s webinars. It was great to see classmates at our 50th reunion this past fall.”

Anne Fege writes: “Now doing urban and community forestry! Co-founded a nonprofit, Kate’s Trees, with interns (college seniors and recent grads), team projects, and intergenerational mentoring. Just certified with SAF as urban and community forester. Updates since last alumni posting: retired as forest supervisor of Cleveland National Forest in 2004, trained wildfire ecology and risk reduction, started local Children & Nature, chaired city of San Diego’s ‘tree board’ for ten years, and still bicycle every day.”

Hallie Metzger writes: “My class had a banner 50th reunion. We even shared it via FaceTime with Terry Chester, who hadn’t been able to come. It really made a difference that we had our own table at the luncheon and a class reception before the Saturday dinner. We had such fun — we even staged a group rendition of ‘Logger Lover.’ Thank you to everyone at YSE who put this all together for us! And we intend to give back by contributing to the Phillip J. Dibner scholarship founded by Flip’s wife, Diane Renshaw.”

Philip Conkling writes: “I ran a successful ballot campaign to remove a dam at the mouth of the Megunticook River in Camden, Maine. The controversial issues around the question of dam removal had been studied to death for over four years before the 58-42% vote to remove the first of four dams and build fishways around two other dams to begin restoring anadromous fish to this important watershed.”