Note: Yale School of the Environment (YSE) was formerly known as the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES). News articles and events posted prior to July 1, 2020 refer to the School's name at that time.
More than 160 alumni returned to F&ES for Reunion Weekend Oct. 9 – 11, with over 225 total participants (alumni, family members, faculty, etc.) taking part in events and programs. (Facebook Photo Gallery)
The weekend festivities kicked off on Friday evening with a special TGIF in Kroon Hall’s Knobloch Environment Center, where alumni reconnected with classmates and faculty, met alums from other classes, and engaged with current students and staff.
At the beginning of the TGIF, the annual Doctoral Student Research Conference wrapped up with the awarding of the F. Herbert Bormann Prize to Jennie Miller ’15 Ph.D., whose research has explored an emerging method of spatial mapping to reduce conflicts between humans and carnivores. The Bormann Prize honors a Ph.D. student who has made a significant published contribution to his or her field in the past year.
The weekend festivities kicked off on Friday evening with a special TGIF in Kroon Hall’s Knobloch Environment Center, where alumni reconnected with classmates and faculty, met alums from other classes, and engaged with current students and staff.
At the beginning of the TGIF, the annual Doctoral Student Research Conference wrapped up with the awarding of the F. Herbert Bormann Prize to Jennie Miller ’15 Ph.D., whose research has explored an emerging method of spatial mapping to reduce conflicts between humans and carnivores. The Bormann Prize honors a Ph.D. student who has made a significant published contribution to his or her field in the past year.
In addition to food, beer, and wine, Ashley Duval ’10 M.E.Sc., a founder of Shoots & Roots Bitters, prepared and offered a ‘Scotch and Baobab’ to participants, a signature arboreal cocktail with botanically derived bitters. For alums with young children, a movie was shown on the big screen in Burke with refreshments.
The TGIF also featured the opening of a new interactive photography exhibit in the Knobloch Environment Center by alum Stephen Young ’85 M.E.S. and his colleague, Paul Kelly, titled “Macro or Micro? Challenging Our Perceptions of Scale.” Young, a professor in the Geography Department of Salem State University, gathers images from satellites to study environmental changes on Earth, while Kelly, a professor in the Biology Department, explores with an electron microscope the minute details of living organisms and other objects. The exhibition is designed to challenge people’s perceptions of scale by highlighting the patterns and similarities that occur at very different scales in the natural world.
Following the TGIF, a live music event, “Sage Boy (Still) Rocks!,” was held in Bowers Auditorium in Sage Hall. The event — the first reunion of the F&ES Music Project — featured incredible performances by alums and current students, including spoken-word poet Redwood Reider ’05 M.E.Sc., the Loggerrhythms, and more.
The TGIF also featured the opening of a new interactive photography exhibit in the Knobloch Environment Center by alum Stephen Young ’85 M.E.S. and his colleague, Paul Kelly, titled “Macro or Micro? Challenging Our Perceptions of Scale.” Young, a professor in the Geography Department of Salem State University, gathers images from satellites to study environmental changes on Earth, while Kelly, a professor in the Biology Department, explores with an electron microscope the minute details of living organisms and other objects. The exhibition is designed to challenge people’s perceptions of scale by highlighting the patterns and similarities that occur at very different scales in the natural world.
Following the TGIF, a live music event, “Sage Boy (Still) Rocks!,” was held in Bowers Auditorium in Sage Hall. The event — the first reunion of the F&ES Music Project — featured incredible performances by alums and current students, including spoken-word poet Redwood Reider ’05 M.E.Sc., the Loggerrhythms, and more.
On the morning of Oct. 10, the recipients of Distinguished Alumni Awards each gave insightful and thought-provoking seminars. “When Cities Stop Growing: Using a Multicultural Perspective to Understand Food Access and Sustainability in a Post-Industrial City” was the topic of the seminar given by Dorceta Taylor ’85 M.F.S., ’91 Ph.D. Jeffery Burley ’62 M.F., ’65 Ph.D. focused his seminar on “Research Responses to Major Forestry and Forest Products Challenges over the Past Quarter Century.”
The second presentation was followed by a forestry panel discussion moderated by Former F&ES Dean John Gordon, with Burley and members of the faculty who were also celebrating their reunions — Mark Ashton ’85 M.F., ’90 Ph.D., Chad Oliver ’70 M.F.S., ’75 Ph.D., and Tim Gregoire ’85 Ph.D.
Julia Marton-Lefèvre, former Director General of IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), then delivered a keynote address on leadership challenges in the environment.
Following the keynote, the Alumni Awards Luncheon, held in the Knobloch Environment Center, provided an opportunity to recognize the accomplishments of alums and celebrate F&ES. During the ceremony, emceed by John Gordon and Alumni Association Board President Brian Goldberg ’03 M.E.M., Jeffery Burley and Dorceta Taylor received Distinguished Alumni awards and Thomas McHenry ’77 B.A., ’80 M.F.S. received the School’s Distinguished Service Award. In addition, Heather Coleman ’04 M.E.M. was the first recipient of the Prospect Street Award, which honors a recent F&ES graduate who has made significant contributions to the environmental field and who exemplifies the spirit of the School through demonstrated leadership, innovation, and creativity.
The second presentation was followed by a forestry panel discussion moderated by Former F&ES Dean John Gordon, with Burley and members of the faculty who were also celebrating their reunions — Mark Ashton ’85 M.F., ’90 Ph.D., Chad Oliver ’70 M.F.S., ’75 Ph.D., and Tim Gregoire ’85 Ph.D.
Julia Marton-Lefèvre, former Director General of IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), then delivered a keynote address on leadership challenges in the environment.
Following the keynote, the Alumni Awards Luncheon, held in the Knobloch Environment Center, provided an opportunity to recognize the accomplishments of alums and celebrate F&ES. During the ceremony, emceed by John Gordon and Alumni Association Board President Brian Goldberg ’03 M.E.M., Jeffery Burley and Dorceta Taylor received Distinguished Alumni awards and Thomas McHenry ’77 B.A., ’80 M.F.S. received the School’s Distinguished Service Award. In addition, Heather Coleman ’04 M.E.M. was the first recipient of the Prospect Street Award, which honors a recent F&ES graduate who has made significant contributions to the environmental field and who exemplifies the spirit of the School through demonstrated leadership, innovation, and creativity.
During the afternoon, guided tours showed off recent renovations in Marsh Hall and Greeley Memorial Lab, as well as the sustainability features of Kroon Hall. Additional alums joined in a history tour of the Grove Street Cemetery, while others visited the Peabody Museum of Natural History and other sites on campus and beyond.
On Saturday evening, following an outdoor alumni cocktail reception, a Harvest Dinner was held in Bowers. Everyone enjoyed a delicious family-style dinner at festively decorated wooden tables as live fiddle and bass music played in the background.
Throughout the weekend, various additional activities took place for specific classes and groups of alumni, including the traditional five-year reunion gathering at Great Mountain Forest for the Class of 2010, a 35th-reunion trip to Yale-Myers Forest for the Class of 1980, and a special dinner with Professor Tim Gregoire for mid-career alums who gathered for their first-ever reunion.
Reunion Weekend wrapped up with a brunch and tour at the Yale Farm on Sunday morning.
There was no registration fee required to participate in Reunion Weekend, but alumni were asked to consider making a voluntary donation towards F&ES scholarships. Through their 2015 Reunion Weekend registrations, alumni gave more than $14,000 towards the Dean’s Scholarship Fund.
Additional more in-depth coverage of Reunion Weekend will be included in the Spring 2015 edition of the F&ES alumni magazine, CANOPY.
On Saturday evening, following an outdoor alumni cocktail reception, a Harvest Dinner was held in Bowers. Everyone enjoyed a delicious family-style dinner at festively decorated wooden tables as live fiddle and bass music played in the background.
Throughout the weekend, various additional activities took place for specific classes and groups of alumni, including the traditional five-year reunion gathering at Great Mountain Forest for the Class of 2010, a 35th-reunion trip to Yale-Myers Forest for the Class of 1980, and a special dinner with Professor Tim Gregoire for mid-career alums who gathered for their first-ever reunion.
Reunion Weekend wrapped up with a brunch and tour at the Yale Farm on Sunday morning.
There was no registration fee required to participate in Reunion Weekend, but alumni were asked to consider making a voluntary donation towards F&ES scholarships. Through their 2015 Reunion Weekend registrations, alumni gave more than $14,000 towards the Dean’s Scholarship Fund.
Additional more in-depth coverage of Reunion Weekend will be included in the Spring 2015 edition of the F&ES alumni magazine, CANOPY.
— Kristen Clothier, Assistant Director, Development and Alumni Services
Published
October 20, 2015