Another year is about to pass and we are in the final weeks of the semester. Quite a few graduate students will be finishing their degrees this month and we will miss their presence in SNR. They have contributed to the unit in many ways. Conversely, our faculty and staff have influenced their growth and development as young professionals who will make significant contributions to their respective fields for decades to come.

Many undergraduate students will also be finishing up their degrees this month and we will be celebrating their accomplishments on Dec. 16 with a reception in Hardin Hall, followed by the CASNR salute to graduates at the East Campus Union.

SNR will be hosting its annual holiday party at noon on Dec. 7 in Hardin Hall’s second floor lobby. I encourage all faculty, staff and students to attend and join in this social event. Staff awards will also be presented during the gathering along with a celebration of December birthdays. More information on this event will be forthcoming from SNR’s Social Committee. This committee has done an outstanding job of organizing our social events this semester. Thanks to Sara Winn, chair, and her committee: Bernice Goemann, Ken Dewey, Kyle Hoagland, Bryan Leavitt, Bob Kuzelka, Larkin Powell and Les Howard.

Launch of "Inside the SNR" e-newsletter

We'll be taking advantage of new technology available through UNL Communications early next year to launch Inside the School of Natural Resources, a weekly electronic newsletter. We plan to send it out each week during the semester, with timely news about and for SNR faculty, staff and students; research profiles; advance stories on upcoming events; and more. Besides providing a way for us to package and circulate timely news and information, Inside the SNR may even cut down on the amount of email that we all receive.

Inside the SNR will use the same technology as Today@UNL, ThisWeek@IANR and other UNL newsletters. The e-news format currently allows us to use text and a single image, but we can use e-news to highlight new web content that can include more photos and images.

Kelly Smith will edit Inside the SNR. Tala Awada is coordinating information related to faculty research, which we hope to include each week. Student writers will also help energize our efforts. Please contact Kelly with any ideas or suggestions for the newsletter.

Memorandum of Agreement – Hohai University

A Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Hohai University has been signed by Chancellor Perlman. This agreement has grown out of several visits of Hohai administrators to UNL to discuss linkages between the two institutions. On Nov. 11, 2011, UNL hosted the vice president of Hohai University, Professor Hongwu Tang, and three other administrators, Professor Liliang Ren, director of the International Office, Professor Yang Zhang, dean of the Business School, and Professor Dahuai Yu, chair of the Public Administration College. SNR has played a major role in the development of this MoA and we gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Xun-Hong Chen. Here is a summary of the MoA:

This MoA is intended to facilitate academic collaboration between the partner institutions for mutual benefit. Hohai University is one of the universities under the direct jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education of China and is located in Nanjing, China. Its main focus is on research associated with water resources education and engineering. It offers a wide array of disciplines covering engineering, science, economics, management, law and liberal arts. The university’s history can be traced back to Hohai Civil Engineering School, founded in 1915, which was the first institution focusing on research and education about water resources in China.

The university’s student body is comprised of 19,800 undergraduate students and 11,496 graduate students. There are 3,300 faculty and staff members. The University consists of 17 colleges and schools, one state research center, one state laboratory, and 14 laboratories and engineering research centers at the ministerial or provincial level. Hohai University offers nine post-doctorate programs, 57 doctorate programs, 183 master's programs, 18 engineering master's programs, a Master's of Business Administration, and 52 bachelor's programs. The specialties and disciplines in the field of hydrology and water resources, hydraulic and hydropower engineering, and civil engineering are among the best in China. Hohai University's hydrology and hydraulic engineering programs rank number one among the universities in China.

This agreement establishes a general partnership between UNL and Hohai University in order to facilitate collaborations in one or more of the following academic activities: teaching, research, student exchange, faculty exchange, technology transfer, publication, curriculum development, joint projects and training. Any specific collaboration, including student exchanges, will have its own agreement within the general framework established by the MoA. Although collaboration in many fields are possible, the partners recognize their common interests and strengths in agriculture and water management.
An addendum to this MoA is currently being finalized at UNL to provide more specifics as to the nature of the collaborations between the two institutions.

International Workshop on Water-Related Disaster Prediction and Prevention – Hohai University

Although I was unable to attend, the School of Natural Resources had a strong presence at the International Workshop on Water-Related Disaster Prediction and Prevention at Hohai University in Nanjing, China, Nov. 29-Dec. 1, 2011. Three faculty from the National Drought Mitigation Center -- Mark Svoboda, Cody Knutson, and Brian Wardlow  -- attended and presented keynote talks. Support for their travel was provided by Professor Liliang Ren, director of the International Office at Hohai University. Hohai University is noted for its expertise in water-related programs and collaboration between SNR and Hohai University is expected to continue on drought and a wide range of other water and natural resource issues.

Brian Wardlow and Cody Knutson of the National Drought Mitigation Center listen during a presentation on preventing water-related disasters held at Hohai University in Nanjing, China.

International Symposium on Integrated Drought Information Systems – Casablanca, Morocco

In November, I attended the International Symposium on Integrated Drought Information Systems (ISIDIS) in Casablanca, Morocco. The meeting was sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) program office, the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification, and the Moroccan Meteorological Service. I presented the opening keynote talk, "The Need for Integrated Drought Information Systems." About 50 scientists and representatives of national meteorological services throughout the world attended this meeting. The symposium represented an outstanding opportunity to learn about the current status of integrated drought information systems in various regions of the world and to discuss the draft compendium on national drought policy that I have helped to prepare for WMO.

The Casablanca meeting is one of a series of meetings that are part of two global drought initiatives from WMO. The first initiative is focusing on the development of an Integrated Drought Management Program. I am chairing the technical committee for this initiative. The second initiative is addressing the need for the development of a Compendium on National Drought Policy to assist nations in the preparation of risk-based drought policies in response to severe drought events and the trend of increased frequency, severity, and duration of these events in the future. An expert meeting on national drought policy was held this past July in Washington, D.C. I co-edited the proceedings of this meeting that were published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in October 2011. The ISIDIS meeting was the second in this series of meetings with a focus on early warning systems in support of national drought policy. The next meeting associated with this initiative will be held in Geneva, Switzerland, Dec. 13-14, 2011. This meeting will bring together members of the International Organizing Committee on National Drought Policy. I have been asked to chair this meeting. Participants of this meeting will include representatives of key United Nations agencies and high-level officials from several drought-prone countries throughout the world.

Climate Change Short Course – Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

I have been working with IANR administration and the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) on offering a short course on climate change in May 2012 for 10 to 12 representatives of the Ministry. This short course will be supported by the Asian Development Bank. Faculty from SNR, Biological Systems Engineering, Agronomy and Horticulture, Animal Science, Agricultural Economics, and the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Science will be presenting lectures during the 10-day short course. This short course for representatives from MARD is part of a larger MoA recently signed by IANR/UNL.

More Bike Racks for Hardin Hall

I have arranged for Landscape Services to install an additional five bike racks near the southwest entrance to Hardin Hall. We’re hoping to get these installed this fall before winter weather interferes. The bike racks near this entrance are the most used of those near the building. Students and others should know that chaining bikes to the posts under the canopy will sometimes result in the UNL Police issuing a ticket because bikes interfere with pedestrian traffic flow at the building’s entrance. Please avoid chaining bikes to the posts!

As bicycles are becoming increasingly popular on campus, Landscape Services asks that students, staff and faculty suggest areas where more bike racks are needed by filling out a short survey at http://go.unl.edu/5ow.

Thanks to Volunteers for Success of NaturePalooza

"Thank you!"  to all of the volunteers from the School of Natural Resources and other departments who helped make NaturePalooza 2011 a success, and congratulations to Sue Ellen Pegg for bringing it all together. The final tally was 605 highly enthusiastic visitors to our 16 different exhibits on Sunday, Nov. 6, a day of discovery and hands-on activities at the University of Nebraska State Museum in Morrill Hall.

Sue Ellen Pegg helped a visitor play N It to Win It. She is demonstrating a game that shows what the Natural Resources and Environmental Economics major is about, highlighting the challenge of analyzing economic values and balancing conservation, energy production, natural resource management and other goals.

Proposals Submitted and Grants Awarded

Congratulations to SNR faculty and staff for grants awarded during November. Total funding received during the month was $320,727.  Those awarded funding included T.J. Fontaine, Jim Merchant, Cody Knutson, Larkin Powell, Karie Decker, Milda Vaitkus, and Craig Allen. The total amount of grants awarded to SNR faculty and staff this fiscal year is $4,702,242.

Proposals submitted during November 2011 were for funds totaling $704,046.  SNR faculty and staff submitting proposals included Tsegaye Tadesse, Cody Knutson, Brian Fuchs, Mike Hayes, Mark Svoboda, Brian Wardlow, Kevin Pope, Paul Merani, Matt Joeckel, Mark Kuzila, Craig Allen, and Mark Pegg. The total funding requested this fiscal year is $10,330,515. These proposals were mainly directed to federal agencies, namely the Department of Interior and the National Science Foundation, and to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.