inside esf 1997-3

INSIDE E◆S◆F

The magazine of the SUNY

COLLEGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & FORESTRY

INSIDE E◆S◆FSummer1997Summer1997

INSIDE E◆S◆F

In This IssueINSIDE ESF is published fourtimes each year foralumni and friends of theSUNY College ofEnvironmental Scienceand Forestry.

SUNY College of EnvironmentalScience and Forestry

1 Forestry DriveSyracuse, NY 13210-2778

President: Ross S. Whaley

Vice President for Student Affairsand Institutional Advancement:James M. Heffernan

Editor and Designer: Jeri Lynn Smith,

Director of News and Publications

Photo Credits: page 3, National

Science Foundation; page 4, Jeri

Lynn Smith, Donald Bickelhaupt

(Waters); page 6, Jeri Lynn Smith;

page 7, Student Life, ESF Ranger

School; page 8, Claire B. Dunn;

page 9, Claire B. Dunn (bottom

right); page 12, Claire B. Dunn

Additional Assistance: Kathleen A.

Ciereck, Christine J. Crysler,

Geraldine C. Trendell

Office of News & Publications122 Bray Hall315-470-6644

Campus Update 4Jahn Lab Dedication Set for October 15Two Named To College PositionsEight Firms Join ESPRAGift Supports Minority ScholarsCampus Recycling UpdateNew Computerized Library SystemArea High School Student Wins National ScienceAwardSons and Daughters On Campus

Commencement 1997 7400 students earn degrees from ESF and theRanger School

Back To Basics 8A new partnership between ESF and theHaudenosaunee ‘builds capacity’ for localproblem-solving among native people

Campus Profile: Charlie and Myrna Hall 1 2In constant motion, this husband and wifeteam blend complementary skills, high-techecology, and a little environmentalproselytizing in the pursuit of their respectivecareers

On the CoverRobin Kimmerer provides a peek at a summer campexercise at the Cranberry Lake Biological Station.

The State University of New York College of Environmental Science andForestry offers a diverse range of accredited programs and degree options inenvironmental and forest biology, environmental studies, chemistry, environ-mental resources and forest engineering, forest technology, landscape archi-tecture, paper science and engineering, resources management, and con-struction management and wood products engineering.

The College’s mission is to be a world leader in instruction, research andpublic service related to: understanding the structure and function of theworld’s ecosystems; developing, managing and use of renewable naturalresources, improving outdoor environments ranging from wilderness, tomanaged forests, to urban landscapes; and maintaining and enhancingbiological diversity, environmental quality and resource options. As such, ESFhas maintained its unique status within SUNY’s 64-school system as only oneof four specialized colleges and one of only eight doctoral granting institutions.

ESF takes affirmative action to provide equal opportunity for all people andto build a campus community that reflects a wealth of diversity.Printed on recycled paper.

1997 Summer INSIDE ESF 3

Campus Views

An Open Letter To Scientists And Engineers

by Neal F. LaneWe are enjoying a golden age of discovery, as exciting

research continues to uncover new knowledge about our uni-verse. However, a different kind of golden age — that of everincreasing funding for American science and engineering — isclearly over. Some experienced researchers now look back nostal-gically to the decades after World War II, when taxpayer supportof science was almost unquestioned and an agenda for sciencewas rarely discussed.

Today, public support must be earned. We can no longerexpect it in the form of a blank check and an undefined agenda.This is entirely appropriate. At the same time, I remain veryconcerned that the nation will not be doing enough to maintainand strengthen its position as a world leader in science andengineering over the next several years.

It is now more vital than ever for us, the research community,to make a convincing case to the public about the tangible societalbenefits that flow from science and technology, and the impor-tance of investing adequately in research and education.

At the National Science Foundation (NSF), our surveys con-tinue to show that more than two-thirds of the public believes thatscience is a net good. But the vast majority of people have nounderstanding of the scientific process; 98 percent of them don’tknow what research means. This gap should trouble all of us.

It is also troubling that many scientists and engineers, whileconcerned, do not think they can do anything about the gap. Thismay be because traditional scientific education does not prepareits graduates very well to assume a role as an activist in society, anambassador for science.

I well understand the discomfort, from my own career experi-ence. But during my years as director of NSF, I’ve come tounderstand the need for the research community to reach out tothe public. In more personal terms, we need to engage in genuinepublic dialogues with our local communities, in the mold of whatI call the “civic scientist.” This concept embraces many types ofoutreach; not every researcher is well-suited (or available) for aparticular type of activity, at a given time. But a little moreawareness can go a long way. Even describing a current researcheffort in accessible terms to a neighbor can have unexpected—and sometimes unknown—results.

I might even venture to say that such outreach should benumbered among the professional responsibilities of scientistsand engineers. Graduate education in science and engineeringshould emphasize communication skills along with research skills.The result would be much better teachers and communicators tothe public.

Preparation for re-search careers has notfocused on this dimen-sion, and most of uscould use some help. Ihave been urging re-searchers to seek outand take advantage ofthe public affairs re-sources at their owninstitutions in making acompelling case to thepublic.

One particularly ef-fective means to makeour case is through the news media, a type of outreach that,perhaps more than others, fills many of us with trepidation.According to survey results discussed recently on National PublicRadio, a quarter of U.S. scientists have never spoken to a reporter,and most others do so only once every year or two. Our publicaffairs resources are particularly valuable here. Practice is essential;we simply must learn to speak in terms that the general reporter—representing our non-scientist friends and neighbors—can under-stand. The impact can be astounding, because the news mediaamplify our words. (And this cuts both ways.) With only oneinterview, we can reach people across the state or the nation.

Let us redouble our efforts to work together. For university-based researchers, when a newsworthy discovery is made orabout to be published, NSF would like to join with you to get themessage out. Individuals pursuing science-oriented careers withgovernment, non-profit organizations, and corporations will findother avenues of communication and willing cooperators. In thisway, the story will reach a much larger audience; and that will begood for all of us, and good for the nation.

It is true that the climate for science has changed forever. Butchange brings opportunity. If the sobering budget outlook promptsus all to communicate more broadly, more frequently and moreeffectively, then we have learned an important and necessarylesson that will serve the science and engineering community wellin any climate.

A distinguished physicist, Lane held positions at leading univer-sities as a faculty instructor, researcher and administrator beforejoining the National Science Foundation as its director in 1993.

4 INSIDE ESF Summer 1997

Campus Update

Edwin C. JahnLaboratory DedicationCeremonies Set ForOctober 15

Dedication ceremonies for the newEdwin C. Jahn Laboratory will be held onthe ESF campus Wednesday, October 15.

The event will begin with a VIP lun-cheon scheduled for noon in the AlumniLounge in Marshall Hall.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony will takeplace at 1:30 p.m. on thebuilding’s patio. The cer-emony will include installa-tion of a time capsule in theLab’s cornerstone.

Construction began onthe $22 million Jahn Labo-ratory—ESF’s first new build-ing in more than 20 years—in October 1994. It wasdesigned to replace the ag-ing, and marginally safe aca-demic and support spacefor the College’s world re-nowned Chemistry pro-gram now housed in theHugh P. Baker Laboratory.

More than 188 donorshave made gifts or pledgesto ESF’s Jahn Laboratory Ap-peal as of June 1. The Col-lege seeks some $1.1 mil-lion to reach the full comple-ment of research instrumen-tation and special laborato-ries the Jahn Lab was de-signed to house. Funds alsoare needed for challengegrants to obtain majorequipment, for a sustainingendowment for future

equipment replacement, and for endowedfellowships for graduate students expectedto fill the new building’s expanded re-search capacity.

Family and friends of the late Dr. JohnA. Meyer established the Appeal’s first nam-ing gift: the John A. Meyer RadioisotopeLaboratory. Meyer, one of ESF’s distin-guished scientists, pioneered several re-search efforts in wood and wood prod-ucts. He died in January.

Two Named ToPositions At College

After extensive nationwide searches,Gary E. Colella was named director ofPhysical Plant and Dr. Gary A. Waters wasnamed director of Development at ESF thisspring.

Colella joined the College staff in 1986as facilities program coordinator, and twiceserved as acting physical plant director. Hehas been involved in the construction ofthe Jahn Laboratory, and the new, high-tech SMART classroom in Illick Hall. Colellaalso is helping to plan the proposedrenovation of both Marshall Hall and BakerLaboratory.

Colella oversees a department with morethan 60 employees. The staff maintainsmore than 200 buildings on ESF’s maincampus and seven regional campuses,which comprise some 25,000 acres acrossCentral New York and in the Adirondacks.

Waters is a former administrator at BerryCollege in Georgia, most recently servingas director of major gifts and developmentservices. During his 13-year tenure there,he worked as assistant dean of admissionsand director of financial aid before begin-ning his work in development.

Waters directs ESF’s fund-raising efforts,focusing on major gifts and now assists inthe College’s campaign to raise $1.1 mil-lion to equip the Jahn Laboratory.

Eight Firms Join ESPRAEight new members joined the College’s

Empire State Paper Research AssociatesInc. (ESPRA).

The new members comprise four pulpand paper companies, MacMillan Bloedelof Canada, the Lyons Falls Paper Companyof New York, Sodra Cell AB of Sweden, andKimberly Clark of Ohio; a chemical supplycompany, Zeofinn Oy, based in Finland;and three paper machinery companies,Beloit of Wisconsin, Valmet of Finland, andVoith-Sulzer of Germany.

The associates are a worldwide organi-zation of pulp, paper, and supplier compa-nies that support the research being doneby ESF’s Empire State Paper Research Insti-tute (ESPRI). Its members include compa-nies in 11 countries.

Gary A. Waters

Gary E. Colella


Bristol-Myers SquibbGift Supports MinorityScholarships AndServices

Through the efforts of ESF College Foun-dation Board member William McGarry,Bristol-Myers Squibb contributed a $20,000grant-in-aid to the College that will enableESF to attract and support talented minor-ity students.

The bulk of the gift will be used for directscholarship aid and is expected to assistfour to six students this year. The remainingfunds will be used to support programsaimed at ensuring students’ success at ESF.As part of this effort, ESF’s pre-orientationprogram for minority students will be ex-panded in time and content, and varioussupport activities will continue through thefall term.

Additionally, Clinton Allen and EthelCampbell, two executives of Bristol-MyersSquibb, have contributed to on-campusworkshops and programs to expose ESFstudents to the world of work after college.

“This gift and contributing activities her-alds an active college/corporate partner-ship,” commented ESF President Ross S.Whaley. “We are deeply indebted to Bristol-Myers Squibb, and are very excited aboutcontinued cooperative efforts.”

Recycling At ESF:Active and Innovative

It would be expected that an institutiondevoted to environmental science wouldhave an active and innovative recyclingprogram. ESF meets those expectations.

From July 1996 to last March, the Col-lege collected 44,000 pounds of scrapmetal, 12,000 pounds of cardboard, 5,000pounds of clear glass, and 90,000 poundsof mixed office paper, according to Chris-tine Langlois, senior staff assistant in ESF’sPhysical Plant.

ESF also recycles old motors and labequipment, working with the OnondagaCounty Resource Recovery Agency.

“We take the time to take each pieceapart and look at it to see what can be usedagain,” said Langlois.

Students play an active role in theCollege’s recycling efforts. The 12-memberESF Recycling Club goes from building tobuilding on the ESF campus to collectrecyclable items. It also operates an innova-tive compost system that uses worms tobreak down food waste produced at theCollege.

The club also tries to spread recyclingknowledge through community outreachprograms such as educational sessions atarea schools. This year, for instance, thegroup helped students at Syracuse’s FowlerHigh School.

“Education is one of our main goals asa group,” said ESF graduating senior andRecycling Club President Stephanie Gomon.

Moon Library ReachesFor SUMMIT

A new, fully integrated library systemshared with Syracuse University has beeninstalled in ESF’s Moon Library. Called SUM-MIT, the system is the third generation of acomputerized library system to bear thename but its patron services are consider-ably enhanced, said Elizabeth A. Elkins,ESF’s director of College Libraries.

SUMMIT’s public catalog, OPAC, offersexpanded search capabilities with resultsprioritized and listed according to relevanceto the search, and provides hypertext linksto other records in the system as well aslinks to other electronic resources such asbibliographic data bases, full text sources,images, and sites on the World Wide Web.

Moon staff members use SUMMIT toorder, catalog and check in materials aswell as for circulation records. A web ver-sion of the system is available from homesand offices; a link from Moon Library’shome page (http://www.esf.edu/moon)will connect users to the web SUMMIT.

High School JuniorWins InternationalAward With ResearchConducted At ESF

Emily Zebrowski, a Liverpool, NY, highschool junior, received a first-place awardin the chemistry division in the Interna-tional Science and Engineering Fair held inMay in Louisville, KY.

Research for Zebrowski’s project, “Pho-tochemical Degradation of Quadricyclane,”was conducted at ESF. She worked withDr. John P. Hassett in the environmentalchemistry laboratory facilities.

The first-place award carries a $3,000prize from the U.S. Air Force and a four-year, full-tuition scholarship to TempleUniversity. More than 1,000 students fromthe United States and 20 other countriesparticipated in the fair.

Dan Christian of Physical Plant sorts metals, plastics, and glass for recycling. continued on next page


Campus Update,continued

Zebrowski was eligible to participate inthe competition after winning local, state,and national science fair competitions. Herstudy explored how different light wave-lengths affected the decomposition ofquadricyclane—a jet fuel—in a laboratorymodel simulating a naturally-occurringbody of water.

Sons Follow Daughters‘To Work’ On ESFCampus

Mirroring the College’s highly success-ful, four-year-old Take Our Daughters toWork Day, the ESF Women’s Caucus inconjunction with the Office of Personneland Affirmative Action, invited employeesto bring their sons to work June 25.

Both day-long programs sought to in-troduce middle school children to theemerging roles of men and women intoday’s workplace, and a variety of career

1997 HonorStudentsNicole M. Bogardus of Brier Hill, Landscape

Architecture

Daniel P. Carpenter of Pattersonville,Construction Management & WoodProducts Engineering

Jane M. Cummings of Syracuse, LandscapeArchitecture

Anthony S. Figiera of Fulton, EnvironmentalResources & Forest Engineering

Dawn K. Ford of Katonah, Environmental& Forest Biology

Trevor S. Fravor of Pulaski, Dual Option inEnvironmental & Forest Biology/ForestResources Management

Aaron T. Graves of North Norwich, Forestry

Susan M. Guisinger of Rome, NY,Environmental Resources & ForestEngineering

Tracy Ellen Hahn of Cicero, Forestry

Christopher Kostoss of Schenectady, RangerSchool valedictorian

Maria Mastriano of North Syracuse,Environmental Studies, valedictorian

Anthony T. Nguyen of Binghamton, PaperScience & Engineering

David J. Nichter of Central Square, DualOption in Environmental & ForestBiology/Forest Resources Management

Robyn Niver of Claverack, Environmental &Forest Biology

James Norman of Floral Park, Ranger Schoolsalutatorian

Joel Pawlak of Holland, NY, Paper Science& Engineering, salutatorian

Kirk Prutzman of DeWitt, Chemistry

Autumn L. Radle of Clifton Park,Environmental Studies

Todd M. Selby of Johnson City, ConstructionManagement & Wood ProductsEngineering

Matthew J. Sheehy of Poughkeepsie,Chemistry

fields either in ESF’s academic disciplineareas or higher education. Daughters’ day,held as part of the national Take Our Daugh-ters to Work Day April 24, drew almost 30participants; approximately 34 sons orfriends of College employees attended theJune 25 program.

Faculty, staff members, and studentsvolunteered to host hour-long hands-onworkshops for the children. Judith J.Kimberlin of the Personnel office, Janine M.DeBaise, an Environmental Studies Facultylecturer, and Samantha Callender, a seniorbiology student, coordinated both pro-grams.

Workshops featured activities that in-cluded a participatory papermaking pro-gram, an exercise in landscape design, abotany and greenhouse tour, explorationsin the Faculty of Forestry soils laboratory,and a hands-on computer class. Each dayconcluded with an open-ended discussionon careers.

Michael Smith, grandson of Student Affairs staff member Merita Travis, shows off his‘catch’ in the Roosevelt Wildlife Collection.


400 Earn Degrees FromESF And The RangerSchool

Commencement ceremonies May 11 inSyracuse and May 24 in Wanakena hon-ored more than 400 students who earneddegrees from main campus programs andthe New York State Ranger School.

Commencement weekend activitiesbegan Saturday, May 10, with the College’straditional Commencement Convocationand included the annual senior class slideshow and receptions for degree candi-dates and their families. On Sunday, some300 bachelor’s, 40 master’s, and 15 doc-toral degree students joined their counter-parts at Syracuse University for joint com-mencement ceremonies. Robert Coles, aresearch psychiatrist and Pulitzer Prize-win-ning author, was the commencementspeaker.

Maria Mastriano of North Syracuse, anEnvironmental Studies major, was namedclass valedictorian. Joel Pawlak of Holland,NY, a Paper Science and Engineering gradu-ate, was named salutatorian.

The 53 associate in applied sciencegraduates of the forest technology pro-gram at the Ranger School were led byvaledictorian Christopher Kostoss ofSchenectady, and salutatorian JamesNorman of Floral Park.

Leland Crawford, RS’66, human re-source leader for the Northeast Forest Re-gion of International Paper Company, de-livered the commencement address.

Photos: ESF’s Convocationin the carrier Dome; maincampus Valedictorian MariaMastriano and SalutatorianJoel Pawlak; Chemistrygraduates pose for the cam-era; and the Ranger SchoolClass of 1997.


The woman is a Mohawk Indian looking for a way to guide herpeople back toward self-sufficiency and better health. She cameto ESF’s Cranberry Lake Biological Station to learn how to identifythe plants that grow on her home territory along the St. LawrenceRiver.

The man is a senior professor at ESF, an internationally recog-nized animal behaviorist whose work has been featured inNational Geographic. He was at the biological station to deliver alecture and to research the status of the lake’s beaver population.

Lunch time on a dreary Adirondack afternoon found the twoof them trading information in the biological station’s rustic dininghall. The subject was beavers.

Tammy Bonaparte was telling Dr. Dietland Müller-Schwarzethat she had always been told there was powerful medicine in abeaver’s tail. But Mohawk trappers on the Akwesasne Reservation,where she lives, had told her the substance was in sacs under thebeaver’s tail. The trappers told her that beavers rub the medicineon themselves when they get scraped or cut and the medicinespeeds the healing process. She wondered what Müller-Schwarzeknew about it.

Müller-Schwarze told her the sacs produce castorium that thebeavers use for scent communication. The castorium has beenused for many purposes, he told her: as a homeopathic remedy

in his native Germany, and as an ingredient in perfume. AncientRomans burned it in lamps, believing the fumes induced abortion.But a beaver using it for medicinal purposes? Müller-Schwarze hadnot heard that Iroquois belief.

“This is fascinating,” said Dr. Robin Kimmerer ’75, an ESFassociate professor who introduced Bonaparte and Müller-Schwarze. “This is really a case where I’m learning as much as thestudents are. The cross-cultural exchange of indigenous andscientific knowledge is one of the goals of our program.”

The students at Cranberry Lake that day, and for the next fourweeks, were Native Americans from the Mohawk, Tuscarora andSeneca nations. They were enrolled in a unique course called“Ecological Inventory Techniques for Native American ResourceManagers.”

“The things the program participants learn at the summerCranberry intensive course will funnel directly into their jobs,” saidKimmerer, director of the biological station. “It’s hands-on practice.They’ll read about it but they’ll also go out and do it.”

The course was funded by one of two federal grants that havedirected more than $350,000 toward programs for Native Ameri-can communities in Central New York. ESF, at times in concert withCornell University, is helping to run educational programs and toact as a conduit that puts some of the funds into the hands of

Back ToBasics

New partnership between theHaudenosaunee and ESF ‘builds

capacity’ for local problem-solving

by Claire B. DunnRobin W. Kimmerer leads a class of Native American professionalsin a botany exercise at the Cranberry Lake Biological Station.


native people. At the same time, scientists from both universitiesare ready to act as technical advisers to the native communities.

“It’s historic. There’s never been a partnership between theuniversities and the Iroquois before,” Kimmerer said. “We’re work-ing in partnership to build capacity within the native communityfor them to solve environmental problems.”

Those problems, Kimmerer said, could be the managementof woodlots or fisheries. It could involve water testing or properharvesting and regeneration of the black ash trees needed fortraditional basketry.

At the Tuscarora Nation, the universities could supplytechnical support in producing a soil map of the reservation inNiagara County, north of Buffalo.

“For our reservation, we don’t have a soil map done,” saidNeil Patterson, a Tuscarora who earned his bachelor’s degreein environmental and forest biology last spring at ESF.

“We’re trying to figure out how we can do it without hurtingour sovereignty,” he said. “This partnership with the universitiesshould help build capacity for us to do it ourselves.”

Patterson does geographical information systems work forAtlantic States Legal Foundation in Syracuse and he is theTuscarora Nation’s representative to the Haudenosaunee(People of the Longhouse) Environmental Task Force (HETF). Asoil map would help his people learn more about crop produc-tivity, animal habitat and development issues such as waterfiltration and leaching.

The U.S. Soil Conservation Service, now called the NaturalResource Conservation Service, wanted to test the reservation’ssoil in the 1970s, Patterson said.

“We had these guys coming to the nation, saying, ‘We wantto map your soil.’ And at the time, we just weren’t going to say,‘Yeah, come on in. Check out our soil and find out all about us,’”Patterson said. “It was that basic hesitation that comes with anysort of native-governmental relationship.”

Farther north, at Akwesasne, Mohawks wantto know more about the issue of restoringsalmon in the St. Lawrence River.

“This is clearly an opportunity for partner-ship; ESF has lots of fisheries expertise and theMohawk nation is building its fisheries exper-tise,” Kimmerer said.

“Native communities want to start manag-ing resources, but they don’t even know whatthey have,” she said. “If you’re going to managethe forest to meet the needs of the people, youneed to know what you have. We’re not goingto give our Iroquois partners prescriptions.They’re going to make the decisions and we’rejust giving them the tools to make better deci-sions.”

The Cranberry Lake course is part of a slate ofprograms funded by the two federal grants.Both grants are aimed at providing technical,scientific support for native communities thatare trying to solve environmental problems.

The smaller grant, in the amount of $73,000, came from theU.S. Department of Agriculture. It provides money for the four-week course at Cranberry Lake and an educational enrichmentprogram at the Onondaga Nation School. The school programwill emphasize hands-on learning.

Tammy Bonaparte learned from trappers on the Akwesasne Reservation aboutbeavers’ ‘powerful medicine.’ This lodge in the Adirondacks was one under study byDietland Müller-Schwarze.

Native students Gerri Jimerson, left, and Tammy Bonaparte refer to afield guide during a lesson in plant identification.


Students will plant and monitor the growth of trees and herbsthat have medicinal uses. The children might learn how to testwater and monitor its flow in a stream, said program coordinatorSonny Shenandoah.

“It’s been talked about before. It’s been a dream but now it’sgoing to happen,” said Shenandoah, who attended the school asa youngster and now studies math and science at OnondagaCommunity College.

Kimmerer said it is likely that units involving the study of forests,soils, water, and traditional medicine will weave science withtraditional beliefs.

“Students will learn about the biology, chemistry, and historyof plants that are used traditionally, but they’ll also learn the plants’uses and names in Onondaga,” Kimmerer said.

The USDA also supports two new courses at ESF. Kimmerertaught one of them, called Land and Culture: Native Perspectiveson the Environment, for the first time last spring. She expects tooffer Indigenous Plant Science next year.

The Onondagas, whose reservation is just south of Syracuse,used some of the grant money to buy a camera so they can takepictures of traditional medicine plants for a community educationproject.

“The Onondagas are making a handbook of traditional pantknowledge,” Kimmerer said. “We’re available if they have ques-tions.”

The more recent grant, a $325,000 Performance PartnershipGrant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has, inlarge part, been put in the hands of the HETF, to be used as thenative communities choose.

“The universities got the money and shifted it to the nations.We said, ‘You take it. You know best what you need. We’re hereto help you,’” Kimmerer said. “It’s not the universities waltzing inand saying, ‘Here’s what we can do for you.’ The technicalexpertise might be there but it might not be culturally appropri-ate.”

Patterson said the partnership creates a new relationshipbetween the universities and the native communities.

“It’s a little bit of a change from strictly applied research, fromwhen they just grabbed what they needed,” he said. “It was a‘take-the-data-and-run mentality.’ This is a partnership as opposedto a one-sided deal.

“It’s something different,” said Patterson. “It’s a step in the rightdirection. It can change the existing structure of how universitiesdeal with communities. In the past, native communities have feltviolated by scientists coming in, taking what they need andleaving.”

The HETF has chosen to use much of the money to build itsown infrastructure and make the group a clearinghouse forenvironmental issues. For the first time, each tribe in the six-nationIroquois Confederacy now owns a computer and there are hopesof developing an e-mail network.

“As the Haudenosaunee go overall, we’re certainly behind thenew technology,” Patterson said. “Computers were one of the firstpurchases.”

Kimmerer’s hope is that if the group establishes a centralheadquarters and pays an administrator’s salary, there will be anefficient system in place to deal with future funding sources andcoordination of environmental projects.

Some of the EPA funds are being used for other purposes.Native communities have held confer-ences on traditional knowledge andtreaty rights. Around 200 black ashtrees, which provide the primary com-ponent in traditional Iroquois basketry,were planted at the Onondaga Na-tion. Seventh- and eighth-grade stu-dents from Onondaga Nation Schoolwill measure them and one ofKimmerer’s graduate students is usingthe trees as the subject of a master’sthesis.

The course at Cranberry Lakebrought 12 Native Americans to thebiological station this summer. Thefirst week, they studied plant identifi-cation with Kimmerer. The next threeweeks were devoted to wetlands ecol-ogy with recent doctoral graduateGreg Podniesinski; inventory of fresh-water communities with Neil Ringler,the new chair of ESF’s Faculty of Envi-ronmental and Forest Biology; and aforest management workshop with

A soil map would help the Tuscarora Nation learn more about crop productivity, animalhabitat, and development issues, said Neil Patterson ’96, the Tuscarora’s representative to theHaudenosaunee Environmental Task Force.


Associate Professor Jamie Savage ’86, who teaches at ESF’s RangerSchool in Wanakena.

During the summer session’s first week at Cranberry Lake,Kimmerer took the students on field trips around the biologicalstation and to nearby sites such as Benson Mines in Star Lake, tostudy the wildflowers that bloom there in abundance.

In addition to Bonaparte, the group included Joanna Sunday,a Mohawk who compiled a history of Akwesasne that goes backto 1635; Vince Schiffert, a teaching assistant at the TuscaroraSchool; Amber Patterson, a Niagara County Community Collegestudent who also lives on the Tuscarora Nation; and two membersof the Seneca nation, Gerri Jimerson, an intake worker on theCattaraugus reservation, and Doug Huff, who works with thetribe’s conservation department.

They spent part of each day listening to Kimmerer lecture in thebiological station’s 75-year-old Sanderson Lodge, and the rest ofthe day doing field work.

Kimmerer’s aim was not to have the students memorize dozensof plant names, but to teach them how to use identificationtechniques so they can use field guides and textbooks to learnmore about plants they find growing in the fields and forests onhome reservations. The Iroquois students also were learningabout the ecology of plant species and how to evaluate plantcommunities.

“It’s really that sense of self-sufficiency,” she said. “Puttingknowledge in the hands of the community enables the people todo it themselves.”

“You can take these ideas and apply them to whatever yourparticular circumstances are,” she told the students during alecture about different methods of plant inventory.

Her students have different visions of what the program couldhelp them accomplish. Schiffert wants to have a native-runenvironmental program at the school where he teaches. Jimersonwould like to see the establishment of a camp for teen-agers,where they could learn some of the things Kimmerer was teach-ing.

Huff is concerned about workers’ safety and the native foodsupply.

“We used to be able to get crayfish right out of CattaraugusCreek and boil them up,” he said. “Not any more.”

Bonaparte is concerned about the health problems that afflicther people, such as diabetes. She is also concerned about theirgrowing dependence on Western conveniences. She is willing tosettle for small victories: more backyard gardens, healthier meals,fewer trips to the corner grocery store for chips and dip.

At Akwesasne, she said, people are building houses whereverthey choose. Some of those homes are damaging the watersupply. Some are being constructed on prime agricultural land.

“There was nobody protecting anything,” she said.She hopes that by increasing her people’s technical knowledge

of plants and their habitats, the Mohawks will benefit more fromthe use of their land. “Maybe with this, we’ll be able to tell thesepeople, ‘Look, there’s wild onions growing there. Maybe you

could think about putting your house on the other side of thestreet,’” she said.

At the very least, she said, they can learn about the way onionsgrow, and relocate them to another patch of ground where theycould thrive.

One damp afternoon, when black flies and mosquitoes wereswarming, Kimmerer led five students on a hike along SuckerBrook. Every few steps, she stopped to point out a plant or tree.

“What’s this?” she asked, fingering the leaves of a tree along thetrail.

“Beech?” someone guessed.Kimmerer shook her head.“It’s juneberry. Good animal food. Good people food.”A few steps later: “This is bracken fern. It tells you something

about the nature of the land.”The three-pronged bracken fern is a good indicator of poor

soils. It is often found in areas damaged by fire. It has one greatuse: It tastes nasty to bugs, so it makes effective insect repellent. Ahiker who doesn’t mind looking silly can pick a fern at its woodystem, set it upside-down on his or her head, and make a leafy tri-cornered hat that keeps the pests away.

Farther up the trail, the group stopped to practice the lineintercept method of forest inventory. They stretched tape mea-sures over the ground in 10-meter lengths, noting the type andamount of vegetation in the tapes’ paths. When they couldn’tremember the name of a plant they found, they turned toNewcomb’s Wildflower Guide.

“We are all interested in the medicinal quality of plants, trees,shrubs, and foods,” Sunday said. “This was a practical guide for meto learn about plants. I had a basic understanding before but it’salways good to learn more.”

Claire B. Dunn is assistant director of ESF’s News & Publicationsoffice.

The Mohawks, interested in the issue of restoring fishspecies in the St. Lawrence River, could tap ESF scientists’extensive knowledge of populations and habitat.


Campus Profile

Charlie AndMyrna Hall:

WorkingTogether For

A BetterWorld

by Claire B. Dunn

On a warm summer morning, Charlieand Myrna Hall are in their unfinished newsunroom, discussing the work they do fora living.

Charlie espouses opinions on nearlyevery subject that comes up: the world’scrude oil supply, the environmental conse-quences of having a child, educationalsnobbery, rampant development in South-ern California, Al Gore, television, peoplewho ride lawn tractors too much, and thepitfalls of installing an Italian-style tile floorwhen you don’t know what you’re doing.

From time to time, he retrieves an aca-demic paper from elsewhere in the houseand drops it on the sunroom table.

“Here,” he says “Read this.”He talks for a few minutes with his

hands idle, then pulls out a large plastic filebox and sorts pa-pers into piles on thefloor.

“This is for mybook,” he says.

Myrna, his wifeand professionalcolleague, sits for afew minutes, thenfinds a chisel and ahammer and chipsat a door so she caninstall a doorknob.She is chagrinedwhen she is forcedto stop because thehammer’s pound-ing drowns out theconversation.

“We’re like this allthe time,” Charliesays. “We alwayswork.”

As husband andwife, that compul-sion gets them dig-ging in the dirt onthe three-and-a-halfacres that surroundtheir home in thehills of southeastern

Onondaga County. They dug a pond,planted a vegetable garden and fruit trees,and constructed a waterfall and retainingwall. Myrna cultivated a lush flower gardenin a sunny spot.

As a professional team, their work ishigh-tech ecology.

Charlie Hall, a professor in ESF’s Facultyof Environmental and Forest Biology, is asystems ecologist and computer modeler.Myrna, a visiting EFB instructor, is a geo-graphical information systems specialistwho is fluent in French and Spanish.

Together, they teach university studentsand professors, government officials, andenvironmental leaders in Central and SouthAmerica how to make computer modelsthat incorporate geography, population,agriculture, economics, and whatever otherfactors the programmer chooses to pluginto the data base.

“We’re invited to help teach them thetools so they can do good analyses of theirown ecosystems, their own agriculturalsystems, their own forest systems. Theywant to increase their productivity but theyalso want to protect what they have. It allleads to sustainable use,” Myrna said. “Wetry to give them the tools and not tell themwhat to do.”

Geographical modeling has a wide va-riety of applications. Government agenciescan use it to analyze a river, taking intoaccount water flow, fish populations, andthe effect of a dam on the river above andbelow the dam. Developing countries canuse it to plan development, land usechange, and population growth.

Myrna’s master’s thesis was a model ofglacier melt in Glacier National Park. Itresulted in a 3-D visualization of the glacier’smovement up the mountain during thelast 100 years, and a prediction of what islikely to happen in the future to bothglaciers and vegetation if the climatechanges.

Charlie produced a model of Costa Ricaa few years ago. When he runs the pro-gram, his computer screen displays a mapof the country, with forested areas in green


and non-forested areas in yellow. Aboveand below the map are graphs that chartsuch factors as human population, agricul-tural yield, the amount of food needed tofeed the population, the number of cowsin the country, the amount of fertilizer usedand the amount of foreign exchange pro-duced.

The model shows how the country haschanged over some 50 years. As the com-puter runs, Costa Rica’s green areas steadilygive way to yellow, and the population lineclimbs on the accompanying graph.

Charlie Hall calls the model a tool foranalysis, not a prescription for action. Heprovides the information. Leaders and edu-cators in Costa Rica can do with it whatthey wish.

“I give them the tools to do their ownanalysis of whatever they deem impor-tant,” he said.

The Halls bring a wide range of profes-sional experience and vastly different per-sonal styles to their joint venture.

Charlie has worked in the field of sys-tems ecology for more than 25 years. He iswidely published and taught at CornellUniversity and the University of Montanabefore arriving at ESF nine years ago.

ESF Dean of Research Edwin H. Whitedescribes Charlie’s style as “damn the tor-pedoes, full steam ahead.”

“Charlie’s great. You can’t not like him.But Charlie is fortunate to be at a majoruniversity,” White said. “He’s sort offreelance, he shoots from the hip. He’dprobably never survive in industry. Thediversity of a major university allows him tofit in very well.”

While Hall is outspoken, one of hisformer students, now an associate profes-sor at Boston University, said Hall’s opin-ions are based squarely on scientific data.

“His opinions are well-rooted in his re-search and the research of others. It’s notsome crackpot opinion,” Robert Kaufmannsaid. “People in general respect what hedoes, even if they don’t oftentimes agreewith him.”

“He has done a lot of good science,”Kaufmann said. “He has a lot of respect,perhaps begrudgingly, from a lot of peoplehe’s come in contact with.”

Hall takes a head-on approach to life,White said.

“He’ll walk into a meeting when he’sgot something he wants to say. He’ll waitfor 20 minutes, then get up and make astatement and leave.”

While he can irritate his colleagues withhis forceful style and alienate other aca-demics by merging ecology and econom-ics, Hall is popular with his students.

“Students love him,” said Robert L. Bur-gess, former chair of the Faculty of Environ-mental and Forest Biology. “It’s because ofhis knowledge and his ability to present itand the time he spends with them.”

Kaufmann, who teaches in BU’s Centerfor Energy and Environmental Studies, cred-its Hall for much of his own success. Hallwas Kaufmann’s adviser at Cornell in thelate 1970s.

“I have a lot of respect for what he’sdone,” Kaufmann said. “Whatever I’ve doneas a scientist, he gets a lot of credit for. I wasjust another undergraduate and he spenta lot of time with me. When it comes tobeing good to students, there’s no onebetter than Charlie Hall.”

Myrna has been in the field for aboutfour years. She gave up a career as aFrench teacher to pursue her master’s de-gree in forest resources management atESF. She is more soft-spoken than her hus-band and quicker to smile. Where Charlielaces his conversation with caustic criticismand unsettling predictions about theplanet’s future, Myrna describes the won-ders of their recent visits to Central andSouth America.

She tempers her husband’s outspoken-ness, even when he talks about himself.For example, she mentions their fondnessfor Argentina, where they worked last win-ter: “The thing about Argentina that weboth like is it’s not jammed up with people.”

Charlie interjects: “Mostly, I don’t likepeople.”

“Oh, it isn’t true he doesn’t like people,”she said. “He likes people as individuals. Hejust doesn’t like people jammed together.”

“Myrna’s probably a calming influence,”White said. “She’d almost have to be.”

Myrna teaches Introduction to Geo-graphical Modeling at ESF during the springsemester. She also runs her own consult-ing business and has done GIS work for theSouth Florida Water Management Districtand the U.S. Forest Service.

This summer, she is working with Atlan-tic States Legal Foundation in Syracuse,doing a computer visualization of the his-tory and problems of nearby OnondagaLake. Her work is funded through an EPAgrant to Atlantic States.

For Charlie Hall, computer modeling isthe latest twist in a career that began afterhe got his doctorate in 1970 at the Univer-sity of North Carolina. He studied underfamed ecologist Howard Odom.

Hall spent 13 years teaching at CornellUniversity and left because he was deniedtenure. He says he doesn’t know the rea-son for the denial, other than criticism thathe spent too much time with his students.He offers a guess, however: “I was knownfor shooting my mouth off. Maybe that’spart of the problem.”

“I like it at ESF much, much better,” hesaid. “It’s a much more humane place tobe. It’s a much friendlier place.”

He uses computer modeling to studythe ramifications of development, whichhe contends cannot continue indefinitely,and population growth, which he believesis causing severe problems in Latin America.Economics also plays into it.

“A hundred years ago, this was for themost part a sustainable society. But youcan’t support this number of people, espe-cially at this level of affluence, indefinitely,”he said.

“Sustainable development is an oxymo-ron. All of this is based on a bubble of cheap

continued next page


Profile: Charlie And Myrna HallProfile: Charlie And Myrna HallProfile: Charlie And Myrna HallProfile: Charlie And Myrna HallProfile: Charlie And Myrna Hall continuedcontinuedcontinuedcontinuedcontinued

oil that won’t last a generation,” he said.“It’s all based on using up resources. Per-haps half the soil that was here in 1700 isgone. Soil is the most important resourcewe have. People treat it like dirt.”

He tried unsuccessfully to refrain fromsmiling at his own pun.

“A lot of what we’re trying to do here isredefine economics. Can we make oureconomy sustainable? Sure. You know howto make it sustainable? Get poor. Have nobabies and get poor. You want to run forpresident on that one?”

The Halls met in the summer of 1988.He was working at the University of Mon-tana Biological Station on the FlatheadIndian Reservation. As a French teacher ata Seattle prep school, she was in Montanaattending an intensive summer workshopfor French teachers.

One night, she played hooky from theprogram and slipped out before the screen-ing of a French-language film.

“I just couldn’t sit any more,” she said. “Iwent for a swim.”

“She swam right past my lab,” Charliesaid.

“I paddled right out in that canoe outthere,” he said, pointing to where a greencanoe floats on their backyard pond. “AndI asked her to go for a canoe ride.”

“I said yes,” Myrna said.Then in unison: “And here we are.”They were married less than a year later

in a Native American ceremony at thebiological station.

Myrna left her home state, uprootedher two children from a previous marriage,then ages 11 and 13, and came east. Shespent a year teaching at Christian BrothersAcademy and decided she wanted to dosomething else.

Charlie’s work had already taken him toCosta Rica, China, and Argentina. He sawin the developing world a need for peoplewith environmental expertise.

“I said to her, ‘It seems to me if youwanted to learn this sort of thing therewould be great possibilities for you to useyour language.’”

It was a pivotal discussion.“She was lying in the hammock at the

time so it became known as ‘the hammockconversation,’” he said.

Myrna took Professor Rainer Brocke’sintroductory ecology course and herhusband’s systems ecology course. Charlielet a teaching assistant grade Myrna.

“She ended up with the highest gradein the class. But that’s what she does all herlife.

“She’s a very proud person,” Charliesaid. “It was hard for her to come into asituation where I’m so well known. Butnow we’re at least equals.”

Myrna interrupts him. “Oh no, no, no. Idon’t have the Ph.D.”

Charlie doesn’t budge. “But when wego and teach these courses, we’re equals.She’s as well known as I am.”

Her end of the work involves linkingcomputer programming with geographi-cal information systems, teaching in Span-

ish, helping translate Charlie’s presenta-tions and interpreting students’ questions.

“I do the modeling and she does the GISstuff and we make a team doing it,” Charliesaid.

They have worked together in Bolivia,Argentina, and Costa Rica, and twice inMexico.

Last winter, they taught a seminar at theUniversidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto in Ar-gentina. The university presented the Hallswith its highest award, “Huesped deHonor,” which designates them as highlyhonored guests.

In May, they taught at the UniversidadAutonoma Juan Misael Saracho (UAJMS) insouthern Bolivia. They were invited to Bo-livia by Mario Nina, who earned his master’sdegree at ESF and now directs an ecologi-cal institute at the UAJMS. Myrna has beenasked to return this winter to teach anothercourse. She and Charlie also have an invi-tation to return to Argentina.

During the summer, with ESF’s studentsgone from the campus, Myrna turned herattention to the problems of OnondagaLake.

Charlie spent the summer writing hisfifth book, about his work in Costa Rica. Heworks in his cluttered Illick Hall office, sur-rounded by books and file cabinets thatcontain copies of his 130 academic papers.

“These are our only products,” he said,waving a hand at the documents stuffedinto the cabinets, “papers and students,who, we hope, are better educated whenthey leave than when they came here.”

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A D D R E S S C O R R E C T I O N R E Q U E S T E D

August 21-24 New Student Orientation Program.

August 25 Classes begin.

October 3-4 ESF Homecoming Weekend. Additional information: Alumni Ser-vices, 315-470-6632.

October 6 Society of American Foresters and Tennessee Alumni Reception,Memphis, TN. Additional information: Alumni Services,315-470-6632.

October 15 Dedication Ceremonies: Edwin C. Jahn Laboratory. Additionalinformation: 315-470-6683.

October 15 ESF College Foundation Board of Directors Annual Meeting.

October 16 Joachim Center Forum. Everson Museum, Hosmer Auditorium,Syracuse. Additional information: Syracuse Pulp and Paper Founda-tion, 315-470-6592.

October 16-17 Syracuse Pulp and Paper Foundation Annual Meeting. StudentRecognition Luncheon: OnCenter, October 16.

October 25 Open House for High School Students. Additional information:Office of Undergraduate Admissions, 315-470-6600.

November 6 Teaching Tools ‘97, A conference for educators. Schine StudentCenter, Syracuse University. Additional information: IDEaS,315-470-6810.

November 7 American Society of Landscape Architects and Georgia AlumniReception, Atlanta, GA. Additional information: Alumni Services,315-470-6632.

November 12-13 The Adirondacks and Beyond: Understanding Air Quality andEcosystem Relationships, A Conference to Explore Science andPolicy Linkages. Sheraton Saratoga Springs. Additional information:ESF Continuing Education, 315-470-6891.

November 13 Transfer Student Visitation Day. Additional information: Office ofUndergraduate Admissions, 315-470-6600.

December 5 December Convocation.

Books and MonographsBooks and MonographsBooks and MonographsBooks and MonographsBooks and MonographsAlberti, Gerd and Roy A. Norton, edi-

tors, Porose Integumental Organs of Orib-atid Mites (Acari, Oribatida). E.Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchandlung,Stuttgart. 1997. 143 pp.

Burgess, Robert L., “American Ecolo-gists: A Biographical Bibliography,” inHuntia, The Journal of Botanical History,Volume 10 Number 1. Hunt Institute forBotanical Documentation, Carnegie MellonUniversity, Pittsburgh. 1996. 116 pp.

Felleman, John P., Deep Information:the Role of Information Policy in Environ-mental Sustainability. Ablex Publishing Cor-poration, Greenwich, CT. 1997. 188 pp.

Hall, Charles A.S., editor, MaximumPower, The Ideas and Applications of H.T.Odum. University Press of Colorado.

Manno, Jack, Sheila Myers, D. Schmeltz,and T. Ca, Incorporating Human HealthConsiderations into RAPS. Great Lakes Re-search Consortium, SUNY College of Envi-ronmental Science and Forestry. 62 pp.

McShea, W.J., H. Brian Underwood,and J. H. Rappole, editors, The Science ofOverabundance: Deer Ecology and Popu-lation Management. Smithsonian Institu-tion Press, Washington, DC. 1997. 402 pp.AwardsAwardsAwardsAwardsAwards

Keith, Sara, Best Panel Paper, 51st Meet-ing of the New York State Political ScienceAssociation, April 1997.

Williams, Eva D., Dedication and Sup-port of Multiculturalism at ESF, BaobabSociety, February 1997.

On Campus Campus Calendar

inside esf 1997-3

Documents