inside esf 1999-2

I N S I D E E ◆S ◆FSummer 1999

I N S I D E E ◆S ◆FSummer 1999

The magazine of the SUNY

COLLEGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & FORESTRY

The magazine of the SUNY

COLLEGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & FORESTRY

2 INSIDE ESF Summer 1999

Campus Update 4Search Progresses For Next ESF PresidentStudent Pedals For A Better WorldTwo Students Receive Chancellor’s AwardESF College Foundation Board Gets Two New MembersA Site To Behold‘Real’ Hands-On Training At The Ranger School350 Students Earn Degrees From ESF

Do Coyotes Destroy Our Deer Herds? 7

High-Tech ‘Focus’ On Natural Resources 9

Campus Profile: Curtis H. Bauer 13

On The Cover

INSIDE ESF is published fourtimes each year for alumniand friends of the SUNYCollege of EnvironmentalScience and Forestry.

SUNY-ESF1 Forestry DriveSyracuse, NY 13210-2778

President: Ross S. Whaley

Vice President for Administration:

Connie S. Webb

Editor: Jeri Lynn Smith,

Director of News and Publications

Graphic Designer: Wendy P. Osborne,

News and Publications

Photo Credits: pages 3-4, Ben Dall; page 5,

Tim Rabb; page 6, photos courtesy of

Aardvark Studios and Juliet M. Bock ’00;

page 7, Donald J. Leopold; page 8,

D. Andrew Saunders; page 9, photo

courtesy of Litton Emerge, Flyby, digital

camera; pages 10-12 globe, NASA

derived image combining NOAA GOES-

8 cloud data, AVHRR land data and

SeaWIFS ocean data; page 11,

Claire B. Dunn; page 13, Jeri Lynn Smith

Additional Assistance: Kathleen A. Ciereck,

Cynthia A. Gamage, Geraldine C. Trendell

Office of News & Publications

122 Bray Hall

315-470-6644

The State University of New York College of Environmental Science andForestry offers a diverse range of accredited programs and degree options inchemistry, construction management and wood products engineering, envi-ronmental and forest biology, environmental resources and forest engineering,environmental studies, forest resources management, forest technology, land-scape architecture, and paper science and 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 using renewable naturalresources; improving outdoor environments ranging from wilderness, to man-aged forests, to urban landscapes; and maintaining and enhancing biologicaldiversity, environmental quality, and resource options. As such, ESF has main-tained its unique status within SUNY’s 64-school system as one of only fivespecialized colleges and one of only eight doctoral-granting institutions.

ESF takes affirmative action to provide equal opportunity for all peopleand to build a campus community that reflects a wealth of diversity.

In This Issue

ESF’s “technical approach” leads to good design,good management, and good engineering of solutionsto natural resource questions.

Doctoral Candidate Steve Kendrot takes issue withpopular misconceptions of coyotes.

An in-depth look at the man who’s been an ESFmainstay for more than 30 years—and who leadsthe search for a new college president.

A Landstat Thematic Mapper image offers a sky-high look at Onondaga County. Satellite imagessuch as this one are used for forestry, mapping,classwork, and research purposes.

Printed on recycled paper.

When a severe wind storm marched through theAdirondacks in the summer of 1995, many people assumedwe were unlikely to experience another such disasterfor a decade or two. Not so! Northern New York’s forestswere visited by a brutal ice storm during January 1998,and many areas of the state were swept by another “bigblow” last Labor Day weekend.

Over the course of centuries, natural disturbancessuch as these are important, but relatively infrequent,events that help to shape our forested landscape. How-ever, the size of the area covered by the ice storm and itsresulting damage were unprecedented for this century.Forests and communities were affected from Watertownand adjacent parts of Ontario east through southern Que-bec, across northern New England to the coast of Maine.Although varying degrees of ice damage on a smallerscale is not unusual in New York’s forests, the responseto the most current episode was unusually strongbecause of regional and national interests in foresthealth, coupled with concerns about the economic con-sequences of this event.

Shortly after power was restored in northern NewYork and other human needs were addressed, many fac-ulty at ESF with interests and expertise in variousaspects of forest health were asked by forest industry,sugarbush operators, and various state, provincial, andfederal agencies to assist in developing survey proto-cols. All parties agreed it was important to determinethe extent and location of damage and to help reach aconsensus on appropriate forest management guidelinesin the aftermath of this natural disturbance. ESF was alogical source of assistance because of the faculty’s his-torical emphasis on applied ecology. Also, many facultyhave research interests concerning the short- and long-term effects of natural disturbances.

Recently, a summary of survey results, managementresponses, and research currently underway to evaluatethe consequences of the storm was reported at an “IceStorm Symposium” during the New York Society ofAmerican Foresters annual winter meeting. Interestingkeynote addresses discussed variables that influence ice

formation, traced meteoro-logical events leading upto the storm, and reviewedfactors responsible for thestorm’s severity. Other pre-sentations included a reporton a damage survey con-ducted throughout the northcountry and a history of cat-astrophic events which haveaffected New York’s forests.

Information from the symposium will be publishedby the Forest Service within the next year, fulfilling oneof the objectives of the symposium, which was to con-solidate available information to facilitate future accessby interested scientists and forest managers.

Several research projects spearheaded by ESF fac-ulty will be initiated this summer to answer questionsabout the manner in which various plant and animalcommunities may have been affected in severely dam-aged stands. Also, work will continue with the dam-age assessment survey. Scientists and forest ownersbelieve it is wise to document both the long- and short-term ecological and economic consequences of thisstorm so when such an event reoccurs we will be betterable to advise people about how to respond and whatto expect.

Past events of this nature have been evaluated shortlyafter they occurred but for the most part there have beenvery few attempts to follow this up with a look at futureconsequences. Thanks to the U.S. Forest Service work-ing in concert with the New York State Department ofEnvironmental Conservation, several scientists at ESFwill initiate a series of long-term studies and permanentplots which will allow follow-up evaluations at somelater date.

Allen is a professor of forest entomology and a 31-yearveteran of ESF’s Faculty of Environmental and ForestBiology. He coordinated much of the college’s ice stormresponse effort and organized the January symposiumon the storm’s effects.

1999 Summer INSIDE ESF 3

Campus Views

Aftermath Of The Ice Storm

by Douglas C. Allen

Douglas C. Allen


Search Progresses ForNext ESF President

Fifteen individuals were namedto the search committee that willhelp select ESF’s next president.

The committee, headed by ESFBoard of Trustees Chair Curtis H.Bauer ’50 (see page 13), is conductinga national search to locate a successorto Ross S. Whaley, who intends tostep aside as president when his suc-cessor is named.

The committee selected Isaacson,Miller of Boston, a national executivesearch firm, to assist in the searchprocess. Working with Isaacson,Miller is the Washington AdvisoryGroup, a firm that acts as a consult-ant to business, academic, and gov-ernment leaders.

In addition to Bauer, the commit-tee includes three other members of

the ESF Board of Trustees. They areThomas C. Burkly, Daniel T. FittsMS ’81, and Robert E. Moses.

College faculty representativesare Douglas C. Allen, Elizabeth A.Elkins, James M. Hassett, Richard S.Hawks ’72, Robert T. LaLonde, andWilliam F. Porter. Other college rep-resentatives are John P. Hassett andSusan H. Sanford.

In addition, graduate student KarlDidier, Nancy A. Mayer ’71 of the ESFAlumni Association, and R. LelandDavis of the ESF College Foundation,represent their constituent groups.

Marianna O’Dwyer, SUNY assis-tant to the chancellor for AcademicAffairs, represents the chancellor as anon-voting member of the committee.

Isaacson, Miller specializes inlocating a wide variety of senior levelprofessionals for positions related tohigher education, the environment,health care, community development,and private business. The Washing-ton Advisory Group comprises pro-fessionals in science, technology,and higher education.

Student Pedals For ABetter World

An ESF student plans to ride herbicycle from San Francisco to Wash-ington, D.C., this summer to promotethe use of sustainable forms of trans-portation.

Sheryl J. Turk, a senior majoringin environmental studies/biologicalapplications, hopes to raise $3,600—or $1 for every mile she will pedal—as part of Bike-Aid ’99 sponsoredby Youth Action for Global Justice:JustAct.

Turk said she is taking on thechallenge to do her part to promotea cleaner, healthier planet.

She is among 25 cyclists wholeft San Francisco June 20. They are

Campus Update

Continued on next pageSheryl J. Turk

scheduled to arrive in WashingtonAug. 21. Along the way, they willdo volunteer work with housingimprovements and bike trail con-struction. They will also participatein an educational program.

JustAct works to develop youngpeople’s commitment to social andeconomic justice. The money theriders raise through pledges will besplit among various grass-roots organ-izations in the United States andabroad; JustAct’s partner organiza-tions in Zimbabwe, Mexico, Bolivia,and the Philippines; and some Just-Act programs.

Turk is an experienced mountainbiker who worked summers teachingoutdoor skills to children at campsin New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Sheraised the money to pay for hertrip—including the purchase of anew bike that cost $1,000—througha series of minimum wage jobs.

Two Students ReceiveChancellor’s Award

Thomas D. Sanford, Jr. ’00 andJoshua R. Vaughan ’99 were namedrecipients of a 1999 Chancellor’sAward for Student Excellence by theState University of New York. SUNYChancellor John W. Ryan presentedthe awards at a ceremony in AlbanyMarch 30.

“This award is our way of honor-ing students who have shown thecourage, ability, and will to succeed,”said Ryan.

Award recipients must havedemonstrated outstanding academicach ievementand receivednational or inter-national recog-nition for theirefforts.

Both Sanfordand Vaughan are

students in ESF’sFaculty of Con-struction Manage-ment and WoodProducts Engineer-ing. The Associ-ated Schools ofConstruction hon-ored Sanford, fromGroton, N.Y., and Vaughan, fromElmira, N.Y., this past year. In addi-tion, Sanford is the recipient of theNational Scholarship Award of theAssociated General Contractors ofAmerica while Vaughan was namedto Who’s Who Among Students inAmerican Universities and Colleges.

ESF College FoundationBoard Gets Two NewMembers

Stephen V. Ardia of Skaneateles,N.Y., and Walter P. Smith ’54 of Por-tola Valley, Calif., were elected mem-bers of the board of directors of theESF College Foundation, Inc.

The election was held at theboard’s annual spring meeting May 1,said ESF College Foundation Presi-dent R. Leland Davis, president ofGalson Corporation.

Ardia is the retired president andchief executive officer of Environ-ment One Corp. of Niskayuna, N.Y.Ardia’s sons, Daniel R. and David S.,earned master’s degrees from ESF in1997 and 1995, respectively.

Smith, who studied pulp andpaper technology and high polymerchemistry at ESF, is the founder andformer chief executive officer of Prog-nostics, Inc. In 1998, Smith contri-buted $200,000 to ESF’s Appeal forthe Jahn Laboratory. The new build-ing’s main teaching laboratory wasnamed the Walter P. Smith Labora-tory in honor of his gift.

Directors of the foundation areelected for three-year terms.


A Site To BeholdIf you haven't visited ESF's World

Wide Web site recently, you're in fora treat.

A revamped college Web sitedebuted this spring. The new sitehas a completely different look andorganization, and includes moreinformation to meet a variety of vis-itors' needs including prospectivestudents, alumni, and friends.

The site contains more than 250new pages, said Dr. Maureen O. Fel-lows, director of Information Tech-nology and Institutional Planning."We hope visitors will find it fun andeasy to explore."

To view the new ESF homepage,go to www.esf.edu.

The site comprises maps anddescriptions of college facilities, aca-demic programs, regional campusesand field stations, student andalumni services and activities, andresearch programs. Also included arelistings of events, recent news stories,and public service publications.

Other new features in develop-ment include online registration forcontinuing education and graduateadmissions, an interactive databaseof campus email and phone num-bers, and a searchable keyword indexfor specific information on teachingand research efforts.

‘Real’ Hands-On TrainingAt The Ranger School

All Ranger School students cancount on real, hands-on experiencein their wildland fire training class,taught by Instructor Wayne G. Allen.

What they can’t always count onis a “real” fire.

This year’s dry conditions havemade the Adirondack forests muchmore susceptible to the threat of fire.

Continued on next page

Thomas D. Sanford, Jr.

Joshua R. Vaughan


Anthropologist Marilyn Wake-land Hoskins, who has had a longcareer in the area of communityforestry, was awarded the honoraryDoctor of Humane Letters degreeMay 16 from ESF. In conferring thehonor on Hoskins, the SUNY Boardof Trustees described her as “one ofthe world’s major innovators in newapproaches in managing forests.”

Environmental and Forest Biology.The salutatorian is Jessica Ross ofPlainview, N.Y., who majored inEnvironmental Resources and ForestEngineering.

Vicki Lyn Shorey of Frankfort,N.Y., led the 1999 Ranger Schoolgraduates. Caren Michelle Donovan ofCuba, N.Y., was the class salutatorian.

During ESF’s convocation, heldMay 15, Faculty Honors were be-stowed upon the following students:Trombley; Ross; Jeffrey Burns ofLockport, N.Y., Environmental Stud-ies; Katherine Hargrave of Vestal,N.Y., dual option in Environmentaland Forest Biology/Forest ResourcesManagement; David Kabza ofOrchard Park, N.Y., ConstructionManagement and Wood ProductsEngineering; Matthew Lochansky ofPoughkeepsie, N.Y., Chemistry;Brian O’Mahony of Syracuse, N.Y.,Paper Science and Engineering; KarlRoecker of Bellvale,N.Y., Landscape Archi-tecture; and JonathanSchroeter of Hamburg,N.Y., Forestry.

In addition, Trombley,Ross, and Burns werenamed ESF’s Class of1999 Scholars.

ESF shared Com-mencement ceremonieswith Syracuse Univer-sity at the Carrier DomeMay 16. Class Marshalsleading the ESF degreecandidates in the Com-mencement processionwere Jeffrey J. Sturek ofJohnson City, N.Y., astudent in the Faculty of Construc-tion Management and Wood Prod-ucts Engineering; and Teresa L. Far-rell of Waverly, N.Y., a student in theFaculty of Environmental Studies.

The state Department of Environ-mental Conservation called on stu-dents at ESF’s Ranger School inWanakena three times to help containblazes that had erupted near Edwards,N.Y., and the town of Webb.

Under the supervision of Allenat the Edwards sites and AssociateProfessor Michael R. Bridgen at theWebb site, students worked duringtheir scheduled lab sessions for thefire training class. The students wereassigned to complete the digging oftrenches—fire lines—to keep thefires from spreading.

In addition to the students, morethan 100 volunteer firefighters from18 volunteer fire companies foughtthe blazes, which burned about 30acres in total.

Typically, Allen, a ’79 RangerSchool grad, and co-instructors JosephM. Kennedy RS ’82 and Bernard J.Siskavich RS ’71, both DEC forestrangers, set up a controlled burn onthe school’s Dubuar Forest for theclass’ lab sessions. Allen said he wasglad not to have to do that this yearsince the area is so dry.

350 Students EarnDegrees From ESF

ESF awarded some 350 baccalau-reate, master’s, and doctoral degreesMay 15 and 16 during its Syracusecampus commencement weekendand another 46 associate’s degrees ingraduation ceremonies May 22 at theRanger School in Wanakena.

The valedictorian for the Classof 1999 is Angelina Trombley ofStillwater, N.Y., who majored in

Campus Update,

Continued

Angelina Trombley

President Ross S. Whaley,Anthropologist MarilynWakeland Hoskins, andProvost William P. Tully

Jessica Ross


here are immigrants in our midst. They carryno green cards, heed no international borders, andoften travel under assumed names. At worst they arevilified, hated, and persecuted.

At best they are woefully under-appreciated.They are the eastern coyote.

Originally a native to the Southwest, the coyoteexpanded its range following the extirpation of thewolf in the Lower 48. Its arrival inNew York five decades ago hassparked a continuing debate inwhich hunters contend that theeastern coyote (a.k.a. coydog,brushwolf) is decimating theAdirondack deer herd.

In the early years, a heateddebate evolved between wildlifebiologists and hunters aboutwhether coyotes really kill deer.Now, science has settled thedebate. Food habits studies,conducted since the 1950s atESF’s Adirondack Ecological Center in Newcomb,have shown a gradual change in diet from snowshoehare to white-tailed deer. It is a question of survivalin the Adirondacks, for there is little else to eat.

Adirondack coyotes hunt in groups consisting of abreeding pair and their offspring from the currentyear and sometimes from previous years. A coyotepack, usually no more than seven animals, may roaman area up to 20 square miles. Researcher GaryBrundige found that venison comprises about halfof the volume of food ingested by Adirondack coy-otes over the course of a year but ranged from 18 to

82 percent of their diet in autumnand winter respectively.

Deer are probably not the pre-ferred food of coyotes and aresurgence in snowshoe harenumbers would probably triggera dietary switch back to smallmammals. Evidence for this isfound in farmlands surroundingthe Adirondacks, where rodentsand other small mammals formthe bulk of coyote diets eventhough deer are available.

While coyotes certainly doprey on deer, the controversy over the effects of coy-ote predation on deer herds continues. Many sports-men contend that since coyotes kill deer, killing coy-otes will save deer, ignoring the fact that winter

“...deer popula-tions have been

increasing for thepast 20 years inspite of impacts

of coyotes.”

Do coyotes destroyour deer herds?by Steve Kendrot

T


weather is by far the chief determinant of annual deermortality. Not that they don’t understand the conceptof “compensatory mortality.” Hunters have longargued that sport hunting of deer reduces winter star-vation. This theory also applies to coyotes. During aharsh winter, as many as 60 percent of fawns suc-cumb to starvation. Many of these animals are con-sumed by coyotes before they actually starve. Adultdeer are also a target, but are less vulnerable to coy-ote attacks.

That is not to say that coyotes have no effect ondeer numbers. When poor habitat conditions prevail,deer reproduce at lower rates and coyote predationcan become additive—that is, coyotes can furtherdepress already low deer herds and slow their recov-ery following severe winters.

This predator-prey interaction is called a preda-tor pit. For many sportsmen, the obvious solution isto kill coyotes, but seldom does this work. Killinga coyote often results in the breakup of the pack.Then, instead of a single female breeding, three orfour females forge out to start their own packs. As

a result, coyote control simply does not work. Timeand habitat management are often the only solutionto a predator pit. Once over-browsed habitat recov-ers, deer reproductive rates increase, allowing themto escape the controlling effects of coyote predation.

The only “control agent” that has proven effec-tive at reducing coyote densities for the long-termhas been wolves. Intense competition betweenwolves and coyotes often results in the death or dis-placement of many coyotes, the remainder of whichscrape out their living in buffer areas between adja-cent wolf packs. Wolves were eliminated a centuryago because of perceived competition for wild gameand livestock. But few sportsmen seem pleased withthe stand-in that nature has provided.

Ironically, wolves may have been, and perhapscould again be, a better predator for Adirondackdeer, since they occur at lower densities, have largerterritories, and adjust more readily to changes intheir food supply. However, in the absence ofwolves, coyotes are filling an important ecologicalniche, providing food for scavengers and preventingeruptive growth of the deer herd.

According to harvest records of the state Depart-ment of Environmental Conservation, deer popula-tions throughout the Adirondacks have been increas-ing for the past 20 years in spite of the allegeddetrimental impacts of coyotes.

In the end, the coyote controversy may be more aproblem of human perception than of biological reality.

Kendrot is a doctoral student in wildlife biology at ESF.This article is reprinted by permission of the Adiron-dack Explorer, 36 Church Street, Saranac Lake, N.Y.12983; Dick Beamish, publisher.


High-Tech ‘Focus’ onNatural Resourcesby Claire B. Dunn

High-Tech ‘Focus’ onNatural Resourcesby Claire B. Dunn

Jerry Kinn ’77, ’81, has an office full of technicalexperts and sophisticated electronic equipment in hiscorporate headquarters outside Boston. But when heneeds ideas, he returns to Syracuse and mines for inspi-ration in Bray Hall.

One of the magnets that draws Kinn back to his almamater is the college’s new partnership with the NationalAeronautic and Space Administration.

The space-age link between the SUNY College ofEnvironmental Science and Forestry and the federal gov-ernment’s most visible high-tech agency was designedto encourage technical and economic development andmake American companies more competitive. It alsohelps position ESF as a center for using high-tech meth-ods to educate the next generation of scientists about theuse and protection of the earth’s natural resources.

“The wise use of natural resources is a central issueat ESF,” said Provost William P. Tully. “You can’t make

policy if you don’t have the facts. The technical approachto natural resource questions allows for good designactivities to deal with these resources, for good man-agement, and for good engineering. It also provides theplatform for excellent science to take place.”

And Tully says ESF should stand squarely onthat platform.

“As there is more and more computational power inthe world, it becomes more routinely accessible. Thereis a tremendous obligation for educational institutionsto ensure people are competent to use it,” he said. “Wetake on that responsibility as the primary place in NewYork where those questions should be investigated.”

In that role, ESF has reached out to the business com-munity in the eastern United States through its desig-nation as a NASA Affiliated Research Center. The col-lege also extends a technical hand through public accessto its base station, a global positioning systems unit that

Huntington Forest, October 1998


sits on the roof of Bray Hall and receives a continuousseries of signals from satellites nearly 13,000 miles abovethe earth’s surface. And the college was a major playerthis winter in a SMART-NY conference that examinedways for the state to increase its research and educationalefforts in high-tech fields.

Much of the hardware used by ESF in these academicand research ventures falls under the auspices of the col-lege’s Faculty of Environmental Resources and ForestEngineering.

“These are tools. They’re high-tech, but they’re tools,”said Dr. Robert H. Brock Jr., faculty chair. “And peoplecan’t use those tools if they don’t know how. That’swhere this department comes in. We are where theexpertise is, where the know-how is.”

Tully and Brock see the ever-increasing use of highlysophisticated technology—geographic information sys-tems, global positioning systems, and remote sensing—as a seamless fit with ESF’s traditional emphasis onnatural resources.

Said Brock: “You’ve got to quantify a resource andyou’ve got to locate it and that’s where all these high-techgadgets come in. Scientists can’t even begin (to use itor protect it) unless they know how much they’re work-ing with and where it is.”

Tully, whose background is in forest engineering, saysthe process begins with basic questions and proceedsto answers gleaned from computer programs and satel-lite images.

“When you’re examining any resource, questionsarise: First, where is the resource? What is it composedof? What is the quality? Next, what is the stability of thequantity, quality, and existence of the resource?”

He offered research into tree disease as an example.Remote sensing—loosely defined as the technology ofobtaining information about a particular area withoutbeing physically present to do the searching and meas-uring—can answer questions about different properties of

affected trees: Where are they? Are they on the northernor southern slope of a mountain? Where’s the nearestwater? What is the soil moisture content? How muchsnow normally falls in the area?

“The details of good, accurate, and precise measure-ments allow you to answer these kinds of questions,”Tully said. “If you go out in the woods and try to lookat enough trees, all you’ll get is lost. Are you going to lookat 500,000 trees just on one hillside?”

In addition to gathering information on the trees,researchers can use remote-sensing technology to amassadditional data and put it into a computer.

“You can correlate the spread of the tree disease withclimate factors such as the wind. Which way does thewind blow? Is it a wind-borne disease? Is it transportedthrough the groundwater to the roots? All these thingscan be put into a geographic information systems database and then you can determine where a disease isheaded,” Tully said.

Foresters aren’t the only ones who benefit from thesetechnical innovations. Through the NASA program,Kinn hopes to make similar information readily avail-able to the nation’s farmers.

Kinn is a product manager with TASC, an engineer-ing services company that is a subsidiary of Litton Indus-tries, which is involved in work for the U.S. Departmentof Defense. Kinn is leading the development of a branchof TASC called Emerge, an information technology firm.

Emerge’s goal is to make information technology easyto use and easy to obtain. The idea is to take data—num-bers and pictures that might not mean much to a non-scientific observer—and turn it into useful information.

“Once farmers plant in the spring, they don’t reallyknow what’s going on because they can’t really getaround to every little piece of their land,” Kinn said. “It’slike running a business where you have a business planin January and you have a bottom line in December andno information on what happens in between.”

High-Tech ‘Focus’ on Natural Resources


Armed with accurate, detailed information onweather, soil condition, and crop production, he said,growers can better determine how much pesticide to useon their crops and what type of chemical to use at whattime of the year. The result would be better crop pro-duction and reduced pesticide use. “I expect growerswill become better stewards of the land and stave offtougher regulations by the EPA. No one wants to be a bet-ter steward than the landowner or the grower who rentsthe land.”

Remote sensing was developed primarily by the fed-eral government and used as a Defense Department tool.Kinn says it’s time to make the technology more widelyavailable.

“It’s time to make it more useful to the general public.We want to get it to the point where growers buy it and

discuss their success with the U.S. Department of Agri-culture. Forest owners and foresters can buy it and tradeinformation with the Environmental Protection Agencyon its use,” he said. “Where the ARC program’s goingto help is to devise information farmers can use.”

Kinn’s aim of putting the information in the hands ofpeople who are neither scientists nor engineers reflectsone of the NASA program’s goals. “This center providesa low investment, low-risk opportunity to investigatehigh technology with a goal of commercial development:making money,” said Dr. Paul F. Hopkins, director of thecenter and a member of the Faculty of EnvironmentalResources and Forest Engineering. “This is a resource forcompanies with an idea. They can come here and inves-tigate modern geographic data and analysis, and thendetermine the idea’s feasibility. It’s all done at a relativelylow risk to the company. In the end, they can decide ifthe idea has merit.”

ESF is one of nine colleges and universities aroundthe country serving NASA in that role. It is one of onlytwo ARC facilities in the Northeast. The other is atBrown University.

Hopkins is assisted in the operation of the ARC byLindi Quackenbush, a recent graduate of ESF’s master’sprogram, who acts as coordinator.

The program will involve faculty members andstudents from several of ESF’s academic departments:environmental resources and forest engineering, envi-ronmental studies, forestry, environmental and forestbiology, and landscape architecture.

Kinn, whose company already has an array of high-tech equipment, said the ARC program provides another,perhaps lesser-known service: It is a source of fresh ideas.

“The beauty of the ARC program is that it’s outsideall the trappings of the workplace. Students have a nat-ural way of drawing information out of you,” he said.“I’m here for the ideas. I’m here for the fresh look and I’llcapitalize on that, quite literally. A smaller companywould be here for access to the technology.”Alumnus Jerry Kinn in the mapping science labs in Bray Hall.



Kinn’s company employs computer experts who canprocess and analyze any information that comes theirway. But at ESF, he can reach the foresters and engineerswho work in the field.

“It acts as a bridge to the consumer,” he said. “That’sthe value of the ARC program.”

Like the ARC program, the SMART-NY initiativehas the goal of expanding ESF’s impact on economicdevelopment, particularly in high-tech areas. The pro-gram draws its name from SUNY/Cornell Multiplier toAdvance Research and Technology.

During its February conference at the State Museumin Albany, several ESF researchers made presentationson subjects including water resources, sustainable indus-try and development, fuel cell and energy production,and geo-spatial modeling.

The ARC operates out of the mapping labs in the base-ment of Bray Hall. Four stories above it, on the roof ofthe venerable old building, is another element of the col-lege’s high-tech outreach program.

A small antenna, which survived last year’s LaborDay derecho that did extensive damage at other locationson campus, is part of a geographic positioning system(GPS) unit called a base station. It receives signals everyfive seconds around the clock from Telstar satellitesorbiting Earth. A cable that slithers through the wallsof Bray carries the electronic signal into Room 314,where the information is fed into a computer.

Researchers, who carry portable GPS “rovers” intothe field, use the base station’s data to verify their loca-tion in the field. Comparing the two readings greatlyreduces the margin of error inherent in such calculations.

“That way, if you’re studying a plot in the Adiron-dacks, you can get back to the exact same location later,”said Edwin H. White, a forester by trade who is ESF’sdean of Research. “And you know you’re looking at thesame trees the next time.”

ESF has operated the base station for about five years.Paul Szemkow, an instructional support specialist whois responsible for maintaining the unit, believes it is theonly base station in Central New York to which the pub-lic has access.

Officials from neighboring Madison County haveused it in developing the community’s 911 emergencyresponse system. ESF graduate students have used infor-mation derived from the base station in projects based atESF’s Heiberg Forest south of Syracuse and at the college’sAdirondack Ecological Center in Newcomb.

“Instead of surveying on the ground, it became mucheasier to do it with GPS,” Szemkow said. “With a pieceof ground 100 kilometers by 100 kilometers, it could takemonths to survey it on the ground. With the GPS, wewere doing the same type of work in about 45 minutes.”

The base station is scheduled to be updated this sum-mer with the addition of another antenna.

“Everybody uses this information—engineers, lawyers,you name it,” Brock said. “As time goes on, it will beused more and more because everything that happenscan be identified with a time and place.”

“The whole field of forestry and forest engineeringhas become high-tech, no question about it,” White said.“These are things that were James Bond material 10 yearsago. It’s now commonplace in our industry.”

Dunn is assistant director of News and Publicationsat ESF.

ESF alumni and friends interested in obtaining

information about working with the ARC program

should contact Dr. Paul Hopkins, director, by email

at [email protected] or by phone at 315-470-6696.



Curtis H. Bauer is the kind of gen-tleman who might wonder why any-body would want to read about him.But he’s much too polite to ask. Andhe’s smart enough to know better.

After all, Bauer, a self-describedintrovert, is one of ESF’s success

stories. A Class of 1950 grad-uate, he’s a self-made manwho, through determinationand hard work, achieved hisdream, says one administrator.As a professional forester, heenjoys a national reputation.And as a human being, he ispraised for his keen intellect,his integrity, his composure,and his quiet capacity for get-ting things done.

In all, a man well-suited forthe task at hand: As chair ofESF’s board of trustees, Baueralso chairs the search com-mittee charged with finding anew president to lead theschool into the 21st century.It’s just the latest in a string ofduties Bauer has shoulderedduring his 30 years on the

board. But he feels the significance ofthe moment keenly.

“Education and the demands oneducators and administrators havechanged dramatically,” Bauer says.“We now compete with private col-leges and universities for outside fund-ing. Finding the right person to leadour institution is the board’s majorresponsibility, and one which none ofus takes lightly.”

The ideal candidate? Bauer beginsthoughtfully: “We’re looking for a per-son who is skilled in every facet of aca-demia; a good teacher who under-stands teaching; a good administratorwho can bring the college and all of itsvarious components together anddrive for common goals; somebody

who has the ability to fashion budgetsand work with legislators on budgetinitiatives.

“We need a president with visionthat places us squarely in the center ofthings as we enter a new era. We needa president who has a silver tongueand can motivate people by speakingand has the ability to bring externalfunds to the college; and who has suf-ficient depth in science to earn therespect of the academic community.”

He pauses and smiles: “He’s lovedby the students and, probably, pro-claimed by all as one of the great lead-ers of the country. We just happen tohave him,” he says, referring to Presi-dent Ross S. Whaley.

OK, it’s a tall order. But in the eyes ofthose who know Bauer, the job couldn’tbe in more capable hands.

“Curt knows this institution verywell,” says Whaley. “He’s an alumnus,he’s served on the board for 30 years,he’s served on the ESF College Foun-dation, and chaired an advisory com-mittee to the Faculty of Forestry. He’ssharp as a tack, and he has a passionfor the college. He thinks what we dois terribly important to society. Andwe’d better do it right, because thecosts of error are great.”

Longtime friend and former ESFclassmate Robert Sand agrees. “Curtisn’t the kind to brag,” observes Sand,“but when he talks, he knows whathe’s talking about. He has the insightto pinpoint the things that are impor-tant and find solutions quickly, and hedoes it in such a way as not to be dom-ineering. He just puts an idea in yourhead, and you don’t realize he’s putit there until it’s all done.”

Another Class of ’50 alumnus andfriend, Harrison Payne, casts that per-suasive streak another way: “Whenyou’re getting a tree to grow, youdon’t push it and tie it down,” says

Campus Profile

Curt Bauer: A Gentleman And A Scholarby Carol Boll

Curtis H. Bauer

Payne, professor and vice presidentfor Student Affairs emeritus at ESF.“You lean gently on it, and lean gen-tly on it, and lean gently on it. Andpretty soon, it grows in the directionyou want.”

Whaley can attest to that. “Curt hasa marvelous ability to counsel mewithout ever pushing me,” he says.“He’s had a marked impact on thisplace simply by gentle, thoughtfulpersuasion.”

Away from campus, Bauer hasproven himself to be a pretty shrewdbusinessman. Following a one-yearstint with the U.S. Forest Service inMontana, he returned to New Yorkstate in 1951 to settle down with hisnew wife, Sue, and develop his skillsin the forest products industry. In1953, he launched one of the first pri-vate consulting forestry businesses inthe state. By the time he sold theJamestown-based company in 1991,Forecon, Inc., counted among itsclients some of the largest industrialforest products firms in the country.Bauer continues to work as a consult-ant for Forecon, which also has officesin West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

His list of professional honors andaffiliations reveal a long-standing pas-sion for, and commitment to, his field.

“Curt really stands out in my mindas an example of a self-made man whohad a dream to study forestry andthrough hard work made it happen,”says ESF Director of Alumni AffairsJustin F. Culkowski ’73. “He kept hisdream and made it a reality, and Ithink that says a lot about him.”

His capacity to “get down to busi-ness” is a characteristic Bauer honedas an undergraduate. Like 90 percentof his new classmates in 1946, he wasa World War II veteran, having servedwith the U.S. Navy.

“These were very serious-mindedpeople who had spent time in theservice and were anxious to get onwith their lives,” Bauer recalls. “I don’tmean to imply it was a monasteryhere. Vets were very vibrant people,and we certainly had some marveloustimes. But we had people who trulywere outstanding in the sense of whatthey did in World War II. It was a groupof people that truly were inspirationalbecause of their background and theirattitude of getting on with things.”

Bauer remains close to classmatesSand and Payne, and over the yearsthe three have traveled extensivelytogether. One trait of Bauer’s that hasparticularly impressed Payne over theyears is his remarkable capacity toremain calm in the face of the mostalarming events.

Payne recalls one memorable tripto Quebec some 20 years ago. The twowere enjoying a cigar and a scotch onthe porch of their cabin after a good dayof fishing when suddenly the campcookhouse 50 yards away exploded inflames. A young guide came dashingout, his back ablaze, heading for theriver to douse himself.

“In a flash, Curt threw down hisscotch and bolted over the railing,”Payne recalls. “He ran and tackled theguide and rolled him over and put outthe fire, which probably saved theyoung man’s life. And he was just ascalm and cool as ever.”

Looking back over the 50 yearssince his own graduation, Bauermarvels at his alma mater’s capacityto evolve and redefine its missionaccording to the needs of society. He’swatched it grow from a school forforesters into a multidimensionalinstitution offering everything frompaper

JobsWho Needs ’Em?Students!

Although more than 90 percent of ESF students qualifyfor some type of financial aid, many pursue part-time andseasonal jobs to help with such things as living costs, books,and other school supplies. In addition, some students seekemployment for the experience it provides in the workworld—whether or not their job is career related.

Who Has ’Em?You!

If you need seasonal or part-time assistance, contact ESF’sjob location and development program at 315-470-6706.Based in the college’s Financial Aid Office, the servicelinks students seeking jobs with employers looking forcompetent, educated applicants.

There is no fee for the referral service, and employers are underno obligation to hire from among the applicants who contactthem. Our students have worked successfully on part-timeassignments as sales clerks, office or laboratory assistants, recre-ation leaders, forestry or architectural aides, and warehouse orconstruction workers.

For more information, call 315-470-6706.

ESF Job Location and Development ProgramOffice of Financial Aid115 Bray HallSUNY-ESFSyracuse, NY 13210-2783

On Campus

INSIDE E ◆ S ◆ FOffice of News & Publications1 Forestry DriveSyracuse, New York 13210-2778

C H A N G E S E R V I C E R E Q U E S T E D

Books and MonographsCoufal ’60, James E., contributor to TheLand Ethic: Meeting Human Needs for theLand and its Resources, John A. Helms,editor. 176 pages. Society of AmericanForesters, Bethesda, MD. 1998.

Floyd, Donald W., editor, Forest of Dis-cord: Options for Governing our NationalForests and Federal Public Lands. 96pages. Society of American Foresters,Bethesda, MD. March 1999.

Worrall, James J., editor, Structure andDynamics of Fungal Populations. 348pages. Kluwer Academic Press, Dor-drecht, Netherlands. 1999.

Awards and HonorsRaynal, Dudley J., J. William FulbrightSenior Lectureship, Middle East TechnicalUniversity, Ankara, Turkey. Spring 1999.

Shannon ’82, S. Scott, J. William Ful-bright Senior Lectureship, Czech Techni-cal University, Prague, Czech Republic.Spring 1999.

Smardon, Richard C., appointed advi-sory board member, Legal Institute of theGreat Lakes.

Campus Calendar

June 1 Summer Program in Field Forestry. Wanakena campus.Through July 20.

June 6 Summer Program in Environmental Biology, Session I.Cranberry Lake Biological Station. Through July 2.

July 5 Summer Program in Environmental Biology, Session II. Cran-berry Lake Biological Station. Through July 30.

July 9 College Information Session for High School Students. AlsoJuly 16, July 23, August 6, August 13, and August 16.Additional information: Office of Undergraduate Admissions,315-470-6600.

August 6-7 Ranger School Alumni Reunion. Wanakena campus. Addi-tional information: Ranger School, 315-848-2566.

August 13-15 Cranberry Lake Biological Station Reunion. Cranberry LakeBiological Station. Additional information: Office of AlumniServices, 315-470-6632.

August 15 Registration and orientation. Wanakena campus. ThroughAugust 17. Additional information: Ranger School,315-848-2566.

August 18 Classes begin. Wanakena campus.

August 26 New student orientation program. Syracuse campus. ThroughAugust 29. Additional information: Office of Student Activ-ities, 315-470-6658.

August 30 Classes begin. Syracuse campus.

September 11-15 Alumni Reception, Society of American Foresters annual meeting. Portland, OR. Additional information: Office of Alumni Services, 315-470-6632.

September 13-15 Alumni Reception, American Society of Landscape Archi-tects annual meeting. Boston, MA. Additional information: Office of Alumni Services, 315-470-6632.

October 1-2 Homecoming. Syracuse campus. Additional information: Office of Alumni Services, 315-470-6632.

October 4-5 15th Annual New York State Geographic Information SystemsConference. Albany, NY. Additional information: Office of Continuing Education, 315-470-6891 or www.esf.edu/outreach/conted/conferences/nysgis99.htm.

N O N - P R O F I T O R G .

U .S . POSTAGE

PAIDI T H A C A , N . Y .PERMIT NO. 164

inside esf 1999-2

Documents