Stewards Magazine Fall 2021 | University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability

Dean's Letter

Lots of impactful work is being done by our alumni in the world at large, and I’m inspired by all the ways our alumni are building a better future.

Returning Student Orientation in Nichols Arboretum

SEAS students, faculty, and staff joined the U-M community in a return to in-person classes and activities for the new academic year. Orientation, welcome receptions, and Campfire brought us all together and made for a busy—and fun!—start to the fall semester.

FEATURE STORIES

Meet the Future of Environmental Justice

For nearly three decades, SEAS has been at the forefront of environmental justice education and research. Today, SEAS is at the nexus of environmental justice thought leadership, and is recognized as a trusted resource for expertise on both state and national levels.

A member of the Bureau of Land Management Mojave Engine Crew reduces the heat around hot areas of the Antelope Fire in Northeast California.

Fighting Wildfires is a ‘Delicate Balance’

Harold Rice (BS ’16, MS ’19) has tremendous respect for the wildland firefighters who put their lives at risk to contain active wildfires, particularly in the West. For two months over the summer, Rice took on that physically demanding job as part of a helitack, or helicopter, crew that was stationed in Moab, Utah.

Electric car charging station in the Netherlands

Driving the Future of Sustainable Mobility

In the sustainable mobility space, there is no shortage of innovation. And as the old barriers begin to fall, we must navigate the choices—with a clear eye on the road ahead. For real direction, not detours, we look to the leaders in research.

Plant More. Dream More. Alumni Restore the Forests of Kenya

As Africa Area Co-directors for Eden Reforestation Projects, Andrew (MS ’18) and Alex (MS/MLA ’17) Kinzer—in collaboration with a team of managers—have launched 25 project sites throughout Kenya, and have 700 staff members who have planted and maintained nearly 13 million trees in the past year and a half.

DANA SPHERE

SEAS Master’s students perform fieldwork in a flagship Northern Michigan dune habitat. Photo by Alexis Rankin

Shaping the Obtawaing Biosphere Region

“Obtawaing” is the Anishinaabemowin word for “at the halfway place.” It was the name for the center of the Odawa village that used to stretch 16 miles along northern Lake Michigan, near the town of Harbor Springs and the hamlets Good Hart and Cross Village. Now, the word has been adapted to describe the Obtawaing Biosphere Region, a newly awarded designation springing from the U-M Biological Station in Pellston.

Eva Roos’ visual conception for one quadrant, Zhaawanong (the south region), of the Izhi-Minoging Mashkikiwan project. Images courtesy of Eva Roos

Izhi-Minoging Mashkikiwan: Place Where Medicines Grow Well

Recent graduate Eva Roos (MS/MLA ’21) collaborated with the Cheboiganing Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians for her master’s practicum, “Izhi-Minoging Mashkikiwan // Place Where Medicines Grow Well.” She credits this collaboration to her time as a teaching assistant with Great Lakes Arts, Cultures, and Environments, the U-M Biological Station humanities program.

ALUMNI UPDATES

Class Notes

A compilation of news and updates from SEAS and PitE alumni, all in one spot.

Where Are They Now?

Remember the 2015 SNREdNation calendar that featured students poking fun at environmental stereotypes? See how these alumni are putting their environmental degrees to good use.

Stewards Magazine

Fall 2021