The Nelson Institute Blog

I am happy to announce that Lisa Naughton will take over as chairperson of the Conservation Biology & Sustainable Development Program upon the retirement of Stan Temple later this year. Lisa is a faculty member in Geography and has become increasingly involved in Nelson Institute over the last few years. Her work with human-animal conflicts in Africa as well as in Wisconsin (where she has studied human interactions with wolves) is not only excellent scholarship but is interdisciplinary and practical in its implications. She is also a first rate teacher, having received the Chancellor’s Teaching Award last year, and plans to teach one of the courses in CBSD. Welcome Lisa!

Meanwhile things are quiet here at the Institute. I will be attending my second Green Tier meeting downtown this coming week. This initiative seeks to reward those companies and organizations which voluntarily exceed environmental standards for their industry. I appreciate Tom Eggert’s support in nominating me for this committee. It is not only an interesting opportunity to get to know the organizations and corporations currently operating in Wisconsin, but it exposes the Nelson Institute to some important decision makers at the State level. For more information check out their website: http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/cea/environmental/comment/index.htm.

One of the goals at the level of the University is to improve our relations with and increase our contributions to the State of Wisconsin. The Nelson Institute outreach committee, chaired by Lew Posekany and ably assisted by Steve Pomplun continues to work to create a better presence for the Nelson Institute at the level of State Government and in the broader community. To this end the Institute will launch a seminar series starting in the Fall designed to engage speakers from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors, as well as those from the academy. The speaker series will be held bi-weekly on Fridays (specific time and venues to be announced). Lunch will be served. The theme of the Fall series will be water, and Steve has already started to line up speakers in consultation with many of you. There will be credit possibilities for students. Stay tuned.

Plans are already underway, led by Pete Nowak, to organize for Earth Day 2007. Pete has been meeting with community groups to build an integrated agenda. Also we are building a collaboration with the Wisconsin Historical Society, the Library School and possibly the City of St. Croix Falls, to archive all Gaylord Nelson’s papers and create collections which will be on display and available to our students as well as the general public. A new website design and a new brochure are near completion. All of these efforts are directed to strengthening our contribution to the Wisconsin Idea and carrying on the legacy of Gaylord Nelson.

I have been taking the opportunity of the quieter summer to take some fundraising trips. This week I went to northern Wisconsin, Green Bay and Milwaukee. In August and September I will make trips to both the west and east coast. With ever shrinking budgets it seems fairly crucial to find external resources for named Chairs, student fellowships, and new initiatives.

One of my visits this week was to Martin Hanson who has sold a 1,028 acres property to the Forest Service on condition that the proceeds be divided between the Arboretum and the Nelson Institute (in memory of Gaylord Nelson). Approval of the sale was secured with both the Board of Regents and State Building Commission at their April meetings. At the moment, the University is working with UW System legal counsel to finalize the land transfer documents with the Forest Service and should have that process completed in the next several weeks.

The U.S. Forest Service has completed an appraisal establishing a price of $2,200,000 for the 1,028-acre property, but the actual sale price may vary slightly due to easements, covenants, and environmental conditions on the land. Sale proceeds will be returned to the UW-Madison. The first $1.5 million has been earmarked for the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies. The remaining funds (+/- $700,000) will go to the Arboretum. The funds are intended to support another (junior) chair in Gaylord Nelson’s name, ideally in the area of public policy and environment.

I hope you are all enjoying the summer.

Frances