|
|
 |
Columns::July 15, 2002
Digest
Social Work productivity recognized
A recent article published by the Journal of Social Service Research reports that UGA’s School of Social Work ranked 13th in the nation in author productivity for the years 1994 to 1998.
The article, co-authored by Bruce Thyer, Distinguished Research Professor at the UGA School of Social Work, and Jan Ligon, associate professor of social work at Georgia State University, recognizes professional journal publication as significant to the advancement of social work knowledge.
To determine the ranking of the colleges and universities whose faculty made the most substantive contributions to the social work literature, the academic affiliations of the authors of all articles published in six major social work journals between 1994 and 1998 were reviewed and tabulated.
“I’m pleased to know that our faculty is exhibiting strong productivity in scholarly writing,” says Bonnie Yegidis, dean of the School of Social Work.
Wildlife ecology professor wins Fulbright
Sara H. Schweitzer, associate professor of wildlife ecology in UGA’s Warnell School of Forest Resources, has been selected as a Fulbright Scholar for the 2002-2003 academic year. Schweitzer, who will be based in Sophia, Bulgaria, for five months, will teach and conduct research in the Institute of Zoology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
Schweitzer plans to teach a course comparing and contrasting the beneficial and detrimental aspects of wildlife management in the United States and Eastern Europe. The course will explore different approaches to conservation and survey the federal, state and non-governmental organizations that manage and protect natural resources in the United States. She will also conduct research on Bulgarian wildlife populations.
Schweitzer’s research plans include an in-depth study of the history and current approaches to wildlife management and conservation in Bulgaria. Her first objective is to gain an understanding of Bulgarians’ attitudes and policies toward various wildlife species. She also plans to examine specific management strategies and identify factors that adversely affect one species as a case study.
“The ultimate research goal is to provide recommendations that further the understanding of species and the viability of their wildlife populations,” says Schweitzer. “This will help Bulgaria meet the European Union objectives for wildlife conservation.”
The Fulbright award covers the costs of housing, food, books and supplies.
Grad students win national design competition
A team of graduate students from UGA’s College of Environment and Design and the School of Law received top honors for their “Regional Green Space Plan for the Upper Etowah Watershed” at the second national Green Space Design Competition.
Jeffrey Boring and Raysun Goergen, master’s of conservation ecology and sustainable development candidates at UGA’s Institute of Ecology, and Marcie Diaz, master’s of landscape architecture candidate in the School of Environmental Design, presented their project at the 2002 Green Space Design Conference in Denver, Colo. Clif Henry and Brannon Hancock, candidates for the law school’s J.D. degree, assisted in preparing the plan.
The plan, which provides a template for coordinating green space protection across the eight counties of the Upper Etowah watershed to optimize water quality and biodiversity benefits, tied for first place out of a field of 23 entries, and received a People’s Choice award from conference attendees.
The students will share a $5,000 scholarship with the other winning team.
The project originated as part of the Etowah Initiative, an interdisciplinary service-learning course that brings together graduate students from ecology, environmental design and law to work on problems identified by stakeholders in the Etowah watershed. The Etowah is one of the most biologically diverse rivers in the United States, with 76 native species of fish, including some that are found nowhere else in the world. Located just north of Atlanta, it is increasingly threatened by the impact of rapid development. The Upper Etowah Regional Green Space Plan includes a county-by-county analysis of open space resources, priorities for protection, and implementation strategies, as well as a comprehensive regional green space map. The project is funded by a grant from the Georgia Forestry Commission.
|
|
|
|
|
