SUNY ESF Emeritus Center
Brief Description
I have been organizing the monthly luncheons/presentations for the past two years, having taken over from one of our still-active members, Will Coté. We meet on the second or third Wednesday or Thursday of the month, varying because several of our retirees have conflicting monthly luncheon meetings with other groups. Our attendance ranges from four or five to over twenty. Generally, we gather for informal chitchat about 11:30 AM and eat about noon, with some invited speaker at from about 1 to 2. This week (month) President Neil Murphy is giving an annual update on activities at ESF. We meet at a local (not far from the campus) restaurant that has a nicely-sized available room and we can order off the menu, which is preferable to a fixed (and pricey) dinner when many of our members don't eat much! I enjoy the cooperation of the College's Development office staff who send out the monthly letters I generate, as well as excellent support from President Murphy. Let me know if I've given you information you don't need, or if there is more you would like to know. Peter
Activities Undertaken by the Members
Ram: I seem to be "in tune" this week, an observation based on the fact that several (maybe five) folks with whom I have been in touch, have some connection to stuff I have quite recently done. In your case, I attended the 50 anniversary of the creation of the Cooperative Watershed Management Unit at Colorado State University, at which I was the first PhD student starting in 1958 and the first to get a doctorate degree from that program. We had a great reunion/anniversary/party, and were asked for a brief bio for presentation to the fellow who started it up (Robert E. Dils, now in poor health, with whom I have maintained regular contact over the years). A portion (paragraph) of the bio is, I think, what you are looking for:
Prior to and since "retirement" I have greatly enjoyed representing SUNY ESF on local, state, and national advisory committees, a practice I have been involved in since I started my teaching career at Humboldt State College in Arcata, CA, in 1961. I first served on the Six Rivers National Forest advisory committee, and another involved with determination of fair water rate increases. Currently, I serve (with a record 23 years on) the New York State Soil and Water Conservation Committee, and the officially limited four years on the Corps of Engineers' Environmental Advisory Board. I have traveled - officially and on vacation - to 30 foreign countries, all fifty states, annual and/or local meetings of the American Geophysical Union, Soil and Water Conservation Society, National Association of Environmental Professionals, and 60 meetings of the AWRA, among others, including a much appreciated invite to CSU's first annual Student Water Symposium in 1997. I also serve on the Syracuse Skaneateles lake Watershed Program, the New York City Watershed Agricultural Council and its' Forestry committee, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (state) Technical Committee, the NYS NonPoint Source Pollution Control Committee, and was active in the Onondaga Lake Watershed Management Committee, and served on several of its subcommittees. The reason I like the NYS S&WCC so much is that, as required by law, every month twenty-five to thirty active professionals get together, sit down, and talk with one another about soil and water conservation. What's more, their employers are willing (well, it is required by law!) to have their employee spend a day doing that as well we paying for their transport to and from the meetings. There is a tremendous reservoir of respect among the members of the Committee, along with genuine interest in each other, cordiality, and good company. In addition, Good Things continually come out of the regular works of this committee and the state's 57 soil and water conservation districts. It is a special privilege to be associated with it and its members. I also continue to read, write, lecture, and travel. I have remained active in my profession, particularly with educational and advisory activities through the College, where I am in my office daily unless traveling. In 2006 WRVO.FM Public Radio in Oswego, New York started weekly broadcasting of my "Water Drops" - two-minute essays on "The Wonder of Water," and I'm currently working on publicizing their availability to other public radio stations around the nation.
I did add the sentences in there about the State Committee, but otherwise it is a simple cut-and-paste and, should you want more information, please let me know.
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