Office of the Dean
I appreciate your interest in the College of Environment, Forestry and Natural Sciences (CEFNS) at Northern Arizona University. I want to share an observation from a person relatively new to Northern Arizona University (NAU) and the role of Dean – the talent and engagement of our students, staff, and faculty members in this college is striking. There is a classic rock band called Steely Dan; they have a famous song line that recognizes the impact of people who can mix talent and engagement for the betterment of others. It goes, “You crossed a diamond with a pearl and turned it on the World.” Let me provide some examples of what we mean by engaged students and faculty steeped in impactful research through NAU’s “teacher-scholar model.” You will see why this song line represents many positive synergistic activities in the CEFNS community.
Our students and faculty play critical roles in running NAU’s world-class scientific research centers, like the Pathogen and Microbiome Institute or PMI, working on infectious diseases, like valley fever and bubonic plague, that affect people and livestock in Arizona and around the world. Students receive training and are responsible for managing PMI’s operations, e.g., Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3) Lab. They learn to work safely with select agents that can potentially pose a severe threat to public health and safety, providing these experiences align with NAU’s 100% Career Ready initiative.
Some of our Department of Mathematics and Statistics graduates recently engaged in the American Statistical Society’s annual Datafest, creatively tackling enormous real-world data sets for insight and understanding. For example, NAU students participating in this past year’s Datafest analyzed data to advise the American Bar Association on how best to ensure the appropriate legal experts are available to support their pro-bono legal advice website.
Students and faculty from the Department of Applied Physics and Material Sciences and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry helped bring the world of quantum science and culturally relevant research exploration, respectively, to k-12 students around Arizona, including those attending rural schools in the Navajo Nation.
Our School of Forestry students are advancing the use of aerial drones to capture real-time data on the behavior of prescribed fires to see if the burns effectively treat the landscape to prevent the severity and frequency of wildfires.
In the Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science, students help design cameras that will be deployed in future trips to map the surface features of Mars.
Students and faculty members in the School of Earth and Sustainability are at the forefront of climate science, working to find solutions to the challenges humans face in understanding and mitigating the effects of global warming. This school will help guide NAU’s goal of becoming a carbon-neutral institution by 2030.
There’s a lot to be proud about CEFNS. For our students, discovering their talents and engagement potential would not be possible without the expertise and dedication to excellence that resides across the faculty and staff of the College of Environment, Forestry and Natural Sciences. To learn more about our college’s plans for the future, feel free to explore our new CEFNS Strategic Plan – Creating a Positive Educational and Research Environment.
Whether you are interested in studying in one of our degree programs, a person interested in science and our environment, or a researcher interested in partnering in discovery – connect with CEFNS; we are a welcoming community that discovers together.
Sincerely,
Roger J. (“RJ”) Haro, Dean
Resources
CEFNS Administration directory
We are located in Bury Hall Building #8, Rm 201
