ANN ARBOR—Steven L. Yaffee, University of Michigan professor of natural resources and environmental policy, was named to the Theodore Roosevelt Professorship in Ecosystem Management. The naming of Yaffee to the endowed professorship, effective May 1, was approved by the U-M Regents at their April meeting. The professorship, established in 1994, was made possible by a gift from Sally and William L. Searle to honor the “bold, effective, and path-setting leadership offered by President Roosevelt in the conservation field during his lifetime.” President Roosevelt made conservation a central policy issue of his administration, creating national parks, wildlife and bird refuges, and the national forest service. In 1908, he called the governors of all the states to the White House conference on conservation, now regarded as the beginning of a true national conservation movement. “As the TR Chair, Yaffee will work across the School to enhance our educational, research, and outreach programs, guiding contributions our faculty and students can make to science-based ecosystem management,” said Rosina Bierbaum, dean of the School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE). As a leader in interdisciplinary approaches to environmental problem-solving, SNRE has had an active program of teaching and research in ecosystem science, management and policy for many years. Yaffee, who joined U-M faculty in 1982, is currently the director of the Ecosystem Management Initiative. His research focuses on conceptualizing and applying ecosystem management approaches to conservation, and examining how sometimes conflicting entities—such as landowners, agencies and community groups, can work together to achieve conservation. The Ecosystem Management Initiative, launched by SNRE in April 2000, focuses on ways to maintain and restore ecological integrity while guiding appropriate human uses of natural systems by using a knowledge of the ecological and social processes that affect ecosystems. To learn more about the Ecosystem Management Initiative, visit its Web site at www.snre.umich.edu/emi or contact Marcia Lochmann at (734) 615-6431.

Regentswww.snre.umich.edu/emi