Source(s):
Wayne Smith whsmith@ufl.edu, (352) 846-0850
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Peter Farnum, vice president for forestry and raw materials research at Weyerhaeuser Company, and Christine Dean, director of research for the company’s western timberlands, will speak at the University of Florida’s John Gray Distinguished Lecture series at 10 a.m. on April 24, 2001 at the Best Western Gateway Grand Hotel in Gainesville.
The hotel is located at 4200 Northwest 97th Blvd., at the intersection of Interstate 75 and State Road 222 (Exit 77).
Topic of their presentation is “Science In Service to Society: The Role of Research,” which keynotes the annual symposium for the Florida Division of the American Society of Foresters.
“In their presentation, they will use a unique Socratic approach to address this contemporary issue,” said Wayne Smith, director of the School of Forest Resources and Conservation, part of UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the The John Gray Fund for Excellence in Forest Resources and Conservation. Gray is a former director of the UF school.
Farnum, who completed his bachelor’s degree in statistics at Princeton University and his doctoral degree in forest resources at the University of Washington, has worked for Weyerhaeuser since 1977. His career includes research on diverse topics such as biometrics, hydrology and the physiology of drought resistance. He also has experience in forest management, tissue culture and environmental science.
Dean, who received her doctoral degree in quantitative genetics from the University of Queensland, Australia in 1989, oversees Weyerhaeuser research in production forestry, reforestation and regeneration, as well as environmental forestry. She also leads the company’s tree improvement program and is the scientific advisor for genetics technology.
The lecture series was established in 1994 to recognize Gray who served as director of the UF forestry school from 1963 to 1977. He developed outstanding research and teaching programs that have served as models for other universities.
Gray’s leadership included development of programs in forest biology, wildlife and range sciences, fisheries, outdoor recreational resource management and cooperative research with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service as well as the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service.
“For his many excellent services and outstanding leadership, John’s friends and associates established The John Gray Fund for Excellence in Forest Resources and Conservation to focus on issues pertaining to forests and other natural resources,” Smith said.
-30-
0
