October 15th 2014

Agenda
• SAF Recap
• Bean Feed
• International Forestry Students’ Association (IFSA)
• Website update
• Officer Announcements
• General Announcements
Meeting Discussion
SAF Recap
In sum, it was exhausting but fun. There were lots of interesting talks and plenty of grad school reps (i.e. lots of connections to be made). And we made it to semi-finals in the quiz bowl! (Yay Cal Forestry!)
Some highlights/Interesting things learned:
• Interesting talk on low severity fires creating resistance to bark beetles in ponderosa pine (by increasing resin flow).
• GIS is getting a lot more accessible and user friendly YAY
• Hydrology and forests: the changing water flow, and how palm trees are affecting how much water infiltrates the soil
• SAF helped develop career interests and painted a picture of what forestry is outside of undergraduate classes
• International Forestry Students’ Association: should we get involved and expand our network?
• Community forests: politics and forestry
• Disconnect between management and research: pressure is on researchers to bridge this gap. Following the molds doesn’t work.
• Tropical forestry ecology was not well represented at SAF.
• Shifts in paradigm from state to state. Results from pockets of research that community members conduct has a correlation with that of professional scientists. How can we take advantage of this outlet?
• Carbon sequestration and trees and the growing carbon economy. We need to invest in forests and carbon neutrality.
• Educational submit: forestry enrollment is down to 14% (as opposed to 50%) People are scared it’s going to die away. Possible challenges: many people don’t know what forestry is, or have misconceptions about the field (it’s not just timber).
• Carbon sequestration and mortality: Where do snags fit in?
Come to SAF next year if you missed it!
Bean Feed
Bean feed on October 30th
Bay Area Chapter Bean Feed: Thursday the November 20th? We are still in the process of setting up a room (Morgan or Mulford?). The SAF Bean Feed is more professional and there will be a talk.
IFSA
International Forestry Students’ Association, what is it? An Association of student chapters across the world set up in order to facilitate discussion about international forestry practices. Website: http://www.ifsa.net/
• The first year of membership is free, and the second year is around 150- 200 dollars.
• The perks: one international meeting per year (this year it’s in Austria, next year it’s going to be in the Philippines). Annual regional meetings as well (in Colorado this year)
• Kevin encourages participation in IFSA. An international perspective is important.
• Benefits to the club include: having an international network and exposure to a global community. SAF is not as internationally centered. But membership would be on a different level of involvement: only a couple people (1-3) can go, and they will have the responsible of sharing their experiences with the rest of the club.
• Joining IFSA would require a change to the club’s constitution. We might include IFSA as a new branch.
• Should we start our free trail and decide whether it is a good idea to continue membership based on our experiences?
• IFSA will broaden our club membership to make it more inclusive (it’s geared toward graduate students).
• Those staying next year should analysis the costs and benefits on this decision (i.e. sending three students to Baton Rouge or only one to the Philippines?)
• IFSA includes field tours and community building workshops. Will these activities be worthwhile for our club? We can send people to Colorado in the spring for the regional conference in order to scope things out?
Website Update
Please explore the website and see what needs improving. There’s a lot of content that needs updating. If you would like to help update something, contact Ricky. Examples of content to add: experience at SAF, timbers can have own page, and club history. Google drive document can be sent out to coordinate this.
(Merchandise section coming soon.)
Officer Announcements
Logging Sports
Practices are canceled and weekday practices will be set up instead. An email will be sent to out for times.
Yule Ball
Location, location, location: Botanical garden? Senior Hall has been taken off the market? Where to go? Price difference analysis between venues will be calculated and sent out soon. If you have suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact Yule Ball coordinators.
Christmas Tree Cut
November 22nd or first weekend of December (might be risky weather conditions)?
General Announcements
• Leila is the student representative of district 3 region for SAF, so if you have information relevant to students and forestry, please let her know.
• Let’s get a mentorship program started: pair up students with professional foresters to discuss future and career plans. We could talk to bay area SAF, so we can have mentorship program. Or we can have alums act as mentors (which will be easier to set up) Kevin will sent out more information
• Keep the weekend of November 15th free for a forestry picnic!
• Let’s visit the forest products lab! There’s a wood room with wood samples from all over world and a strength tester. Let’s organize tours (in Richmond)! Tentative date: sometime during dead week.
• BUY MERCHANDISE!! (We have a surplus.)