Newsletter - Summer 2025

Letter from the Department Head

Greetings Friends and Supporters of NRES!

Those who know Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences (NRES) Department Head Jeremy James were probably not surprised when he was asked to step in as interim dean for the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences (CAFES).

James has served as department head for NRES for the past five years. His leadership helped our department grow in student and faculty numbers, brought opportunities to the entire department through a $4.2 million CAL FIRE workforce education grant, helped us develop shared governance by creating faculty leads for each of our four majors, and has demonstrated what it is to be a “servant leader.”

James resumed his position as head of the NRES Department this summer with the arrival of the new CAFES Dean Brian Horgan.

I was honored to be asked to serve as interim department head at the start of winter quarter 2025. This great position provided me the opportunity to work closely with faculty and staff colleagues, who are awesome and so great at their jobs. I am thankful every day for the opportunity to get to work with these talented people whose mission is to support the success and flourishing of our nearly 850 NRES students through practical and applied Learn by Doing experiences in the classroom, in the field, in computer labs and in analytical labs.

Continue to read the update from Chip Appel