2012 CREST Annual Report - Alabama A&M University

Annual Report: 1036600FACULTY TRAININGMicrosoft SharePoint workshop. February 2012. AAMU's Information Technology department held a brief training on their new website content management software, Microsoft SharePoint. Lisa Gardner and Dr. Wubishet Tadesse attended this workshop.CETL Management Skills for Team Leaders workshop. October 2011. Lisa Gardner participated in Continuing Education workshop on Management skills for Team Leaders through the AAMU Centers for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (October 11 and 13, 2011). This workshop was taught by Ms. Sharon Myers (Myers Technical Services, LLC). It was two half days of lecture and group activities aimed at improving management skills. Ms. Gardner received a certificate of attendance upon completion.Operation of Metrhom Ion Chromatography System Training. February 2012. Methrom, USA Service Representative, Instructor. Training and presentation was provided by Metrhom, USA, for hands on operation and maintenance of Metrohm Ion Chromatography system that can be utilized for anion analysis in water and soil extracts. Attendees included Thilini Ranatunga, Irenus Tazisong, Shelley Baltar, Robert Taylor, Angela Reedy, and Regine Mankolo.Outreach Activities:COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS, OUTREACH, AND EDUCATIONOutreach activities are divided into two main categories. First, we strongly believe that the dissemination of the results from CFEA research is imperative to our success and is an integral part of the CFEA mission. Second, we believe it is our duty to educate the community. There are two types of community education: (1) landowner education around the Bankhead National Forest and in the Black Belt region of Alabama, about the research activities taking place in the forests they intimately rely upon and how to be better land stewards and more effective land managers; and (2) general community education?from elementary school to adults?about forest ecosystems, watershed health, and the clear benefits of healthy silvicultural practices. We have therefore taken an aggressive posture to inform the scientific and educational community of our research findings. OUTREACH AND EDUCATIONCenter for Forest Ecosystem Assessment Seminar Series:The CFEA Seminar Series hosted six guest speakers during the 2011-2012 school year. Topics ranged from silvicultural practices to Asian elephant research in Sri Lanka. The seminars were a great success, and regularly hosted upwards of 50 audience members. We will be continuing the series into the 2012-2013 academic school year as a means of bringing a variety of research topics to our students and as a way of promoting collaborative efforts.April 10, 2012. Improving Upland Hardwoods: How? Dr. David C. Mercker. This hardwood seminar was co-sponsored by CFEA and the Society of Page 50 of 73