Our sincere thanks to Mr. Jim Kennedy for his very generous gift of approximately $1,500,000 that will support two priority initiatives in the college. $1,000,000 will leverage matching support for a chair in conservation habitat that is part of what will be a $6,000,000 endowed chair, the largest of its kind on campus. In addition, $500,000 will be used to fund the first cohort of Conservation Leadership Through Learning students. This innovative program will change the way we educate students through experiential learning and hands on faculty guidance in places of environmental sensitivity all over the globe. It will offer a masters level degree with two semesters abroad and provide invaluable training to students.

We would like to thank Seismic Micro Technologies for their gift of software valued at approximately $850,000. This software is an instrumental teaching tool for our geosciences students and makes them extremely marketable upon graduation.

Congratulations to Maria Fernandez-Gimenez for her grant from the Ford Foundation of $236,124 to support research surrounding poverty, vulnerability, and resilience in North Asian Rangelands, specifically case studies of community-based rangeland management in China and Mongolia. This work will involve organizing and presenting two workshops in Beijing during the next year, culminating in a book.

The Environmental Learning Center (ELC) continues to be the beneficiary of major funding to continue its mission to educate K-12 students. One such project focuses on Loveland and the surrounding areas teaching environmental stewardship and the history of the Bobcat Ridge Natural area.

Thank you to the D.R. and Virginia Pulliam Family Foundation for their continued high level support of $63,495 to this program.

Thank you to K.L. Spear for his pledge and gift of $45,000 to support ungulate research in southwest Colorado. This research will study migratory corridors as it relates to the sustained health of a large herd of elk that inhabits this area. Funding will support graduate students accordingly.

Thank you to EnCana Oil and Gas for their $25,000 investment in our Geosciences program. Graduate students need this kind of support now more than ever. We are grateful for this ongoing relationship.

Congratulations to the ELC once again for their gift from the Bohemian Foundation for $14,000. The ELC continues to benefit from the local community for its programs serving youth in the area in environmental education.

Thanks to Tom and Anne Shepherd for their support of the Al and Carol Dyer scholarship. Their generous gift of $10,000 will support students in the forestry program. Thank you to Michael Horowitz for his $9,000 contribution to his endowed scholarship. A deserving student in the Warner College of Natural Resources will benefit greatly.

Thank you to the Elk Creek Ranch for their $5,000 investment in Whirling Disease Research. We continue to find ways to eradicate this destructive disease from the trout population in our fisheries.

We would also like to thank Susan Barney Jones for her continued support of $5,000 for the scholarship in her father’s name.