W. Dan Svedarsky
Svedarsky to Serve as Head of UMC Natural Resources Department
University of Minnesota, Crookston (UMC) officials have chosen W. Daniel Svedarsky, Ph.D. and professor of natural resources, to serve as department head for the college’s Natural Resources Department.
A member of the UMC faculty since 1969, Svedarsky also serves as a research biologist at the Northwest Research and Outreach Center. He holds a Ph.D. in wildlife biology from the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, N.D., and master’s and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Missouri, Columbia. He has served as the program leader for UMC’s natural resources degree program and, most recently, as UMC’s interim vice chancellor for academic affairs.
“I’m delighted by this leadership opportunity to work with a dedicated group of faculty and staff in this newly structured department as we work with a great bunch of students,” noted Svedarsky. “While I have enjoyed my interim responsibilities as the chief academic officer for the campus, I have missed the close involvement with students and my field research.”
Svedarsky is recognized as one of North America’s top experts on the greater prairie chicken, and much of his research has focused on the status and management of that species. He has also researched effects of fire as a management tool for native tallgrass prairie and the restoration of gravel pits for wildlife habitat purposes. He is the senior author of a recently published booklet entitled Landowner’s Guide to Prairie Management in Minnesota.
In December of 2003 Svedarsky attended the Wildlife Society’s Third International Wildlife Management Congress in Christchurch, New Zealand, where he presented a paper entitled Economic Impacts of Nature-based Recreation in Northwest Minnesota, a summary of research on which he collaborated with colleague John Loegering, UMC assistant professor of wildlife ecology, and with David Arscott, now working at the Stroud Water Research Center.
Most notable among the numerous honors Svedarsky has received for his teaching and research are his induction into the University of Minnesota’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers in 1998 and the University of Minnesota’s Horace T. Morse Award for Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education, which he received in 1997. These are two of the premier faculty honors at the University of Minnesota. He is also a recipient of the Minnesota Award in recognition of his contributions to wildlife management in Minnesota and the Hamerstrom Award for his work with prairie grouse in North America.
Since 1972, Svedarsky has served as the founder and director of the Red River Valley Natural History Area, a facility of the Northwest Research and Outreach Center. He was the North Central Representative to The Wildlife Society for 3 years, past president of the North American Wildlife Technology Association, and a charter member of the Society for Ecological Restoration. He also holds membership in the Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union, the Minnesota Prairie Chicken Society, the North Dakota Natural Science Society, the Prairie Grouse Technical Council, and the Nature Conservancy.
“Dr. Svedarsky has had an extremely distinguished career at UMC,” said UMC Chancellor Velmer S. Burton, Jr. “His passion for natural resources and his dedication to students are evident to anyone who works with him. He has also done an outstanding job serving as UMC’s interim vice chancellor for academic affairs and in the development of new academic programs as UMC continues its evolution into a more comprehensive university. He is a true asset to the campus, the community, and the state.”
The announcement of department heads at UMC caps a six-month discussion of academic restructuring for the campus. The goal of the process, according to Chancellor Burton, was to take the current academic administrative structure and align it more closely to the kinds of structures one would see at other four-year colleges. Burton says the resulting structure at UMC more closely matches the one in place in departments at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus.
The five departments making up UMC’s new academic structure include the Agriculture Department; the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Department; the Business Department; the Math, Science and Technology Department; and the Natural Resources Department. David DeMuth, Jr., Ph.D. and associate professor of physics and math, was recently selected to serve as department head for the Math, Science and Technology Department; Ronald Del Vecchio, Ph.D. and professor of animal science, has been named department head for the Agriculture Department; Sharon Neet, D.A. and professor of history, was chosen department head for the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Department; and Susan Brorson, Ph.D. and professor of business management, was named department head for the Business Department.
UMC’s Natural Resources Department includes bachelor’s degree programs in aviation, golf facilities and turf systems, horticulture, and natural resources. Within natural resources students can select programs in natural resource management, park management, water resource management, wildlife management, natural resources law enforcement, natural resources aviation, and law enforcement aviation.
Svedarsky and chief pilot, Larry Leake, developed the two hybrid programs in aviation. “We have the only programs of this type in North America,” noted Svedarsky, “and they are among the faster growing majors on campus.” This fall, the UMC Natural Resources Department will co-host the annual meeting of the International Natural Resources Pilots Association with the University of North Dakota.
Over the next year UMC officials also plan to develop bachelor’s degree programs in environmental science and in emergency management, which will be administered through the department pending their approval by the University of Minnesota Board of Regents.
Posted 06/09/2004
Contact: Andrew Svec,
218-281-8435