Pacific Northwest Research Station

Awards for Superior Research and Volunteerism

USDA Forest Service
Pacific Northwest Research Station

Portland, OR: June 27, 2003

Contact:

Sources: R. Neilson (541) 750-7303; G. Reeves (541) 750-7314; R. Silen (541) 750-7298; B. Szaro (503) 808-2115
Media assistance: Sherri Richardson-Dodge, (503) 808-2137

PORTLAND, Ore. June 27, 2003. Awards for superior research and volunteerism were recently given to several Forest Service scientists. All the researchers are on staff at the Pacific Northwest (PNW) Research Station, USDA Forest Service; three at the Station's Corvallis Forestry Sciences Laboratory.

Ron Neilson, a bioclimatologist at the Station's Corvallis Forestry Sciences Laboratory, was given the Secretary's Honor Award from USDA Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman. Neilson was honored for maintaining and enhancing the Nation's natural resources and environment and for his contributions to understanding the potential impacts to ecosystems, water resources and fire regimes under climate change at regional, national and global scales.

Gordon Reeves, a research fish biologist, also at the Corvallis Forestry Sciences Laboratory, won Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth's Honor Award in the "natural resource stewardship" category for helping build a strong foundation for management and conservation plans in aquatic ecosystems, and for contributions to conservation biology and natural resource management.

Roy Silen, a retired geneticist and volunteer at the Corvallis Laboratory, won the Chief's Volunteer Program National Award for his contributions to helping measure studies, documenting and maintaining long-term studies, publishing, and for making an important difference in advancing forest genetics research. Silen also was cited for being a knowledge source for other scientists and for maintaining a historical record of forestry research in the Pacific Northwest.

Bob Szaro was given the Chief's Honor Award for global stewardship. Szaro, a Deputy Station Director at PNW Research Station, was recognized for sustained efforts in contribution to the improvement of global forest stewardship, promoting U.S. foreign policy objectives, contributing to the improvement of international forestry, and establishing innovative and effective partnerships to further international objectives.

The PNW Research Station headquarters is in Portland, Oregon, with 10 laboratories located in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington. The Station has about 500 employees.