PORTLAND, Ore. December 13, 2010. The USDA Forest Service’s
Pacific Northwest (PNW) Research Station officially announced today
that Dr. Lee Cerveny, a research social scientist based at its Pacific
Wildland Fire Sciences Laboratory in Seattle, is a recipient of the
Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).
Cerveny will be presented with the award—which is the highest
honor bestowed by the U.S. government on science and engineering
professionals in the early stages of their research careers—today
at a formal White House ceremony.
“ On behalf of the four hundred employees of the Pacific
Northwest Research Station, I want to say how proud we are of Dr.
Cerveny's accomplishments,” said Bov Eav, Station Director. “Her
research into the human dimensions of natural resource management
provides insights that help guide land managers as they consider
options for land use decisions."
Cerveny was recognized for a decade of social science contributions
that have elevated understanding of the human dimensions of natural
resource management in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. In 1999,
the same year she began working for the Forest Service, she launched
a creative line of research examining the effects of a variety
of social changes—including a sharp increase in cruise ship
travel and subsequent explosion in nature-based tourism—on
small communities in southeast Alaska. Since that time, her studies
have expanded to include investigations of the use of science by
recreation and fire managers and the role of partnerships in maintaining
the Forest Service’s organizational capacity.
Most recently,
Cerveny launched a multiyear study to visually map human activities
and important places in forests on Washington
State’s Olympic Peninsula. The community-workshop-based project
is identifying the diversity of recreation, cultural, historical,
and economic connections residents have to the Olympic Peninsula,
information that will help managers and planners there make decisions
about the area’s lands and resources.
“ It is truly an incredible honor to be acknowledged by the
White House and by the Department for making research contributions
that are meaningful and valuable to others,” Cerveny said. “This
award helps me to expand work on the Olympic Peninsula, an area
that has experienced major economic transformation, with implications
for how people relate to forests, parks, and other lands.”
As
a PECASE recipient, Cerveny will be receiving a research grant
that she will use to complete her regional human ecology mapping
project. She also plans to begin studying emerging issues in
the forests that surround cities, where land uses are rapidly changing
with shifting economic conditions and the growth of new population
groups.
The PECASE, established by President Clinton in 1996, is coordinated
by the Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive
Office of the President. Awardees are selected for their pursuit
of innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology
and their commitment to community service as demonstrated through
scientific leadership, public education, or community outreach.
This year, the award recognized a total of 85 scientists from 10
government departments or agencies. Cerveny is the Forest Service’s
only recipient.
The PNW Research Station is headquartered in Portland, Oregon.
It has 11 laboratories and centers located in Alaska, Oregon, and
Washington and about 425 employees.
Note to reporters—A high-resolution photo of Cerveny is
available upon request.
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The PNW Research Station is headquartered in Portland, Oregon.
It has 11 laboratories and centers located in Alaska, Oregon, and
Washington and about 425 employees.
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