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Dr. Roger W. Ruess

Professor of Biology, Emeritus

WHEREAS Dr. Roger W. Ruess has served the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Fairbanks with distinction in teaching, research and service from 1989 to 2020; and

WHEREAS Dr. Ruess has taught a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses in biology; and

WHEREAS Dr. Ruess’ early work on the effect of grazing upon the African savannah is considered a classic in ecosystem research; and at UAF he has studied Arctic and sub-Arctic ecosystems; and his studies have illuminated the dynamics of fine tree roots and their role in carbon and nitrogen cycling in the boreal forest; and his work has contributed to understanding how herbivores affect ecosystem productivity and plant succession; and more recently he and his students have contributed to our understanding of the importance of the symbiosis between alder and nitrogen-fixing bacteria in northern ecosystems; and

WHEREAS Dr. Ruess has led large, collaborative research programs, most notably the Bonanza Creek Long-Term Ecological Â鶹¹ÙÍø Program, which includes a great breadth of studies investigating the impacts of climatic warming and the changing boreal forest and is supported by more than $6 million in funding to UAF; and he received the 2014 Emil Usibelli Distinguished Â鶹¹ÙÍø Award; and he has mentored many junior faculty and guided twenty-five graduate students in their research endeavors;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Fairbanks expresses its deep appreciation to Dr. Roger W. Ruess for his extensive contributions to the State of Alaska and to the University; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Fairbanks, in further recognition of the invaluable services rendered by Dr. Ruess and as evidence of the University’s desire that his identification with the University be maintained, hereby confers upon Dr. Roger W. Ruess the title of Professor of Biology, Emeritus; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution be appropriately engrossed and signed by the Chancellor as further evidence of the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Fairbanks’ esteem and respect for Dr. Roger W. Ruess, and conveyed to Dr. Ruess on this twenty-third day of May, 2020.