Dear Friends,
Please join me in welcoming Dr. Aimée Classen as the next Director of the U-M Biological Station. I am pleased that the search committee appointed by the LSA Dean's Office has led to the recruitment of an internationally recognized scholar and committed teacher as my successor. Professor Classen's research spans ecological processes from soil microbial studies to regional carbon cycling in multiple ecosystem types. Her research interests and leadership skills are a great fit to our station's research, education, and outreach programs. She will continue to add much to our field station's and our university's overall programs of research on environmental processes and sustainability. I look forward, along with the LSA dean's office and our UMBS staff, to offering her my full support and cooperation as she joins our Biological Station and University of Michigan communities.
I am also pleased to share LSA Dean Anne Curzan's announcement to our staff, faculty, and researchers with all of you. I hope you have a chance to meet Dr. Classen during what I anticipate will be a long and productive term as UMBS Director.
Sincerely,
Knute Nadelhoffer
A welcome from LSA Dean Anne Curzan:
I am delighted to announce that Aimée Classen has agreed to join us here at the University of Michigan and become the new director of the University of Michigan Biological Station at the end of the summer, through August 31, 2025. Aimée comes to us from the University of Vermont, where she is a professor in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources and serves as the director of the Aiken Forestry Sciences Laboratory. She is a member of the board of trustees of the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, and is on the editorial board for Ecological Monographs, among other accomplishments.
Aimée will have the full support and cooperation of the dean’s office and the college as she moves into this leadership role, and I trust that she will also have yours. Please join me in welcoming Aimée to the University of Michigan and to UMBS.
I would also like us to take this opportunity to thank Knute Nadelhoffer for his commitment to UMBS, the college, and the university during his years of service as director. This strange time of mostly remote work does not allow us to stop and say thank you to an outgoing director in the hall or on site at UMBS, or celebrate in ways we otherwise might. I want to take this opportunity to extend my appreciation for all the energy, thoughtfulness, and commitment that Knute has put in during his tenure as director, including—and especially!—over these past few months as we have navigated unprecedented and difficult territory. Thank you, Knute, for all you have done.
--LSA Dean Anne Curzan
