The campus's John Muir Institute of the Environment has a new director - Dennis Rolston, a distinguished environmental scientist and the leader of a faculty initiative to establish a UC Davis Graduate School of the Environment.
Rolston fills the vacancy created by previous director Robert Flocchini's recent decision to concentrate on leading the campus's Crocker Nuclear Labora-tory and other projects.
A specialist in contaminant transport processes in soils, Rolston has been on the UC Davis faculty for 32 years and is a professor in the Department of Land, Air and Water Resources in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
He is currently winding down the Center for Ecological Health Research, which has focused on studying the effect of multiple stresses on aquatic and terrestrial systems since 1992. As the center's director, Rolston gained significant expertise in managing multidisciplinary research programs.
Rolston is chair of the faculty steering committee that recommended a year ago that the campus establish a graduate school to improve the campus's administrative structure for environmental studies. Then-Provost Robert Grey approved the recommendation.
Since her arrival on campus in July, new Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw has met frequently with Rolston and other advisers to continue planning for the graduate school and to maintain the momentum of the campuswide Environmental Initiative.
Hinshaw said Rolston will continue to lead the graduate-school planning in his new position and will report to her as John Muir director.
"The campus is taking the important step of integrating planning efforts for the proposed new School with the strong foundation for multidisciplinary environmental research provided by the John Muir Institute," she said.
"Our goal in taking these actions is to bring UC Davis the recognition it deserves as the flagship environmental campus in the UC system and a leader nationally and internationally for environmental research and teaching."
Rolston said, "I am pleased to be given the opportunity to assist the campus in implementing this next step to promote and expand multidisciplinary campus efforts in environmental research and graduate teaching."
The institute director's post will be a three-quarters-time appointment. Rolston will continue to serve as chair of the Graduate School of the Environment Planning Committee and also will continue with research and teaching.
The provost said she also intends to name an associate director for the John Muir Institute to expand its relationship with faculty in the biological sciences.
At its inception four years ago, the institute was designated to serve as an incubator for interdisciplinary environmental research projects and to secure grants. The institute also is intended to coordinate specific centers of organized environmental research and to facilitate communication between policy makers, resource agencies, academic scientists and the public through outreach programs. It was named after the Scots-born American naturalist.