News and Events
CEMML principal investigator and natural resource expert joins executive committee
Bill Sprouse, a long-time CEMML natural resource expert and principal investigator, recently joined its executive committee as an assistant director. After nearly three decades of experience with the organization, he hopes to hit the ground running and continue to support one of CEMML’s most crucial resources: Its people.
April 3, 2023
Ph.D. candidate visits CEMML endangered species staff at Fort Polk
Ohio State University Ph.D. candidate Emily Rabung, recently met with CEMML endangered species staff Chris Melder, Matt Christiansen, Amy Brennan, and Andrhea Massey. They discussed conservation efforts on Fort Polk with the red-cockaded woodpecker and the Louisiana pine snake.
March 27, 2023
CEMML Early-career Development Program offers experience in managing military lands
The CEMML Early-career Development Program gives college students and recent graduates opportunities to work at military installations on natural and cultural resource projects. As seasonal technicians, participants learn new skills, receive mentorship, make career-aiding connections, all while getting paid doing it.
March 23, 2023
A life-long love of plants: CEMML botanist retires after three decades at CSU
Nancy Hastings’ love for plants and spending time in the outdoors led her to Colorado State University in 1989 to pursue a graduate degree in Range Science. After graduating, she would spend the next 34 years as a botanist with the university’s Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands (CEMML), helping military installations across the U.S. and overseas manage their natural resources.
February 22, 2023
Air Force-CEMML partnership seeks to reduce aviation risks associated with wildlife
A partnership between the Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands (CEMML) and the Air Force Civil Engineer Center (AFCEC) is developing an application to help Air Force installations understand wildlife population densities and behavior patterns. The effort aims to prevent wildlife associated aircraft incidents—collectively known as Bird/Wildlife Aircraft Strike Hazard, or BASH.
February 16, 2023
Army secretary tours CEMML-supported natural resource program sites in Hawaii
CEMML senior cooperator program manager, Lena Schnell, along with U.S. Army Garrison Pōhakuloa Training Area (PTA) biologist Tiana Lackey, provided information on the installation’s natural resources program to the Secretary of the Army, the Honorable Christine E. Wormuth, during her visit to PTA in January.
January 24, 2023
Childhood passion to the DoD: a natural resources expert shares CSU career progression
CEMML Principal Investigator, Chris Herron, talks about how his passion for the outdoors at an early age inspired him to pursue degrees related to rangeland ecology and forest management from CSU’s Warner College of Natural Resources. He now leads large-scale environmental management projects for the Department of Defense.
January 22, 2023
CEMML provides Red-Cockaded Woodpecker conservation expertise in Louisiana
CEMML Biologists at Fort Polk, Louisiana, are using banding efforts and the installation of artificial nesting cavities to help ensure the survival of the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker, an endangered species under the U.S. Federal Government’s Endangered Species Act.
January 19, 2023
CEMML supports deer season harvest at Fort McCoy
In early December, CEMML staff based at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin, provided support to the installation’s wildlife program by helping to organize and facilitate the gun-deer season harvest. The hunt took in 464 deer, exceeding their minimum goal by over 100.
December 8, 2022
Sustaining an optimal military training environment at Fort Polk, Louisiana
In west-central Louisiana, a group of just 16 people is responsible for maintaining 221,000 acres of military training land. This Integrated Training Area Management (ITAM) team, a partnership between Fort Polk and CEMML, provides an optimal training environment to prepare soldiers for deployment.
December 1, 2022
Conservation detection dogs key to tracking endangered bird in Hawaii
The elusive band-rumped storm petrel or ‘ake’ake, a small, endangered sea bird, is a difficult species to track. However, thanks to the help of conservation detection dogs, the Pōhakuloa Training Area (PTA) Natural Resource staff in Hawaii, in partnership with CEMML, have been successfully identifying the bird’s burrows since 2015.
November 29, 2022
CEMML key contributor to CSU record-breaking research spending
As a long-time provider of natural and cultural resource management services to the federal government, CEMML accounted for over 22% of Colorado State University’s overall research spending in fiscal year 2022.
November 3, 2022