One of the most prestigious faculty awards at UAF has been bestowed upon SNRAS Associate Professor John Fox (pictured at right). He was named the recipient of the 2009 Emil Usibelli distinguished award for excellence in teaching. Two other awards were granted, one for service to (Richard Seifert, Cooperative Extension Service energy specialist,) and one for research, to (John Walsh, chief IARC scientist). Each will receive $10,000.
“I hope I have had some positive impact on students, educational programs, and my teaching colleagues at UAF,” Fox stated. His philosophy throughout his thirty-six years at UAF has been to foster wisdom, not to just share knowledge. “I try to advocate clear thinking,” he said.
Fox grew up in Hartford, Ct., and credits his participation in the Boy Scouts with fostering a love of the outdoors and nature. He started college as a math major, struggling with calculus before switching to biology. He later rediscovered his attraction to math in graduate school. After graduating with a B.S. in biology from Trinity College in his hometown, he headed west to Seattle to attend the University of Washington, where he earned a master of science degree in forest resources and a PhD in forest hydrology.
When Fox started graduate school his goal was to earn a master’s and teach at a high school or preparatory school, but he got hooked on research and stayed to earn his doctorate. He joined the UAF faculty in 1973.
Fox teaches watershed management, environmental ethics, and a graduate course in biometeorology. Other courses he has taught include forest management and resource inventory and measurements. He finds that teaching is a great way to learn. “If you are teaching something you better understand it yourself,” he said. An advantage of teaching is that constantly interacting with young people keeps a person invigorated. “It’s great to share what you know with them and, in turn, learn from them,” he said.
Over the years, Fox has seen amazing changes in technology but has kept abreast of new developments, creating simulations of random sampling, mark and recapture population estimation, strip-flush census, solar and net radiation fluxes as a function of slope, azimuth, and latitude, and of the local water balance. He also developed simulations of uneven and even-aged forest growth and harvest, and financial analysis of forest management options. These programs are designed to involve the student in decision-making where the consequences of their decisions can be experienced and the dynamic nature of the systems can be appreciated.
The changes he has seen in students include the present generation’s technological savvy and their higher expectations that the university should meet their needs. He would like to see students work a little harder. “I don’t want them to bleed but it wouldn’t hurt them to sweat a little,” he said. Even though Fox has taught children of his former students he said most of the differences in the student body have been subtle. “They don’t get my jokes any more,” he laughed.
What he hopes most for his students is that they gain enthusiasm for learning and a sense of continuing to be curious about the world beyond the classroom. The three key components he tries to foster are critical reflection, empirical inquiry, and intellectual honesty. Challenges of teaching include addressing the wide range of students’ backgrounds and their varying levels of enthusiasm, Fox said.
The professor’s goals are to continue to be relevant and to accomplish more in the research arena of his appointment. His research focuses on water levels at Harding Lake and incorporating frozen soils into hydrologic models. “Linking frozen soils and hydrology in models is now popular because of climate change, but I think I was one of the first to do that in a watershed and land-use context,” he said. “This provided a starting point for others to build upon.” He also strives to elevate and clarify the role of ethics in natural resources management and to “be there for students, colleagues, the public, UAF, and SNRAS.”
Fox was a member of UAF’s Interdisciplinary PhD review committee for several years, is a faculty representative for the Society of American Foresters, and for six years has served, by appointment of the chancellor, as UAF’s NCAA faculty athletics representative.
In his spare time, he loves to play basketball and spend time with his wife Sheila and their four children and two grandchildren.
A nomination from Fox’s colleague, Associate Professor Dave Valentine, stated that from his first days at UAF he picked up a wonderful strategy for teaching from Fox. “He views the job as creating a space for learning. He takes a thoughtful, scholarly approach to education.”
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