Center's summer intern
appreciates Iowa forests

One wouldn't think that Iowa has much to offer in forest management, but Iowa is exactly where the Leopold Center's summer intern wants to be.

John Tyndall, an Iowa State University graduate student in forest economics, will be working on various project with Leopold Center education coordinator Rich Pirog this summer. He returns to the Midwest after a two-year absence, one of which was spent studying forest ecosystems and socioeconomic models at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

"After getting my master's degree in forest management at Iowa State University in 1996, I thought it was time to go where there were lots of forests," Tyndall explained. "I started a Ph.D. program in British Columbia, but after a year I came to the conclusion that the real excitement in natural resource management was right here in Iowa."

He said he's pleased to have experience in two very different situations: forests of the Northwest and Iowa forests within an agricultural landscape.

"I truly feel that the social, economic, and ecological complexities of natural resources within the uniqueness inherent in agriculture are infinitely interesting," he said. While at ISU, he helped conduct socio-economic research on Iowa's hardwood wood product industry. Currently, he is involved in agroforestry research that can help improve the sustainability of livestock farming.

Tyndall said he was attracted to the Leopold Center internship because he appreciated the buffer strip research the Center has supported as part of its agroforestry initiative.