[Vision2020] The UI Friday Letter

[Tom Hansen]

University of Idaho
Office of the President
Moscow, Idaho 83844-3151
Phone: 208-885-6365
Fax: 208-885-6558

The Friday Letter
A Newsletter for University of Idaho Alumni and Friends
July 16, 2004

Here's the latest news at the University of Idaho:

* Invasive species such as white pine blister rust, spotted knapweed 
and whirling disease in trout as well as declining populations of 
plants and animals are the focus of a new, state-funded, research 
center at UI. Area legislators, alumni, government agency 
representatives and business owners gathered at the UI's White Pine 
Research Grove Wednesday morning for announcement of the new Center 
for Research on Invasive Species and Small Populations. UI scientists 
recently competed for and won a nearly $1 million grant from the 
Idaho Board of Education's Higher Education Research Council to fund 
the new center.

"CRISSP brings together some of the finest minds in the state as 
well as the newest in biotechnology to work on problems fundamental 
to the traditional mainstays of Idaho's economy," said UI Provost 
Brian Pitcher. "The scientific findings could have a direct and 
dramatic impact on the economic well-being of the state."

Degradation or destruction of Idaho's natural resource base is one 
of the greatest biological problems facing the state, UI researchers 
say. They predict the incidence of introduced - and consequently, 
destructive - species will only increase in years to come, given the 
increased mobility of human populations and globalized commercial 
traffic.

Statistics gathered by the Idaho Invasive Species Councils support 
that claim. The group examined one 1999 survey that estimated the 
annual economic impact nationwide of alien species at some $138 billion 
realized in direct losses to agriculture and industry. Losses due to 
noxious weeds alone are estimated to cost the state approximately $3 
million annually.

White pine blister rust, one of Idaho's first alien invaders, decimated 
stands of western white pine, one of Idaho's most valuable tree 
species. Other recent examples of invasive species in North America 
that have received widespread attention include the West Nile virus, 
a viral pathogen affecting animals and humans, and Myxobolus cerebralis, 
a fish parasite that causes whirling disease in salmonids.

Another focus of the center will be to provide critical genetic 
analysis for management of small plant and animal populations. Declining 
elk herds, fish stocks, white bark pine populations and other threatened 
and endangered species pose major challenges to natural resource 
managers in Idaho.

CRISSP builds on existing expertise at the university. The College of 
Natural Resources' Laboratory for Ecological and Conservation Genetics 
contains the equipment and expertise. UI faculty and students from CNR, 
College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and College of Science and 
Lewis-Clark State College will use the lab. They will analyze DNA of 
invasive species that displace native plants and animals and determine 
causes for declines of plant and animal populations. 

Grant funding will be used to enhance lab technology and increase its 
capacity with graduate student fellowships, stipends and research 
budgets and undergraduate summer internships. The grant will provide 
partial salary for a full-time research scientist to manage the facility 
and provide training. Funding also will support an outreach program and 
seminar series to disseminate information to landowners, professionals 
and schools around the state.

Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!" 
-Robin Williams