Shelby County Today

October 25, 2021 Nacogdoches - Stephen F. Austin State University’s horticulture program will host the annual Fall Plant Fair from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, November 4, at the SFA Plantery, located at 1924 Wilson Drive.

Plants available for purchase include a variety of winter annuals, such as pansies, violas, wallflowers, dianthus, stock, dusty miller and snapdragons. All plants are winter hardy and perform well in East Texas. Plants are $2 per pot or $34 for a tray of 18 plants.

“The students are so excited to show our community what they’ve learned about growing plants,” said Dr. Jared Barnes, associate professor of horticulture and steward of the Plantery. “We welcome people to tour the Plantery and buy some plants, since all proceeds support student learning.”

The Plantery, a program within the SFA Department of Agriculture, allows students to grow and raise plants in the Sprout microfarm, greenhouses and teaching gardens around the Agriculture Building.

The plant sale also is an opportunity to tour the plant-growing operation and view student projects, such as the gravel garden and hydroponic system.

Music, fireside s’mores and games will be provided by the SFA Horticulture Club.

In the event of rainy weather, the Fall Plant Fair will be postponed until Friday, November 5.

For more information, contact Barnes at barnesj@sfasu.edu. The community also may learn more about the horticulture program by visiting www.horticultureisawesome.com/the-plantery or by following @sfahorticulture on Instagram.

Sarah Fuller, Outreach Coordinator for Forestry and Agriculture

October 15, 2021 — The Stanley Center for Speech and Language Disorders at Stephen F. Austin State University has received a 2021 Speak Out and Loud Crowd grant from the Parkinson Voice Project, the only 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in the world dedicated to helping individuals with Parkinson’s disease improve their speech and swallowing.

The center is among a select group of hospitals, university speech therapy clinics, private practices and nonprofit organizations worldwide to receive this funding. The grant provides free Speak Out training for the clinical instructors and graduate students in SFA’s speech-language pathology program. It also funds materials that are used in the Speak Out and Loud Crowd programs.

“Up to 90% of people with Parkinson’s are at high risk of losing their ability to speak, and complications account for a 70% mortality rate in this patient population,” said Parkinson Voice Project founder and CEO Samantha Elandary. “Our vision at Parkinson Voice Project is to make our highly-effective speech therapy program accessible to people with Parkinson’s worldwide.”

East Texas has a large population of people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, according to Deena Petersen, director of the Stanley Center for Speech and Language Disorders.

“We are fortunate to be trained in the Speak Out program to help these clients communicate better,” she said.

The clinic offers free therapy sessions to East Texans with Parkinson’s disease to help them learn how to speak with intent, Petersen said.

“People with Parkinson’s disease do not realize they are speaking softly, and people cannot hear them. In the Speak Out program, clients become more aware of their speech and learn that when they speak, it must be with intention.”

In addition to individual Speak Out sessions, the Stanley Center for Speech and Language Disorders offers the Loud Crowd program, which is a maintenance program for patients with Parkinson’s disease offering ongoing vocal practice, support and encouragement. When clients complete the Speak Out program, they transition to Loud Crowd.

The Parkinson Voice Project’s grant program honors Dr. Daniel R. Boone, a world-renowned speech-language pathologist and voice expert who recognized in the late 1950s that individuals with Parkinson’s disease could improve their communication if they spoke with intent. The Parkinson Voice Project combines individual and group therapy to convert speech from an automatic function to an intentional act.

For more information on the center’s services, call (936) 468-7109.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of Stephen F. Austin State University’s forestry program. Following the program’s 1966 accreditation from the Society of American Foresters, the national organization representing and setting the standard for the forestry profession, SFA became home to the first accredited forestry program in the state. Since its establishment, the forestry program has produced top leaders in both the public and private sectors of natural resource management. In this picture dated 1949, representatives of the new Department of Forestry stand before a student recruiting booth.

October 13, 2021 — In the spring semester of 1946, Stephen F. Austin State Teachers College welcomed an influx of returning World War II servicemen to the student body. Among the courses offered to these new and returning students was an entirely new academic program — one that is inexorably tied to the heritage, economy and natural history of the region.

By the mid 20th century, the U.S. had transitioned away from viewing forests and their resources as purely extractive, and the creation of SFA’s Bachelor of Science in Forestry program reflected the growing understanding of the need for responsible, renewable, science-based forest management.

In 1966, the program received accreditation from the Society of American Foresters, the national organization representing and setting the standard for the forestry profession, making SFA home to the first accredited forestry program in the state.

The new Department of Forestry was initially housed in the basement of the Austin Building, and although campus location, technology and course offerings have changed during the past 75 years, one aspect has remained consistent.

“I think one of our strengths is that we have held on to the hands-on, learning-based experience model,” said Dr. Hans Williams, dean of SFA’s Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture. “Our students go to the forest and field every day to work closely with faculty members and learn.”

The field-based curriculum is perhaps best exemplified by the program’s intensive six-week summer field camp for students entering their junior year. Each week of the course focuses on a different aspect of the forestry profession and challenges students to apply the knowledge they have gained throughout the program to real-world scenarios.

For most of the program’s history, the camp took place off campus — first at a leased property equipped with dormitories and a dining hall near Milam, and later at the SFA-owned Piney Woods Conservation Center on Lake Sam Rayburn. In 2015, the camp transitioned to a non-residential format with students returning to their respective homes each night. Although locations of the camp have changed, the physical and mental rigor remain.

“Before I started field station, my friends told me that it’s the most fun you will never want to have again,” said Charlie Jordan, 2015 forestry graduate. “They were 100% correct. I’ve never had more fun during a summer class, but I never want to go through that mental and physical exhaustion again.”

Although tucked away in rural Texas Forest Country, SFA’s forestry program, faculty members and students have gained national recognition for their contributions to the profession.

Currently, the program is home to four faculty member recipients of the Carl Alwin Schenck Award. This national award, presented by the Society of American Foresters, recognizes outstanding performance in the field of forestry education. Additionally, the student chapter of The Wildlife Society and the student chapter of the Society of American Foresters have been recognized as the nation’s top-performing student chapters. Furthermore, the SFA Sylvans, the university’s timbersports team, has won multiple Southern Forestry Conclave championships, excelling in both the academic and physical portions of the competition.

When contemplating the program’s greatest accomplishments, Williams immediately points to alumni.

“When you get down to it, the success of any program is based on the success of its graduates, and I think what you see with our graduates is that they have achieved leadership positions in the public and private sectors of forestry all over the country,” Williams said. “Because we’re such a large program and have graduated so many students over the years, we’ve gained a reputation through their success of being a fine forestry program that produces strong graduates.”

Among the program’s notable alumni are a Nobel Prize co-recipient and top scientist for the U.S. Geological Survey, as well as top leaders within the Texas A&M Forest Service, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and private companies such as Weyerhaeuser and Davey Tree Expert Company.

“What amazes me is that as we try to select alumni for our Outstanding Alumni Award, we can’t seem to catch up,” Williams said. “We are so far behind in recognizing our outstanding alumni who have made great contributions to the profession.”

In addition to extensive teaching, research and outreach, the program manages 3,449 acres of East Texas forestland through the Lumberjack Legacy Forest Program. Through sustainable forest management, these properties have sequestered more than 600,000 tons of carbon dioxide and generated more than $239,000 for student scholarships and graduate research.

The Lumberjack Legacy Forest Program initially began in 2000 through a relationship with STMicroelectronics, a global electronics and semiconductor manufacturer focused on reducing its carbon footprint. The company purchased and afforested marginal East Texas pastureland and then donated the land to the SFA Real Estate Foundation to be managed in perpetuity by the college.

“This relationship was made possible through the vision and leadership of past deans and faculty members, as well as guidance from the SFA development office,” Williams said. “We have been able to meet STMicroelectronics’ goals, as well as our goals of supporting students and facilitating faculty development.”

While the forest industry and higher education have dramatically changed during the past 75 years and will no doubt continue to evolve, Williams speaks of the future of SFA’s forestry program with enthusiasm and purpose.

“We will continue to hold on to hands-on, experienced-based learning,” Williams said. “I think that is part of our culture, what we are known for and why employers seek out our graduates. We will continue to seek out ways to improve our academic quality and produce well-rounded professionals."

Story by Sarah Fuller, outreach coordinator for Stephen F. Austin State University’s Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture.

October 6, 2021 – Stephen F. Austin State University’s SFA Gardens will host its annual Fabulous Fall Festival Plant Sale from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 9 and Sunday, Oct. 10, at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center, 2900 Raguet St., in historic Nacogdoches.

The sale will feature a remarkable array of hard-to-find, “Texas-tough” plants, including natives, edibles, heirlooms, perennials, shrubs and trees,with an emphasis on native, pollinator-friendly selections, as well as exclusive SFA introductions. The featured plants are extensively trialed before being offered to the public and are produced by staff members and volunteers of the SFA Gardens.

This popular event raises money for operations of all the gardens under the SFA Gardens umbrella: SFA Mast Arboretum, PNPC, Ruby M. Mize Azalea Garden, Gayla Mize Garden, Jimmy Hinds Park and the alternative fruits research program.

Parking will be available at SFA’s Janice A. Pattillo Early Childhood Research Center, 2428 Raguet St., and visitors are encouraged to arrive early and bring a wagon for their plants. Credit cards and checks will be accepted; no cash.

For more information and a list of available plants, call (936) 468-4404 or visitsfagardens.sfasu.edu two weeks before the sale.