Myers retires after 31 years on foresty faculty
Wayne Myers, professor of forest biometrics, retired on June 30, 2009, after nearly 31 years of service at Penn State and 40 years on university forestry faculties.
After earning M.F. and Ph.D. degrees in forest ecology (1965) and forest entomology (1967), respectively, at the University of Michigan, Myers began his professional career in Canada as a research forest entomologist and biometrician. He then joined the faculty of forestry at Michigan State University, where he remained for nine years, specializing in biometrics and remote sensing. His work at Michigan State included participation in the Forestry Faculty Program of the U.S. Forest Service in Portland, Oregon, and a biometrics capacity building consultancy assignment in Brazil.
In 1978, Myers joined the faculty in our School of Forest Resources. In 1979 he did an IPA (Interagency Personnel Agreement) with U.S. Forest Service State & Private Forestry. In 1984 he began a joint appointment as co-director of Penn State’s Office for Remote Sensing of Earth Resources (ORSER), one of the early centers for analysis of NASA satellite image data. Myers was influential in developing methods for remote sensing analysis, and a pioneer in geographic information systems (GIS). He developed two computer-based spatial data handling systems “from scratch,” using Penn State’s Stone Valley Experimental Forest and the Scotia Barrens (State Games Lands No. 176) as testing grounds for GIS in natural resources.
As co-director and then director of ORSER (later renamed ORSSIR, the Office for Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Resources), Myers developed pattern-based approaches to landscape-level ecological mapping. He was co-leader of a team that did a biodiversity analysis for vertebrates in Pennsylvania using GIS-based habitat models (GAP Analysis), developing a framework by which to evaluate land-use decisions and trends for biological diversity systematically and objectively. His later research focused on innovative approaches to detect and assess situations in which specific forest sites assume special significance by virtue of their placement in particular landscape patterns.
In addition to publishing numerous refereed articles, Myers has co-authored two books, with a third, Statistical Geoinformatics for Human-Environment Interface, in progress. In 2002, Myers received the Boggess Outstanding Paper award from the American Water Resources Association for a co-authored publication, “GIS and Remote Sensing in Landscape Level Analysis of Watersheds and Water Resources.”
In line with his interest in international work, Myers spent two years (1988 and 1989) in India as forestry advisor for the U.S. Agency for International Development. There he introduced GIS as a tool to help people cope with complex social/environmental issues. Since then he has worked extensively in cooperative watershed research in India. Myers has also had Research Fellowship assignments in Malaysia on three different occasions, including PSU liaison for a memorandum of agreement with the University of Malaysia Terengganu.
Myers has taught a number and variety of undergraduate- and graduate-level courses in the School of Forest Resources during the past three decades, including Forest Biometrics, Remote Sensing and Spatial Data Handling, Forest Fire Management, Natural Resources GIS, International Forestry, Artificial Intelligence and Expert Systems, Multispectral Remote Sensing, and Multivariate Analysis for Forest Resources. In 2001, Myers received the Edward D. Bellis Award in Ecology for “outstanding contribution and dedication to educating and training graduate students.” In 2004, Myers was named to the College of Agricultural Sciences’ Community of Teaching Excellence, which recognizes educators who significantly contribute to our college’s national reputation for excellence in teaching and learning.