Nate Nibbelink, associate dean for research and professor in the University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, has been named interim dean of the school, effective Jan. 1, 2024.
“Dr. Nibbelink has built an impressive record of teaching, research and service during his tenure of more than 18 years in Warnell,” said S. Jack Hu, the university’s senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “During the ongoing national search for the Warnell School’s next dean, I am confident that he will provide excellent leadership for the school and support for faculty, staff and students as interim dean.”
Nibbelink’s research focuses on creating spatial analysis tools to support natural resource management decision-making. He and his students collaborate broadly to evaluate effects of land management and environmental change on wildlife habitat and other ecosystem services. His ultimate goal is to provide managers, industry and other partners with decision-making tools to help achieve healthy ecosystems, economies and communities. His work has been published in several leading journals.
In addition to teaching courses on spatial analysis for natural resources, Nibbelink is especially committed to student mentoring. He received the Outstanding Mentoring Award from the UGA Graduate School in 2010. In 2015, he earned the Warnell School’s Herrick Superior Teaching Award for faculty performance in the classroom. He is currently leading a project funded by the National Science Foundation to improve creativity and collaboration in graduate training.
“Warnell has an outstanding group of faculty, staff and students who are passionate about forestry and sustainable management of our natural resources,” said Nibbelink. “I am truly honored to have an opportunity to support them in all their efforts.”
Nibbelink received his Ph.D. in zoology and physiology from the University of Wyoming. He earned his M.S. in oceanography and limnology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his B.A. in biology from Lawrence University.
After serving as an associate research scientist at the University of Wyoming, Nibbelink joined the UGA faculty in 2005. He was named the Warnell School’s associate dean for research in 2021.
Dale Greene, who has led the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources since 2015, announced in July that he would retire at the end of the calendar year.
A 20-member search advisory committee chaired by Nick Place, dean and director of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, is conducting a national search for the next dean of the Warnell School. Updates on the search will be posted to https://provost.uga.edu/warnell-dean-search.