Jessica Gurevitch appointed new forestry and natural resources department head

Story by Jillian Ellison

Photos by Tom Campbell

January 10, 2023

Jessica Gurevitch has joined the Purdue College of Agriculture as the new department head for Forestry and Natural Resources. She will also join the department’s faculty as a professor.

After earning her bachelor’s degree in biological sciences/ecology, evolution and systematics from Cornell University and her Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from the University of Arizona, Gurevitch completed a three-year postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Chicago. Gurevitch joined Stony Book University faculty, where she was appointed a distinguished professor in 2018. She also served as chair and co-chair of the Department of Ecology Evolution.

A plant ecologist, Gurevitch is broadly trained with interests in the environment and ecology, and natural resources and forests. After meeting department members during her interview and on several visits during the summer and fall, Gurevitch said she is eager to get to know the department and the state better.

“This is very clearly a high-functioning department with really interesting work taking place, which makes it all the more exciting to join,” she said. “I’m very eager to visit forests across the state and to meet with those working in them and learn more about the work taking place.”

Gurevitch said finding a path to build a much-needed new building, increasing diversity within the department and in the broader field of natural resources, and addressing the needs of FNR students are her immediate priorities.

“I want to ensure students are receiving the most current and up-to-date education they need for the fields we are preparing them to pursue,” she said. “Broadening the base of people who are doing environmental sciences and natural resource work is crucial. By doing so, we are then broadening the knowledge of all communities.”

The move from the east coast to the Midwest is a big change for Gurevitch, she said, after spending 37 years of her career in New York. But she is eager to make the leap.

“I love being a part of a state university,” she said. “My education and academic career have been spent in public institutions, and it’s something I’m very proud of. I have enjoyed that about Stony Brook, and I am very enthusiastic about being at Purdue and becoming a Boilermaker!”

Featured Stories

FNR Outstanding Students: Alyssa Johnson (Junior); Alex Dudley (Senior); Rebeca Appelmann (Sophomore); Lydia Pultorak (Freshman).

FNR Celebrates Students at Annual Awards, Scholarship Ceremony

Purdue Forestry and Natural Resources recognized the department’s student award and...

The base of the Grand Canyon at the Colorado River

For the love of the land

2016 was the first time that Jalyn Gearries, a Natural Resources and Environmental Science (NRES)...

A close-up of hands with blue nail polish planting sage next to the Native American Educational and Cultural Center

Purdue Agriculture’s Sloan Scholars

The Sloan Indigenous Graduate Partnership (SIGP) is an organization of 11 universities funded by...

Purdue's bell tower stands tall behind a foreground of purple petunias

Purdue agriculture professors named AAAS Fellows

Purdue College of Agriculture professors Songlin Fei and Tesfaye Mengiste have been named fellows...

Homemade nut-based dairy analogs raise questions about bacterial risks

Many consumers know the food safety risks of dairy products, eggs and raw meat. But they are less...

Students working in the Skidmore Lab inside Nelson Hall of Food Science.

CH4 Global partners with Food Entrepreneurship and Manufacturing Institute to combat methane emissions in the cattle industry

The Food Entrepreneurship and Manufacturing Institute (FEMI), housed within Purdue...