Jim Shepard

Auburn University has announced the retirement of Jim Shepard, former dean and professor in the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment. Shepard, who is an expert in forest soils, forest ecology and wetlands policy, was the former professor and associate director of the Forest and Wildlife Research Center at Mississippi State University before being appointed dean of what was then the Auburn University School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences in 2011. Among Shepard’s achievements as dean at Auburn, he oversaw the fundraising and construction of the Solon and Martha Dixon Foundation Learning Center in Andalusia, Alabama, the first official wildlife summer field practicum completed in 2012, and the establishment of the Natural Resources Management undergraduate degree. Shepard served as dean for four years before returning to an academic role as professor of forest soils, where he taught Forest Ecology, Forest Soils, Forest Wetlands Restoration Ecology and Natural Resource Policy.