Cedar Tree Foundation Announces the Retirement of Smith Fellows Executive Director, Mike Dombeck

It is with bittersweet emotion that Cedar Tree Foundation announces the retirement of Smith Fellows Program Executive Director, Mike Dombeck.  Both Cedar Tree and the Smith Fellows Program owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Mike for his long and successful service growing and stewarding the Smith Fellows Research Fellowship from its early stages to a present program which fosters the highest level of scientific innovation through a network of more than 100 Fellows.   Mike’s leadership has created an environment where early career scientists are encouraged to focus on cutting edge research, their skills amplified by training in media, policy, communications, and business, and their work supported by a collaborative network of peers.  Smith Fellows are now spread out across the United States and the world, actively supporting science, bringing innovation to the forefront of decision making, and changing the scientific dialogue for the better.  The Cedar Tree Foundation Board of Directors is enormously proud of the Smith Fellows program and the work of all the Fellows, current and past.  We attribute much of the program’s success to Mike Dombeck’s unparalleled efforts to see Dr. Smith’s vision realized.

As we look ahead, the Cedar Tree Foundation is excited for the future of the Smith Fellowship Program.  The world is a different place now than it was at the program’s founding, and while the program is now well established and highly regarded, we see even more urgency and need to support post-doc fellows in conservation science.  The world is facing multiple crisis—climate, food, health, economic, social equity—and we see a role for Smith Fellows in applying their innovative thinking to address these issues.  

Mike anticipates being with the program through fall of 2021.  Debra Moniz of the Cedar Tree Foundation will be working closely with Mike, Program Director Shonda Gilliland, and the Science Advisory Board on the leadership transition.  While there is no “replacing” Mike, our aim is ensure the Program maintains the same strong vision for rigorous scientific research combined with a focus on cutting edge approaches for real world application.  We plan to keep the Smith Fellows community updated as the process unfolds. We humbly thank Mike for his many years of service and know the Smith Fellows Program would not be the success it is today without his vision, commitment, and effort.

Board of Directors, Cedar Tree Foundation

Updated 3/2021