Roger Rosenblatt, professor of family medicine and faculty advisor for the Rural/Underserved Opportunities Program, is integrating his interests in community medicine and environmental studies. Rosenblatt will defend his master of forest resources degree project, "Healthy Trees--Healthy People: The Relevance of Forestry to Human Health," at 3:30 p.m., Friday, March 21, at the Forest Club Room in Anderson Hall. A reception will follow.

A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School, Rosenblatt came to the UW as an intern in 1971 and joined the faculty in 1977. As part of the first group of UW residents to practice in the WWAMI region (then known as WAMI), Rosenblatt was the first resident to do a rotation at the WWAMI community clinical unit in Omak, Wash. Omak, with approximately 4,000 residents, is located northwest of the Colville Indian Reservation in north central Washington. Rosenblatt found the area reminiscent of New Hampshire, where he grew up. As a UW family practice resident he purchased forest land 25 minutes outside of Omak and built a log cabin still used occasionally by UW medical students on rotation in the area.

Rosenblatt became interested in forestry in 1993 when an epidemic of bark beetles started destroying trees in Okanogan County. Using his UW faculty/staff tuition-exemption benefit, Rosenblatt took the maximum allowed number of graduate-level forestry classes at the UW. Five years ago he officially matriculated as a forestry graduate student. His research explores how fostering healthy forest systems can help mitigate and reverse the deleterious impact of ecological degradation on the health of all terrestrial species, including humans.

During spring quarter Rosenblatt and Mark Oberle, associate dean for public health practice and professor of epidemiology and health services, will offer a one-credit course entitled "Environmental Change and Human Health: The Role of the Health Professional." The course is open to all health sciences students and will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. on Tuesdays from April 1 to June 3 on the UW Seattle campus.