Dave Ellum Branches Beyond the Classroom
Harley Woods | December 9, 2021
Special to The Echo
Ellum working with student, Thalia Garoufalidis.
The close of the 2021 fall semester brings a lot of change. Classes turnover, some students change work crews, and Warren Wilson College (WWC) says goodbye to a handful of graduates. Another change occurring during winter turnover is Dean of Land Resources and self-proclaimed plant geek, David Ellum, stepping back from the classroom.
Ellum has been with the college since fall of 2007 as a forestry professor. After some years, he became the college forest director, responsible for overseeing all forest operations. His work took a shift three years ago when President Lynn Morton appointed Ellum the dean of land resources.
In this position, Ellum oversees the college farm, garden, forest, and the land stewards program, college conservation corps and Climate, Operations and Outreach, Regeneration, and Energy (CORE) crew.
“I love teaching. I came to realize that the way I wanted to contribute to the world, the best way I could contribute to the world, was by influencing young people,” said Ellum. “I started to realize now in this next stage of my life that I can influence even more people by influencing the school.”
Ellum made it clear that stepping back from the classroom does not equal stepping back from teaching.
“People have to realize that the classroom is not the only place that we learn,” Ellum said. “In fact I would argue that more learning happens outside the classroom than inside the classroom.”
Among his ideas for student engagement with the land, Ellum would like to host informal hikes around campus in the spring. Additionally, Ellum hopes that students explore the land as much as they can.
Ellum relayed an anecdote about a student who approached him timidly while in the garden and asked if he could look around. Ellum asked if he was a student, and said, “this is your campus, man!”
“All of our land is campus,” Ellum said. “I want to see more people and a diversity of people coming and saying, ‘hey we’d like to engage with this (land)’ in ways that I haven’t even thought of yet.”
Some of Ellum’s goals for land operations include managing the land as a whole, rather than segmented sections of farm, garden and forest. Additionally, he expressed his desire to see a better connection between education, research and work.
“We've really tried to break down those silos and think about it as a working landscape — a working landscape that will serve as a demonstration research and education site for the region,” said Ellum. “How do we show innovative land practices through our work to then be transferred to farmers and landowners and foresters in this region?”
Ellum communicated a hope that students will approach him with new ideas regarding land management practices.
“Warren Wilson shouldn’t just be doing what works, we should be seeing what works,” Ellum said.
The beloved forestry professor will continue to be a meaningful and influential part of WWC campus for years to come. Ellum encourages students who wish to communicate and interact with him to continue doing so, specifically in regards to his research regarding forest medicinal plants and economically valuable land practice.
“We teach the students, the students teach the world,” Ellum said. “I’d like to put the call out there to students of how we better utilize this land for the education research service and work opportunities for students. I want the students to tell us what we can do.”