The Most Sewanee Job Ever

Andrew Carey, C'13, believes in a Sewanee education and is spearheading an effort to restore the Forestry Cabin.

 

This story references a Sewanee Project, a description of which can be found by CLICKING HERE

A Sewanee parent recently described Andrew Carey’s, C’13, job as the “most Sewanee job” one can find. A portfolio manager for MetLife Investment Management, Carey manages timberland and forest-products related debt investments for the company. His days of cruising timber to determine the commercial value of particular forests are behind him, but his best days of using a Sewanee education (and a Master of Forest Resources from the Warnell School of Forestry at the University of Georgia) still lie ahead. He busies himself these days working with clients, negotiating the details of debt investments. “I know enough about the work our clients are doing to know whether or not the data behind the deal warrants our company’s investment,” he says. “My time in the field—as a Sewanee forestry student, as a graduate student, and field forester in the woods of Washington and Oregon provide theoretical and practical knowledge I rely on each and every day.”

Now Carey is spearheading a project to renovate the Forestry Cabin on the Perimeter Trail to keep it from further damage. Light streams in through the roof, and the stonework is shabby and loose. Amenities, like a picnic table and fire pit are worn out. “This cabin has been here for over fifty years,” Carey says. “We’d like it to be around for fifty more to serve the next couple of generations of Sewanee students.”

The Forestry Cabin is a home for recreation, with picnic tables, grills, fireplace and fire ring, and a sleeping platform that can accommodate at least 10 people. Groups of students, faculty, staff, and alumni use it throughout the year. And it has also been a home base for research on the Domain, for the volunteer fire department’s retreats and for the wildland fire team. It is a home for recreation and learning. 

“For students whose majors are in Snowden, a Sewanee education can provide a foundation to assess environmental issues at the field-level as well as from 30,000 feet (plus)” says Carey. “That’s one great thing about studying the natural world at Sewanee; this education continues to serve me well. When putting together an investment recommendation, it’s critical to understand the whole picture and broader context, in addition to technicalities and local constraints.” Carey remembers one class in forestry sitting around with classmates discussing Aldo Leopold’s land ethic. “We weren’t just counting board-feet of merchantable timber. Leopold highlights the interconnected nature of ecosystems and compels readers to perpetuate the complexities of the natural world.”  

For Carey, the Forestry Cabin is one of those nodes of connection. It’s solidly planted on the mountain but with a view to the Highland Rim below, with Woods Reservoir and the Air Force base and Space Institute in the far distance. It connects the Domain to the world and the realms of classroom study, research, and recreation all together. 

Carey would agree that this project needs YOUR help. To make a gift to the Forestry Cabin Renovation, click here to go to our giving portal or contact Terri Williams in the Office of University Advancement to learn how you can provide leadership on the project. Sewanee is particularly looking for a few donors who can contribute at least $5,000 to ensure that the project goal is met quickly, so that the work can be completed before the busy warm season.