JUNEAU -- The new Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center in Juneau has its first director.

Michael Goldstein, a wildlife ecologist, has been leading the wildlife and terrestrial ecology program for the Alaska Region of the U.S. Forest Service.

Now he's been appointed as the director of the new research and education center, a consortium of six public agencies including the Forest Service, University of Alaska Southeast and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

A committee with representatives from each of the six agencies will oversee center operations.

In his new job, Goldstein will serve a two-year term as a UAS employee.