Virginia Tech professor receives prestigious award from American Fisheries Society

John Ney of Blacksburg, Va., professor of fisheries and wildlife science in the College of Natural Resources at Virginia Tech, received the Meritorious Service Award from American Fisheries Society (AFS). The award recognizes his career-long contributions to the society, which represents more than 10,000 fisheries professionals in North America.

Ney has served as the principal book review editor for American Fisheries Society journals for 24 years, as president of the AFS Education Section, and on numerous American Fisheries Society committees.

At Virginia Tech, Ney conducts research on applied ecology of fishes, trophic dynamics, reservoir management, and impact assessment, and teaches courses on fish ecology; advanced ecology of fishes and fisheries techniques. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists and was president of the Environmental Sciences Section of the Virginia Academy of Sciences. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.

The College of Natural Resources at Virginia Tech consistently ranks among the top five programs of its kind in the nation. Faculty members stress both the technical and human elements of natural resources and instill in students a sense of stewardship and land-use ethics. Areas of studies include environmental resource management, fisheries and wildlife sciences, forestry, geospatial and environmental analysis, natural resource recreation, urban forestry, wood science and forest products, geography, and international development.

Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech has grown to become the largest university in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Today, Virginia Tech's eight colleges are dedicated to putting knowledge to work through teaching, research, and outreach activities and to fulfilling its vision to be among the top 30 research universities in the nation. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 170 academic degree programs.