Virginia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit receives excellence award
The National Cooperative Research Unit (CRU) Awards program has recognized the Virginia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources for outstanding achievements above normal services of individual research units.
The honor acknowledges the unit’s strength in science productivity and leadership with relevance to the needs of state and federal partners. The Virginia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit is widely recognized for its work and leadership in mussel conservation, bear ecology, and for techniques to assess aquatic diversity.
The unit has effectively linked the academic programs and capabilities of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources with important conservation issues of regional and national importance. In doing so, the Virginia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit serves as a model for cooperative partnerships by which to address the information needs of state, federal, and non-government organizations. The unit’s federal scientists, university affiliates, and graduate students have published an average of 14 papers per year for the past five years, one of the highest rates of sustained scientific productivity in the Cooperative Research Unit program.
Members of the Virginia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit include Paul Angermeier, associate professor of fisheries and wildlife science; Michael Vaughan, professor of fisheries and wildlife science; and Richard Neves, professor of fisheries and wildlife science.
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.
