For two years, Assistant Professor Tim Baird has instructed his students to “skip class, do anything you want, and give yourself a grade.”

International packaging leader MWV (formerly MeadWestvaco), a long-time college partner, continued its support with a gift to the Center for Natural Resources Assessment and Decision Support.

Which is good for carbon sequestration and forest sustainability, according to the college’s Center for Natural Resources Assessment and Decision Support.

Jay Sullivan, professor of forestry economics and management, has been named interim head of the Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation.

Sue Snow, a guiding presence in the Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation for over three decades, retired on July 1.

Congressman Morgan Griffith toured the college’s Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Center this spring to see firsthand the research.

The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Board held one of its quarterly public meetings, traditionally held in Richmond, at Virginia Tech for the first time in March.

Research led by Associate Professor Phil Radtke has “rediscovered” a virtual treasure trove of historical measurements of standing and felled trees.

Jason Henderson creates recipes, supervises a test kitchen, and travels around the country demonstrating fish cookery for the media — all part of his job as vice president of product innovation and head chef for Captain D’s, a regional seafood restaurant chain.

W. Dale Greene has been named dean of the University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources.

Robert J. “Bob” Warren received the Gerald H. Cross Alumni Leadership Award from the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation and the college’s Leadership Institute.

The new water degree is already garnering philanthropic support from the alumni community. Alumnus Jeff Rudd is funding two endowments specifically for the interdisciplinary program.

Members of The Virginia Tech Wildlife Society hosted teams from 22 regional colleges and universities for the Southeastern Wildlife Conclave March 12-15 at the W.E. Skelton 4-H Education Center at Smith Mountain Lake.

Sophomores Christopher "C.A.M." Gerlach of Alexandria, Virginia, and Gina Li of Herndon, Virginia, each received a two-year scholarship and a 10-week summer internship at a NOAA facility.

Freshman wildlife conservation major Christina Nelson won first place in the annual VOWA (Virginia Outdoor Writers Association)/Dominion Collegiate Undergraduate Writing Contest.

Gretchen Goeke Dee and Michelle Wright, wildlife conservation major students, placed in Virginia Tech’s 10th annual Steger Poetry Prize.  

Geography master’s student Catherine Howey, an intern for Blacksburg Transit and the New River Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization (NRV-MPO), earned the first place poster award at the annual Virginia GIS Conference last fall.

Junior meteorology major Samantha Reed of Manassas, Virginia, accepted command of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets at the Pass in Review on the Drillfield in May.

Approximately 250,000 annual visitors to Minnesota’s Boundary Waters have a significant impact on the campsites along the area’s 1,000 lakes in America’s most visited wilderness area.

Current treatment methods to kill invasive pests in wood and wood products use either chemicals or extreme heat. Chen and White have developed a vacuum-contained steam method that is just as effective.

Researchers found that even during summer dry spells, isolated patches of soil in forested watersheds remain waterlogged at depth and act as hot spots of microbial activity.

The answer might depend on the route of exposure, according to a review of the literature by Associate Professor Maren Roman.

Congratulations to our outstanding graduates: graduating senior, Ashley Lohr; master’s student, Ashley Athey; and doctoral student, Wei Zhang.

Matthew Brinckman received this year’s Outstanding Recent Alumnus Award – Graduate Degree in recognition of his early career accomplishments.