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Mississippi State University's Dr. W. Daryl Jones
Named C.W. Watson Award Recipient

Mississippi State University's Dr. W. Daryl Jones Named C.W. Watson Award Recipient

At their annual conference held in Augusta, Georgia December 9-13, 2024, the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (SEAFWA) recognized Dr. W. Daryl Jones, Extension Professor of Wildlife Sciences at Mississippi State University, as the recipient of their most prestigious award, the C. W. Watson Award.

The C.W. Watson Award is presented to the individual who, in the opinion of the C.W. Watson Award Selection Committee, ha...


MSU faculty, staff excel in state's leading natural resources college

MSU faculty, staff excel in state's leading natural resources college

Mississippi State's College of Forest Resources recently honored faculty and staff for their contributions to teaching, research and outreach, celebrating their impact on students and the environment.

Wes Burger, CFR dean and director of the university's Forest and Wildlife Research Center, said during an end-of-year awards ceremony that the college experienced record enrollment, with an impressive research portfolio and extensive ou...

12/18/2024

MSU's Forest and Wildlife Research Center acquires coastal learning laboratory, protects vital forestland

MSU's Forest and Wildlife Research Center acquires coastal learning laboratory, protects vital forestland

The Forest and Wildlife Research Center, or FWRC, at Mississippi State has acquired 14,071 acres of coastal forestland to establish the Wolf River Coastal Forest Research and Education Center, protecting a vital coastal area in perpetuity.

Made possible through a partnership with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Mississippi Forestry Commission, Weyerhaeuser, U.S. Forest Service ...

12/17/2024

Award-winning science journalist seeks MSU invasive species expertise

Award-winning science journalist seeks MSU invasive species expertise

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Julia Rosen, a journalist whose work has been featured in The New York Times, Science, and The Atlantic, recently visited Mississippi State to study cogongrass, an invasive plant species affecting southeastern forest ecosystems. Rosen's visit was in preparation for her upcoming book "Grassroots," which examines the history of humanity's relationship with grass.

"Grass is an interesting lens to approach questions...

12/10/2024

MSU Extension professor earns top individual award

MSU Extension professor earns top individual award

A Mississippi State University Extension professor of wildlife sciences has earned the top individual honor for excellence in Extension.

Daryl Jones has been named the recipient of the 2024 National Excellence in Extension Award for an Individual. The award is given annually by the Cooperative Extension System's Extension Committee on Organization and Policy, or ECOP, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food ...


Mississippi Lumber Manufacturers Association partners with MSU to advance mass timber through endowed professorship

Mississippi Lumber Manufacturers Association partners with MSU to advance mass timber through endowed professorship

STARKVILLE, Miss.—A new partnership between Mississippi State and the state's leading lumber organization is positioning the university as a leader in forest products innovation.

The Mississippi Lumber Manufacturers Association has established the Mississippi Lumber Manufacturers Association Endowed Professorship in Innovative Wood Construction and Design at MSU. The endowment—housed in the College of Forest Resources' Depa...

10/23/2024

MSU researchers honored internationally for AI-powered wood identification research

MSU researchers honored internationally for AI-powered wood identification research

STARKVILLE, Miss.—An international wood society is recognizing Mississippi State researchers with a prestigious award for groundbreaking work harnessing artificial intelligence to identify wood species.

The team, led by Frank Owens, associate professor in MSU's Department of Sustainable Bioproducts, is the recipient of the George Marra Award from the Society of Wood Science and Technology which was presented at the organization's...

10/21/2024

Burger inducted into National Bobwhite and Grassland Initiative Hall of Fame

Burger inducted into National Bobwhite and Grassland Initiative Hall of Fame

Wes Burger, director of Mississippi State's Forest and Wildlife Research Center, has been honored with an induction into the Hall of Fame of the National Bobwhite and Grassland Initiative. This prestigious recognition is in tribute to his lifelong dedication and significant contributions to the conservation of one of the South's most significant gamebirds.

Burger, who is also dean of the university's College of Forest Resources, has ...


MSU scientist partnering on $2.1M grant to revive red wolf legacy through groundbreaking research

MSU scientist partnering on $2.1M grant to revive red wolf legacy through groundbreaking research

A Mississippi State University researcher is studying a distinct population of coyotes along the Gulf Coast in hopes of untapping hidden red wolf genetic reservoirs for furthering conservation of disappearing species.

Dana Morin, assistant professor in the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture and scientist in the university's Forest and Wildlife Research Center, is partnering on a $2.1 million grant from the U.S. National ...


Resolving Conflict

Resolving Conflict

From leading soldiers in combat to managing wildlife damage nationally, Dr. Jimmy Taylor, '92 Bachelor of Science in forest management, '96 Master of Science in wildlife and fisheries, and '01 Doctor of Philosophy in forest resources, has spent a lifetime protecting and serving.

The three-time CFR graduate and U.S. veteran was deployed during Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom and retired from the U.S. Army as lieutenan...


MSU's Owens named president of international forest products organization

MSU's Owens named president of international forest products organization

Frank Owens, an associate professor in the Mississippi State Department of Sustainable Bioproducts, is the new president of the Forest Products Society, a premier international wood products organization.

Established in 1947, the FPS is a global network for professionals and researchers in the forest products industry. A nonprofit association, it is dedicated to enhancing the development of forest resources in an environmentally resp...

8/26/2024

MSU fisheries specialist named AFS fellow

MSU fisheries specialist named AFS fellow

A Mississippi State University Extension Service fisheries specialist is being inducted as a fellow of the American Fisheries Society.

Wes Neal, also a MSU Forest and Wildlife Research Center research professor in the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture, will be among several newly elected Fellows of the Society recognized at the AFS annual meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, in September.

The designation is reserved...


MSU faculty, students honored by international forest products organization

MSU faculty, students honored by international forest products organization

A prestigious international organization is honoring a Mississippi State faculty member and two students for their achievements in forest products.

Assistant Professor Mostafa Mohammadabadi of MSU's Department of Sustainable Bioproducts is the recipient of the Wood Engineering Achievement Award from the Forest Products Society, an organization representing all segments of the worldwide forest products industry. The scientist in the F...

7/30/2024

From the Deep South to Down Under: MSU flying fox research, new technology combine to prevent viral transmission

From the Deep South to Down Under: MSU flying fox research, new technology combine to prevent viral transmission

From some 8,000 miles away, Mississippi State scientist Manuel Ruiz-Aravena in the university's Forest and Wildlife Research Center is studying flying foxes, or fruit bats, in Australia to determine the likely causes of viral spillover from animal to human.

The assistant professor in wildlife, fisheries and aquaculture watches thousands of signatures streak across his computer screen as a cauldron of flying foxes leave their roost ne...


Mississippi Forestry Commission donates to MSU student foresters

Mississippi Forestry Commission donates to MSU student foresters

A recent contribution from the Mississippi Forestry Commission is providing immediate, practical benefits for Mississippi State forestry students and the university's nationally ranked student chapter of the Society of American Foresters.

The MFC's donation of an enclosed trailer and $12,000 are enhancing the chapter's equipment capabilities and bolstering the College of Forest Resources' prescribed burn team, known as Fire Dawgs.

7/17/2024

Rooting Out Rot: Student Studies Early Detection of Brown Rot Fungus in Lumber

Rooting Out Rot: Student Studies Early Detection of Brown Rot Fungus in Lumber

Wood rot can be a homeowner's worst nightmare. Spotting signs of decay often means significant structural damage has already occurred. But what if you could detect wood rot before it is visible?

Researchers in the Mississippi State University Forest and Wildlife Research Center are teaming with the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Products Laboratory to identify the earliest presence of brown rot fungus in southern yellow...

7/12/2024

Bridging wildlife and communities: MSU launches public survey on black bears this week

Bridging wildlife and communities: MSU launches public survey on black bears this week

Many Mississippi landowners and hunters are receiving black bear surveys this week in their mailboxes from Mississippi State University researchers studying how the public feels about the carnivore in the Magnolia State.

Sharp Professor of Human Dimensions Kevin Hunt in the MSU Forest and Wildlife Research Center—in collaboration with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, or MDWFP—is conducting the su...


MSU's Granger receives national PKP service award

MSU's Granger receives national PKP service award

A Mississippi State faculty member is being recognized by the nation's oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society for his exceptional dedication to service.

Joshua Granger, assistant professor in the College of Forest Resources, is the national selection for the Phi Kappa Phi Ray Sylvester Distinguished Service Award for 2024-2026. The honor is given to a member who represents the society's principles through ach...

6/4/2024

MSU graduate student awarded highly selective Electrochemical Society fellowship

MSU graduate student awarded highly selective Electrochemical Society fellowship

A Mississippi State sustainable bioproducts student is one of only four graduate students in the country to receive a summer fellowship from the Electrochemical Society.

Ridwan Ayinla, a doctoral student in the College of Forest Resources, will use the $5,000 ES award to expand his research into green batteries and supercapacitors powered by biomass—the harnessing and storing of energy from agricultural waste products.

"L...

6/3/2024

Bird's-eye view: Banding bald eagles on the coast for conservation research

Bird's-eye view: Banding bald eagles on the coast for conservation research

On a clear spring morning along the Mississippi coast, Scott Rush, a scientist in Mississippi State University's Forest and Wildlife Research Center, ascends over an open savannah in a specialized utility bucket truck designed to climb nearly 10 stories high. When he nears the top of the towering pine tree, where a sizable eagle's nest rests securely in a forked branch, Rush extends a dip net and carefully scoops up one eaglet, then the next, ...


MSU experts address Chronic Wasting Disease potential risk in humans

MSU experts address Chronic Wasting Disease potential risk in humans

Mississippi State scientists and leading experts in deer and prion research are weighing in on recent news about deer diseases and potential risk to human health.

A recent brief published in the journal Neurology stated that in 2022, two hunters from the same hunting lodge were afflicted with sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or CJD. Steve Demar...


Our People: Frank Owens

Our People: Frank Owens

Mississippi State Associate Professor Frank Owens sees wood as a window to the world. His forest products career has taken him to 26 countries where he has connected different cultures through the beauty of wood.

A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, he earned his bachelor's in international relations from the University of Minnesota and his master's in East Asian Languages and Cultures from the University of California, Los Angeles. He the...

5/14/2024

MSU's Langstaff named university's latest Udall Scholar

MSU's Langstaff named university's latest Udall Scholar

Mississippi State is announcing a junior wildlife, fisheries and aquaculture major from Southaven as the university's latest Udall Scholar.

Lily Langstaff is the university's fifth recipient of the prestigious national award given annually to approximately 55 students across the country interested in conservation and environmental issues, and Native American learners working toward careers in Tribal policy and health care.

As a...


Our People: Kylie LaBelle, Sydney Maheu and Adele Taber

Our People: Kylie LaBelle, Sydney Maheu and Adele Taber

Three Mississippi State University students—Kylie LaBelle, Sydney Maheu and Adele Taber—spark new meaning to the phrase "girl power" as volunteer firefighters with the East Oktibbeha Volunteer Fire Department.

Maheu, a Collierville, Tennessee, native who grew up in Chicago, is a freshman business major with the hopes of eventually starting her own business. She said business and firefighting go hand in hand.

"My mom...

4/22/2024

National Alliance of Forest Owners executive presents 2024 Carlton Owen Lecture

National Alliance of Forest Owners executive presents 2024 Carlton Owen Lecture

The chief strategy officer for the National Alliance of Forest Owners presents the 2024 Carlton Owen Lecture, an annual event presented by Mississippi State's College of Forest Resources held in anticipation of Earth Week.

Kate Gatto will lead the April 16 public program "It's Not Easy Being Green: Forestry as a Bipartisan Solution" at 2 p.m. in Tully Auditorium, Thompson Hall.

"Forestry is one of the unique areas of society wh...

4/15/2024

Marsh mystery: MSU experts study elusive bird to properly manage land

Marsh mystery: MSU experts study elusive bird to properly manage land

Deep in the difficult terrain of the Gulf Coast high marsh lives a tiny, dark and white-speckled bird called the black rail. These elusive birds that make their homes near muddy waters and among sharp-bladed grasses are easier to hear than see. Yet to catch their distinct sound "kick-ee-kerr" is a rare experience.

Black rails, along with high marsh-dwelling yellow rails and mottled ducks, are at the heart of the National Oceanic and At...


Gupta named MSU's second RISE Germany inductee

Gupta named MSU's second RISE Germany inductee

A Mississippi State junior will spend this summer in Germany as part of a prestigious undergraduate research program.

Surabhi Gupta, a wildlife, fisheries and aquaculture major from Jaipur, India, is the university's latest winner of the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst-Research Internships in Science and Engineering, or DAAD-RISE. DAAD, the German academic exchange service, and the RISE program provide research opportunities th...


Sustainable Bioproducts/FWRC's Owens elected to international council

Sustainable Bioproducts/FWRC's Owens elected to international council

Frank Owens, associate professor in the Department of Sustainable Bioproducts in MSU's College of Forest Resources, was recently reelected to the Council of the International Association of Wood Anatomists (IAWA). Owens, who is also the current vice president of the Forest Products Society, is the only council member from North America. Having been a council member for the past three years, he will serve another three-year ter...

3/21/2024

MSU's Jones, Langstaff named national PPIA Junior Summer Institute Fellows

MSU's Jones, Langstaff named national PPIA Junior Summer Institute Fellows

Two Mississippi State juniors hoping to shape public policy in the future will spend this summer in a prestigious and intensive national fellowship program that will prepare them for graduate-level studies.

Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College members Alijah Jones, a political science major from Greenwood, and Lily Langstaff, a wildlife, fisheries and aquaculture major from Southaven, recently were named fellows in the Public Policy...


From Texas to Tennessee: Burrowing owl makes odd migration, draws attention of MSU scientist, team

From Texas to Tennessee: Burrowing owl makes odd migration, draws attention of MSU scientist, team

Birds migrating from north to south are a given but migrating from the southwest to the southeast is a little rarer. A burrowing owl is overwintering on a Tennessee River peninsula near New Johnsonville, Tennessee, marking the first sighting of the species in the state, and a Mississippi State wildlife ecologist is researching the fascinating oddity.

As the burrowing owl made its first home on a former Tennessee Valley Authority fossil...


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