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MSU staff honored with College of Forest Resources awards

MSU staff honored with College of Forest Resources awards

Mississippi State staff in the College of Forest Resources and the Forest and Wildlife Research Center are being honored with annual awards for excellence.

Wes Burger, dean of the College of Forest Resources and director of the Forest and Wildlife Research Center, said the four stand-out individuals being recognized work diligently to advance the mission of CFR and FWRC.

"These professional and support staff members go...

4/26/2022

USDA Under Secretary for Natural Resources, Environment visits MSU for 2022 Carlton Owen Lecture

USDA Under Secretary for Natural Resources, Environment visits MSU for 2022 Carlton Owen Lecture

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment—a Mississippi native and the first African American to hold this federal office—is this year's guest for Mississippi State's Carlton N. Owen Lecture Series.

Under Secretary Homer Wilkes will lead the Friday, April 29, public program titled "Climate Smart Agriculture and Conservation" at 10 a.m. in Tully Auditorium in Thompson Hall.

4/14/2022

Mississippi State's Phi Kappa Phi receives national Service Project Award

Mississippi State's Phi Kappa Phi receives national Service Project Award

Mississippi State's chapter of Phi Kappa Phi is being recognized with the organization's national Service Project Award for fall 2021 work in building a garden of native woody and herbaceous plants around Thompson Hall.

The annual Fall Service Project is a national event hosted by the PKP Council of Students in which each chapter addresses specific needs in its respective community.

MSU's chapter of PKP is the Division I aw...

4/12/2022

Demarais named MSU's 2022 SEC Faculty Achievement Award winner

Demarais named MSU's 2022 SEC Faculty Achievement Award winner

Mississippi State Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Management Steve Demarais is being honored as the university's 2022 Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award recipient.

Demarais, the Taylor Chair in Applied Big Game Research and Instruction in MSU's Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture, also is co-director of the MSU Deer Ecology and Management Laboratory. He is one of 14 faculty members from SEC universities...


MSU researchers use AI to better evaluate lumber

MSU researchers use AI to better evaluate lumber

A $500,000 federal grant will help Mississippi State researchers use artificial intelligence to increase the accuracy of lumber evaluation.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture award funds an innovative research project in MSU's Department of Sustainable Bioproducts that aims to improve lumber grading systems with a machine-learning model. The research will identify characteristics that human graders and current auto-grading technologi...

3/14/2022

Bullard joins CFR/FWRC as associate dean and director

Bullard joins CFR/FWRC as associate dean and director

Steve Bullard is Mississippi State's new associate dean of the College of Forest Resources and associate director of the Forest and Wildlife Research Center.

Beginning March 1, Bullard—a two-time CFR alumnus and longtime professor—steps out of retirement for this role.

"Dr. Bullard is well respected among our stakeholders, and we are fortunate to have him rejoin our faculty and fill this vital position in our college a...

3/2/2022

Turning off the Tap

Turning off the Tap

The Amazon RiverBasin is one of the most critical pieces of the Earth's climate system, generating rainfall, lowering land surface temperatures, and influencing global weather patterns. It is known for its unique and irreplaceable biodiversity in plant and animal life. But the rainforests that formed over millions of years have experienced dramatic changes in the last few decades.

The loss of this valuable resource prompted a histori...

2/22/2022

Man of the people, Man of the State

Man of the people, Man of the State

Despite honoring his roots and settling down in the small central Mississippi town of De Kalb, Orlando Ellerby's job can take him from Pascagoula to Southaven any given day, and that's why he loves it.

Ellerby, a 2002 forestry graduate, serves three important roles with the Mississippi Forestry Commission, two of which hold statewide responsibilities. The common thread among all of them, however, is that they allow Ellerby the opportun...

2/16/2022

MSU Society of American Foresters again awarded Outstanding Student Chapter

MSU Society of American Foresters again awarded Outstanding Student Chapter

For the fourth consecutive year, Mississippi State's chapter of the Society of American Foresters is being recognized as the top student group in the nation.

The Society of American Foresters is a national professional organization that evaluates student chapter excellence based on partnership with natural resource organizations, public relations outreach, community involvement and service to the organization, its members and their u...

2/15/2022

MSU celebrates Arbor Day with annual tree planting

MSU celebrates Arbor Day with annual tree planting

Mississippi State faculty, staff and students commemorated Arbor Day today [Feb. 11], along with the Partnership Middle School, by planting about 45 loblolly pine seedlings at the school on the MSU campus.

Taking part in the Arbor Day ceremony and tree planting were undergraduate and graduate members of MSU's student chapter of the Society of American Foresters, Waldorf Scholarship recipients and middle school students. The trees eve...

2/11/2022

MSU assistant professor represents women in wood science

MSU assistant professor represents women in wood science

Tâmara França, assistant professor in Mississippi State's Department of Sustainable Bioproducts in the College of Forest Resources, has been selected as a woman ambassador of wood science.

In 2021, the Society of Wood Science and Technology (SWST) sought calls for nominations for "Women Ambassadors Creating the Future of Wood Science." França was nominated and then selected by the SWST committee as one of 16 wome...

2/10/2022

Inspiring Conservation from IG to IRL

Inspiring Conservation from IG to IRL

For Morgan Alexander and Makayla Brister, recent CFR alumni and proud creators of Instagram's "Culture and Conservation" account, the conversation about conservation is one that infiltrates their whole lives. However, the aim of "Culture and Conservation" is to create an all-inclusive space that engages its followers with the natural world and demonstrates how we're all impacted by conservation.

Alexander and Brister, two Black women wh...


Protecting  a canopy as old as the nation

Protecting a canopy as old as the nation

A study abroad got Rachel Habig-Myers thinking about urban forestry.

The Russellville, Alabama native and MSU forestry grad was part of the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange, which brought her to Rottenburg-am-Necker, Germany to study forestry for a year.

"The scale of properties, and the biomes in our urban landscape around the Washington D.C. area are similar to my experience in Germany, where they've actively maintained thei...

2/2/2022

MSU department head elected International Academy of Wood Science Fellow

MSU department head elected International Academy of Wood Science Fellow

The International Academy of Wood Science is honoring Mississippi State's Rubin Shmulsky with the designation of fellow, recognizing his significant scientific achievements and research contributions to the field.

Newly elected for 2022, the Warren S. Thompson Professor of Wood Science and Technology and head of the MSU's Department of Sustainable Bioproducts joins 145 IAWS Fellows throughout the U.S., in addition to international ho...

1/14/2022

MSU faculty honored as natural resource leaders

MSU faculty honored as natural resource leaders

Mississippi State faculty in the College of Forest Resources and the Forest and Wildlife Research Center are being recognized for excellence in teaching, research and service.

Awardees recently joined administrators, department heads, advisory board members, faculty and staff at the annual CFR/FWRC Recognition Ceremony and Advisory Board Lunch.

Wes Burger, CFR dean and FWRC director, discussed how awardees are training to...

12/10/2021

MSU Deer Lab experts explain differences in deer diseases

MSU Deer Lab experts explain differences in deer diseases

Whether it's nutrition, genetics, habitat or population health—or even disease—scientists in Mississippi State University's Deer Lab not only research best management practices, but also work to make informed recommendations to hunters.

CWD, or chronic wasting disease, was first detected in the state in February 2018. Mississippi now has two CWD management zones across 14 of Mississippi's 82 counties. In early fall of thi...


MSU professor wins USDA grant to examine economic questions surrounding conservation easements

MSU professor wins USDA grant to examine economic questions surrounding conservation easements

Understanding how land use limitations imposed by conservation easements impact landowners and the public is the topic of new research by a Mississippi State professor in the College of Forest Resources.

George L. Switzer Professor of Forestry Changyou "Edwin" Sun is receiving a $600,000 grant award from the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, the USDA's leading competitive grants program for agricultural science.

Sun...

11/18/2021

Burger named dean and director for MSU's College of Forest Resources and Forest and Wildlife Research Center

Burger named dean and director for MSU's College of Forest Resources and Forest and Wildlife Research Center

A longtime Mississippi State faculty member and administrator is the new dean of the university's College of Forest Resources and director of the Forest and Wildlife Research Center, pending formal approval by the Board of Trustees, State Institutions of Higher Learning.

Loren W. "Wes" Burger, a W.L. Giles Distinguished Professor of Wildlife Ecology in MSU's Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture, is the permanent dean and...

11/17/2021

MSU scientist's work in Amazon River Basin featured at UN Climate Change Conference

MSU scientist's work in Amazon River Basin featured at UN Climate Change Conference

A Mississippi State researcher is part of a historic scientific consortium presenting its findings on the Amazon River Basin at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP26, in Glasgow, United Kingdom.

Assistant Professor Sandra B. Correa in the College of Forest Resources' Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture, is part of the Science Panel for the Amazon, or SPA, a group of over 200 prominent scientists wh...


Our People: Steve Demarais

Our People: Steve Demarais

Steve Demarais, MSU Deer Lab co-director and the Taylor Chair in Applied Big Game Research and Instruction, has been fascinated with white-tailed deer since high school.

"I've been an enthusiastic deer hunter since my teens and harvested my first deer while in college," he said.

The Attleboro, Massachusetts, native developed a love of wildlife at a young age.

"I grew up enjoying hunting and fishing and also enjoyed bi...


Patriot Award presented to MSU's Kouba, Dacus

Patriot Award presented to MSU's Kouba, Dacus

Two Mississippi State University faculty are being honored for support of an MSU guardsman in ceremonies on Veteran's Day.

Andy Kouba, professor and head of the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture, and Chad Dacus, Extension instructor and director of the Wildlife Services National Training Academy, both were recognized with the Patriot Award, a U.S. Department of Defense program that recognizes supervisors for their sup...


Love of the Forest Comes Full Circle

Love of the Forest Comes Full Circle

It's easier to understand trees when you're surrounded by forests. At least, that's the case for Dr. Brian Brashaw, 2014 sustainable bioproducts alumnus.

The Laona, Wisconsin native said the link between forests and the forest products industry became evident early on.

"I grew up in the Nicolet National Forest. My dad worked for Connor Forest Products and many family friends worked for the U.S. Forest Service," he recalled. <...

11/8/2021

Redefining Tradition

Redefining Tradition

While Amy Blaylock is the first woman to serve as the Mississippi Wildlife Bureau director for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks (MDWFP), it's a role familiar to someone who practically grew up in the agency.

"I've grown up with the wildlife bureau and the people within it," Blaylock said. "My dad, Larry Castle, was a district biologist, deer program coordinator, wildlife bureau director, and retired as dire...


MSU deer study finds some are travelers, others homebodies

MSU deer study finds some are travelers, others homebodies

As Mississippi hunters wonder where all the bucks have gone, Mississippi State University Deer Lab scientists are looking for answers.

White-tailed deer hunting is big business in the Magnolia State, annually contributing almost $1 billion to the Mississippi economy. This time-honored tradition is why hunters and researchers keep a watchful eye out for the elusive, antlered mammal. In recent years, a noticeable number of bucks have s...


MANRRS week honors MSU chapter's 20-year anniversary

MANRRS week honors MSU chapter's 20-year anniversary

The Mississippi State student chapter of Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences, or MANRRS, will commemorate two decades of empowering minorities with a weeklong campus celebration Oct. 18-22.

While the MSU chapter was founded in the fall semester of 2001, the national organization dates back to 1985 and helps minorities excel in the fields of agriculture, natural resources and related sciences by providi...

10/15/2021

MSU researchers think 'outside the block,' win big at MDA V-Quad competition

MSU researchers think 'outside the block,' win big at MDA V-Quad competition

For a team of Mississippi State researchers, concrete design isn't set in stone.

Jilei Zhang, Warren S. Thompson Professor of Wood Science and Technology, and a team of MSU Department of Sustainable Bioproducts researchers have rethought the material's design and cemented their product's status by participating in the Mississippi Development Authority's inaugural V-Quad competition, a U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored initiative to...

9/14/2021

Live, in-wood forestry equipment show set for Sept. 17-18

Live, in-wood forestry equipment show set for Sept. 17-18

Machinery and equipment that drive the South's timber industry is being demonstrated this weekend at the Mid-South Forestry Equipment Show.

The event is Friday [Sept. 17], 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday [Sept. 18], 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Mississippi State's John W. Starr Memorial Forest off Highway 25, south of Starkville. Show partners include the university's College of Forest Resources and Extension Service, the Mississippi Forestry ...

9/13/2021

A Bird on the Water is Worth Two to the Farmer

A Bird on the Water is Worth Two to the Farmer

From the arid fields of New Mexico to the winter-flooded rice fields of the Mississippi Delta, Alexandra Firth has developed a passion at the intersection of agriculture and soil conservation.

After graduating with a degree in ecology from Humboldt State in Northern California, the Phoenix native's career as a biological technician took her all over the U.S. and briefly to Europe. It was while working on an organic farm in New Mexico, h...


Knots Untangled

Knots Untangled

Picking a two-by-four from a lumber stack at your local home improvement store only takes a minute. How that piece arrived there, however, is part of a much larger story. Lumber is one of Mississippi's most important commodities and part of a $13.12 billion-dollar industry that employs over 61,000 people in Mississippi alone. Researchers in MSU's Forest and Wildlife Research Center hope to untangle how knots—remnants of where branches gr...

8/18/2021

Our People: Thomas Rovery

Our People: Thomas Rovery

Rising Mississippi State wildlife, fisheries and aquaculture junior and Memphis, Tennessee, native Thomas Rovery has always had a curiosity for reptiles, with a particular interest in snakes.

"As a kid, I was always outside, pointing out camouflaged snakes, trying to identify lizards in the grass or showing off a turtle I'd found," Rovery said.

In high school, he discovered a way to satisfy his curiosity while also gaining ...


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