Trees are all around us, giving off oxygen, storing carbon, and giving life and shelter to wildlife. But what would a world without trees look like? Species like the American chestnut and elm have nearly disappeared due to the introduction of invasive pests and fungus. Ash species find themselves in a similar position with the emerald ash borer. That's why researchers are finding ways to aid in control of the insect and plan for long-term rest...
There is a common misconception in the hunting world that plentiful food supply equals frequent visits by white-tailed deer or wild turkey to a specific habitat. Hunters plant food plots, place spin feeders, yet don't see the wildlife activity for which they had planned. What is missing from the equation is an equally important factor…cover.
Much like an animal needs food and water, they also need adequate shelter. That is why res...
The current buzz around Mississippi State's campus is its new affiliation as a Bee Campus USA, a designation of the Xerces Society.
The university joins 122 campus affiliates across 44 states recognized for benefiting pollinators. The MSU Bee Campus committee, consisting of faculty and staff in the College of Forest Resources and College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, led the effort. Wes Burger, interim dean of the College of Forest R...
Mississippi State's long-time partnership with a national consulting foresters group has funded a student's path toward a forestry degree.
Jared Mathis, a junior forestry major from Brookhaven, was this year's recipient of an annual scholarship awarded by the Mississippi Chapter of the Association of Consulting Foresters, or ACF.
The transfer student earned an associate degree from Copiah-Lincoln Community College, where he made ...
Mississippi State researchers are discovering that opening hotels—fish hotels—for 'checking in' on imperiled, hard-to-find aquatic species is a valuable business.
Built specifically for frecklebelly madtom catfish, MSU fisheries biologists are seeing that the new housing aids them in studying the freshwater species for more effective conservation strategies.
Averaging under four inches in length and native to ri...
The life of a railroad crosstie sees nearly 20 years of service. Through harsh conditions such as rain, heat, and snow, the backbone of the rails is built to last. But just how long should they carry the load?
Researchers from the Forest and Wildlife Research Center and the Railway Tie Association have set out to determine how durable railroad ties are by exposing them to different conditions and preservatives.
Dr. Beth Stokes, a...
Mississippi State faculty and staff in the College of Forest Resources and the Forest and Wildlife Research Center have received recent honors for teaching, research and outreach.
Wes Burger, CFR interim dean and FWRC interim director, spoke at an annual awards ceremony at the conclusion of the spring semester about how honorees continue to lead despite a challenging year.
"We are a small college but very productive," Burger ...
Two Mississippi State researchers and pioneers in the growing field of economically targeted conservation are showing farmers that making money off their land can be feasible even when the land isn't producing.
Wes Burger and Mark McConnell, MSU researchers in the Forest and Wildlife Research Center, are launching the MSU Precision Conservation Tool, a decision-making software that identifies precise locations where conservation prac...
By day, Adam Wade is finding better ways to identify wood species using artificial intelligence as a sustainable bioproducts doctoral student. At night, he's crafting a custom guitar out of poplar and maple.
"The guitar design I'm working on replicates a Fender Stratocaster. I'm making everything from scratch using rough-sawn lumber. The guitar's body is made of poplar with a soft maple top. The neck and fretboard are hard maple. I'm usi...
For the third year in a row, Mississippi State's student chapter of the Society of American Foresters is the top chapter in the nation.
The Outstanding Student Chapter award honors the best three SAF student chapters, as well as their faculty advisor. MSU has been recognized in first-place nine times in the last 25 years and has placed in the top three consecutively for more than two decades.
Adam Lindsey of Purvis, a seni...
Each spring, turkey hunters cover themselves from head to toe in camouflage, head into the woods to find the perfect spot, take out a small wooden box and begin moving the top of the box to make a screeching sound which mimics a female. Their objective is to engage the elusive male turkey. Spring turkey hunting is a mix of tradition, culture, and economics. It occurs when turkeys are at the height of courtship. Males gobble and strut in full-f...
Fossil fuels are decayed plants and animals that have been converted to oil, coal, and natural gas through years of exposure to heat and pressure in the earth's crust. Petroleum, a common fossil fuel, is used to create over 6,000 different products.
There are issues related to the extended use of petroleum including environmental pollution and global warming. Add to this the diminishing reserves of fossil fuels. So, how do we replace t...
Mississippi State faculty, staff and students celebrated Arbor Day today [Feb. 12] by planting trees on the MSU Drill Field.
Nationally celebrated in April, Mississippi's Arbor Day observance occurs on the second Friday in February, similar to other southern states that adjust the holiday in the warmer climate to ensure better survival of newly planted trees.
According to the MSU Extension Service, forestry and forest produ...
A first-generation forester from Myanmar is trying to help improve water quality in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley.
The Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley, or LMAV, consists of 25 million acres spanning seven states. This floodplain is responsible for draining 40 percent of the contingent United States. The LMAV is home to forested and wetland habitat critical to native and migrating wildlife and birds. The area is also home t...
As the global forest products industry shifts over time, how can stakeholders better understand emerging trends? A scientist in the Forest and Wildlife Research Center has made it his life's work assessing the international trade of forest products and communicating vital insight to the industry's stakeholders.
Dr. Changyou Sun has studied the forest products industry for more than 20 years. In that span of time, globalization has shif...
Rick Dillard's love of the outdoors serves him well as fish and wildlife program manager for the U.S. Forest Service. His passion has been a guiding force in his professional and personal life. The Potts Camp, Mississippi native and CFR alumnus comes from a long line of hunters, fishermen, and trappers.
"I fished with my grandmother before I could even carry a fishing pole. My most vivid memory, however, happened later. I was nine the fi...
Plantation pine trees cover over 37 million acres in the Southeastern U.S. These timber resources provide wildlife habitat, carbon sequestration, recreation, and other environmental benefts. Importantly, for landowners, these resources provide revenue.
Conventional rotation or optimal harvest age in loblolly pine plantations is typically 30 to 33 years. Other species such as longleaf pine have much longer optimal rotation ages. However, ...
Wood pellets are big business as an export item. Europe consumes much of the U.S. wood pellet market to generate energy according to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service. In fact, in 2018, the combined value of sales from the U.S. exports of wood pellets totaled $812 million or 6.04 million metric tons with transfers to the U.K. topping $646 million or 4.71 million metric tons. Since much of the pellet production in the U.S. comes from southe...
A $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy will benefit Mississippi State researchers in the university's Forest and Wildlife Research Center studying the economic and ecological benefits of growing trees for biofuel production.
The DOE funding will help MSU scientists study how to produce better, hardier hybrid poplars and eastern cottonwoods harvested for biomass energy. The team also will quantify the ecosystem servic...
The Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (SEAFWA) bestowed the Clarence W. Watson Award upon Dr. Leandro Esteban "Steve" Miranda during its 74th annual meeting, held virtually Oct. 26-28.
Miranda has been a prominent freshwater fisheries biologist for the USGS Mississippi Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit since 1986.The award is the highest honor given by the Association and is presented in conjunction wit...
A new building material is making its way into the U.S. market. Cross-laminated timber, or CLT, which has been used to construct large buildings in Europe for the last two decades is experiencing growth as a building material in the U.S. and Canada.
"As of March 2019, there are currently 545 buildings in North America either built or in the design phase using mass timber products such as CLT," said Dr. Beth Stokes, scientist in the Fores...
For Changyou "Edwin" Sun, a passion for forest economics grew out of his desire to help the community as a whole.
Sun grew up in a small village in China's Hunan Province, surrounded by mountains and forests where his parents still own some forestland.
"I grew up in a community where forestry was crucial," Sun said. "The most exciting aspect of my job is that natural resources are valuable assets to society as a whole, so w...
As Huricane Zeta menaces the Gulf Coast, residents know the drill: Board up windows, clear storm drains, gas up the car and stock up on water, batteries and canned goods.
But how does wildlife ride out a hurricane? Animals that live along coastlines have evolved to deal with a world where conditions can change radically. This year, however, the places they inhabit have borne the brunt of 10 named storms, some just a few weeks apart.
<...
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Aurelia Skipwith smiles when she reflects on childhood summers spent at her grandfather's farm in Columbus. As one of the nation's leading natural resource professionals, Skipwith recently shared these memories and other insights with students in Mississippi State's College of Forest Resources as part of a special virtual seminar.
"Conservation and Mississippi are close to my heart. One of the ...
A national organization is honoring a recent Mississippi State forestry graduate as an exemplary student leader.
The Society of American Foresters has named Samantha "Sam" Seamon of Prattville, Alabama, the winner of this year's Student Leadership Award. The honor is given for embodying leadership and positive growth within both the forestry industry and the organization.
The spring summa cum laude graduate is continuing he...
A prominent national forestry organization is recognizing a Mississippi State Extension Service staff member with a prestigious honor.
Senior Extension Associate Marcus Measells is one of only 17 honorees nationwide recently named a fellow of the Society of American Foresters. One of the organization's highest accolades, fellows are honored for their extensive and long-standing dedication to the advancement of the forestry industry at ...
Mississippi State is now home to one of the nation's largest wood collections, making the university a prime training ground for research on rare and exotic species.
MSU's Department of Sustainable Bioproducts in the College of Forest Resources has acquired the 32,000-specimen David A. Kribs wood collection, the fourth largest in the U.S. according to the International Association of Wood Anatomists. This acquisition also makes MSU home ...
Murry Burgess was alone, reaching her hand into a swallow's nest from the top of a 16-foot ladder in a barn in rural North Carolina, when she realized something didn't seem right. Rather than the familiar texture of small chicks, she felt something smooth, slick and scaly.
"There is a huge black rat snake just sitting in the nest, chilling, after eating my research," Burgess said.
Eastern rat snakes (Pantherophis alleghaniensis) a...
It's finally here and it feels like you've waited all year for this. The trail cams have been set out for months. You've been watching. You think you know who's who. There's one in particular. A ten-point buck you've seen on the camera a half a dozen times at least. It's a perfect predawn Saturday with a calm breeze. You head to the blind. You wait and wait and wonder where has the buck gone?
This scenario happens more often than many hu...
At thirteen, selling drinks up and down the stands of Davis Wade Stadium, a seed was planted in Jonathan Stoll. Now, years later, Stoll has returned to Mississippi State to reap the harvest as forest supervisor.
Stoll, a 2013 forestry graduate from the outskirts of Starkville, was hired to the position in July of 2019, after having worked as a consulting forester in Louisiana before returning to Mississippi to work for a timber company...
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