When we think of wildfires, images of acres of upland forests ablaze out West may come to mind, however, fires happen each year at home in Mississippi. In 2017, there were 2,318 wildfires which threatened 4,441 structures and burned 33,574 acres across the Magnolia State. But prescribed fires, which are intentionally set under relatively controlled conditions to achieve specific forest management objectives, also burned another 38,826 acres.
Mississippi State University scientists are receiving a five-year, $3.9 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's RESTORE Science Program to increase understanding of how birds use the Gulf of Mexico, helping resource managers improve habitat for coastal species.
The MSU-led group is one of only four teams of researchers and resource managers from across 20 institutions including universities, federal and s...
Mississippi State University researchers are shifting commonly held ideas about the diet of grey wolves in a newly published article gaining national attention.
Published in the scientific journal "Ecology," MSU assistant professor Brandon Barton's Sept. 18 article "Grasshopper consumption by grey wolves and implications for ecosystems" details the unexpected effects of wolf reintroduction into the western region of the U.S.
MSU ...
How often, as you wander across your hardwood floor to set your mug down on the oak coffee table, do you stop to think about the wood products you use every day? Wood products exist all around us. We work at wooden desks, write notes on paper, and have homes made and furnished with wood.
Kassandra Stout, a sustainable bioproducts graduate student, explores these questions with her research project on "Attitudes and Perceptions of the M...
A century ago, the bobwhite quail, named for its distinctive whistle, was common throughout the Southeast. In 1966, however, scientists began tracking a drastic population drop. Over the next fifty years, the species declined by 85 percent. Forest and Wildlife Research Center scientists are doing their part in restoration efforts of this granivore, whose storied legacy is steeped in tradition.
Not only was the bobwhite's song once ubiq...
Forestry is a $12.79 billion industry in Mississippi. Approximately 125,000 Mississippians own and manage more than 19.7 million acres of forestland across the state. Fishing, hunting, and wildlife watching also contribute to the economy of the Magnolia State, boasting a $2.7 billion annual economic impact for Mississippi, with hunting alone contributing $1.14 billion. That's why Forest and Wildlife Research Center researchers sought to learn ...
An aquaculture scientist in Mississippi State's Forest and Wildlife Research Center is the newest university faculty member to receive the prestigious Fulbright grant to conduct research abroad as part of the U.S. Department of State's flagship exchange program.
The associate professor in the MSU Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture in the College of Forest Resources is spending the next six months conducting research at...
Have you ever considered all of the wildlife that live hidden around your neighborhood, tucked in small patches of woods? Where does the raccoon that riffles through the garbage bin or the deer that eats your mother's azaleas go once the sun rises at dawn?
Researchers from Mississippi State University are teaming up with the Urban Wildlife Information Network (UWIN) to discove...
A 21-year Mississippi State veteran is the new head of the university's Department of Forestry.
Donald L. Grebner, George L. Switzer Professor of Forestry, begins his role on July 1 in the department that operates within the College of Forest Resources. A forest economist with a research focus in natural resources and forest management, Grebner is a certified forester in the Society of American Foresters and a registered forester in ...
I heard a local story of a man who, in his excitement to kill a rattlesnake, used the only thing he had available&emdash;his thermos bottle. The next scene in this drama has the man in the hospital receiving anti-venom to treat a snake bite.
Encounters with wildlife are becoming more common in towns and neighborhoods as urbanization increases, and people often do not know what to do in these situations. Many species of urban wildlife, s...
For the sixth consecutive year, Mississippi State University is being recognized for its sustained commitment to environmental stewardship with the Arbor Day Foundation's Tree Campus USA designation.
To achieve this distinction, MSU met five core standards for an effective campus forest management plan, including establishment of a tree advisory committee, evidence of a campus tree-care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for a campu...
Determining the stiffest piece of lumber is now easier with a new smartphone app created by scientists in Mississippi State University's Forest and Wildlife Research Center.
Called "Smart Thumper," the app uses soundwaves or vibrations to determine stiffness, a quality that relates to strength, for individual pieces of lumber.
Developer Dan Seale, professor in MSU's Department of Sustainable Bioproducts, said it will hel...
Arbor Day is a time to celebrate the remarkable, renewable resource of trees, a source for clean air and water, habitat for wildlife, shade to lower energy costs, and storm water control.
Mississippi State University celebrated Arbor Day Friday [Feb. 8] with an afternoon ceremony and tree planting on Hail State Boulevard.
"Mississippi State has been recognized as a Tree Campus USA since 2013. The 140-year-old land-grant ins...
A longtime Mississippi State faculty member has been named the Taylor Chair in Applied Big Game Research and Instruction in the College of Forest Resources.
Steve Demarais, a Dale H. Arner Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Management in the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture, is a leading white-tailed deer researcher who has been with the university for more than 20 years. In that time, Demarais has published more than...
A forestry professor has earned a prestigious fellowship in Mississippi State University's College of Forest Resources.
Professor Robert Grala has been named the Department of Forestry's first James R. Moreton Endowed Fellow. Professor Dan Seale earned the inaugural accolade in the Department of Sustainable Bioproducts last year.
The James R. Moreton Fellow in Forestry was established in 2012 through a gift from James Regin...
Mississippi State's College of Forest Resources and the Forest and Wildlife Research Center recently honored several faculty and staff during an annual awards ceremony.
At the campus event recognizing faculty and staff in the areas of teaching, research and service achievements, George Hopper praised the honorees for their dedication to advancing the field of natural resources. Hopper is both dean of the college and FWRC director.
An expert in fire and forest ecology is this year's guest for Mississippi State's 2018 Carlton N. Owen Lecture Series.
Jeff Kane will lead the Wednesday [Nov. 28] public program. His presentation, titled "Ecological insights of litter flammability traits in southeastern U.S. tree species," begins at 3 p.m. in Thompson Hall's Tully Auditorium.
His research focus is on management and restoration of fire prone ecosystems, expl...
Resource Management Service LLC, one of the world's leading managers of forest investments for institutional investors, is promoting both the forestry profession and the South's forestry industry through the creation of the RMS Forestry Scholarship at Mississippi State. Samantha Seamon, a junior forestry major from Prattville, Alabama, is the inaugural recipient of the $10,000 RMS award.
"Forestry is an important profession, one that...
The student chapter of the Society of American Foresters at Mississippi State University is first once again in the annual SAF Outstanding Student Chapter national competition for the 2017-2018 academic year.
Robert K. Grala, a forestry professor in College of Forest Resources, who has been the chapter's faculty advisor for more than a decade, said the 20-year legacy of placing first, second or third in the competition demonstrates t...
A senior forestry major in MSU's College of Forest Resources has received a competitive scholarship from an international nonprofit focused on advancing research and education in arboriculture and urban forestry.
Katrina Henn is one of three recipients of the $5,000 Robert Felix Memorial Scholarship, supporting college students studying arboriculture and urban forestry with the intention of entering the profession. The scholarship wa...
The newest timber harvesting and production equipment will be booming at the biennial Mid-South Forestry Equipment Show in Starkville on September 21-22.
The show, which is the longest-running, live, in-woods demonstration of forestry equipment in the nation, is in its 34th year. The family-friendly event features continuing education opportunities for foresters and loggers. Landowners also can benefit from workshops held during the...
For wildlife, fisheries and aquaculture senior Ethan Woodyard, the best part about his major and research opportunities in the College of Forest Resources is doing hands-on work.
"We're out in the field all of the time, and I really like that about the major," said Woodyard, who now has had two first-author manuscripts published on his parasitology research.
As a student worker with the MSU College of Veterinary Medicine's...
A year ago, Keanna Rush was preparing to enroll at Mississippi State University after taking time off from school to go through basic training and join the Mississippi Army National Guard and its 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT). Shortly before the 2017 fall semester began, Rush learned her education would once again be placed on hold as her unit would be deploying to the Middle East in support of Operation Spartan Shield.
A Phil...
If the forests of South America are the world's lungs, their rivers and wetlands must be its veins and arteries. This is the most diverse continent when it comes to plant life, and it's thanks in part to the fish swimming through its waterways.
Freshwater fishes consume about 600 neotropical plant species. The largest of fruit-eating fish in Brazil''s Pantanal—a 70,000 square-mile floodplain the size of Washington state with as muc...
Faculty and students in Mississippi State University's College of Forest Resources took top honors at the recent 41st annual meeting of the Southeastern Deer Study Group, marking the first time in the conference's four-decade history that one school has swept the competition.
MSU graduate students in MSU's Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture took first, second and third place in the annual student oral presentation comp...
Warren Slater Thompson of Starkville passed away peacefully at OCH Regional Medical Center on March 26, 2018. He was 88 years of age.
Warren was born August 19, 1929 in Utica, MS to Collis Kitchens Thompson and John Edwin Thompson. He completed his BS and MS degrees at Alabama Polytechnic Institute (Auburn University), and his PhD at the University of North Carolina. He was a veteran of the US Army, and had a storied career in academ...
Turkey season opens on March 15, and hunters will take to the field in search of the elusive gobbler. Most likely, they will find less of the popular game species than in previous years due to changing landscapes.
For this reason, Mississippi State University scientists and student researchers in the College of Forest Resources, in collaboration with biologists in the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, are trac...
March is a good time for landowners to take steps to prevent wildfires, not only because it is Wildfire Prevention Month, but also because more fires occur this month.
Heather Alexander, an assistant professor in the Mississippi State University Forest and Wildlife Research Center, said March sees more wildfires than summer months because it is a time of transition between winter and spring.
"At this time of year, winds are...
Mississippi State faculty, staff and students planted 400 trees today [Feb. 21] in observance of Arbor Day.
Students from the MSU Student Chapter of the Society of American Foresters, Waldorf Endowed Scholarship recipients and campus facilities management personnel participated in the tree planting.
Trees native to bottomland hardwood forests were planted in an area along Hail State Boulevard. Northern red oak, yellow popla...
Mississippi State will celebrate Arbor Day with a Feb. 21 planting ceremony and program focused on the many benefits trees provide.
Open to all, the annual observance has been coordinated since 2012 by the university's Tree Campus USA Advisory Committee.
This year's event begins at 10:30 a.m. just east of the Mississippi Horse Park; specifically, near the southernmost bridge on Hail State Boulevard and close to the Poor Hou...
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