Transfer student Nathan Ferguson will graduate this spring from the College of Natural Resources and Environment, with dual majors in Wildlife Conservation and Fisheries Conservation with a human dimension's focus. "The level of involvement I've been able to get as an undergrad has been truly remarkable," said Ferguson.

Students taking the biodiversity conservation minor capstone course have the opportunity to get out of the classroom and into the wetlands to do real-world conservation work.

Holloway, a first-generation college student, had numerous field and research experiences, including building stream habitats and doing tagging for eastern hellbenders

Deer afflicted with chronic wasting disease — also frequently referred to as “zombie deer disease” — will appear abnormally thin, move sluggishly, and salivate excessively. The disease is contagious and always fatal. Virginia Tech wildlife health expert Luis Escobar will be leading a study of transmission of CWD among Virginia's white-tailed deer population. He talks about the disease, what the study will do and how it is being funded.

The Graduate School recognized award-winning master's and doctoral degree students and faculty mentors at the annual event held during Graduate Education Week 2023.

A collaborative research team will seek to understand how rising sea levels will impact coastal communities, merging social science with geospatial information to help Virginia communities adapt to a changing landscape.

March 21, 2023 - His Excellency Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi, President of Botswana, gives his public presentation, “Merging Conservation, Democracy, and Sustainable Development in Botswana,” in Squires Student Center.

Dean Paul Winistorfer recently illuminated how human, financial, and physical capital converge to create a culture of excellence in the college and championed the infrastructure improvements that are the keys to future success.

The Invasive Species Working Group is crowdsourcing resources and expertise to tackle global invasion species that are reshaping ecosystems, disrupting economies, and causing disease, costing an estimated $1.3 trillion globally each year.

Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi visited the Virginia Tech Blacksburg campus Tuesday. In meetings with university leadership and in a discussion in front of a packed ballroom, the mutually beneficial collaboration between Botswana and Virginia Tech was highlighted.

The president of the Republic of Botswana visited Virginia Tech's Blacksburg campus on Tuesday, March 21. His Excellency Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi accepted an invitation from Virginia Tech President Tim Sands to visit campus and gave a public presentation, “Merging Conservation, Democracy, and Sustainable Development in Botswana,” in Squires Student Center.

Alexander makes a global impact merging wildlife conservation with community health and economic development in Botswana.

Professor Kathleen Alexander's research in Botswana explores factors that influence the spread of diseases. Understanding how diseases infect and spread between humans and wildlife within the environment is crucial for public health on a global scale.

Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi will deliver a public presentation on Tuesday and meet privately with Virginia Tech President Tim Sands.

Tara Nepper, previously assistant director of alumni relations in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, said she is excited to build bridges with an alumni base that is working to solve the critical challenges of today.

In April, Bill Hopkins will lead a roundtable discussion sponsored by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, where he will present a 30-year conservation plan for the species in Virginia that he authored in 2022.

With the National Science Foundation award, Escobar will research the disease ecology and biogeography of hantavirus to better understand disease transmission between species and to humans.

Researchers in the College of Natural Resources and the Environment contribute to research aligning fisheries management with shark and ray conservation.

The highly competitive program selected postdoctoral researchers who are working with Virginia Tech faculty mentors on projects ranging from rapid detection for foodborne pathogens to 5G to human energetics and obesity investigations.

A 2011 alumnus, Ickes brings an extensive background in fundraising and development to the role.

Graduate students from the College of Natural Resources and Environment are preparing the next generation of conservationists by teaching local elementary students about wildlife and engaging them in hands-on learning experiences.

Professor Marcella Kelly in the College of Natural Resources and Environment and undergraduate students in The Wildlife Society at Virginia Tech conduct research on native wildlife around Mountain Lake. Each fall, students place non-invasive camera traps (motion-triggered digital cameras) on trails and use the recorded images to study bear, coyote, and bobcat populations.

William Hopkins and Robert Bodnar were part of a technical team that recommended that the Virginia General Assembly and state agencies update state laws and regulations to protect against the potential environmental and health impacts of gold mining.

Ashley Dayer of the College of Natural Resources and Environment and Dana Hawley of the College of Science are leading a multifaceted project funded by the National Science Foundation to study the effects of bird feeding.

With membership spanning 20 institutions across the United States and Canada, Virginia Tech's Global Change Center joined ANGLES, a network of higher education professionals dedicated to graduate student leadership development centered in sustainability, environmental, and societal issues.

Graduate student Sharon Dorsey studies the federally endangered piping plover, which nest on barrier islands in New York. The beaches where she conducts research were once segregated. Dorsey shares her experience as a researcher and a racial minority in the field of conservation.

The Center for Emerging, Zoonotic, and Anthropod-Borne Pathogens will host the symposium on Friday, Oct. 7, with keynote speakers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes for Health, and One Health Institute.

The College of Natural Resources and Environment’s 8-year-old Advising Center is making a significant impact in setting students up for success in college and future careers.

Supported by the National Science Foundation, the team will examine how geography, population traits, and climate change affect the spread of infectious disease from vampire bats to other species, and propose new models for predicting when and where wildlife virus transmission might occur in the future.

Virginia forest landowners are invited to participate in fall networking and educational tours to learn more about sustainably managing natural resources.

A member of the Virginia Tech community since 1983, Stauffer made significant contributions to bird conservation through his work in the United States, Mexico, and South America, focusing on habitat requirements of migratory birds as well as grouse and quail.

Students in the College of Natural Resources and Environment are getting a head start on career success through summer internships.

The new faculty are Haldre Rogers and Elizabeth "Beth" Nyboer in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Junghwan Kim in the Department of Geography, and Eduardo Molina in the Department of Sustainable Biomaterials.

The grants created a range of opportunities for students, from exploring the video game Minecraft as a teaching tool to creating training materials for researchers working with marginalized communities. More than 70 undergrads participated, with the aim that faculty will be able to scale up programs to include more in the future.

Students in the College of Natural Resources and Environment are making new and helpful discoveries about pinesnakes, green salamanders, and minnows.

The Junior Faculty Program from the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science is one example of ways the university's investment institutes help build new research programs and nurture collaboration.

Twelve ACC schools showed off Interactive projects at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History during the festival of creativity and innovation organized by Virginia Tech's Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology.

Current Hokies Caleb Turner and Lily Martin are part of their family legacies in Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.

Francesco Ferretti, an assistant professor in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation in the College of Natural Resources and Environment, polled an international team of scientists and practitioners to take a pulse of the greatest issues that are present in shark research, marine conservation, and fisheries science.

The College of Natural Resources and Environment is celebrating 100 years of women at Virginia Tech by sharing the stories of three women in the college — a student, a professor, and an alumna — who are finding their paths and leading the way for others in their fields.

Faculty Instructional Grants in the College of Natural Resources and Environment incorporate donor support to provide tools and technologies that enhance hands-on learning experiences across all departments.

The Virginia Tech natural history collection gives wildlife conservation students hands-on experiences learning to identify animal species.

During the past century, the Florida Everglades has been facing habitat loss, declining biodiversity, and an ecological collapse. Jeff Walters, the Harold Bailey professor of biological sciences and Global Change Center affiliate, is working with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to restore the Florida Everglades.

The Conservation Management Institute works with the military to protect threatened and endangered animals and plants while preserving critical conservation landscapes.

Kids' Tech University aims to inspire the future generation of scientists by bridging the gap between kids and experts in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Cassie Krause, a 2010 graduate of the College of Natural Resources and Environment, trains puppies to be service dogs for veterans with disabilities — a job that allows her to combine her love of animals and her desire to contribute to a greater cause.

A student in the College of Natural Resources and Environment spent the summer helping threatened sea turtles in North Carolina.

The Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Center at Virginia Tech is a cooperative research and propagation facility to restore and recover endangered freshwater mollusks in Virginia and adjacent states.

Wildlife and forestry researchers in the College of Natural Resources and Environment are answering the call to help feed residents of the Duke Lemur Center.

Elizabeth Hunter has recently joined the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation and the Virginia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, and Eranga Galappaththi will join the Department of Geography.

Gabrielle Mountain is tasked with planning, promoting, and executing alumni engagement programming to meet institutional advancement goals.

The Hutton Program, a pilot program partnering with the College of Natural Resources and Environment and the American Fisheries Society, is enlightening high-school students about career opportunities in fisheries professions through first-hand experience.

Researchers in the College of Natural Resources and Environment are gaining a closer look at our elusive neighbors by putting collars mounted with small video cameras on bears to record their day-to-day activities.

The College of Natural Resources and Environment partners with several federal agencies to serve Virginia and the nation while providing students with unique learning opportunities.

Researchers at Virginia Tech, led by Professor Marcella Kelly of the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, have placed collars counted with cameras on black bears. The cameras are providing windows--like this video of a bear overturning rocks while foraging--into the day-to-day moments of a bear's life.

Researchers are using genetic tools on banded mongooses to better understand how and why animal behavior changes in proximity to human development and how that change can impact infectious disease spread.

Led by Assistant Professor Francesco Ferretti, the team is seeking to become the first to tag a Mediterranean great white shark, one of the most endangered and least known white shark populations globally.

<div><div>Faculty and students from the College of Natural Resources and Environment are gaining a better understanding of the bluehead chub and uncovering their secrets just may be the key to conservation efforts.</div></div>

Fish conservation and engineering researchers will use a $1 million National Science Foundation grant to decipher the nest-building secrets of the bluehead chub.

Alexander, who has a robust research and outreach program based in Botswana, has garnered a significant international reputation as an expert in human and wildlife health.

Virginia Tech senior and marine fish conservation major Gwyneth Martin is studying microplastics and their frequency in freshwater fish as part of the Fralin Life Sciences Institute’s Fralin Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

One in eight people on the planet lack access to clean water, and drivers of freshwater salt pollution such as de-icers on roads and parking lots, water softeners, and wastewater and industrial discharges further threaten freshwater ecosystem health and human water security. Researchers from Virginia Tech have recently published their findings on salt pollution in Nature Sustainability.

Wildlife conservation major Haley Olsen-Hodges, the staff naturalist at the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center, brings extensive experience working with birds and other animals to the classroom.

Through words and illustrations, Amelia Schmidt strives to educate today’s youth on the importance of collaboration and preserving the environment through the publication of a children’s book.

Instead of their traditional trip to Richmond and Washington, D.C., over winter break, the College of Natural Resources and Environment’s Leadership Institute students connected virtually with conservation leaders from around the country.

Researchers estimate that 90 percent of the ocean’s biodiversity could be preserved by strategically protecting just 21 percent of the ocean, and that protecting high-priority areas would have significant ramifications for critically endangered ocean species.

Haley Olsen-Hodges, a wildlife conservation major at the College of Natural Resources and Environment, currently works with wildlife at the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center — an experience she wants to use as a jumping-off point to help wildlife on a much broader scale.

Researchers are using stream quality data to find new insights into the interactions between the health of our natural spaces and human well-being.

Researchers from Virginia Tech, Cornell University, and Columbia University examined ways to improve awareness of coffee grown in a way that protects bird habitat.

New minors in the College of Natural Resources and Environment target students interested in global natural resources challenges.

Willandia Chaves, Brett Jesmer, and Patrick Corey Green join the college’s faculty in the 2020-21 academic year.

The hiring of Maryam Kamran reflects the college’s commitment to fostering greater representation in the fields of natural and environmental sciences.

Hopkins, professor of wildlife in the College of Natural Resources, has been selected to receive a 2021 Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council of Higher Education and Dominion Power.

Giovanni Walters and Margot Breiner each got valuable hands-on experience outside the classroom while to completing their degrees in wildlife conservation.

Dean Paul M. Winistorfer, who believes the next five years will be the most dynamic in the history of the college, shared some of the programs and initiatives that give the college a distinctive competitive advantage among national peers.

Funded by the Fralin Life Sciences Institute and Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, 10 interdisciplinary research teams were awarded team-building pilot grant awards to tackle some of these complex zoonotic and vector-borne emerging infectious disease problems.

While pumas and foxes overlapped significantly where they lived and what time they were active, researchers found the predators had little overlap in what they were eating.

In a normal year, the program creates a "university feel" by including children in an interactive STEM sessions in a university classroom. But this year, the program will be hosted through Zoom and will mail packets of materials for hands-on activities.

Students in Professor Kevin Hamed's mammalogy class get an in-person look at identifying features of carnivorous mammals while utilizing outdoor spaces to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Interacting with Kevin Hamed, collegiate assistant professor in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, from a safe distance, makes all of the difference for Emma Weaver, a senior who is majoring in wildlife conservation.

The Fralin Life Sciences Institute is co-locating researchers from across three colleges at Virginia Tech to Steger Hall to make an impact at the interface of infectious disease and the environment.

Reticulated flatwoods salamander larvae successfully developed after being placed into two ponds in Florida where the species hadn’t been seen in over a decade.

During the inaugural “Fish and Ships” workshop researchers brainstormed ways to merge different data sets to address critical questions about human impacts on ocean biodiversity and sustainability.

The Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine is among a relatively small group of veterinary colleges awarded a T32 grant to train post-D.V.M. veterinarians in biomedical research.

In his new role, Hopkins will assist Matt Hulver, executive director, and his leadership team as they develop and implement the vision and strategic directions for the Fralin Life Sciences Institute to tackle grand life science challenges at the interface of the environment and the human condition.

The center will be administratively established as an institute-level center in the Fralin Life Science Institute and will include faculty participants from at least seven colleges and more than 25 departments on campus.

New research suggests that Bacille Calmette-Guérin, a tuberculosis vaccine routinely given to children in countries with high tuberculosis rates, might play a significant role in mitigating mortality rates from COVID-19.

As the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps across the globe, people are beginning to understand the ways in which infectious diseases can devastate life. But disease outbreaks are not confined to just humans or to life on land.

“We want to encourage [our students] that we’ll all get through this, so 30 years from now they’ll be telling their kids about the time when they had to watch their professor stumbling around in a creek trying to catch a fish.”

Awards from the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science support new interdisciplinary projects, ranging from wireless charging for unmanned vehicles to the effects of microplastics on fish.

Researchers observed banded mongoose in several different environments in Botswana, gaining insight into the spread of a novel tuberculosis pathogen that is transmitted through olfactory communication behaviors.

Leigh-Kathryn Bonner, a fourth-generation beekeeper and founder and CEO of Bee Downtown, is featured as part of the public Distinguished Lecture Series, which brings some of the world’s leading scholars to Blacksburg to discuss critical environmental and societal issues in an open forum.