Personnel – This past year, we recruited two new faculty members in wildlife and fisheries ecology, two fine young scholars.
     
     Sarah Karpanty (Ph.D. Ecology and Evolution, State University of New York – Stony Brook, 2003) has expertise on behavioral ecology of birds and mammals, both in the United States and Madagascar. Most recently, she has worked as a post-doctoral fellow studying movements and foraging ecology of migrating red knots along the Atlantic coast. Sarah has already begun her service and, among other activities, is teaching our sophomore-level Principles of Fisheries and Wildlife Management class.

     Emmanuel Frimpong (Ph.D. Resource Policy and Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Purdue University 2005) has expertise on landscape-level ecology of fishes, especially as regards the impacts of human activities. Emmanuel will begin his faculty appointment in December 2007 after finishing ongoing work towards a Master’s degree in statistics. In the meantime, he is contributing to the departmental instructional mission by teaching the Fisheries Techniques class.

     Don Orth has stepped down after seven years of outstanding service as Head of the department. Faculty members expressed their appreciation at the faculty retreat in mid-August. I stepped up into my leadership role effective August 10. Following the leadership of Henry Mosby, Jerry Cross, Larry Nielsen, Brian Murphy, and Don Orth, it’s clear that I have large shoes to fill.   

     There also have been changes within our staff. With Holly Litos having left our ranks, Rosemary Ellis has taken on the position and responsibilities of Administrative Assistant supporting the USGS Cooperative Fisheries and Wildlife Research Unit. Tom Roisen, who had been working part-time as an administrative assistant, stepped to a full-time role.

Instruction

     We have spent considerable time evaluating our graduate curriculum. In particular, we have focused on defining core areas of knowledge (science and the scientific method, ecology, natural resources management including human dimensions, and pedagogy) in which we expect our doctoral candidates to show competence or mastery. We have discussed the range of issues at our departmental retreat in August, in the pedagogy course this fall, and more generally. The discussion has involved both faculty and graduate students. Our aim is to structure the experience of courses, readings, discussions, and other experiences to result in degree holders truly embodying the title, Doctor of Philosophy.    

Research

     Our departmental research program continues to expand. This comes in part because our new faculty members are truly developing their programs. Hence, we have growing research activity in wildlife physiology and ecotoxicology (Bill Hopkins), marine population dynamics (Yan Jiao), and behavioral ecology (Sarah Karpanty). Established faculty also are moving their research to a higher level. Jim Parkhurst is launching a Center for Human-Wildlife Conflict Resolution; this occurs against the background of discussions on the possibility of organizing all the College’s efforts in the human dimensions arena into a visible and active center. 

     Long constrained by lack of space, our research program is strengthened by expansion into new laboratory and office space. The completion of Latham Hall provides state-of-the-art laboratories for the Murphy, Angermeier, and Hopkins research groups. The move into Latham also allows the renovation of spaces in Cheatham Hall for Fraser, Karpanty, Stauffer and Kelly, McMullin and Parkhurst.

     Ground was recently broken near the Virginia Tech Airport for construction of a laboratory for our U.S. Forest Service unit. It will have office and wet lab spaces for Andy Dolloff, Pat Flebbe, and collaborators. We anticipate completion in 2007.

Prospects for the coming year

     The department faces a number of challenges in the foreseeable future. Our most seasoned faculty members are heading into retirement. Louis Helfrich retired at the end of 2006. Dick Neves, Mike Vaughan and David Trauger all have announced their intention to retire within the next 18 months. Maintaining our reputation as a leading program of fisheries and wildlife sciences will depend on our ability to recruit and retain new faculty with the talents and energies of these outstanding individuals. I feel that with our recent hires, we have made a good start.

     Among the opportunities before us is recruitment of a wildlife disease specialist. This opportunity arises as part of a “cluster hire” through the University’s Institute for Biomedical and Public Health Sciences. This faculty member will add a new area of specialization to our department, investigating wildlife disease issues (e.g., avian influenza, West Nile virus, and chronic wasting disease) that impact human society. The search is ongoing as of this writing.  

In closing

     We could not accomplish our work without the support of our administration, alumni, state and federal cooperators, and undergraduate and graduate students. Thank you each and all for your contributions that help us realize our successes.

     Please feel free to contact me with your questions or comments about the scholarly achievements or any other aspect of our research, instruction, or outreach programs.
                                    
Eric M. Hallerman
Eric M. Hallerman
Professor and Head
Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences