Department website: http://naturalresources.wvu.edu/
Robert Burns, Division Director of Forestry and Natural Resources
email: robert.burns@mail.wvu.edu
Alan Collins, Interim Division Director of Resource Management
email: alan.collins@mail.wvu.edu
Degrees Offered
The School of Natural Resources offers master of science degree programs in four areas: forestry; recreation, parks and tourism resources; resource economics and management; and wildlife and fisheries resources. Students wishing to pursue a master of science emphasizing forest resources management or wood science and technology should apply for admission to the master of science in forestry.
The School of Natural Resources offers doctor of philosophy degree programs in three areas: Natural Resource Economics, Natural Resources Science, and Resource Management. A student seeking admission to work toward the degree of doctor of philosophy in natural resources science in the School of Natural Resources may choose from one of the following Areas of Emphasis as their major field of study: forest resources management; recreation, parks, and tourism resources; wood science and technology; or wildlife and fisheries resources. Within these major fields of study, specialization is limited only by the range of competencies in the graduate faculty.
A limited number of graduate research assistantships are available to highly qualified students on a competitive basis.
Faculty
Director
- Robert C. Burns - Ph.D. (Pennsylvania State University)
Director, Division of Forestry and Natural Resources - Alan R. Collins - Ph.D. (Oregon State University)
Director, Division of Resource Economics and Management
Professors
- James T. Anderson - Ph.D. (Texas Tech University)
Wildlife ecology and management - Robert C. Burns - Ph.D. (The Pennsylvania University)
Understanding recreational behavior, motivations, and satisfaction levels - Alan R. Collins - Ph.D. (Oregon State University)
Resource economics - Benjamin E. Dawson-Andoh - Ph.D. (University of British Columbia)
Wood chemistry and preservation - John W. Edwards - Ph.D. (Clemson University)
Endangered Species Ecology and Management, Forest Wildlife/Habitat Relationships - Kyle J. Hartman - Ph.D. (University of Maryland)
Fisheries and Aquatic Ecology, Fish Management, Trophic Ecology - David W. McGill - Ph.D. (Pennsylvania State University)
Extension Specialist, Forest Resources, Non-industrial Private Forestry - Joseph F. McNeel - Ph.D. (Virginia Tech)
Forest harvest and operations - J. Todd Petty - Ph.D. (University of Georgia)
Stream and Watershed Ecology - Chad Pierskala - Ph.D. (University of Minnesota)
Wildland recreation management and policy - Peter V. Schaeffer - Ph.D. (University of Southern California)
Regional science, Applied microeconomics - Steven Selin - Ph.D. (University of Oregon)
Human dimensions and Natural resources management - Michael P. Strager - Ph.D (West Virginia University)
Spatial analysis, Decision support - Jingxin Wang - Ph.D. (University of Georgia)
Biomass logistics, utilization and bioenergy, forest BMPs
Associate Professors
- Cheryl Brown - Ph.D. (University of California, Berkley)
Agricultural and food policy and economics, Agribusiness - Gregory A. Dahle - Ph.D. (Rutgers University)
Arboriculture and urban forestry - Jinyang Deng - Ph.D. (University of Alberta)
Recreation, Parks, and Tourism; Recreation and Leisure Studies - Levan Elbakidze - Ph.D. (Texas A&M University)
Shale gas; water and energy economics - Xiaoli Etienne - Ph.D. (University of Illinois)
Economic methods in agriculture and energy - Kathryn Gazal - Ph.D. (Mississippi State University)
Forest Economics - Jamie Schuler - Ph.D. (North Carolina State University)
Forest regeneration and restoration - Kaushlendra Singh - Ph.D. (University of Georgia)
Thermo-chemical conversion and bioenergy - Doolarie Singh-Knights - Ph.D. (University of Georgia)
Thermo-chemical conversion and bioenergy - Dave Smaldone - Ph.D. (University of Idaho)
Environmental and Cultural Interpretation, Nature-based tourism - Mark Sperow - Ph.D. (Colorado State University)
Production and resource economics - Ben D. Spong - Ph.D. (Oregon State University)
Forest operations, roads, and harvesting - Amy Welsh - Ph.D. (University of California-Davis)
Conservation genetics and wildlife forensics - Nicholas P. Zegre - Ph.D. (Oregon State University)
Forest and watershed hydrology
Assistant Professors
- Ana Claudia Sant' Anna - Ph.D. (Kansas State University)
Agribusiness and Finance - Donald Brown - Ph.D. (Texas State University)
Herpetology, wildlife ecology - Elizabeth Byrd - Ph.D. (Purdue University)
Energy, Law, Agribusiness - Sophan Chhin - Ph.D. (University of Alberta)
Quantitative forest management - Levan Elbakidze - Ph.D. (Texas A&M)
Shale gas; water and energy economics - Xiaoli Etienne - Ph.D. (University of Illinois)
Econometric methods in agriculture and energy - Shawn Grushecky - Ph.D. (West Virginia University)
Energy land management - Shawn Grushecky - Ph.D. (West Virginia University
Energy land management - Suhyun Jung - Ph.D. (University of Minnesota)
Environmental and natural resource economics - Christopher Lituma - Ph.D. (University of Tennessee)
Ornithology and bird ecology - Gloria S. Oporto - Ph.D. (University of Maine - Orono)
Wood-based Composites and Bioproducts - Christopher Rota - Ph.D. (University of Missouri)
Applied vertebrate ecology - Heather Stephens - Ph.D. (Ohio State University)
Resource and energy economics; regional development
Adjunct Professors
- Patricia M. Mazik - – Ph.D. (Memphis State University)
Aquatic toxicology, fish physiology - Sheldon Owen - Ph.D. (West Virginia University)
Extension wildlife specialist - Stuart A. Welsh - Ph.D. (West Virginia University)
Ichthyology - Petra B. Wood - Ph.D. (University of Florida)
Avian ecology
Visiting Assistant Professors
- Charlene Kelly - Ph.D. (Virginia Tech)
Watershed biogeochemistry - Kirsten Stephan - Ph.D. (University of Idaho)
Soil and vegetation management