As demand for forest products increases, timber harvesting is being restricted across much of the globe.

Researchers in the Department of Wood Science and Forest Products are working to put sustainable, renewable, natural nanocomposites into everyday products and to improve quality of life.

Waste from construction sites represents a significant portion of landfill content. To discourage this practice, “green” building systems reward builders for recycling wood construction waste.

Open to all majors, Sustainable Nature-Based Enterprises draws students from within the college as well as from other disciplines across campus and encourages them to focus on issues of resource sustainability.

The natural resources programs offered by the college in the National Capital Region are specifically designed to meet the needs of working professionals seeking credentials for job advancement, a career change, or a graduate degree. Two recent additions complement the existing programs.

In recent years Virginia Tech’s outreach efforts, once thought of mainly in the context of Extension, have broadened significantly to include many other kinds of activities, not just in the state but across the nation and around the globe.

Students in the college take their commitment to preserving natural resources and the environment personally and often far beyond the classroom.

Carola Haas, associate professor of wildlife ecology, and her research team have been assisting land managers in developing and implementing techniques for sustainng wildlife populations on lands used for agricultural production, timber harvest, or military activities.

National Park Service managers are faced with the increasing challenge of accommodating intensive visitation in areas that contain rare plant communities and species.

Virginia is poised to see one of the greatest shifts in forest landownership since the Kings’ Grants. An aging baby boomer generation now owns the majority of Virginia’s woodlands.

Researchers in the college’s Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation are working with colleagues from the University of Maryland and McGill University to explore the extent to which biodiversity conservation provides social benefits via effects on key aquatic ecosystem services.

Wetlands, once considered useless, are now valued for providing a diverse range of beneficial ecosystem services, including flood control, water quality, and wildlife habitat.

Hydropower is a clean, renewable source of energy that has been used in the United States since the late 1800s. Hydropower accounted for 25 percent of the country’s electricity prior to the Great Depression, and capacity had tripled by 1980.

The center is involved in many initiatives, such as participating in the Academic Advisory Committee, formed to help the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality research water quality issues.

It would be difficult to enter any discussion on natural resources and environmental issues without addressing sustainability in some manner. Accordingly, principles of sustainability permeate most of the courses offered within the College of Natural Resources and Environment.