Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Natural Resources Program at the Northern Virginia Center

Introduction

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, popularly known as Virginia Tech, is Virginia’s largest university.  Founded in 1872, it is the state’s flagship land-grant institution and offers diverse curricula in several colleges.  The Virginia Tech College of Natural Resources is unique in Virginia and offers degree programs in four Departments: Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, Forestry, Geography and Wood Science and Forest Products.  With over 500 undergraduate students, 130 graduate students, and 70 faculty members, it is one of the larger colleges of its type in the United States. 

The College of Natural Resources at Virginia Tech has offered courses since Spring 1997 at the Northern Virginia Center located in Falls Church, Virginia.  Special Studies topics have been offered every subsequent academic year, including Conservation Ecology, Ecosystem Management, Biorealities of Natural Resource Management, Global Issues in Natural Resources, Public Policy and Private Land Conservation, Urban Forestry, Communications in Natural Resources, and Modern Wildlife Management. 

Director

Dr. David L. Trauger is the Director of Natural Resources Programs in Northern Virginia and he is a Professor in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Science in the College of Natural Resources.  Dr. Trauger completed a 32-year career in natural resources agencies of the Department of the Interior, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Biological Service, and the U. S. Geological Survey.  In various professional positions, he conducted field research on waterfowl and wetlands throughout North America.  He also was involved with research management and administration leading research programs at several national research centers and in the Washington Office. 

Dr. Trauger served for 14 years on the Advisory Committee for the College of Natural Resources at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.  In addition, he has been teaching “Conservation Ecology” and “Ecosystem Management” at the Northern Virginia Center since 1998.  He previously taught “Wildlife Conservation” and “Environmental Biology” at Iowa State University, as well as “Endangered Species Policy and Management” at George Mason University.   Dr. Trauger received a B.S. (1964) and M.S. (1967) in Wildlife Biology and a Ph.D. (1971) in Animal Ecology from Iowa State University.  He is a member of The Wildlife Society, Society for Conservation Biology, American Fisheries Society, Society of American Foresters, Soil and Water Conservation Society, Wildlife Management Institute, Renewable Natural Resources Foundation, Natural Resources Council of America, and several other conservation and environmental organizations.

The Vision

 Our vision for the Northern Virginia Natural Resources Program is to be a leader in the areas of sustainable development of urban environments and the sustainable management of natural resources on adjacent rural lands. 

Program Description

Virginia Tech is well positioned to reach this goal, as our expertise in the College of Natural Resources is not duplicated by any other university with a presence in Northern Virginia.  We have established a teaching/research/outreach program focusing on Sustainable Natural Resources In Rapidly Urbanizing Environments.  We intend to address the complex ecological issues related to land and natural resources in the rural-urban transitional environment in Northern Virginia, one of the most rapidly developing areas in the United States.   As the population of Virginia grows, urbanization will place increasing pressure on rural lands and natural resources.  The challenge will be to satisfy the need for developed land while conserving natural resources and the benefits they bring to the citizens of the Commonwealth.  Also, increased urbanization will bring the challenges of managing natural resources in a new setting.  How to balance natural resources and human needs in urban and urbanizing landscapes is emerging as the central question confronting community leaders, resource managers, land use planners, landscape architects, engineers, park managers, and many others.  Conflicts between developers and conservationists are escalating as competition for land and other resources intensify.  In addition, resource-based industries are facing economic impacts from urbanization, e.g., decline in commercial fisheries in the Chesapeake Bay.

As our use of land for urban and suburban development increases, traditional natural resources values are either reduced or lost.  As a result, we must find ways to maintain and restore ecologically significant habitats and processes in and around urban areas.  We must also abandon the myth that wildlife and other living resources can be relegated to the countryside and kept separate from the “built and landscaped environment” of the city.  Communities and corporations are becoming aware that maintaining a close connection between people and the natural environment is a vital component contributing to “quality of life” and “sense of well-being.”

In response, there is a growing awareness across the United States of the need for proactive management for urban natural resources.  States, counties, and cities are hiring urban resource professionals, enacting legislation, and implementing programs to create harmony between natural resources and people who inhabit our communities.  However, there are emerging concerns that the proliferation of urban natural resources programs is extended beyond the existing scientific underpinnings for sound resource management and conservation.  Thus, this nexus of development pressures and conservation interests provides tremendous challenges as well as unique opportunities.

The Natural Resources Program in Northern Virginia focuses on these emerging information and policy needs in urban and urbanizing environments.  While traditional natural resource education, research, and outreach programs have addressed issues involving rural environments, our program addresses natural resource issues in the urban environment as well as in the growing urban/rural interface.  Issues such as urban fisheries and wildlife management, urban forestry, open space management, greenways and blueways, land use policy, water allocation, and sustainable development are included.  As remote sensing and geographic information systems are important tools in managing natural resources, we also incorporate Virginia Tech’s expertise in this area.

The teaching portion of our program includes at least two courses per semester leading to a Certificate of Graduate Studies in Natural Resources. In addition, a non-thesis degree, the Master of Natural Resources (MNR), is available for students in Northern Virginia; students may also select the Master of Forestry (MF) degree. The MNR is broader in scope than the research and outreach activities included in the MF program.

The research component of our Northern Virginia program will focus on urban forestry and wildlife, as well as issues related to sustainable urban development.  As we expand our program and add additional members to the faculty, the research component will expand into other related areas.  Our research will be multidisciplinary in scope and interdisciplinary in approach.  Studies will be conducted in collaboration with other Virginia Tech departments, as well as appropriate partners in Federal, Commonwealth, County, and City government agencies.  The outreach component of the program will include short-courses, workshops, and seminars on urban wildlife management, urban forestry, effects of urbanization on instream flow and aquatic resources, and geographic information system applications to urban land management and planning.

Program Connections

The College of Natural Resources at the Northern Virginia Center is an extension of the highly respected programs already in place in Blacksburg.  The program therefore has the ongoing support of the College’s four departments and their faculty members.  Blacksburg faculty members offer courses at the Northern Virginia Center (via VTEL, in-person, or both); continuing education courses in Northern Virginia, and collaborate with faculty members located in Northern Virginia to secure outside funding and to conduct research. 

The new Natural Resources Program will also have connections to other programs that Virginia Tech operates in the Northern Virginia area.  For example, there are strong synergies between the Landscape Architecture program and our program.  Similarly, there are already ties between our program and the Master of Public Administration program administered by the Center for Public Administration and Policy, as well as with the School of Public and International Affairs.  In addition, we are developing academic and research relationships with the Civil and Environmental Engineering program, as well as with the Urban Affairs and Planning program that Virginia Tech recently established in Northern Virginia.  We will also be an integral part of the new Virginia Tech Metropolitan Institute.  Therefore, exciting times are ahead for students interested in pursuing advanced studies in Natural Resources at the Northern Virginia Center.  Share the vision and spread the word!

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