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NSF Grants $1.2 Million to Establish Center for Advanced Forestry Systems
BLACKSBURG, Va., December 12, 2007 – Four prominent research university forestry programs have received a National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) grant to establish the Center for Advanced Forestry Systems. North Carolina State University, Purdue University, Oregon State University, and Virginia Tech received the grant, which requires matching industry funds from each participating university.
The partnership, expanding the center from the previous Center for Tree Genetics between Purdue and Oregon Sate, will build upon the strengths of four focused research programs to create a multi-university, interdisciplinary, single research center that will solve a variety of forestry issues through multifaceted approaches. Scientists at each school will provide expertise to the combined NSF Center. Themes of the center will include combining traditional genetics, biotechnology and silviculture into integrated systems, with quantitative models to support decision-making and value enhancement.
The overall goal of the center will be to increase the productivity and value of plantation forests and allow foresters to produce a greater volume of high-quality wood materials on a smaller landbase. The center will emphasize environmentally-sound, scientifically-based management approaches that will permit large areas of forest to be preserved for other uses such as wilderness preservation, wildlife habitat, and recreation. An additional benefit will be the opportunity to use wood for biobased fuels and other biomaterials.
For additional information contact: Tilla Fearn, College of Natural Resources, North Carolina State University, (919) 513-4644, tilla_fearn@ncsu.edu; David Stauth, Forestry News and Communication, Oregon State University, (541) 737-0787, david.stauth@oregonstate.edu; Doug Main, College of Agriculture, Purdue University, (765) 496-2050, dmain@purdue.edu; or Lynn Davis, College of Natural Resources, Virginia Tech, (540) 231-6157, davisl@vt.edu.
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