VIRGINIA TECH FOREST PRODUCTS
PROFESSOR ASSISTS INTERNATIONAL
RESEARCH CENTER
BLACKSBURG,
Va., May 12, 2004 - With the
leadership of a Virginia Tech
College of Natural Resources
faculty member, both the college
and the university will be working
with the Center for International
Forestry Research (CIFOR) to
improve the well-being of people
who live in and depend on forests.
Tom
Hammett of Blacksburg, Va.,
associate professor of forest
products marketing, is serving
as the new scientific liaison
officer to CIFOR. His role is
to increase collaboration between
the organization and North American
universities for joint research
and development projects with
faculty and build resources
for international education.
The
organization works with universities
and researchers to submit proposals
for funding research, and partners
with them on workshops and publications.
"My job with CIFOR is to foster
and develop these relationships,"
explains Hammett. "The center
funds my travel to look at research
sites and to attend meetings."
Through
Virginia Tech, Hammett and CIFOR
are currently collaborating
with the South-East Consortium
for International Development,
a non-profit organization of
Southeastern universities whose
mission is to help developing
countries enhance their standard
of living. The center is also
developing a joint effort with
African and U.S. universities
to upgrade the training and
research capabilities of the
African partners.
CIFOR
is a worldwide research center
based in Indonesia. It acts
as a clearinghouse that funds
projects for research in forestry,
forest products, and the livelihood
that comes from forest resources.
CIFOR and its partners from
more than 40 countries collaborate
on forest conservation research.
The organization focuses its
research on topics such as community
forestry, income-generation
from forest resources, forest
biodiversity, non-timber forest
products, forest fires, deforestation
and degradation, poverty, conflicts,
and illegal forest activities.
Last year marked the 10th anniversary
since CIFOR was created to solve
forestry problems and help international
communities that rely on forest
resource. Since its creation,
CIFOR has played a significant
role in raising global awareness
on a variety of forest-related
issues.
Hammett
is currently the coordinator
of international programs for
the College of Natural Resources
and is associated with the Center
for Forest Products Marketing
and Management at Virginia Tech.
His areas of expertise include
international trade, forest
enterprise development, niche
markets, certified forest products,
forest products marketing, forest-based
economic development, and non-timber
forest products utilization
and marketing.
The
College of Natural Resources
at Virginia Tech consistently
ranks among the top five programs
of its kind in the nation. Faculty
members stress both the technical
and human elements of natural
resources and instill in students
a sense of stewardship and land-use
ethics. Areas of study include
environmental resource management,
fisheries and wildlife sciences,
forestry, geospatial and environmental
analysis, natural resource recreation,
urban forestry, wood science
and forest products, geography,
and international development.
