STUDENT
AWARDED BUDWEISER CONSERVATION
SCHOLARSHIP
BLACKSBURG,
July 14, 2003 - Brett Ostby, graduate
student in fisheries and wildlife
sciences at Virginia Tech, is
a recipient of the Budweiser Conservation
Scholarship presented by the National
Fisheries and Wildlife Foundation.
Ostby, one of over 300 applicants,
receives one of the ten scholarships
of $10,000 for his academic achievements.
The
scholarship will enable Ostby
to continue his research on freshwater
mussel habitat ecology in the
Tennessee River system. Quantified
habitat information is needed
to restore the river's diverse
fauna, which has been decimated
by adverse habitat alterations
caused by logging, mining, agriculture,
and construction of dams. Ostby's
research will aid the Tennessee
Valley Authority in restoration
and management of mussel populations
throughout the Tennessee River
system.
Fisheries
and wildlife science department
head Don Orth says, "Brett is
the first student from Virginia
Tech to ever receive this scholarship."
A native of Rochester, Minnesota,
Ostby received his bachelor's
degree from Luther College in
Decorah, Iowa.
