VIRGINIA
TECH FISHERIES PROFESSOR ACCEPTED
INTO PRESTIGIOUS TEACHING PROGRAM
BLACKSBURG, Sept. 16, 2002 Project
Kaleidoscope (PKAL), one of the leading
advocates in this country for building
and sustaining strong undergraduate
programs in the various fields of
science, engineering, and mathematics,
accepted Jim Berkson, fisheries and
wildlife assistant professor in Virginia
Tech's College of Natural Resources,
into their prestigious teaching program,
"Faculty for the 21st Century."
PKAL
equips faculty and administrators
for leadership in undergraduate education
reform at the local level. These activities
help professors relate how science
and mathematics help serve the national
interest. PKAL's aim is to foster
communications among university leaders
who want to shape the future. "PKAL
provides education workshops around
the country, where faculty and administrators
can go to share ideas and ways to
strengthen student learning," Berkson
adds.
PKAL
identifies faculty that have demonstrated
promise as leaders within their local
community and with the potential for
national leadership. Berkson created
a course that fit that description
two years ago entitled "The Role of
Science in Natural Resource Management."
This senior-level class provides students
with realistic expectations of how
scientists within the resource-management
process work in the real world. Berkson's
capstone course has received national
recognition for this approach. "I
am excited about this opportunity,"
says Berkson. "It will provide me
with a chance to step outside my department
and the university and learn from
pioneers in undergraduate teaching
from around the country."
Berkson,
who joins six other Virginia Tech
faculty members previously accepted
into the PKAL program, is the first
faculty member from the College of
Natural Resources. He will attend
the national PKAL assembly in October.
