BLACKSBURG, Sept. 23, 2002 -- Steve McMullin,
Virginia Tech's associate professor in
fisheries and wildlife in the College
of Natural Resources, returned from sabbatical
research leave with information and experience
to share with his students that can only
be gained through hands-on experience.
During
McMullin's sabbatical leave, he worked
for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game
as a planning and human dimensions advisor
the social science of fisheries and wildlife
management. "Working for a management
agency allowed me to return to my professional
roots and to further enhance my credibility
as an academic who has substantial nonacademic
experience," explains McMullin. "Prior
to coming to Virginia Tech, I worked as
a fishery manager for another state agency."
McMullin
completed a number of accomplishments
during his leave. He conducted personal
interviews with all seven fish and game
commissioners, 12 Idaho state legislators
who served on natural resource-related
committees, and 14 upper level agency
administrators. This experience helped
McMullin gain insight on how politics
play into real world natural resource
management issues.
McMullin
developed interview schedules for focus
group interviews with hunters, anglers,
nonconsumptive users, landowners, and
commercial interests in each of the state's
77 administrative regions. McMullin personally
conducted nine of the 35 focus groups
and trained 11 agency personnel to conduct
the rest. Over 400 Idahoans participated
in the focus groups, providing input to
the strategic planning process.
The
Virginia Tech professor took time to design,
implement, and analyze several surveys
on the importance of agency programs used
for over 650 agency employees and 7,700
Idahoans. He designed a comprehensive
planning system for the entire agency
that explained the benefits and costs
of planning, as well as designed and led
three planning workshops for the commission
to integrate into the agency's planning
system.
In
addition to working for the State of Idaho,
McMullin worked on several projects of
importance to his position at Virginia
Tech. He conducted continuing education
courses ranging from one to ten days for
the North Carolina Department of Wildlife
Resources Commission and the U.S. Forest
Service. He authored a summary report
on the highlights of Virginia's survey
of fresh water anglers that was published
for the Virginia Department of Game and
Inland Fisheries. He was also able to
complete revisions on two manuscripts
and resubmit them for publication, while
co-authoring another manuscript, and helping
a Virginia Tech M.S. student successfully
defend his thesis.
"The
most rewarding part of my work with Idaho,
is that in addition to refreshing my management
agency experience, I was also able to
collect data from several sources that
will provide numerous publishing opportunities,"
notes McMullin. He will be continuing
to work for the Idaho Department of Fish
and Game on a part-time basis throughout
the fiscal year through a sponsored-research
project.
