Two Virginia Tech fisheries students earn NOAA scholarships
Andrew Shamaskin (left), Brendan Runde
BLACKSBURG, Va., Nov. 3, 2011 – Two Virginia Tech students have been awarded Ernest F. Hollings Scholarships by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
Sophomores Andrew Shamaskin of Midlothian, Va., and Brendan Runde of Mechanicsville, Md., both majoring in fisheries sciences in the College of Natural Resources and Environment, each received a scholarship and a 10-week summer internship position at a NOAA facility.
“The Hollings Scholarship is a competitive and prestigious award,” noted Eric Hallerman, head of the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation. “Recipients often go on to graduate studies and noteworthy careers in marine resources management.”
Both students are searching for an internship that will best suit their interests.
“I am interested in working on population dynamics of marine resources and setting regulations for our oceans’ highly migratory species,” Shamaskin said.
Runde is searching for an internship in Miami or Key West, Fla. “The job would likely include scuba diving on coral reefs and conducting research pertaining to fish and/or coral populations,” he said.
Shamaskin is attending the University of Washington in the fall 2011 semester and will return to Virginia Tech in spring 2012 to continue his studies under the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation’s new marine sciences option. He plans to continue on to graduate school once he completes his undergraduate degree.
Runde also says he plans on pursuing a graduate degree. “I hope to be performing meaningful research on the dynamics of damaged or imperiled aquatic ecosystems,” he said. “Helping to correct the wrongs that have been committed against such a fragile environment would be gratifying to me.”
The College of Natural Resources and Environment at Virginia Tech consistently ranks among the top three programs of its kind in the nation. Faculty members stress both the technical and human elements of natural resources and the environment, and instill in students a sense of stewardship, land-use ethics, and large-scale systems problem solving. 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. Virginia Tech, the most comprehensive university in Virginia, is dedicated to quality, innovation, and results to the commonwealth, the nation, and the world.
- Lynn Davis
- Comm Director, College of Natural Resources and Environment
- 540-231-6157
- davisl@vt.edu
