Audrey Zink-Sharp appointed wood science and forest products interim department head

Audrey Zink-Sharp

BLACKSBURG, Va., June 17, 2009 -- Audrey Zink-Sharp has been appointed as interim head of the Department of Wood Science and Forest Products in Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources.

Zink-Sharp will begin her official duties July 10, filling in for department head Paul Winistorfer, who will succeed the retiring Dean Mike Kelly on Aug. 1.

“In her roles as associate department head and institute director, Dr. Zink-Sharp has shown herself to be both a very capable fiscal manager and program leader. I sincerely appreciate Audrey’s willingness to assume additional duties during this period of leadership transition, and know that the wood science department will be in good hands,” said Kelly.

Zink-Sharp teaches undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education classes in wood anatomy, wood properties, and wood processing, and serves as director of the Sustainable Engineered Materials Institute at Virginia Tech.

Her primary research emphasis is wood cell wall architecture and the development of improved wood-based composites. She is presently creating 3-D, virtual reality models of a wood cube. Zink-Sharp has coordinated Wood Magic at Virginia Tech, a natural resource education program that has reached over 10,000 children, teachers, guests, and volunteers, since its inception in 1998.

Zink-Sharp received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Colorado State University, and her doctorate from the State University of New York.

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Contact Lynn Davis at davisl@vt.edu or (540) 231-6157.

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