The Cooperative Research Units were created to enhance graduate education in fisheries and wildlife sciences and to facilitate research among natural resource agencies and universities on topics of mutual concern. The West Virginia Unit is a partnership among the U.S. Geological Survey, the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources and the Division of Forestry and Natural Resources in the Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences at West Virginia University.
The West Virginia Unit's research program is focused on environmental impacts at the species and ecosystem levels. Wildlife research projects focus on the effects of anthropogenic disturbances, particularly timber harvesting and energy extraction, on wildlife populations and their habitats. Fisheries research projects focus on contaminants, brook trout restoration and systematics and ecology of West Virginia fishes.
