COLLEGE STATION — A new program has been created to more effectively coordinate environmental and natural resources efforts within the Texas A&M University Agricultural Program.
The Environmental and Natural Resources Program was announced by Dr. Edward Hiler, vice chancellor and dean of agriculture and life sciences. Dr. Wayne Jordan, director of the Texas Water Resources Institute, has been named the coordinator for the new program.
“Activities related to the environment and natural resources are a major focal points of the Texas A&M University System’s Agricultural Program,” Hiler explains, “but we need to do a better job of explaining how work in these areas is benefitting people throughout Texas. A major activity in ENRP will be to develop strategies to more effectively assess the integrated impacts of environmental work within the Agricultural Program and to better communicate that information to clientele groups.”
The ENRP will operate in a team framework. Team members consist of representatives from such institutes and centers as TWRI, the Center for Natural Resources Information Technology, and the Institute for Renewable Natural Resources. Representatives of special Agricultural Program initiatives also will participate. These include the water conservation and quality initiative, the integrated pest management program, the natural resources, environmental, and land stewardship initiative, the waste management initiative, the environmental public issues education initiative, the environmental affairs team, resource policy analysis, forest resources and products, animal waste management, and natural resources and environmental management.
“One emphasis of this program is to provide a high level of focus and visibility for environmental and natural resources activities within the Agricultural Program,” Jordan said. “We will move aggressively into electronic communications to create a link for the ENRP that will be included on the Agriculture Program’s Internet home page. We also will develop marketing strategies to effectively tell the story of what we’re doing to protect and improve the environment and Texas’ precious natural resources.”
Jordan said another active area for ENRP will be coordinating natural resources efforts of the Agricultural Program and working to increase the opportunities for multi-disciplinary, multi-location research.
“We’ve been charged with coordinating environmental and natural resources activities and programs so that we can fully assess the cumulative impact of these efforts and then tell that message to others,” Jordan said.
The ENRP is already examining ways to increase collaboration and communication among Agricultural Program projects. In the future, the ENRP will work with Agricultural Program leaders to develop high priority program initiatives that the Texas Legislature or U.S. Congress may consider funding. In this way, Jordan said, the ENRP will allow the Agricultural Program to rapidly respond to major challenges in research, education, and outreach service when they occur.
“The ENRP will give us a framework to anticipate major issues so that we can prepare ideas, materials, and programs to deal with these challenges when they arise,” Jordan said. “It will benefit our clientele groups because it will allow Agriculture Program faculty a better opportunity to develop well thought-out, cost-effective solutions, rather than putting us in a position of continuing crisis management.”
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