Ansley recognized as Texas A&M Regents Fellow
Writer: Kay Ledbetter, 806-677-5608, skledbetter@ag.tamu.edu
Dr. Jim Ansley, 940-552-9941, jansley@ag.tamu.edu
COLLEGE STATION – Dr. Jim Ansley, a Texas A&M AgriLife Research rangeland ecologist at Vernon, has been named a Regents Fellow by the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents.
The board established the Regents Fellow Service Awards in 1998 to recognize exceptional service by professionals in the seven Texas A&M University System agencies.
The presentation was made during a Regents Professor and Fellow Service Awards banquet at College Station on Feb. 11.
Ansley, also a professor in the Texas A&M department of ecosystem science and management, has established a worldwide reputation as a vegetation ecologist, based on his extensive research experience in semiarid rangelands and grasslands dominated by woody plants such as mesquite and juniper, according to his nomination.
His research emphasis has been to generate information that provides a better understanding of the function of these plant communities and to develop management strategies that can sustainably yield products from rangelands and restore degraded rangelands, the nomination continued.
Earning his bachelor’s degree at Hastings College in Nebraska, his master’s at Utah State University and his doctorate at the University of Wyoming, Ansley is recognized as an expert in plant ecophysiology and the way managing natural resources affects plant communities.
He conducts research on shrub and grass competition, management of woody plants with herbicides and prescribed fire, woody plant water use, wildlife predation of mesquite seeds and the potential of rangeland shrubs and trees for bioenergy.
Ansley also directs numerous graduate students at Texas A&M and teaches biology at Vernon College. He has won six awards for technical articles or posters and is associate editor of the Rangeland Ecology and Management Journal.
Dr. John Sweeten, AgriLife Research center director for both Amarillo and Vernon, said for more than 20 years Ansley has conducted a respected research program that addresses problems related to agricultural production and ecological sustainability.
His research is defined by addressing complex ecological interactions in a structured scientific method approach that yields innovative and insightful results, which are relevant to the scientific community as well as society in general, Sweeten said.
“Dr. Ansley’s work demonstrates he cares deeply about proper management and sustainability of our rangelands,” Sweeten said. “Jim is willing to present his results and his understanding of the issues to his peers in the scientific arena, agricultural businesses, local clubs and groups, undergraduate students from other universities, and students ranging from kindergarten to high school. He is an advocate for sustainable ecosystem science and management.”
