A West Virginia University biology professor has been awarded a fellowship to participate in a national program that trains environmental scientists to be better communicators.

James McGraw, Eberly Professor of Biology, is one of 20 environmental scientists accepted into this years Aldo Leopold Leadership Program.

Named after an American forester and conservationist who was effective at communicating scientific concepts, the Aldo Leopold Program teaches scientists how to explain technical issues to the media, policymakers and the private sector. Oregon State University runs the program on behalf of the Ecological Society of America.

“The idea behind the program is that scientists are not trained in how to communicate their findings to the public, media and policymakers, and this is a formal introduction on how to do that effectively,”Dr. McGraw said.

“I have interacted with the media numerous times over the past two decades and have always felt it would be helpful to have training to improve getting my main message across,”he added.”I think the Ecological Society of America has hit upon a great idea in doing this.”

McGraw and other scientists in the program will participate in two training sessions: a one-week session in June at Warm Springs Indian Reservation, Ore., and a follow-up session in September in Washington, D.C.

This is the second year of the three-year program. A total 60 environmental scientists will have gone through the training sessions by the end of the programs third year in 2001. Support for the program comes from a $1.5 million grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

McGraw has been on the biology faculty in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences since 1982. He teaches courses in ecology and evolution, plant population biology and biometry. His research into environmental stresses on plant populations has led him to study forest canopies using remote sensing and rare harvested plants such as ginseng and goldenseal.

He has a doctorate in botany from Duke University and a bachelors degree in biological sciences from Stanford University.

More information about the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program is available on the World Wide Web athttp://www.leopold.orst.edu/.