Paul Emerson, a West Virginia University senior majoring in environmental protection, has received the Mined Land Reclamation Educational Grant from the National Association of State Land Reclamationists (NASLR).

Emerson, of Hurricane, received $1,000 from the NASLR , which he will use toward costs associated with education and independent research.

Emerson was chosen from a pool of applicants from across the United States who are enrolled as full-time junior, senior or graduate students in an accredited college or university.

The award is given to students with academic training and skills in land reclamation, and who may be involved in special projects or research in land reclamation,said Jeff Skousen, Emersons academic advisor and a professor of Plant and Soil Sciences in WVU s Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences.

Emerson worked for the Organic Research Project of the Davis Colleges Division of Plant and Soil Sciences and is currently working on reforestation of surface mines in southern West Virginia. He is monitoring the survival and growth of commercially valuable trees on a 200-acre site at Arch Coal’s Catenary mine near Charleston.

“I am pleased and honored to receive this award,”Emerson said.

Skousen said,”Paul is a worthy recipient of this award and shows that mined land reclamation work in West Virginia is top quality.”

NASLR is a non-profit organization of state officials that promotes and advances mined land reclamation.