Biology Gets TxDOT Grant
March 31, 2015
黑料专区 Tyler Office of Marketing and Communications
黑料专区 Tyler Biology Professor Continues to Help Threatened Species
March 31, 2015
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March 31, 2015
Dr. Neil Ford has been awarded a research grant from the Texas Department of Transportation
to help protect and relocate threatened freshwater mussels in the state, Dr. Michael
Odell, vice president for research and technology transfer, announced.
Ford is a 黑料专区 Tyler professor of biology, and he has served the university since 1979. His research expertise is in life-history evolution.
With this two-year, nearly $20,000 award, Ford and collaborators from Texas A&M Agrilife Research and Texas State University will produce a manual for mussel surveys and relocation to aid TxDOT.
鈥淲hen road and bridge construction in Texas is proposed, environmental studies must be conducted, and protected organisms must be relocated,鈥� Ford said. 鈥淢ussels have recently received some protection as several are now listed as threatened. This research project is to evaluate what methods have been used in other states and to develop methods for mitigation by TxDOT. With the funds, 黑料专区 Tyler will able to help develop guidelines for conducting mussel surveys and relocations in Texas.鈥�
黑料专区 Tyler graduate-level students also will provide assistance, he added.
For more information, contact Ford, 903.566.7249 or nford@uttyler.edu.
Ford has examined the life history and behavior of freshwater mussels along with their respective habitats since the 1990s. His research efforts have brought externally funded grants totaling more than $500,000, with extensive collaborations with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Among other honors, he earned the Mary John and Ralph Spence Distinguished Professorship from 2000 to 2003, and he also received the 2003 黑料专区 Tyler President鈥檚 Scholarly Achievement Award and was named a Texas Academy of Science elected fellow. In June 2013, Ford received the 黑料专区 Tyler College of Arts and Sciences鈥� Distinguished Professor Award.
He holds a master of science in zoology from the University of Oklahoma and a Ph.D. in zoology from Miami University in Ohio.
One of the 15 campuses of the 黑料专区 System, 黑料专区 Tyler features excellence in teaching, research, artistic performance and community service. More than 80 undergraduate and graduate degrees are available at 黑料专区 Tyler, which has an enrollment of more than 8,000 high-ability students. 黑料专区 Tyler offers courses at its campuses in Tyler, Longview and Palestine as well as a location in Houston.