Virginia Tech – Nepal Memorial Center for Excellence
Virginia Tech partnership with Yale University and Principia College to establish the Memorial Center of Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the Institute of Forestry in Pokhara, Nepal
Year: 2007-2010
Granting Agency: Higher Education for Development (HED)
Cooperative Agreement #:USAID AEG-A-00-05-00007-00 (through HED)
Grant Amount: $400,000
Location: Nepal
In Nepal, a country about the size of Arkansas with a population of 28 million, forests harbor unique biodiversity and play a vital role in the economy of rural communities. Virginia Tech, along with Yale University and Principia College, is working to create a center at the Institute of Forestry that will promote excellence in forestry research, education, and outreach. The center is also important because it will be a living, breathing memorial to 24 national and international conservation experts who were killed in a tragic helicopter crash in Nepal in September of 2006. Since Nepal is the birthplace of community forestry—the practice of organizing the use of forest resources around the needs of a community—it is an appropriate site for a project of this sort.
Mission and Vision:
The Memorial Center for Excellence will strengthen the capacity of the Institute of Forestry to educate Nepal’s future professionals in forestry and natural resource conservation. The conservation leaders of tomorrow will bring Nepal closer to its goals of biodiversity conservation, environmental sustainability, and healthy, productive human communities.
Objectives for the three-year partnership:
- Establish the Conservation Leaders Memorial Center of Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the Institute of Forestry
- Strengthen the professional skills, knowledge, and teaching effectiveness of the Institute of Forestry faculty and staff
- Improve career and academic advising, and other support for students
- Develop and implement programs to ensure the inclusion and success of disadvantaged groups, including women and students from remote areas
- Ensure the sustainability of the Center of Excellence
Virginia Tech faculty involved:
- Tom Hammett - Professor, Wood Science and Forestry Products
- Robert Kenny - Senior Project Associate, OIRED
- Maria Elisa Christie - Director, Women in International Development
- S.K. De Datta - Associate Vice President for International Affairs; Director of OIRED
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Tom Hammett meets with high-level administrators of Tribhuvan University. |
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Faculty from the Institute of Forestry discuss the establishment of the Nepal Memorial Center for Excellence. |
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Maria Elisa Christie, Director of Women in International Development, and Professor Mike Rechlin of Principia College visit the Institute of Forestry (IOF) campus at Hetauda. |
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Maria Elisa Christie at the entrance to the forest nursery on the IOF - Hetauda campus. |
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Nepal is home to a wide range of natural resources, including the spectacular Himalayan range. |
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Tom Hammett and Maria Elisa Christie meet with administrators of Tribhuvan University.
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