BLACKSBURG, Va., Feb. 19, 2016 – A Virginia Tech invasive plant expert will be briefing congressional staff members on Monday on the best ways to increase the use of plants for biofuels without sowing an environmental nightmare in the process.
While plants used for biofuels are a vital part of a growing need to create more forms of alternative energy, careless planting of them can lead to an unwanted invasion of exotic plants that ...
Jacob Barney, Assistant Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology, Physiology & Weed Science at Virginia Tech, is part of a research team that recently received a USDA grant to study the invasive weed, Johnsongrass.
From UGA Today
“A team of researchers led by faculty at the University of Georgia have received a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to find new ways of combating Johnsongrass, one of the most widespread and troublesome agricultural weeds in the world.
Native ...
Read More →BLACKSBURG, Va., Dec. 10, 2015 – Rose Peterson of Norfolk, Virginia, was recently whipping up some pesto, which is generally made with basil, pine nuts, olive oil, and Parmesan cheese.
But the Virginia Tech senior skipped the basil and instead substituted garlic mustard, a common weed that is one of many invasive plants that are not only ubiquitous, but also delicious.
“Garlic mustard grows commonly in lawns,” said Peterson, who harvested some from her aunt’s house ...
Read More →Jacob Barney, Assistant Professor in Plant Pathology, Physiology and Weed Science (PPWS), received the Outstanding Researcher Award at the Northeastern Weed Science Society’s (NEWSS) 69th Annual Meeting in Williamsburg, VA on January 5, 2015.
Dr. Barney and his collaborators have published numerous peer-reviewed papers in journals that include a wide variety of ecology, weed science, bioenergy, and policy/law research. He has been invited to speak around the world and has served as advisor to various industry ...
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From VT NEWS:
Scott Salom, a professor of entomology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has worked for years to develop ways to combat the woolly adelgid and save hemlock trees.
In 2013, he and his team of researchers released one of the hemlock woolly adelgid’s predators from its native habitat in Japan into the woods in Virginia and West Virginia. If all goes as planned, the beetle will be another tool that resource managers will have to save ...
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Dr. Jacob Barney, will offer BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS, PPWS 4604 and 5604G, during fall semester 2014. The course will explore the historical, conceptual, mechanistic, societal, and political components of invasive species. The course begins with Darwin and ends with the “Homogocene”, covering the invasion process from introduction to ecological or economic impact and all components in between.
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