People
Faculty
Forestry
Carolyn A. Copenheaver, Associate Professor
Dr. Copenheaver earned her doctorate at The Pennsylvania State University in 2000. She is an Associate Professor in the Forestry
Department and teaches undergraduate and graduate classes in forest ecology and coordinates one of the departmental graduate seminars.
Dr. Copenheaver's research areas include dendrochronology, forest stand development, reconstructions of historical forest composition,
and land-use history. Within the field of dendrochronology, she has worked within the subdisciplines of dendroarcheology,
dendroclimatology, dendroecology, and dendrovolcanology. She is presently conducting research on the formation of compression
wood following ice storm damage; using annual rings in trees and clam shells to reconstruct historical sea surface temperatures,
reconstructing historical vegetation from original land-survey records, and examining the influence of topography on dendroclimatic
response in oaks.
Areas of Expertise:
- Dendrochronology
- Forest stand development
- Reconstruction of historical forest composition
- Land use history
Contact Information
Phone: (540) 231-4031
Email: ccopenhe@vt.edu
Office:228 Cheatham Hall
Mail Code 0323
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Thomas R. Fox, Associate Professor of Forestry
Dr. Fox's teaching responsibilities include Silviculture Principles and Applications, Advanced Silviculture, Properties and Management of Forest Soils and Watersheds. Dr. Fox earned his Bachelor of
Science from the University of Maine in 1980 from the Forestry Department. He received his Masters from the Virginia Tech Forestry Department in
1984. He completed his Doctorate in 1989 at the University of Florida for Soil Science. Dr. Fox has 15 years of industrial forestry experience
in New England, the Pacific Northwest and The South. He also is a registered Professional Forester in Georgia and Maine, a SAF Certified Forester,
and a certified Professional Soil Scientist. He was the associate editor for Silviculture of Southern Journal of Applied Forestry (1993-1998) and
he has served as an associate editor for the Southern Journal of Applied Forestry and the Soil Science Society of America Journal (2000 - 2004).
Areas of Expertise:
- Silviculture of Appalachian hardwoods
- Intensive silviculture of southern pine plantation
- Forest soils
- Rhizosphere chemistry
- Environmental sustainability of intensive forest management
- Ecophysiology of managed forest stands
Contact Information
Phone: (540) 231-8862
Email: trfox@vt.edu
Office:228 Cheatham Hall
Mail Code 0323
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Shepard M. Zedaker, Professor of Forestry
Dr. Zedaker earned his Bachelor of Science from Humboldt State University in 1975, his Master of Science from Purdue
University in 1977, and his Doctorate from Oregon State University in 1981. His teaching responsibilities at Virginia Tech include Silviculture
Field Lab at Spring Camp, Survey of Forest Ecology and Management, Advanced Silviculture and Forest Vegetation Management, and Forest Protection.
Dr. Zedaker and his students conduct research in regeneration ecology, chemical silviculture, vegetation management, and wildland fire ecology
and protection. His professional achievements include receiving the Certificate of Teaching Excellence from the College of Natural Resources at Virginia Tech in 2002.
Areas of Expertise:
- Regeneration ecology
- Chemical silviculture
- Vegetation management,
- Wildland fire ecology and protection.
Contact Information
Phone: (540) 231-4855
Email: zedaker@vt.edu
Office: 228 Cheatham Hall
Mail Code 0323
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Wood Science and Forest Products
Kevin Edgar, Professor
Edgar joined the faculty of Virginia Tech as a Professor of Biomaterials and Bioprocessing in 2007, after 27 years at
Eastman Chemical Company, culminating as a Technology Fellow. He spent much of his career at Eastman in research and
research leadership in the field of polysaccharide chemistry, and later in his career helped to build a technology
portfolio and organization for a startup drug delivery business within Eastman. He is a professor in the
Wood Science and Forest Products Department, is an Associate Director of the Macromolecules and Interfaces Institute,
is a member of the Faculty Advisory Board of the Institute for Critical Technologies and Applied Science (ICTAS),
and is a member of the Wood-Based Composites Center. Edgar leads the Bio-based Materials and Processing Group under ICTAS.
His interests are in the synthesis of novel polysaccharide derivatives, unraveling their structure property relationships,
and taking advantage of their useful properties, especially in the creation of effective drug delivery systems to
meet critical patient needs. He also has interest in the synthesis, analysis, and utilization of polysaccharides and
derivatives with controlled microstructure. Edgar received a BS in Chemistry from Bucknell University, and a Ph.D. in
Organic Chemistry from Duke University.
Edgar is a member of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the American Association of Pharmaceutical Science (AAPS)
and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Areas of Expertise:
- Polysaccharide synthesis
- Cellulose derivative synthesis
- Polysaccharide chemistry
- Drug delivery
- Organic synthesis
Contact Information
Phone: (540) 231-0674
Fax: (540) 231-8176
Email: kjedgar@vt.edu
Office: 230 Cheatham Hall
Mail Code 0323
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Charles E. Frazier, Professor and Director, Wood-Based Composites Center
Dr. Frazier works in the area of adhesion and polymer science, with emphasis on wood-based
composites materials. He earned his Doctorate at Virginia Tech in 1992. He is the
Director of the the Wood-Based Composites Center (WBC), a cooperative effort between four
universities and industry leaders. The goal of the WBC Center is to provide instructional
and research services to the wood-based composites industry. He is also an active
participant in the Sustainable Engineered Materials Institute (SEMI), and the
Macromolecules and Interfaces Institute (MII).
Areas of Expertise:
- Wood Adhesion
- Characterization of the Wood/Adhesive Interphase
- Wood Viscoelasticity
- Thermoplastic and Thermosetting Adhesives for Wood
- Fracture Testing of Bonded Wood
Contact Information
Phone: (540) 231-8318
Fax: (540) 231-8176
Email: cfrazier@vt.edu
Office: 230 Cheatham Hall
Mail Code 0323
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Scott Renneckar, Assistant Professor
Dr. Renneckar earned his Ph.D. at Virginia Tech in 2004 with research in the area of wood thermoplastic composites.
He is actively pursuing research in the areas of developing nanotechnology with wood-derived polymers
and modification of cellulose-based fibers and wood-based composites with self-assembled materials.
Areas of Expertise:
- Biomimetic (bottom-up) composites
- Wood thermoplastic composites
- Novel processing methods for biomass
- Applications of nanotechnology to traditional wood-based composites
Contact Information
Phone: (540) 231-7100
Fax: (540) 231-8868
Email: srenneck@vt.edu
Office: 106 Brooks Forest Products Center
Mail Code 0503
Virginia Tech
1650 Ramble Road
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Maren Roman, Assistant Professor
Maren Roman received a German university diploma in Chemistry, equivalent to an
American M.S. degree, from Clausthal University of Technology in 1997. She earned
her Ph.D. degree in Polymer Chemistry at SUNY College of Environmental Science
and Forestry in 2002. Her doctoral research was on wood-based polymer
nanocomposites. Prior to joining Virginia Tech, Dr. Roman held a postdoctoral
research position at the Pulp and Paper Research Centre at McGill University
in Montreal, where she studied the self-assembly behavior of cellulose
nanocrystals. Dr. Roman joined Virginia Tech as an assistant professor in
the summer of 2004.
Dr. Roman is a member of the American Chemical Society – Cellulose and
Renewable Materials Division and Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering
Division. She serves on the faculty advisory boards for both the Wood-Based
Composite Center (WBC) and SEMI.
Areas of Expertise
- Properties and utilization of cellulose nanocrystals
- self-assembly properties of cellulose nanocrystals and their implications on wood ultra-structure
- application of cellulose nanocrystals as reinforcing additive in polymer composites
- molecular interactions of polymers, including wood polymers, wet-end polymers, and commodity and performance polymers, with native cellulose surfaces.
Contact Information
Phone: (540) 231-1421
Fax: (540) 231-8176
Email: maren.roman@vt.edu
Office: 230B Cheatham Hall
Mail Code 0323
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Audrey Zink-Sharp, Director and Professor
Dr. Zink-Sharp earned her Doctorate at The State University of New York in 1992.
She is the Director of the Sustainable Engineered Materials Institute, Assistant
Department Head for the Department of Wood Science and Forest Products, and remains
an active faculty member of the Wood-Based Composites Center. She
teaches undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education classes in wood anatomy,
wood properties, and wood processing. Her classes focus on the fine anatomical structure
of wood and its relationship to properties. Dr. Zink-Sharp's primary research emphasis
is wood cell wall architecture, but she is involved in many research projects that include
wood anatomy and the development of improved wood-based composites. She is presently
initiating research on quantitative wood anatomy and creating three-dimensional models
of a wood cell that incorporate the most recently observed cell wall architecture.
Dr. Zink-Sharp also coordinates the department's Wood Magic program and website.
Areas of Expertise:
- Digital Image Processing and Analysis
- Wood Structure/Property Relations
- Wood Anatomy
- Experimental Mechanics
Contact Information
Phone: (540) 231-8820
Fax: (540) 231-8176
Email: agzink@vt.edu
Office: 230 Cheatham Hall
Mail Code 0323
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Research Associates, Research Scientists, and Staff
Linda Caudill, Senior Research Associate and Managing Director
After receiving her Masters degree from the Department of Wood Science & Forest Products at Virginia Tech, Linda spent
12 years working for Weyerhaeuser Company. For most of those years, she was the Technical Director for a particleboard
plant in North Carolina. In 1999, Linda returned to Virginia Tech to assume the role of Managing Director for the Wood-
Based Composites Center. In 2001, she expanded her responsibilities to include management of the activities of
SEMI. Originially from Massachusetts, Linda received her undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts in
Amherst.
Contact Information
Phone: (540) 231-7092
Email: lcaudill@vt.edu
Office: Wood-Based Composite Center
Mail Code 0503
Virginia Tech
1650 Ramble Road
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Students
Sudip Chowdhury, Ph.D. Candidate
- Department/Major: Wood Science and Forest Products
- Research Interest(s): Small specimen wood rheology; the development of torsional methods on wood disks
- Major Professor(s): Charles Frazier
- Academic Background: B.S. Chemistry, University of Calcutta, India
M.S. Wood Science and Technology, Forest Research Institute, India
M.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering, Washington State University, Pullman, WA
- Contact Information
Phone: (540) 231-8855
Email: sudip@vt.edu
Jung Ki Hong, M.S. Candidate
- Department/Major: Wood Science & Forest Products
- Research Interest(s): Cellulose nanocrystal reinforcement of wood adhesives
- Major Professor(s): Maren Roman
- Academic Background: B.S.of Agriculture, Forestry, Yeungnam University, Gyungsan, Korea, 2005
- Contact Information
Phone: (540) 808-7958
Email: hkj77.edu
Benjamin Hook, M.S. Candidate
- Department/Major: Forestry
- Research Interest(s): The formation and properties of compression wood
- Major Professor(s): Carolyn Copenheaver
- Academic Background: BS in Forestry, University of Missouri - Columbia
- Contact Information
Email: benjam1n@vt.edu
Hometown: Missouri
Josh Hosen, M.S. Candidate
- Department/Major: Wood Science and Forest Products
- Research Interest(s): examining the lignin glass transition as a method to screen the effectiveness of wood adhesion coupling agents
- Major Professor(s): Charles Frazier
- Academic Background: BS Virginia Tech
- Contact Information
Email: jahosen@vt.edu
Phone: (703) 674-8232
Hometown: Oakton, VA
Richard Johnson, Ph.D. Candidate
- Department/Major: Wood Science & Forest Products
- Research Interest(s): Modification of cellulose fiber surfaces by adsorption on polyelectrolytes systems; studies of lignin adsorption
and admocellar polymerizations
- Major Professor(s): Audrey Zink-Sharp
- Academic Background: B.S., Natural Resource Management, University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, 1998
M.S. Wood Science and Forest Products, Virgina TEch, 2004
- Contact Information
Phone: (540) 231-5848
Email: rijohns6@vt.edu
Zhiyuan Lin, Ph.D. Candidate
- Department/Major: Wood Science and Forest Products
- Research Interest(s): Nanocomposite-based Wood fibers for reinforcement in thermoplastic composites
- Major Professor(s): Scott Renneckar
- Academic Background: BS Beijing Forestry University; MS Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science (Beijing)
- Contact Information
Email: linzy@vt.edu
Phone: (540) 231-5219
Hometown: Beijing, China
Jesse Paris, M.S. Candidate
- Department/Major: Wood Science and Forest Products
- Research Interest(s): The dynamic mechanical and rheological properties of cellulose-based water-dispersions and their effects on wood adhesion
- Major Professor(s): Charles Frazier
- Academic Background: BS Virginia Tech
- Contact Information
Email: parisjl@vt.edu
Phone: (540) 231-8855
Hometown: Richmond, VA
SEMI Hall of Fame
- Katherine E. Kovach, M.S. Forestry, December 2008.
Assessment of Genetic Variation of Acer rubrum L. and Liriodendron tulipifera L. Populations in Unmanaged Forests of the Southeastern
United States (Shep Zedaker, Major professor)
- Zhou (Angela) Yu, M.S. Wood Science and Forest Products, September 2008.
Nanoscale Surface Modification of Wood Veneers for Adhesion (Scott Renneckar, Major professor)
- Thammarat Mettanurak, M.S. Wood Science and Forest Products, April 2008.
Effect of minimum suppression and maximum release years on compression parallel to grain strength and specific gravity for small-sized yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera L.) specimens (Audrey Zink-Sharp, Major professor)
- Mason Jeffries, M.S. Wood Science and Forest Products, January 2008.
Relationships of growth rate and mechanical properties in sweetgum, Liquidambar styraciflua (Audrey Zink-Sharp, Major professor)
- Nate Herring, Master of Forestry, July 2007.
Sensitivity analysis of the forest vegetation simulator southern variant (FVS-Sn) for southern Appalachian hardwoods (Phil Radtke, Major professor)
- Ohkyung Kwon, Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Wood Science and Forest Products, 2008.
- David Jones, Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Forestry, 2007.
- Aaron Bernard, M.S. Forestry, May 2006.
Geospatial modeling of forest road networks and their effect on stream macroinvertebrate communities (Steve Prisley, Major professor)
- Dzamal Amishev, M.S. Forestry, September 2005.
Impact of weed control and fertilization on growth on eastern white, loblolly, shortleaf and Virginia pine plantations in the Virginia Piedmont (Thomas Fox, Major professor)
- Jeff Matthews, M.S.Forest Biology, November 2004.
Effects of wildfire intensity on invasives, stand structure, and fuel loading in Shenandoah National Park (Shep Zedaker, Major professor)
- Jonathan Hood, M.S. Wood Science and Forest Products, July 2004.
Changes in OSB mat permeability during hot pressing (Fred Kamke, Major professor)
- Jiang Shu, Ph.D. Computer Science, 2004.
An experiment management component for the WBCSim problem solving environm (Layne Watson, Major professor)
Updated: 3/6/09; lcc