Contact: Bob Ratliff
Mississippi State students now have the opportunity to conduct graduate study in the biological sciences on the other side of the world.
A newly signed agreement between the university's College of Forest Resources and the Malaysia University of Science is creating a research assistantship, complete with logistical support. The first student soon will be selected to study tropical stream ecology in the Southeast Asian nation of nearly 22 million people.
"This is an opportunity for a student to conduct research on fish habitats in highland streams, including the impact of logging and mining on fish populations," said MSU's Donald Jackson. "Logging and mining are major industries in Malaysia and the problems they cause are similar to those faced in some areas of Mississippi."
Jackson, a professor of fisheries, said the MSU student, in addition to experiencing a very distinct culture, will be exposed to a different type of higher education system.
"Malaysia was part of the British Empire and their system follows the British model," he said. "Graduate students conduct specialized research rather than taking courses in the classroom."
As part of the MSU-MUS agreement, a Malaysian student will come to Starkville to enroll in the master's degree program of wildlife and fisheries. The first participant is expected in January for the spring semester.
Jackson said the selected Mississippi State student would spend 18 months to two years completing a master's in biological sciences from the Malaysian institution. Applications currently are being accepted from December and May graduates in the areas of natural resources or biological sciences, he added.
This is not the first student exchange between the two schools. There have been several earlier short-term exchanges of students for stream fisheries studies.
"Advancing the program to incorporate graduate degrees strengthens the international reputation in fisheries research for both universities," Jackson said. "It also helps open the world to our students as they address natural resources in a global context."
Jackson is no stranger himself to international research, having worked on projects in Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Europe. Recently, he and departmental colleague Leandro E.S. Miranda completed a yearlong study for the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization on the worldwide influences of dams and reservoirs on river fisheries.
Malaysia, a constitutional monarchy that includes English among its major languages, encompasses the tip of a peninsula below Thailand and the northern one-third of the island of Borneo. Most of the western part of the country is covered by tropical jungle, with the central mountain range running north-south through the peninsula.