James Miller of MSU receives major regional conservation award

Contact: Maridith Geuder

A regional professional organization is recognizing a Mississippi State faculty member's contributions and service to wildlife resource conservation.

Extension/outreach research professor James E. Miller recently was honored with the 2003 Clarence W. Watson Award at the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Banquet in Mobile , Ala. He is a member of the university's wildlife and fisheries department.

Considered the group's most prestigious honor, the Watson Award is presented jointly by the Southeastern Section of the Wildlife Society, Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society, and the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies' Directors.

Miller has conducted extensive studies on, among other topics, various natural resource-based enterprises--the recreational uses of land to supplement traditional agricultural income.

Before coming to MSU in 2001, he served for more than two decades as a national program leader for wildlife and fisheries in the United States Department of Agriculture. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Florida .

Based in Tallahassee , Fla., the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies represents 16 state departments primarily responsible for managing and protecting state fish and wildlife resources. In addition to Mississippi and Florida , the states include Alabama , Arkansas , Georgia , Kentucky , Louisiana , Maryland , Missouri , North and South Carolina , Oklahoma , Tennessee , Texas , Virginia , and West Virginia . Membership also includes agencies in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.