In addition, Virginia Tech's team includes Steven Schafrik , research associate at the VCCER (http://www.energy.vt.edu/), Nino Ripepi, graduate research assistant at the VCCER, Carl Zipper and John Galbraith, faculty members in the Department of Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences, and Stephen Prisley and Randolph Wynne, associate professors in the Department of Forestry. Zipper is associate director of VCCER and executive director of the Powell River Project (http://als.cses.vt.edu/prp/), which conducts research and education programs to promote the restoration of mined lands and benefit communities in southwestern Virginia's coalfield region. Wynne is director of the Center for Environmental Applications of Remote Sensing (http://cears.fw.vt.edu/).

Marshall Miller and Associates, a major geological/mining/environmental consulting company, headquartered in Bluefield, Va., is also a partner in the project.

"Industrial support has been outstanding," Karmis said, noting that there have been funding commitments from Natural Resource Partners, Piney Land Company, Berwind Land Company, Bright Enterprises, Pocahontas Land Company, Tampa Electric (TECO), Penn Virginia Resources, Arch Mineral, Peabody, AMVEST, Eagle Companies, First Energy and GenPower.

Virginia Tech is a member of the Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership, which is led by the Southern States Energy Board, Norcross, GA, and is a joint effort of universities, private companies and state agencies, including the Tennessee Valley Authority, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mississippi State University, Winrock International, Electric Power Research Institut
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Contact: Susan Trulove
strulove@vt.edu
540-231-5646
Virginia Tech
29-Apr-2004