Nia Blair

I have a few career goals and two intended job paths; both goals would be a combination of environmental science and sustainable bioproducts. Wood preservation in the forest products industry is crucial; I am interested in finding new preservatives in the industry that are not only environmentally friendly but also practical in costs. Another goal, my ultimate goal, is to conduct research in the Northern region of Ghana, Africa on their sustainable cocoa bean practices. Climate change has caused decreased yields of the cocoa bean, hopefully, with science and technology we can research ways to make their production blossom again.

I am in graduate school attending Mississippi State University and studying Forest Products in the Department of Sustainable Bioproducts. My thesis topic is Post-Natural Disaster Timber salvage along the Gulf South region of the United States. My objective is to make logging and timber markets more nimble and efficient after major disturbances such as hurricanes. I am currently conducting focus groups to collect data for the research. The opinions of forest landowners, loggers, and forest industry representatives are crucial to this work. In particular, I want to know the ways in which natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, massive flooding, torrential windstorms, and other natural disasters impacted forest lands, jobs, and the forest industry. Also, we would like to learn the ways in which people addressed these issues.

I enjoy gardening, volunteering abroad, and lastly love clipping coupons.