Facilities

Virginia Tech's Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation has over 2,000 acres of forested land for research use as well as state-of-the-art laboratories and greenhouses. Facilities are primarily located on, or near, campus; at the Reynolds Homestead in Critz, Virginia; and at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in Danville, Virginia.

Juilan N. Cheatham Hall

The primary campus building for forestry and natural resources studies. Cheatham Hall houses exceptional teaching and research laboratories, computer labs, faculty and graduate student offices, and administration. Forestry laboratories include:

• Dendrochronology & Ecology Laboratory
• Human Dimensions Analysis Laboratory
• Urban Forestry Laboratory
• Dendrology Teaching Laboratory
• Forest Soils Teaching Laboratory

Latham Hall

Our newest building, dedicated in 2006, Latham Hall provides greatly expanded and fully outfitted laboratory space, one-of-a-kind growth chambers that allow study of large trees, soil and plant material preparation areas, conference rooms, and faculty offices. Laboratory and research space includes:

• Forest Ecophysiology Laboratory
• Forest Molecular Genetics and Biotechnology Laboratory
• Forest Tree Nutrition Laboratory
• Forest Soils & Hydrology Laboratory
• Water Resources Center Laboratory
• Plant Preparation Facility
• Soil Preparation Facility
• Six full-size Growth Chambers

The Fishburn School Forest

A 1,353-acre demonstration forest of the Appalachian hardwood and mixed pine-hardwood type, provides ample space for laboratories and research in the Ridge and Valley physiographic region and is only 10 minutes from campus.

Reynolds Homestead Forest Resources Research Center

The Reynolds Homestead Forest Resources Research Center is a 710-are research unit located in the Virginia Piedmont, approximately 70 miles from Blacksburg. It is equipped with a laboratory, greenhouse slat house, nursery bed, ample field space and is well-staffted for program support.

Institute for Advanced Learning and Research

The Departments of Horticulture and Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation operate a state-of-the-art tissue culture research laboratory at the Institute of Advanced Learning and Research in Danville, Virginia.

Greenhouses

The university has ample greenhouse facilities located on the Virginia Tech campus. The Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation maintains a soil and plant preparation facility as part of the greenhouse complex. In addition, forestry faculty have access to a fully automated greenhouse facility in nearby Newport, Virginia, as well as greenhouses at the Reynolds Homestead.

Harvesting Research Laboratory

The department's harvesting laboratory is located in Blacksburg adjacent to the Virginia Tech campus. This 2,400-square-foot facility has a fully equipped machine shop for fabricating new machine designs and supporting the skidders, loader, trucks, and other equipment used in field research.

Urban Horticulture Center

The Urban Horticulture Center (UHC) of Virginia Tech, located about three miles from campus, was established in 1989. The UHC is a facility of the Horticulture Department but also provides facilities for closely related research projects, primarily in Urban Forestry. The fully equipped and staffed center includes field plots, unheated poly houses, a pot-in-pot growing area, equipment storage, walk-in-cooler, and office space.