Verl Emrick is a research faculty member and the project director of the Military Lands Division within the Virginia Tech Conservation Management Institute.   Mr. Emrick specializes in vegetation ecology and was instrumental in developing innovative Land Condition Trend Analysis field  analysis techniques designed to monitor the ecological effects of land use and disturbance on military training lands. He has 10+ years of natural resource management, species survey and research experience on military lands. Verl has been working with installation LCTA programs throughout the US since 1994 in all aspects of design, management, analysis and reporting.  He has worked on many projects involving all aspects land management, and currently manages research projects involving, threatened and endangered species research and monitoring, natural resource management plan preparation, research and implementation of prescribed fire for ecological restoration, ecological monitoring and vegetation mapping.  

In recent years, Mr. Emrick has participated in a variety of environmental and natural resource related research for state and federal land management agencies including the USFS, DOD, VDGIF, VDMA, USFWS, and NPS.  His international work experience includes Belize, Peru and Nepal.  Verl received his degree (with honors) in Environmental Science and Ecology from the University of North Carolina-Asheville in 1994 and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Plant Ecology at Virginia Tech. He is a member of the Association of Southeastern Biologists, Southern Appalachian Botanical Society, Ecological Society of America, and Sigma Xi among others.