For Immediate Release: September 24, 2012

Contact: Annette Barnette
Public Relations & Marketing Director
Glenville State College
Glenville, West Virginia
(304) 462-6391

Glenville, WV - Glenville State College’s Department of Land Resources faculty and staff have had a visit by an international scientist from Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan for three months.

Dr. Young-jin Kim, who is originally from South Korea, arrived at GSC on June 26^th. During that time, he has been contributing his expertise to Glenville State College and conducting studies on invasive plants, the American Chestnut and the Tree-of-Heaven. Dr. Kim said he has enjoyed his time in the Mountain State, “My experience at Glenville State College as a visiting scientist has been very productive. Since I arrived in Glenville, I have completed several activities that were beneficial to my professional growth including a comparative plant invasive study on the Tree-of-Heaven in West Virginia and Japan.”

Dr. Kim also provided seminars to the academic and local communities. He spoke on topics related to ecology and resource management. Along with his own research, Dr. Kim also worked to foster and enhance partnerships between his home institutions in South Korea and Japan and Glenville State College.

“The visiting scientist worked directly with me, and this visit is a result of our exchange agreement with Kyushu University,” said Dr. Rico Gazal, Glenville State College Associate Professor of Forestry. “I hope to attract more undergraduate students, faculty, and scientists from Kyushu University to come to Glenville for school or collaborative research.”

GSC students also benefited from Dr. Kim’s knowledge because he has been serving as a mentor to them as they conducted their own research during his stay. The students say this has been a unique opportunity for them to interact with an accomplished scientist from the international community.

Dr. Kim said, “I enjoyed attending classes in the Land Resources and Language and Literature Departments and worked with a few students on their laboratory exercises in forest ecology. It was great to meet the students, faculty, and staff of Glenville State College. I hope to continue my collaboration with Dr. Gazal and other faculty members from GSC’s Land Resources Department in the future.”

The scientist left West Virginia and returned home on September 23^rd.