MONTICELLO, Ark. – The Snowden Waterfowl Center of Excellence, a new University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture research center, will be celebrated on Oct. 13 at the University of Arkansas at Monticello (UAM).
The waterfowl research program will be based at UAM through the Arkansas Forest Resources Center thanks to $7 million in total contributions: $5 million for the Snowden Waterfowl Center of Excellence and $2 million for the newly formed Dyke-Snowden Endowed Chair of Waterfowl and Wetlands.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and David Snowden, the center’s namesake and Arkansas waterfowl conservationist, will be among the dignitaries to speak in the one-hour ceremony that begins at noon.
“Our unit is about to have one of the top waterfowl and wetlands academic research centers in the United States thanks to a group of donors highly vested in our waterfowl program,” said Michael Blazier, professor and dean of UAM’s College of Forestry, Agriculture and Natural Resources.
The Forest Resources Center at UAM, directed by Blazier, conducts research and extension activities through the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s research and outreach arms.
Blazier pointed to a 13-year track record of research, teaching and outreach success by Douglas Osborne, professor of wildlife ecology, as a vital component in creation of the center.
Osborne is the inaugural director and chair for the Dyke-Snowden Endowed Chair of Waterfowl and Wetlands, named in honor of Snowden and Merritt Dyke, chairman of Dyke Industries. The original Waterfowl and Wetlands chair endowment was created in the 2022 Arkansas legislative session with a $1 million allocation.
Blazier said Snowden helped lead a “swift and successful fundraising effort” to make the new center possible and “places a high priority on fostering the next generation of waterfowl-focused natural resources professionals through undergraduate scholarships and graduate stipends that will have recurring funding through the center.”
The announcement ceremony will be adjacent to Weevil Pond, 350 University Drive, on the UAM campus.
Other featured speakers at the event will include Jay B. Silveria, president of the U of A System; Deacue Fields, head of the Division of Agriculture; Peggy Doss, chancellor of UAM; and Osborne, who is also part of the Division of Agriculture’s research arm, the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station.
