MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- West Virginia University is getting a $1.7 million federal grant to create an Environmental Research Center to help address the often conflicting concerns of economic development and environmental protection.

The money is from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the school announced Tuesday.

"The ultimate goal is to improve the quality of life for citizens of West Virginia and beyond,'' said Jim Anderson, a professor of wildlife and fisheries resources who will direct the new center.

WVU will help formulate policy and promote economic development that focuses on a sustainable environment in the mid-Atlantic region, from southern Virginia to southern New York.

The region is among the most ecologically diverse in the United States, with headwater streams that flow to the Chesapeake Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, Anderson said. The many threats to the ecology include greenhouse gases, acid mine drainage, wastewater and invasive plants.

Anderson said the center hopes to help build both a healthy environment and a strong economy by serving as a liaison between grass-roots environmental groups, resource management agencies, businesses and industries.

It aims to develop programs that can help spread green technologies and foster economic growth in rural areas.

The center also plans to create graduate and undergraduate programs in environmental studies to help meet the work force demands of the energy and high-tech environmental industries.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- West Virginia University is getting a $1.7 million federal grant to create an Environmental Research Center to help address the often conflicting concerns of economic development and environmental protection.

The money is from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the school announced Tuesday.

"The ultimate goal is to improve the quality of life for citizens of West Virginia and beyond,'' said Jim Anderson, a professor of wildlife and fisheries resources who will direct the new center.

WVU will help formulate policy and promote economic development that focuses on a sustainable environment in the mid-Atlantic region, from southern Virginia to southern New York.

The region is among the most ecologically diverse in the United States, with headwater streams that flow to the Chesapeake Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, Anderson said. The many threats to the ecology include greenhouse gases, acid mine drainage, wastewater and invasive plants.

Anderson said the center hopes to help build both a healthy environment and a strong economy by serving as a liaison between grass-roots environmental groups, resource management agencies, businesses and industries.

It aims to develop programs that can help spread green technologies and foster economic growth in rural areas.

The center also plans to create graduate and undergraduate programs in environmental studies to help meet the work force demands of the energy and high-tech environmental industries.