West Liberty University has put itself in exclusive company with its latest addition. The university last week cut the ribbon on its new Appalachian Aquatic Conservation Center. That center is now just one of four at universities across the United States. You’d have to travel to Blacksburg, Virginia, and Virginia Tech to find the next closest.

With the new facility, West Liberty University hopes to be the nation’s top university in the conservation of crayfish and spotted turtles. According to Zachary Loughman, chairman of organismal biology, ecology and zoo science departments at WLU, the new center will hatch both crayfish and spotted turtle eggs and release them into the wild, once they’re strong enough, to augment the wild populations of both.

“What I want people in the area to realize is that West Liberty University is a leader in animal conservation,” Loughman said. “Our zoo science major and ecology majors are top notch.

“We have just as much if not more in facilities than others in West Virginia. And we have all kinds of students coming from out-of-state to get their degree here to become conservation biologists. If you are a young person and you want to do conservation, you can do that here.”

Nestled in the hills of northern Ohio County, West Liberty University is doing a great job with projects like this to make a big impact for a small school. Developing such a distinct program gives the university another feather in its cap to attract students from throughout the region and the country.

Hopefully this project will spur others at WLU, which will make the university even more appealing to prospective students.