The School of Forest Resources, in the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture, offers graduate study leading to a non-thesis Master of Forestry, a Master of Science in Forest Resources and a Ph.D. in Forest Resources. Several faculty in the School participate in an interdepartmental degree in Ecology and Environmental Sciences.

Students may choose from a wide range of specialties, including forest biological sciences (forest ecology and silviculture, forest genetics, soils, entomology, physiology, and pathology), forest biometrics (inventory, modeling, remote sensing, GIS and spatial analysis), forest economics and policy, forest business administration,  forest management and planning, forest operations science, wood science and technology (bioenergy, wood composites, wood engineering, renewable nanomaterials), and forest-based park science, recreation, and tourism.

The forestry program at The University of Maine is one of the oldest in the United States and has had accredited undergraduate degrees since the early years of professional forestry accreditation. All graduate forestry degrees are offered under full University accreditation and, in addition, the Master of Forestry degree is Society of American Foresters accredited as a first degree in forestry. “SAF is recognized by the Commission on Recognition of Postsecondary Accreditation as the specialized accrediting body for forestry in the United States”. The School of Forest Resources is housed in Nutting Hall. Both basic and applied graduate research is accomplished through the use of well-equipped laboratories in Nutting Hall, greenhouse facilities on campus, and several field research stations throughout the state. Maine, the most heavily forested state in the country, sets the context for this research, though projects reach beyond state and national boundaries. Much of the research is field oriented, and there are a variety of ecosystems and socioeconomic conditions available for investigation. The College is responsible for the management of the Dwight B. Demeritt Forest, a 1,700-acre tract adjoining the campus, the 4,000-acre Penobscot Experimental Forest, and nearly 4,000 acres of other forest properties in Maine. Maine contains millions of acres of mostly private forest land that are owned by several large, diverse companies, but half of its forests are in small ownership parcels. Opportunities exist for research on biophysical and socioeconomic problems of both industrial and non-industrial private forests. Through the cooperation of forest industry, opportunities exist for on-site wood processing studies. Maine’s systems of land use regulation and forest taxation and the state’s long-standing reputation as a “vacationland” for forest recreation indicate other categories of research interest.

NASA’s designation of the Maine Image Analysis Laboratory as a Center of Excellence in Remote Sensing Applications and experience in tropical forest monitoring and landscape-level forest management have attracted international students from Central and South America, among other countries.

Forestry graduate study opportunities are strengthened by association with strong research programs within the School, College, elsewhere on the Orono campus, and in the region. The Center for Research on Sustainable Forests was established in 2006. The Center brings together all University of Maine researchers working in the interdisciplinary areas of forest resources. The Center is a resource for the public regarding Maine forest research and the sustainability of our state’s forests. Within the College, the Cooperative Forestry Research Unit is funded by Maine landowners to conduct research on the intensive management of Maine’s forest types. The Advanced Structures and Composites Center (www.aewc.umaine.edu) houses an 83,000 ft^2 state of the art facility for materials and wood engineering research. The Forest Bioproducts Research Institute (www.forestbioproducts.umaine.edu) mission is to advance understanding of the scientific underpinnings, system behavior and policy implications for the production of forest-based bioproducts.A federally funded Forest Ecosystem Research Program carries on long-term research on the nearby Penobscot Experimental Forest. The United States Forest Service research program in Orono (a branch of the Northern Forest Experiment Station) employs scientists who hold appointments among the College’s graduate faculty. Cooperative relationships also are common between the School of Forest Resources and several other University of Maine departments.

Admissions

Students are admitted to the graduate programs in forestry on the basis of academic records, Graduate Record Exam scores, experience, and recommendations. All applicants requesting financial aid will be considered for the several teaching and research assistantships available each year; no additional forms are required. Several private or government funded fellowships also are available on a competitive basis. Applications for admission in the fall semester should be submitted by January 15, especially if the applicant is seeking financial aid.

Degree Requirements

In addition to meeting all of the requirements of the Graduate School, graduate students in the School of Forest Resources must select an advisory committee, develop a program of study, and prepare a thesis or project proposal as early in their programs as possible. All graduate students must enroll in at least one graduate seminar. Other course requirements are established by the student and his or her advisory committee. Master of Science students must pass a thesis defense upon completing their thesis without a dissenting vote of the advisory committee. Ph.D. students must take a mandatory comprehensive examination, consisting of both written and oral sections, usually administered after most of the student’s course work has been completed. Both this comprehensive examination, the passage of which is a prerequisite to further study, and the final examination at the end of a Ph.D. program may be passed with no more than one dissenting vote of the examining committee. 

Further Information

For details about specific aspects of the School of Forest Resources graduate programs, visit our web sites or contact the Graduate Coordinator, School of Forest Resources, via Cindy Paschal, Administrative Assistant, Telephone: (207) 581-2841; e-mail: cpaschal@maine.edu.

Graduate Faculty

Jeffrey Benjamin, Ph.D. (University of New Brunswick, 2006) Associate Professor of Forest Operations. Supply chain management within forest industry, forest / stand production and final product quality, analysis of transportation systems, harvesting system selection.

John J. Daigle, Ph.D. (Massachusetts, 1997), Associate Professor of Forest Recreation Management. Recreation planning and management, social research methods for natural resource professionals, human dimensions of natural resources management.

Michael E. Day, Ph.D. (University of Maine, 2000), Associate Research Professor. Physiological ecology.

Douglas J. Gardner, Ph.D. (Mississippi State, 1985), Professor of Wood Science and Technology. Wood surface chemistry, phenolic-adhesive chemistry, wood anatomy, wood composites, wood adhesion.

Laura S. Kenefic, Ph.D. (Maine, 2000), Assistant Research Professor of Forest Resources. Silviculture, leaf area relationships, effects of exploitative cutting.

Alan J. Kimball, M.S. (Maine, 1978), Forest Manager and Associate Professor of Forest Resources. Integrated management of nonindustrial forest properties, ecology and management of oak-pine forests.

Jessica Leahy, Ph.D. (University of Minnesota, 2005), Associate Professor of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources. Forest recreation, parks and tourism, community perceptions of forest recreation, quantitative survey methods, human dimensions.

Robert Lilieholm, Ph.D. (Berkeley, 1988), Associate Professor of Forest Resources and Edwin L. Giddings Associate Professor. Forest Economics and Policy; ways in which wildlands can be sustainably managed to promote a wide range of ecological and social goals.

William H. Livingston, Ph.D. (Minnesota, 1985), Associate Professor of Forest Resources. Cold tolerance of conifers, forest pathology, forest diebacks and declines.

J. Louis Morin, M.S. (Maine, 1978), Instructor of Forest Resources. Global Positioning Systems and Geographic Information Systems as they relate to natural resource management.

Robert W. Rice, Ph.D. (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1988), Professor of Wood Science and Technology. Wood physics, wood drying, non-destructive evaluation, forest products marketing, pulp and paper marketing and management.

Brian E. Roth, Ph.D. (University of Florida, 2010). Associate Director, Cooperative Forestry Research Unit (CFRU). Silviculture, production ecology, stand dynamics, resource use efficiency.

Steven A. Sader, Ph.D. (Idaho, 1981), Professor of Forest Resources. Cooperating Professor of Wildlife Ecology. Director, Maine Image Analysis Laboratory. Remote sensing of forest environments, tropical forest and conservation easement monitoring, landscape ecology.

Robert S. Seymour, Ph.D. (Yale, 1980), Curtis Hutchins Professor of Forest Resources (Quantitative Silviculture). Silviculture; growth and yield; ecosystem management.

Stephen M. Shaler, Ph.D. (Pennsylvania State University, 1986). Professor of Wood Science and Technology. Cooperating Professor of Chemical Engineering and Associate Director, Advanced Engineered Wood Structures and Composites Center. Wood composites and wood engineering.

Robert G. Wagner, Ph.D. (Oregon State, 1989), Director of School of Forest Resources, Henry W. Saunders Distinguished Professor in Forestry, Professor of Forest Resources and Director of Cooperative Forestry Research Unit. Silviculture; forest ecology and regeneration; vegetation ecology and management.

Aaron R. Weiskittel, Ph.D. (Oregon State, 2006), Assistant Professor of Forest Biometrics and Modeling. Empirical and process-based growth models, regional variation in forest productivity, crown structure and dynamics, quantitative silviculture.

Alan S. White, Ph.D. (Minnesota, 1981), Professor of Forest Ecology. Forest ecology, silviculture, plant competition, regeneration, old-growth stand development, disturbance ecology, dendroecology.

 

External Graduate Faculty:

Mary Bird, Ed.D. (Harvard Grad School of Education), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources.

Barbara Bond, Ph.D. (Oregon State University, 1992), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. Physiological processes at the whole plant and plant community scales.

Luc Bouthillier, Ph.D. (Laval, 1991), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. Sustainable forest management; social sustainability.

John C. Brissette, Ph.D. (Louisiana, 1990), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. U.S. Forest Service. Silviculture of northern conifer ecosystems, ecophysiology of conifer regeneration.

Zhiyong Cai, Ph.D. (Purdue, 1997). External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. Historical ecology, old-growth forests, reserve design, and land management

Charles V. Cogbill, Ph.D. (Toronto, 1982), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. Historical ecology, old-growth forests, reserve design, and land management.

Anthony D’Amato, Ph.D. (University of Massachusetts, 2007), External Graduate Faculty in Forest resources. Environmental impacts of forest-derived biomass feedstock harvests, adaptation and mitigation strategies for managed forests in the face of global change.

Mae A. Davenport, Ph.D. (University of Minnesota, 2003), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. Recreation land use planning, parks, recreation and tourism.

Kevin Doran, M.S. (University of Southern Maine, 2003), External Graduate Facult in Forest Resources. Natural science, conservation education.

Mark Ducey, Ph.D. (Yale University, 1996), External Graduate Faculty in Foreset Resources. Forest sampling, modeling and production.

Andrea Ednie, Ph.D. (University of Maine, 2007), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resourcs. Recreation and Park Management.

Andrew F. Egan, Ph.D. (Pennsylvania State University, 1993), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. Forest operations, timber harvesting, effects of exurbanization and parcelization on stumpage availability, development of timber harvesting operability factors using remote sensing.

Andrew Finley, Ph.D. (University of Minnesota, 2007), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. Hierarchical model for large geostatistical datasets NIH.

Gregory Fiske, M.S. (Oregon State University, 2001), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. Application of GIS, Remote Sensing, and other techniques of geographic information sciences to sustain the health of the natural environment.

David Foster, Ph.D. (University of Minnesota, 1983), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources.  Forest Ecology, Paleoecology and Conservation

Shawn Fraver, Ph.D. (University of Maine, 2004), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources.

Barry S. Goodell, Ph.D. (Oregon State, 1983). Professor of Wood Science and Technology, Forest Products Lab. Cooperating Professor, Chemical Engineering and the Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center. Control of decay in wood, wood microbiology, wood preservation, wood biotechnology.

Anthony Halog, Ph.D. (University of Karlsruhe, Germany, 2002), Assistant Professor of Industrial Ecology & Life Cycle Assessment. Operations management and information systems; data analysis; database management; business simulation and modeling.

Yoosoo Han, Ph.D. (University of Wisconsin, 2002), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. Environment-friendly thermoplastic composites, wood polymer composites, chemical modification of natural polymers.

Jeffrey A. Hepinstall, Ph.D. (University of Maine, 2000), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. Land cover change, avian species richness changes.

David R. Houston, Ph.D. (University of Wisconsin), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. Dieback-decline diseases of deciduous hardwoods.

Lloyd C. Irland, Ph.D. (Yale, 1973), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources, Principal, The Irland Group (Forestry Consultants). Forest economics.

Dirk Jaeger, Ph.D. (University of Goettingen, 1995), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. Forest Machinery on forest soils, impact of soil compaction on seedlings growth, pedestrian bridges in forest environments.

John Kershaw, Ph.D. (University of Washington, 1993), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. Foreset inventory design, forest growth and yield modeling, applications of panoramic photography in forest inventory.

Michael Kilgore, Ph.D. (University of Minnesota, 1990), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. Global to local trends in natural resources conditions, utilization, ownership, management and societal interests.

Yuseung Kim, Ph.D. (University of Colorado, 2010), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. Community planning and development.

David Kittredge, Ph.D. (Yale University, 1986), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. Conservation awareness index for private woodland owners, social network analysis of private woodland owners.

Samantha J. Langley-Turnbaugh, Ph.D. (University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1995), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. Soils, urban land use impacts on soil quality, soil evolution.

David MacLean, Ph.D. (University of New Brunswick, 1978), External Graduate Fculty in Forest Resources. CO2 emissions in forest operations, landscape pattern of naturally disturbed forest, high resolution mapping of biophysical indicators for growth and yield prediction.

Donald MacKay, PhD. (University of Minnesota), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. Economics, policy and administration, marketing.

Alyson McCann, N.S. (University of Rhode Island, 1989), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. Water quality and water resource management.

Kevin T. McCarthy, (M.S., University of New Hampshire, 1977, External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources.

James Moreira, Ph.D. (University of Newfoundland, 1995),External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. Parks, Recreation and Tourism. Parks, recreation and tourism.

Richard Morrill, M.F. (University of Maine, 2009), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. Forest management planning.

Lech Muszynski, Ph.D. (University of Poznan, 1997). External Graduate Faculty in Wood Science and Technology. Hygro-mechanical behavior of wood; advanced hybrid wood-FRP composites, coatings, and multifunctional barriers; durability of wooden and composite structural elements; application of digital image analysis to measurement of deformation; modeling drying stresses in wood.

Gregory A. Norris, Ph.D. (University of New Hampshire, 1994). External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. LCA and risk assessment of PVC.

Ralph D. Nyland, Ph.D. (Michigan State Univ., 1966), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. Silviculture of northern hardwoods, uneven-aged silvicultural systems.

Jennifer A. Pontius, Ph.D. (University of New Hampshire, 2004). External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. Design, implementation and manage a regional forest health study to develop hyperspectral technologies to assess and monitor hemlock woolly adelgid and hemlock decline.

Andrea Read, Ph.D. (University of Chicago, 1992), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. Urban-rural youth forestry.

Todd S. Rushing, Ph.D. (University of Southern Mississippi, 2004), External Graduate Fculty in Forest Resourcs. Enhancement of high strength, high density cement based composites via nanocements, nanocarbon, nano and micro cellulose and other additives.

Michael R. Saunders, Ph.D. (University of Maine, 2006). External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. Influence of precommercial thinning on long-term stand growth.

Neal Scott, Ph.D. (Colorado State University, 1996). External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. Study of how biotic and abiotic factors influence soil and terrestrial ecosystem processes at several scales.

David B. Struble, M.S. (University of Maine, 1974). External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. The onset of radial growth reduction caused by balsam woolly adelgid damage on balsam fir in relation to climate using dendroecological methods.

Mark J. Twery, Ph.D. (Yale University, 1987), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources. Ecological management of forests.

Bret P. Vicary, Ph.D. (Maine, 1986), External Graduate Faculty in Forest Resources, James Sewall Co., Consultants. Forest economics, financial analysis, forest appraisal.

Jeremy S. Wilson, Ph.D. (University of Washington, 1988). Irving Chair for Forest Ecosystem Management, Associate Professor of Forest Resources. Silviculture; integration of GIS technology, growth and yield models, stand and landscape visualization, and analysis tools to evaluate future landscape conditions under a variety of management scenarios, forest development patterns.

Xinfeng Xie, Ph.D. (University of Maine, 2008). Research Associate. Biofuel production from wood via fermentation, and production of advanced carbon materials from lignocellulosic materials.

 

 

Emeritus Graduate Faculty:

Thomas B. Brann, Ph.D. (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1979), Professor of Forest Resources. Inventory methods and computer sciences.

David B. Field, Ph.D. (Purdue, 1974), Edwin L. Giddings Professor Emeritus of Forest Policy. Professor Emeritus of Forest Resources. Forest Economics and policy, forest resource valuation, forest taxation, forest planning.

Michael S. Greenwood, Ph.D. (Yale, 1969), Ruth Hutchins Professor Emeritus of Forest Tree Physiology and Professor Emeritus of Forest Resources. Forest tree improvement, tree regeneration, tree physiology.

Richard Jagels, Ph.D. (Illinois, 1968), Professor Emeritus of Forest Biology. Cooperating Professor, Department of Biological Sciences. Plant reactions to environmental stress.

G. Bruce Wiersma, Ph.D. (SUNY, 1968), Emeritus Professor of Forest Resources. Pollutant transport and monitoring, environmental science.