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Dr. Pete Bettinger

Professor, Landscape Planning and Harvest Scheduling
Leon "Buddy" Hargreaves Jr. Distinguished Professor in Forest Management

Dr. Bettinger was honored with the Award in Forest Science for outstanding research in forest managerial sciences by the Society of American Foresters in 2023.

Dr. Bettinger was honored with the Carl Alwin Schenck award for outstanding performance in the field of forestry education by the Society of American Foresters in 2020.

He is 1 of only 4 people to have been honored with both a national teaching and national research award by the Society of American Foresters.

His personal web page can be found here.

Author of five books published by Academic Press/Elsevier, Geographic Information System Skills for Foresters and Natural Resource Managers, Mapping Human and Natural Systems, Forest Management and Planning, Introduction to Forestry and Natural Resources, and Forest Plans of North America, Dr. Bettinger is Hargreaves Distinguished Professor of Forest Management at the University of Georgia.

In 2018, he was selected as a Fellow in the Society of American Foresters. He was honored in 2021 with the Southern Regional Award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Awards Program for Excellence in College and University Teaching. In 2009, he was presented the Award of Excellence for Research and Development by the Southeastern Division of the Society of American Foresters. In 2016, he was presented the Creative Research Medal by the University of Georgia.

Dr. Bettinger is Coordinator for IUFRO Division 4.04.00 (Forest management planning). He is a member of the editorial boards of Forest Science, Forests, Journal of Sustainable Forestry, Journal of Forest Planning, European Journal of Forest Engineering, and Mathematical and Computational Forestry & Natural-Resource Sciences. Thus far in his career, Dr. Bettinger has published over 180 peer-reviewed journal articles.

Dr. Bettinger teaches courses on Forest Planning, Introduction to Forestry, and Aerial Photogrammetry. He conducts research in applied forest management with particular emphasis on harvest scheduling, landscape planning, precision forestry, and geospatial technologies.

Dr. Bettinger received Bachelors and Masters degrees in forestry from Virginia Tech, and a PhD in forest resources from Oregon State University. Dr. Bettinger worked for the forest industry in the southern and western United States, and maintains this connection to forestry professionals through his leadership in the Southern Forestry and Natural Resource Management GIS Conference and other continuing education courses he offers.

Outreach

Continuing Education Courses: Forests and Hurricanes: Impacts and Planning Considerations, GPS for Beginners,  Introduction to ArcGIS, Online Mapping Services for Foresters

Distance Education Courses: Introduction to GPS, Online Learning in Applied Forestry (OLAF).

Service

Membership on Editorial Boards: European Journal of Forest Engineering, Forest Science, Forests, Journal of Forest Planning, Journal of Sustainable Forestry, Mathematical and Computational Forestry & Natural-Resource Sciences.

International Associations: Coordinator, IUFRO Division 4.04.00 - Forest management planning.

Education:
  • PhD, Oregon State University, 1996
  • MS, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1989
  • BS, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1987
Selected Publications:

Merry, K., P. Bettinger, M. Crosby, and K. Boston. 2023. Geographic information system skills for foresters and natural resource managers. Elsevier, Amsterdam. 396 p.

Grebner, D.L., P. Bettinger, J.P. Siry, and K. Boston. 2022. Introduction to Forestry and Natural Resources, Second edition. Academic Press, London. 494 p.

Bettinger, P., K. Merry, and K. Boston. 2020. Mapping Human and Natural Systems. Academic Press, London. 341 p.

Bettinger, P., K. Boston, J. Siry, and D.L. Grebner. 2017. Forest Management and Planning, Second edition. Academic Press, New York. 349 p.

Siry, J.P., P. Bettinger, K. Merry, D.L. Grebner, K. Boston, and C. Cieszewski (eds.). 2015. Forest Plans of North America. Academic Press, New York. 458 p.

Research Interests:

Combinatorial optimization

Development and testing of heuristic methods for addressing large-scale or complex forest planning problems.

GPS accuracy assessments

Mapping and recreation-grade GPS unit assessments. Whitehall Forest GPS test site

Southern Forestry GIS Conference

For forest industry professionals, consultants, extension specialists, forest landowners, researchers, educators, students, public land managers, and natural resource professionals. 

14th Conference

Teaching:

Introduction to Sustainable Forestry (FORS 1000)

Forest Planning (FORS 4710 / 6710)

Aerial Photogrammetry in Forestry (FORS 5650 / 7650)

Southern Forestry (FORS 5700 / 7700)

Advanced Forest Planning (FORS 8450)

Articles Featuring Dr. Pete Bettinger

A leading researcher in forest harvest scheduling and landscape planning at the University of Georgia has been honored by the Society of American Foresters for his work.  

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