Forestry

A loblolly pine stand

Warnell is a leader in silviculture and forest biometrics, artificial intelligence, and remote sensing technologies. Our faculty and graduate students use new and emerging technology to develop ways of measuring and assessing our forests. This work leads to innovations in management practices, pest management, and disaster mitigation.

Areas of expertise and research include:

  • Biometrics
  • Drone technology
  • Machine learning
  • Forest products and bioenergy
  • Inventory
  • Operations
  • Planning and harvest scheduling
  • Policy
  • Silviculture
  • Sustainability analysis
  • Urban forestry

Graduate Degrees in Forestry

Warnell’s Forestry program combines the principles of ecology, silviculture, mensuration, economics, finance, statistics, and operations research in the decision-making process aimed at achieving the goals and objectives of the forest landowner. In particular, students may focus on GIS/remote sensing, forest inventory and assessment, harvest scheduling methodologies, and artificial intelligence technologies involving LiDAR, satellite imagery, and drone technology.

Through these advanced technologies and methods, our research improves understanding of the growth and development of forest populations and communities. Our graduates are in high demand across a range of forest-related industries.

CURRICULUM

Program requirements or equivalent which must be completed before or during the MFR program:

  Course ID Name Hours
Required: FORS 3010/L Dendrology 3
  FARN 3200W/L Ecology of Natural Resources 4
  FORS 6010/L Silviculture 4
  FORS 6610/L Forest Mensuration 4
  FORS 6620 Timber Management 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Questions?

For general questions about pursuing a graduate degree at Warnell, contact a member of the graduate team:

Dr. Jacek Siry, Graduate Coordinator
Office: 4-501
Phone: 706-542-3060

Kate deDufour, Graduate Program Administrator
Office: 1-217
Phone: 706-542-1183

Prospective students should also contact faculty members for questions specific to this disciplinary area. Please check faculty members’ personal pages for information about their individual research interests and projects to ensure that you are contacting the most relevant ones.

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Personnel

Dr. Doug Aubrey

Associate Professor, Forest Ecophysiology & Energy Ecology

Chuck Bargeron

Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health (Bugwood), Senior Public Service Associate

Dr. Pete Bettinger

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

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…

Dr. Chad Bolding

Professor and Langdale Endowed Chair in Forest Business

Forest harvesting logistics; forest business issues; engineering economic analysis; wood supply chain efficiency; fiber procurement; woody biomass utilization; environmental impacts and best management practices; workforce and safety issues; professional skills and career preparedness

Dr. Bronson P. Bullock

Professor, Forest Biometrics & Quantitative Timber Management, Director, Plantation Management Research Cooperative (PMRC)

My research interests include more traditional biometry topics, such as volume, taper, and weight equations derived for various species and regions; statistical sampling and inventory issues; and the impacts of various silvicultural treatments on stand development. Further, I have more wide…

David C. Clabo, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Silviculture Outreach

Forest Herbicides Invasive Plant Management Prescribed Fire Pine and Hardwood Regeneration Forest Restoration Forest Productivity

Dr. Joe Conrad

Associate Professor of Forest Operations

I conduct research in forest operations with a focus on timber harvesting efficiency and delivered wood cost. The goal of my research is to generate data that will help forest managers implement their management plans efficiently and allow timber harvesting professionals to…

Bruno Da Silva

Assistant Professor, Forest Finance

Dr. Joe Dahlen

Associate Professor - Wood and Fiber Quality

Dr. David Dickens

Professor, Forest Productivity

Dr. Kamal J.K. Gandhi

Professor, Forest Entomology

Patterns of invasion by non-native insects;  Community ecology;  Insect-plant interactions; Effects of forest disturbances on insects

 

Dr. Dale Greene

Dean Emeritus

Dr. Dan Johnson

Associate Professor, Tree Physiology and Forest Ecology

Stephen Kinane

Assistant Professor of Silviculture

Roger C. Lowe

Academic Professional - Drones, GIS & Remote Sensing

Dr. Daniel Markewitz

Professor, Soil Site Productivity

My scientific interests are directed at quantifying how nutrient and hydrologic cycles control the chemistry of forest soils, drainage waters, and forest productivity. My research focuses on the management of the soil resource in an effort to maximize forest growth and to maintain ecosystem…

Dr. Elizabeth McCarty

Associate Professor, Forest Health Specialist

Current Research Areas

- Pine tip moth management

- Environmental effects of insecticide use in forests

- Hemlock woolly adelgid

- Aquatic insects

 

 

 

 

Dr. Scott Merkle

Professor, Forest Biology

In vitro propagation of forest trees Somatic embryogenesis in forest trees Biotechnology for restoration of threatened tree species

Holly Munro

Senior Research Scientist (Forest Biometrics and Ecology) at the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, and Adjunct Assistant Professor in Forest Biometrics

Forest biometrics

Disturbance ecology

Forest entomology

Machine learning

Shingo Obata

Ph. D. Student

Dr. Jacek Siry

Stuckey Professor of Forest Economics and Taxation, Graduate Coordinator

Timber market modeling, international forestry and conservation, forest management efficiency, multiple-use natural resource management.

Dr. C.J. Tsai

Winfred N. "Hank" Haynes Professor, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar

Caterina Villari

Associate Professor, Forest Pathology, Co-director, Southern Pine Health Research Cooperative

Dr. Villari's main interests are the interactions among trees, fungal pathogens and insect herbivores, and related chemical ecology aspects, and she uses an interdisciplinary approach that involves ecological, metabolomic, and molecular analyses. In the course of her career, she has developed…

Dr. Dehai Zhao

Senior Research Scientist/Graduate Faculty, (Statistics, Forest Biometrics), Plantation Management Research Cooperative (PMRC)

Growth and Yield Modeling; Ecological Modeling; Advanced Statistical Analysis; Sampling Techniques; Forest Inventory; Quantitative Management; Quantitative Silviculture; Biomass Production and Carbon Sequestration

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