This program is designed for individuals who want to be at the forefront of forest resource management and policy. The Master of Forestry program is aimed at training professionals for administration and management of forest lands, and for mediating among conflicting social and economic forces affecting forests. Forest systems cover one-third of the terrestrial surface of the earth and make critically important contributions to human societies. Currently, the pressures of economic development, population growth, and energy use challenge the sustainability of forest values as never before in human history.

Objective

Preparation for professional careers in the management of forest resources.

History

Since 1900, the Master of Forestry program has provided leadership in the education of professional foresters. It is the oldest continuing forestry program in the western hemisphere. Almost all the early foresters in North America were educated at Yale. Graduates include such notables as Aldo Leopold, M.F. '09 and Starker Leopold, M.F. '38, nine of the first twelve chiefs of the USDA Forest Service and the fathers of forest ecology and silviculture in North America: Clarence Korstian, M.F. '26; Harold Lutz, M.F. '27; Stephen Spurr, M.F. '40 and David Smith, M.F. '46).

The Master of Forestry Curriculum

The Master of Forestry curriculum takes an interdisciplinary approach rooted in the biological basis of ecosystems.

Two-Year Program.The broad objective of the two-year MF program is realized by requiring a suite of formal course work coupled with a progressive synthesis of knowledge in a significant project. Students take many local, regional, national, and international trips to witness the practice of forestry in diverse settings. They learn management at Yale Forest and in a host of internships offered through the Global Institute for Sustainable Forestry and the Tropical Resources Institute. Students also engage in workshops, hear visiting speakers of national and international repute, and contribute to publications of the Yale Forest Forum.

The teaching objectives of the M.F. program are (1) to integrate knowledge about forests, natural resources, and society to form a sound basis for making management decisions; (2) to provide electives and other educational opportunities to specialize by focusing on a particular land use or management issue concerning forest ecosystem management; (3) to provide opportunities for independent problem solving, critical thinking, and self-development. All core courses at F&ES are designated as natural, social, or quantitative science, and all students must take a mixture. The capstone course addresses management skills and, in particular, leadership.

The two-year program leading to the Master of Forestry degree is accredited by the Society of American Foresters. Founded in 1900 by Gifford Pinchot and six other pioneer foresters, the Society's role as accrediting body for forestry in the United States is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the Council on Post-Secondary Accreditation. For this reason, the degree is widely accepted in other regions and countries with similar professional standards. In recent years there has also been a growing recognition of required professional licensing and registration for all resource managers in the United States, particularly in the Northeast and West Coast regions, or for individuals working in any of the federal agencies, e.g., the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. In most of these states and agencies, an accredited professional degree is usually the first requirement.

A minimum of two full years in residence and sixteen full courses is required for completion of this program.

Students are required to choose courses in different topic areas of the biological and physical science sections of basic knowledge.

Students with previous relevant coursework may petition their advisor to waive courses that they have had for requirements under A and B. This has to be clearly apparent–for example: a student who majored in economics as an undergraduate should not need to do the economics requirement; or a student with a forestry undergraduate major should not need to take silviculture. No substitutions will be allowed for requirements under C and D. No student will be required to repeat previously taken coursework.

Two themes dominate the structure of the Master of Forestry curriculum: multiple disciplinary exposure and progressive integration and synthesis of knowledge. These themes are represented by three educational stages:

Stage One
Basic knowledge is the development of an information base. This can be described as a process of assimilating knowledge, understanding values, and comprehending the relationships between knowledge and values that form essential concepts and hypotheses within the biological, social, and physical disciplines. This stage can be regarded as the baseline upon which the remaining framework for synthesizing and integrating knowledge for management decisions is built. This curriculum encourages students to understand the resource, people and science before developing policy.

Stage Two
Frameworks and skills for integrating knowledge provides many of the analytical techniques and tools for synthesis and analysis. This stage includes courses that teach techniques and frameworks as well as quantitative skills for both temporal and spatial measurement.

Stage Three
This stage includes both synthesis and analysis of knowledge and the capstone. Generally, students take these courses during their second-year. Both are designed to address and prepare students for solving important problems in the real world. Courses concerning resource management focus on increasing the student's ability to ask relevant questions, in useful sequences, and to gather data to answer these questions. These courses are designed to maintain high faculty-student and student-student interaction. A significant project component is expected in these courses, some being client-driven while others are research reports or assessments. These projects are intended to be of high professional/academic caliber, publishable as part of the school’s communications or in recognized journals. Another category concerning professional knowledge strives to provide aspects of forestry that broaden and add to the student's knowledge base from a professional perspective. The topic areas selected do not necessarily address basic or advanced science perspectives within a discipline. The capstone course in our program addresses leadership, among other management skills, a characteristic that we have sought to strengthen in all of our students since the inception of the school.

Electives allow the student to choose a variety of courses, or to concentrate on a particular area as a specialization. Specializations are constructed by the student and his or her advisor. Their focus should be a particular land use or management issue concerning forest resources. The flexibility of course choice within the required topic areas of the MF curriculum also allows the student to tailor required courses to a desired specialization. Sample specializations: 1) community development and social forestry; 2) Protected areas management; 3) extension and education; 4) consulting and business; 5) watershed health and restoration; 6) tropical forest management; and 7) forest industry and finance.

Courses

a. Basic Knowledge

Biological Sciences (Three courses in total from different topic areas)

Tree Physiology and Morphology

F&ES 52006a Structure, Function And Development of Higher Plants From Seed to Towering Tree F&ES 52008b Physiology of Trees and Forests

Forest Ecology

• F&ES 32006a Tropical Forest Ecology & Management
• F&ES 32007a Ecosystem Patterns and Processes
• F&ES 32002b Tropical Ecosystem Dynamics and Anthropogenic Change

Forest Dynamics

• F&ES 52016a Forest Dynamics: Growth & Development of Forest Stands Wildlife and Community Ecology
• F&ES 32114b Wildlife Conservation Ecology
• F&ES 509a Aquatic Ecology F&ES 32019a Landscape Ecology

Forest Health

• F&ES 50002b Fire: Science and Policy
• F&ES 52003b Forest Ecosystem Health: Urban to Wilderness

Physical Sciences (Two courses in total from different topic areas)

Soils

• F&ES 62013a Introduction to Soil Science
• G&G 210a Physical and Environmental Geology

Hydrology

• F&ES 61018a Environmental Hydrology
• F&ES 61110a Biogeochemistry and Pollution
• F&ES 61024a River Processes & Restoration
• F&ES 61016a Water Resource Management

Biometeorology

• F&ES 61005a Climate and Life
• G&G 322a Introduction to Meterology and Climatology

Social Sciences (Two courses in total from different topic areas)

Social and Political Ecology & Anthropology

• F&ES 33015a Human Dimensions in the Conservation of Biological Diversity
• F&ES 748b Environmental Values
• F&ES 80054a Agrarian Societies: Culture, Society, History and Development
• F&ES 83056a Sustainable Development and Conservation: Intro to Social Aspects
• F&ES 83050a Society & Environment; Intro to Theory & Method

Policy Science & Law

• F&ES 330129a Species and Ecosystem Conservation: an Interdisciplinary Approach
• F&ES 85033a Environmental Law and Policy
• F&ES 85036b Foundations of Natural Resource Policy & Management
• F&ES 80029a Local Environmental Law and Land-Use Practices
• F&ES 770b Scope & the Policy Sciences

b. Frameworks and Skills for Integrating Knowledge

Economics (One course)

• F&ES 84002a Economics of Natural Resource Management

Measurement (One course)

• F&ES 77010a Modeling Geographic Space
• F&ES 77006a Sampling Methodology and Practice
• F&ES 77108b Statistics for Environmental Sciences

c. Synthesis And Analysis of Knowledge

Silviculture (One course)

• F&ES 700b Principles in Applied Ecology: the Practice of Silviculture

Resource Management (One course)

• F&ES 501149a Management Plans for Protected Areas
• F&ES 50021a Forest Financial Analysis
• F&ES 50011b Forest Landscape Management
• F&ES 83047a Seminar in Ecosystem Management Community Forestry and Protected Area Applications
• F&ES 50115b Rapid Assessment in Forest Conservation for Diversity and Productivity
• F&ES 83058b Rehabilitation Ecology and Community Revitalization–Monitoring and Evaluation Techniques
• F&ES 80027b Strategies for land conservation

Professional Knowledge (One course)

Biophysical (Examples–most advanced level courses are acceptable)

• F&ES 500239a Forestry Operations for Resource Professionals
• F&ES 77001b Observing the Earth from Space socio-economic/management
• F&ES 96006a Greening the Industrial Facility
• F&ES 76014a Business Concepts for Environmental Managers general
• F&ES 70002a Research Methods
• F&ES 40002a Environmental Writing

d. Capstone

• F&ES 80008b Seminar in Environmental and Natural Resource Leadership

Internships

Between the first and second years, students are strongly encouraged to select internships such as those offered by the Global Institute of Sustainable Forestry, the Tropical Resources Institute and the Urban Resources Initiative. These internships provide real-world field and professional experience and complement student coursework.

Career Options

Master of Forestry graduates have taken a variety of professional opportunities in forestry. Most start as general practitioners and management officers and with experience move through management to become policy makers and organizers. Employment can be characterized as follows: (1) government and public agencies (e.g., Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service); (2) international development and conservation organizations (e.g., Food and Agriculture Organization, CARE, OXFAM, USAID, Winrock International, Conservation International); (3) industry and investment (e.g., World Bank, International Paper Co., John Hancock Insurance Co.); and (4) town planners, land trusts, and conservation organizations (e.g., The Nature Conservancy, Wilderness Society). Some graduates use the degree as preparation for advanced study in doctoral programs.

Other employment includes private-sector forest management, consulting and education.