| 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 SAF accredited. The Forestry Departments are
housed in Nutting Hall. |
 |
Both basic and applied
graduate research are 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
Fay
Hyland Tract natural preserve, the managed forests of the Worthen
Tract in LaGrange, the Huff
property in Hartland, The
Holt Research Forest in Arrowsic and the Weed property in Veazie. |
The 4,000-acre Penobscot
Experimental Forest is near the campus and is available for cooperative
research efforts. Maine contains more acreage of industrial forest land
than any other state, but half of its forests are in small ownership parcels.
Opportunities exist for research on biophysical and socioeconomic problems
of both industrial and nonindustrial 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. |
| Forestry graduate
study opportunities are strengthened by association with strong research
programs within the College, elsewhere on the Orono campus, and in the
Orono area. Within the College, the Cooperative
Forestry Research Unit includes three scientists, with supporting staff,
who are funded by Maine landowners to conduct research on the intensive
management of Maine's forest types. All of these scientists are on the
graduate
faculty and employ graduate students. The United States Forest Service
research program in Orono (a branch of the Northeastern Forest Experiment
Station) and the Northern Research Center of International Paper Company
in Bangor employ scientists who hold appointments among the College's graduate
faculty. |
 |
Cooperative relationships
also are common between the Forestry Departments and the University of
Maine's Departments
of Biological Sciences,
Ecology
and Environmental Sciences, Resource
Economics and Policy, Computer
Sciences, Geological
Sciences, Civil
and Environmental Engineering, Chemical
Engineering, Mechanical
Engineering and particularly, the Wildlife
Department of the College
of Natural Resources, Forestry, and Agriculture. |
Admissions
Students are admitted
to the graduate programs in forestry on the basis of academic records,
Graduate Record Exam scores, experience, and recommendations. All applications
may be considered for the several teaching and research assistantships
available each year. Several privately-endowed fellowships also are available
on a competitive basis. Applications for admission in the fall semester
should be submitted by February 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
Forestry Departments must select an 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. candidates must demonstrate
reading proficiency in a language other than their native tongue. A mandatory
comprehensive examination, consisting of both written and oral sections,
usually is administered after most of the student's course work has been
completed. Both this examination, 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. |
 |
|
Check
out some of our