Your classroom is a 2,070-acre forest. Your goal in life is to save the natural environment. Your classmates may include a few prickly creatures. Your major? Forest resources and conservation.
Focused on the maintenance and sustainable use of natural resources and the forest environment, forest resources and conservation students spend their days like no other.
Taking classes such as fire ecology and dendrology, students gain hands-on work experience while also doing what they love.
Twelve core courses provide students with an overall understanding of land management. Students then pick one of eight focuses.
Students can study general forest management or choose to focus on management in urban forestry, protected areas, business, recreation or watersheds. The major also offers an environmental pre-law track as well as a forest infomatics focus.
“It definitely gets them outside, and they love it … They want to be [there], they want to work the land,” said Academic Services Coordinator Kristina Haselier.
Land is definitely something students have access to. The Austin Cary Forest, located just northeast of Gainesville, is completely maintained by students. Acting as a classroom for many of their courses — students are directly involved in sustained burns, protection services and cleanups as part of their lab assignments — the forest offers the chance to gain job experience while still a student.
Last week, the School of Forest Resources and Conservation broke ground for the new Learning Center that will be located in the forest. When completed next year, the 7,800-square-foot building will provide outreach opportunities as well as new experiences for students to learn and grow (no pun intended).
Want to check it out? Haselier encourages interested students to sign up for forest for the future (FOR2662) or forest conservation and people (FOR3004). Both courses count toward general education requirements for any major.
“The best thing about the major is how passionate the students are. It’s very specific, and they love it. That’s what makes the difference,” Haselier said.
Think conserving Florida’s forests for the future could be your talent? Check out the School of Forest Resources and Conservation’s website at http://sfrc.ufl.edu to view all of their majors and get involved.
