Silviculture, forest management planning, forest stand dynamics, forest operations.

Biological and Economic Factors in Forest Management

Managing forests is managing a series of events - biotic and abiotic disturbances that affect the developmental trajectories of forests - that have variable probabilities. A comprehensive understanding of forest stand development processes is critical to understanding these probabilities and should be of paramount importance in making forest management decisions. Trade-offs and compromises are inherent in forest management decisions because they balance social, cultural, and economic objectives with the health of a broad variety of natural resources.

Silviculture is the application of the most current understanding of how forests grow, develop, and respond to stimuli in the form of disturbances to achieve desired structures, functions, products, and services.  Silviculture requires an intricate knowledge of the past - how and why a forest stand became what it is - and informed assumptions regarding the future - how and to what extent will silvicultural treatments direct stand growth and developmental dynamics.

My research focuses on how economic considerations affect and are affected by different forest management strategies for a variety of products and services. In particular, I am interested in how different silvicultural treatments are chosen, applied, and with what biological and economic results.  My interests also include the forestry operations required for implementing silvicultural treatments.

Contact Information

Education

B.S., Colorado State University, 1992
M.F., Yale University, 1997
Ph.D., Yale University, 2005

Last Updated ( Thursday, 15 October 2009 )