Dept. of Forest Resources
University of Minnesota
115 Green Hall
1530 Cleveland Ave. N.
St. Paul, MN  55108-6112

612.624.3400
612.625.5212
frweb@umn.edu

Research

Below are the areas of research within the Department of Forest Resources and the faculty and staff associated with each area. If you're interested in learning more about a specific faculty or staff member's research, simply follow links to their personal web pages.

	Healthier ecosystems and more productive forested environments.

Biology, Ecology, Silviculture,
and Conservation

Research in this area focuses on understanding the structure and function of forest ecosystems and developing management technologies such as, site preparation, propagate selection and production, planting, thinning, fertilization, and insect and disease control. These tools maintain ecosystem health and enhance the productivity of forested environments. Research in biodiversity and conservation strategies is also included in this work. Basic research in tree physiology and genetics is fundamental to developing all these practices and strategies.

• Agroforestry: Current
• Carbon cycle modeling: Bolstad, Cook, Reich
• Forest ecology: Bahauddin, Barrott, Bolstad, Frelich, Montgomery, Reich, Trost, Wythers
• Forest genetics: David, Pike
• Forest pathology: Jurgens
• International forestry: Current
• Silviculture: D'Amato, Buschena
• Tree biology: Humenberger, Oleksyn
• Urban and community forestry: Johnson, Hanson

	Responsive policy, planning, and management.

Economics, Policy, Management, and Society

Research in this area includes assessing resource potential to provide goods and services, developing and assessing natural resource planning techniques, evaluating policies and programs, and using analytical techniques in guiding resource management decisions. Policy analysis and modeling to assess forest planning alternatives have been especially visible efforts over the past several years.

• Education and outreach: Carlson, Vogt
• Human dimensions of natural resources: Nelson
• Management, harvesting, and marketing: Blinn, Hoganson, Vogt
• Policy, economics and taxation: Baughman, Becker, Blinn, Hoganson, Kilgore

	Improved management practices for water quality and watersheds.

Hydrology, Watershed Management, and Water Quality

Research in this area centers on land-use and vegetation management and their effects on water quantity and quality. The goals of this research are to evaluate and quantify watershed management effects and to develop practical models that predict hydrologic and water quality changes due to land use. This work includes agroforestry practices. Results are used to develop better management practices for water quality and watersheds in general.

• Hydrology: Brooks

	Spatial analysis and modeling of past, present and future environments.

Resource Assessment, Monitoring, and Geospatial Analysis

Research in this area has concentrated on the following: (1) developing individual tree and forest growth models that incorporate stand structure, weather, and anthropogenic factors, and use of these models in impact analyses and as decision support tools; (2) incorporating auxiliary information into forest, water, and land use measurement and estimation methods; (3) developing methods for using remote sensing and satellite-based digital data in sampling and resource survey methods; (4) improving geographic information systems capabilities for ecological and economic spatial analysis of resources; and (5) synthesis of the above in terms of web-based information systems for resource analyses and decision making.

• Biometrics: Burk, Ek
• Remote sensing and GIS: Bauer, Bolstad, Jenks, Knight

	Enhanced resource-based recreation and tourism opportunities.

Recreation Resources Management and Tourism

Research in this area has centered on (1) the resource, its current use, and its potential for use; (2) managerial practices, policies, and their implications for the resource and its users; and (3) potentials for resource-based tourism. Fundamental to these efforts is research to aid the understanding of conflicts that arise among resource user groups. Particular emphasis has been placed on identifying roles of governments (local, state, and federal) and of special interest groups in affecting planning and resource use.

• Recreation resources management: Anderson, Schneider
• Tourism/travel: Erkkila, Gustafson, Messer, Schneider

Disclaimer on research:  Regardless of its merits, any single study done by individual faculty members does not represent the consensus view of the Department of Forest Resources.