Tag: forest

MTU College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science Welcomes New Faculty

Hallway in the UJ Noblet Building with carvings in the wood walls and animal specimens.
The College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science is continually growing. This academic year brings new faculty experts in ecology, hydrology, natural resource management, and digital image processing. The college also celebrates new leadership and faculty appointments.

The College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science welcomed two new faculty members and celebrated our faculty moving into new positions in the college this year.

New Faculty

New faculty are contributing their expertise across a range of projects and subjects including ecology, hydrology, natural resource management, and digital image processing.

Kathryn Hofmeister

Kathryn Hofmeister

Ecologist and hydrologist Kathryn Hofmeister joined CFRES in August as a new assistant teaching professor. Hofmeister earned her MS and PhD degrees at Cornell University and was an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh for two years prior to joining Michigan Tech. Here at Tech she teaches field techniques, biometrics, and forest economics, among other classes. Hofmeister is passionate about experimental education, supporting student research and integrating community science and K-12 education into her work. Her research focuses on hydrology, nutrient cycling, and soil health in forest, wetland, and agricultural landscapes.

“I view my role as an educator as a guide, helping students become active seekers of knowledge, providing an environment in which students acquire the tools to pursue answers to their own questions, and empowering the next generation of folks who will care for our planet’s precious resources.”

Parth Bhatt

Parth Bhatt

Assistant teaching professor, researcher and MGIS online program director Parth Bhatt joined CFRES in January 2023 after earning his PhD in Geoinformatics from Michigan Tech the month before. Bhatt has worked with other Geographic Information Science (GIS) faculty to develop three new online GIS stackable certificates that allow working professionals to earn a master of geographic information science fully remotely. Bhatt also developed a short course focused on using the software platform Python in a GIS environment. His research interests focus on utilizing advanced remote sensing techniques like machine learning to solve complex problems in areas such as natural resource management, land use/cover and invasive species mapping, forest health, digital image processing, and spatial data analysis.

“With the increasing demand for professionals skilled in GIS and spatial analysis, ensuring that this program not only gains robust enrollment but also delivers timely, industry-relevant knowledge is a priority. My vision is to equip both students and working professionals with the applied skills necessary to excel in today’s rapidly evolving GIS landscape. A key component of this effort includes the development of cutting-edge classes designed to meet the needs of the industry.”

New Appointments

Sarah Hoy began a new appointment as a tenure-track assistant professor in CFRES in August. Molly Cavaleri and Andy Burton assumed associate dean roles in CFRES following the appointment of David Flaspohler as dean of the College on July 1.

Sarah Hoy

Sarah Hoy

Assistant professor Sarah Hoy co-leads the Isle Royale wolf-moose research project and is teaching natural resource communication as well as graduate research methods. She has been featured on the Unscripted Research Blog for her work on the wolf-moose project as well as her vibrant wildlife photography. Her specialties include predator-prey interactions, animal ecology and conservation, population biology and life-history trade-offs. Hoy’s research priorities include securing long-term funding to support the Isle Royale wolf-moose project.

“As an educator, a top priority is to help my students become better science communicators.”

Molly Cavaleri

Molly Cavaleri

Cavaleri now coordinates graduate programs for CFRES in her role as associate dean. Her research and teaching focuses on ecophysiology and global change ecology. Her areas of expertise include forest canopy structure and function, carbon and water cycling through forests, tree ecophysiology, stable isotope ecology and invasive tree species.

“In both classroom teaching and laboratory mentoring, I strive to create a nurturing, unintimidating learning environment that fosters curiosity about science, facilitates critical thinking, and encourages students to actively participate in their own education.”

Andrew Burton

Andy Burton

In his position as associate dean Burton supports efforts to grow the CFRES research program. His own research integrates soil science, hydrology, plant physiology, and ecology in order to determine how ecosystems are affected by and adjust to environmental stresses and human manipulations. His specialties include belowground processes, carbon and nutrient cycling, physiology and ecology of tree roots, and undergraduate involvement in research.

“I know I can contribute to our understanding of forest ecosystems through my research, but I also know that what I can do is far less than what hundreds of well-trained students will accomplish,” said Burton.


About the College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science

Michigan Tech’s College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science brings students, faculty, and researchers together to measure, map, model, analyze, and deploy solutions. The College offers seven bachelor’s degrees in forestry, wildlife ecology and conservation, applied ecology and environmental science, natural resources management, sustainable bioproducts, and environmental science and sustainability, and environmental data science. We offer graduate degrees in applied ecology, forest ecology and management, forest molecular genetics and biotechnology, and forest science. 

Questions? Contact us at forest@mtu.edu. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn for the latest happenings.

Jack Pine Thinning in Management Unit 22

A 70-acre jack pine stand on the Michigan Tech Research Forest in the Baraga Plains that includes direct seeding trials from the 1970s was thinned in 2011 to approximately 300 trees per acre (roughly 12’x12′ spacing) to improve vigor, reduce ladder fuels and fuel loads, and improve quality. The yield was 20 tons per acre on average and included mostly chips with a few loads of pulpwood. Samples were taken pre-treatment to develop nutrient profiles of the stand that can be monitored over time. Several Michigan Tech FERM students and a visiting group from Purdue toured the timber harvesting operation.

A Sweet Solution to Michigan’s Economic Problems

Michigan Tech Forestry and Environmental Resource Management (FERM) members tend the maple syrup evaporator, keeping the fire going, watching tap levels in the pans, making sure it does not boil over and drawing off the syrup.
Michigan Tech Forestry and Environmental Resource Management (FERM) members tend the maple syrup evaporator, keeping the fire going, watching tap levels in the pans, making sure it does not boil over and drawing off the syrup.
May 24, 2010— Dave Kossak, a third-year forestry student at Michigan Technological University, has a sweet solution to Michigan’s economic woes: maple syrup.  He’d like to see Michigan become the maple syrup capital of the world, and his proposal for accomplishing that goal has won him a $5,000 scholarship as the fourth-place winner of a college student competition called Motivate Michigan.

Motivate Michigan’s corporate, nonprofit and media partners contributed more than $48,000 to provide scholarships to the students with the top 10 innovative ideas for a better Michigan.

Michigan has more sugar maples than Quebec, which currently produces 70 percent of the maple syrup made in North America, and Michigan’s trees are of better quality, Kossak notes. “We could be producing more maple syrup than Quebec or Vermont—the top US producer,” he claims. “We could also become the production center for equipment used by the maple syrup manufacturers. This could be big for Michigan.”

Kossak, who plays on the offensive line for Michigan Tech’s football team, has always had a taste for maple syrup. He especially likes to eat it on ice cream. He got interested in its production when he joined Tech’s Forestry and Environmental Resource Management (FERM) enterprise program, which provides hands-on experiences for undergraduates in applied ecology and forestry. One of FERM’s projects is a small-scale maple syrup production operation, along with a series of workshops and field trips for K-12 students.

Mike Ross, a Rudyard, Mich.-based maple syrup wholesale bulk producer and equipment salesman, sold FERM some equipment for their maple syrup project, and he and Kossak started talking.  “In seven minutes, I had three pages of notes,” Kossak recalls.

He also had the beginnings of a provocative idea for helping Michigan turn its economy around. When Motivate Michigan put out a call for college students to submit their innovative ideas for improving their state, Kossak was quick to propose his maple syrup solution.

It quickly made the top 10 of 280 ideas submitted, and in a public online vote that followed, Kossak moved up into the top five. He and the four other finalists were invited to Livonia to make a personal presentation before Motivate Michigan judges on May 24.

“Only one-hundredth of one percent of the sugar maples in Michigan are tapped,” he points out. Quebec taps 34 percent of its trees.  “We could be producing 280 million gallons of maple syrup a year in Michigan.”

There are obstacles to that sweet future, of course, including access to land and a need for tax credits to enable large-scale development. But Kossak is convinced that these hurdles can be overcome.

As a forestry major at Michigan Tech, he is focusing on sustainable business and marketing aspects of forestry. He is also working to earn a certificate in industrial forestry. Kossak hails from Columbiaville, Mich., where he attended the Lapeer County Schools.

If his maple syrup dreams materialize, he’s hoping to work with Michigan Tech to develop a larger Sugarbush program and to consider offering a certificate in maple syrup production.

Michigan Technological University (mtu.edu) is a leading public research university developing new technologies and preparing students to create the future for a prosperous and sustainable world. Michigan Tech offers more than 130 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in engineering; forest resources; computing; technology; business; economics; natural, physical and environmental sciences; arts; humanities; and social sciences.