New Associate Degrees to Enhance Natural Resource Industries
June 15, 2022
MOSCOW, Idaho — Three new shortened degree programs offered this fall at University of Idaho seek to address growing workforce needs.
The College of Natural Resources programs prepare students for jobs in fire mitigation, forestry operations and nursery management after two years of education, rather than four. The offerings, approved by the State Board of Education in April, are the first associate degrees at University of Idaho.
Students develop essential skills through flexible coursework and hands-on training while forming partnerships with real-world stakeholders in the forestry and forest products industries.
“These new associate of science degrees are critical to meeting our land-grant mission,” said Charles Goebel, department head of Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences at U of I. “Students in these programs utilize our unique resources and expertise to help meet the workforce demands of the growing forestry and wildland fire industries.”
In the A.S. in Forest Operations and Technology degree, students work among one of the nation’s top forestry programs for quality and value, using commercial harvesting equipment and technology to help manage U of I’s more than 10,000-acre Experimental Forest near Moscow.
Students in the A.S. in Forest Nursery Management and Technology engage in an experiential commercial forest nursery program with an emphasis on practices, technology and operations unique to the North American forest nursery industry. Forest Nursery students focus on propagation and production of trees, shrubs and native plants at environmentally controlled greenhouses located at U of I’s Pitkin Forest Nursery in Moscow.
Based on the college’s nationally ranked B.S. in Fire Ecology and Management, the A.S. in Wildland Fuel and Fire Technology is a flexible online program, ideal for future, permanent and seasonal employees employed as wildland firefighters and fire suppression technicians. Students collaborate with faculty experts and an extensive network of stakeholders at federal and state levels.
Additional opportunities for A.S. students include networking opportunities with partnering industries and completing the nationally acclaimed Idaho’s Logger Education and Advance Professionalism (LEAP) program and the Office of Personnel Management Federal Series certification. Students seeking associate degrees through these programs may continue into a Bachelor of Science.
For more information, contact the Department of Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences at frfs@uidaho.edu.
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Media Contact:
Steven Shook
Professor of Forest and Sustainable Products
University of Idaho
208-885-6802
Shook@uidaho.edu
Charles Goebel
Professor of Forest Ecosystem Restoration and Ecology
University of Idaho
208-885-7311
Cgoebel@uidaho.edu
About the University of Idaho
The University of Idaho, home of the Vandals, is Idaho’s land-grant, national research university. From its residential campus in Moscow, U of I serves the state of Idaho through educational centers in Boise, Coeur d’Alene and Idaho Falls, nine research and Extension centers, plus Extension offices in 42 counties. Home to more than 12,000 students statewide, U of I is a leader in student-centered learning and excels at interdisciplinary research, service to businesses and communities, and in advancing diversity, citizenship and global outreach. U of I competes in the Big Sky and Western Athletic conferences. Learn more at uidaho.edu.