UMaine’s Forest Resources Programs Celebrate 100 Years of Graduations
Contact: William H. Livingston (207) 581-2990; David Munson (207) 581-3777
ORONO, Maine – The University of Maine’s Forest Resources Programs are celebrating 100 years of professional forester graduations at a reception in the lobby and courtyard of Nutting Hall in Orono, on May 13th. UMaine’s undergraduate forestry program — the oldest, continuously accredited undergraduate forestry program in the US — graduated its first students in 1906. Since then, the program has expanded and diversified into multiple majors in forest resources, and the total diplomas given-out exceed 5600, including over 100 doctorates.
Dave Field, Chair and Professor, Department of Forest Management, UMaine, said: “This is a pretty momentous occasion for the Forest Resource Programs. It’s incredibly rewarding and inspiring to see these young people graduating year after year and to know that we have been educating forest resource professionals for 100 years.”
Since 1906, men and women from UMaine’s Forest Resource Programs have filled positions at the state, national, and international level, and the need for future graduates is likely to increase. Bill Livingston, Chair and Associate Professor, Department of Forest Ecosystem Science, concludes: “We are entering a period where the stewardship of our forest resources will shift significantly to a younger generation. There is a huge commitment to forest resource studies in Maine, and the state and nation will need our graduates to help ensure that our forests continue to provide the wood, wildlife, and recreation that our society expects.”
The ceremony will feature a special unveiling of a painting by Mark McCullough in commemoration of the 100th anniversary. Mark received a Ph.D. degree in Wildlife from UMaine in 1986, and he said his gift was the, “thanks for the education that Cathy Elliott and I received from the Department of Wildlife Ecology.”