Minnesota is vastly different now when the University's forestry program began over a century ago, and the demands placed on our natural resources have increased dramatically. Critical issues such as climate change, energy innovations, economic growth, and invasive species continue to challenge us in new and complex ways. The Department of Forest Resources is continually evolving, and we developed a Strategic Plan in 2014 to identify challenges on the road ahead and solutions to meet them. We will continue—as we have for over a hundred years—to fulfill our role in education, research, and outreach to advance the science and management of our forests and natural resources.
Mission
Our mission is to advance the science and management of forests and related natural resources by developing solutions to important problems affecting these resources; training the next generation of forest and natural resource scholars and practitioners; and informing the broad public on the economic and ecological importance of forests and natural resources and how they enrich our quality of life.
Vision
While embracing excellence and diversity, we aspire to deliver extraordinary education, breakthrough basic, applied and integrating research, and inspired outreach and community engagement in the science and practice of forest and natural resource management.
Overarching Themes
- Community: We embrace a supportive, intellectually diverse, respectful, and representative community.
- Engagement: We seek to enable open, equitable, and inclusive communication that involves both listening and offering.
- Excellence: We strive for excellence in all areas essential to our vision and mission.
- Experiential: We value hands-on learning that takes us into the forests and communities we engage with.
- Integrity: We uphold academic integrity and basic scientific principles.
- Interdisciplinary: We value expertise and experiences across a range of disciplines and apply integrative approaches to education, discovery and engagement.
- Knowledge: We embrace many different ways of generating, recognizing, evaluating and disseminating knowledge.
- Service: We work to extend knowledge and engage society to help improve their quality of life.
- Theory-Based and Applied Science: We address important and pressing societal issues involving forests and natural resources using novel approaches that produce practical and effective solutions.
- Welcoming and Inclusive: We strive to create a welcoming environment that is open to different kinds of questions, views, and perspectives.