The National Advanced Silviculture Program
NASP 18
I'm thrilled to share that I've been accepted to the 18th Class of National Advanced Silviculture Program (NASP)! It's been a dream of mine for years, and I cannot wait to study under some of the foremost silviculturists in the country. I plan to use this blog as a place to reflect on the courses and share material with other foresters interested in the program.
What is NASP?
For those unfamiliar, the National Advanced Silviculture Program is a training and certification program developed by the US Forest Service in collaboration with major SAF-accredited research universities across the country. The certification is a requirement for all silviculturists within the US Forest Service but is also offered to attendees outside the agency. It consists of four core courses taught over a 9-week period, providing in-depth instruction in silviculture and forest ecology - much more, too.
What do you learn?
Over the next year, I'll be traveling to four different locations across the United States to complete the NASP modules:
Ecological Systems at the University of Minnesota (July 22 – August 2, 2024)
Inventory and Decision Support at Oregon State University (September 9-20, 2024)
Landscape Ecology at Northern Arizona University (November 11-22, 2024)
Advanced Silviculture Topics at Virginia Tech (April 27– May 10, 2025)
As I progress through this program, I'll be using this blog to document my experiences and reflect on the lessons learned. My goal is to share insights into topics within each module and some of my takeaways. I'm hoping to make short updates each day with a brief summary including speakers, research topics and relevant papers, and, of course, photos of forests.
I'm particularly interested in learning and sharing more about:
Adaptive silviculture for climate change
Forest adaptation strategies
Regeneration ecology
Mixed woods management
Quantitative silviculture
But rest assured, I'll be covering it all!
I hope this blog will provide other foresters a chance to engage with the most recent silviculture topics and inspire further knowledge sharing and implementation of advanced concepts. Our field continues to grow and evolve so quickly in ever-changing world, and it can be challenging to stay up to date so let’s share in the wealth of knowledge this provides.
Stay tuned! And feel free to reach out if you have questions, ideas, or suggestions for improving the content.