Keepin' you posted...

[BrandonTN]

Hey y'all! For good or for ill I'm signing on to a 2-year master's program in forest ecology at the University of Helsinki. As some of you know I studied abroad for my undergraduate senior year in Finland in a small town called Joensuu. Last year I realized that my doing a master's degree was now or never because I don't see myself returning to school once the rubber hits the road. So last autumn I started applying.....I applied to 5 colleges out west and to 2 in Europe (Finland & Sweden) in the US, but none offered any assistantships (tuition waivers). Humboldt State accepted, but with no financial support offer...the other US schools have no funding, too.

While in Finland, despite being far from home and out of my climate comfort zone, I secretly hoped the US schools would decline. Sweden ended up declining me, but the University of Hel. in Finland accepted me, and the beauty is there is NO TUITION at the school, even for foreigners. (My parents still don't believe it.) However, I do not qualify for US federal student loans (to help pay for rent/food) because the school is not a "title IV" overseas school that participates; so this summer I'm working my butt off saving. Fortunately I got a summer gig in Montrose, CO with the Forest Service on a timber crew starting June 7th...a heavy fire season in CO could help cushion my purse...Finland is expensive for non-Finnish students!! (Finnish students receive 600 euros/month from government for rent).

I figure in the long run I'll be glad I did this. My concern now is thinking of a thesis project at least half-way relevant to silviculture in the US. Any suggestions on silvicultural thesis ideas that would relate to some US western species silviculture? My professor at Univ TN suggested I try to get my thesis work published in a North American journal...that sounds good to me.

[WDH]

Way to go!  Renewable energy production from forest grown biomass would be timely and applicable almost anywhere.  How to increase biomass production for energy while maintaining a primary silvicultural crop with minimal crop impact will be an economic challenge.

[nas]

Have fun at the U of Hel. ;)
Congratulations.

Nick

[ibseeker]

Congratulations Brandon!
No suggestions but what you're doing is really cool. I hope you keep us posted on your adventures.

One question, why the western US silviculture when you're from East Tennessee?

[BrandonTN]

WDH - Thanks for the idea there.  In timber stands most biomass energy comes from thinnings, right? So the economic challenge is in making more thinnings?

Thanks Nick!

ibseeker, in Finland it is mostly pine that i'll be working with, and out west in the US there are lots of pine. But also down south, of course. It can be relevant there also, I suppose. Thanks for the congrats! Have you made any more progress on your forestland in TN?

[ibseeker]

Yes, slowly but slowly...I was able to plant some nut trees, do some stump pruning and continue to find different trees and plants that I didn't know where there and don't know what some of them are. My FIL and I found a flowering tree that neither of us have a clue about. I'll post the pictures and someone on the FF will know what it is.

[Clark]

Congrats!  On one hand I envy you, on the other I'm very glad to be out of school.

...so this summer I'm working my butt off saving. Fortunately I got a summer gig in Montrose, CO with the Forest Service on a timber crew starting June 7th...a heavy fire season in CO could help cushion my purse...

I worked there not that long ago and remember it well.  There are days I'd kill to be back in the ponderosa pine with no bugs, humidity or a care in the world!  Tim is a great guy and tries quite hard to get some real forestry work done within the limited framework that the Forest Service allows such activities to occur.  If you have any questions feel free to ask me.  One great thing is that you'll be working on the Uncompahgre Plateau, about the flattest place in Colorado, except for the ignored eastern half of the state!  

Clark

[WDH]

WDH - Thanks for the idea there.  In timber stands most biomass energy comes from thinnings, right? So the economic challenge is in making more thinnings?

Look into dedicated biomass production between the rows of conventional plantations.  For example, if growing pine in the South, then study how you could harvest the junk hardwood like sweetgum and red maple that invades the inter-row spaces.  Or, plant a dedicated crop of another species in the inter-row space that will be harvested for biomass on a cycle while growing the primary crop.  Experiments are being done with switch grass even as we speak (read).

[BrandonTN]

Good luck with getting the species composition you want, ibseeker. Keep ripping those suckers out!

Hey Clark! Nice to hear from someone who has been there...it's a small world. Did you work as a seasonal there? Get to go out on any fires?

Look into dedicated biomass production between the rows of conventional plantations.  For example, if growing pine in the South, then study how you could harvest the junk hardwood like sweetgum and red maple that invades the inter-row spaces.  Or, plant a dedicated crop of another species in the inter-row space that will be harvested for biomass on a cycle while growing the primary crop.  Experiments are being done with switch grass even as we speak (read).

WDH, I suppose studying something to do with biomass production for energy is pretty relevant to the needs of tomorrow, eh? I would like whatever I do my thesis on in Helsinki to have as much relevance as possible to work back in the States. In Finland they don't have shade tolerant hardwoods that come up in their conifer stands. One of their few hardwoods, silver birch, is shade intolerant and grows on richer sites than pine.  Because Norway spruce requires richer sites (like birch), maybe I have the option of studying Norway spruce as the primary crop with silver birch as the biomass crop. If not, maybe they have some ways of growing birch in Scots pine stands.

[WDH]

This type of research typically takes more time than you have to complete a thesis.  However, I do believe that growing biomass will become very important.  What that means is that in not too many decades, most of the productive land in the world will be farmed for food or fiber production.

[Clark]

Hey Clark! Nice to hear from someone who has been there...it's a small world. Did you work as a seasonal there? Get to go out on any fires?

I was on the timber crew and we never did any fire related stuff.  We did some inventory work after prescribed burns to assess mortality but nothing "on the line". 

Having played the fire game and been in forestry work since then I can assure you that some fire experience is good but after that it does little to further a forestry career.  If you want to stay in fire and can deal with the attitudes and personalities that it seems to attract, good for you.  Having a four-year degree (or more) will put you on the road to advancing in your career which typically is not an option for most fire bugs.

When you start working, ask your supervisor Curtis (FYI - he's half-deaf and you'll need to talk quite loudly to communicate with) what he thinks of the fire personnel. 

Clark

PS - Let me know if they built a new bunkhouse, the one I was in was quite the hole but away from the office.

[Tom]

WDH is dead-on when suggesting the bio-mass study.  I have a family that is tooling up for bio-mass processing and they are wondering where they are going to get the raw product, once the companies catch on to using it for fuel.   It seems that all of the good ideas right now are people flying by the seats of their pants. Many haven't even got the education that you have now.

We have experience right here on the forum of the vast quantities of Red Cedar available and its impact on other farming.  There seems to be a lot of available knowledge right here to help guide you through a thesis.

[BrandonTN]

Clark, the main reason I want to do some fire work this summer is because I could use the extra $$.  ;D  Thanks for the tips, I'll let you know about the bunks.

Tom, your opinion is always appreciated. Relating biomass in my thesis sounds good to me. We'll see what options I have and I'll be sure to draw what I can from the resources here on the FF along the way.  8)

[Clark]

I had forgotten about the $$ issue.  Depending on when you leave, you could get in on the fall planting season which meant some overtime money.  They would start sometime in September and go into October.  I'm guessing Finland will be calling your name before then...

Clark

[BrandonTN]

Clark -- Brand new bunkhouse!  ;D  With all the conveniences. Looks like this is the first year with the new place.