Overview
The mission of the College of Forest Resources (CFR) is to promote, support, and enable the management, conservation, and utilization of forests and other natural resources to benefit the stakeholders of Mississippi, the nation, and the world. While the Forest and Wildlife Research Center's (FWRC) mission is to expand, through research, the fundamental and applied knowledge upon which forestry, forest products, and wildlife and fisheries disciplines are based. ; and to assist in conserving, developing, and using the forest, forest products, and wildlife and fisheries resources of Mississippi, the nation, and other countries through research, technology transfer, and other service activities.
The College of Forest Resources includes the departments of forestry; wildlife, fisheries, and aquaculture; and sustainable bioproducts. We offer four majors with fourteen options and hundreds of careers. The research arm of the College is the Forest and Wildlife Research Center, and we work closely with the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. The outreach arm of the College is the MSU Extension Service. The College had 480 undergraduate and 129 graduate students in 2020. In total, CFR/FWRC has 54 on and off-campus faculty and significantly contributes to Mississippi State being ranked no. 12 nationally in FY 2019 research and development expenditures for agricultural sciences and natural resources and conservation. In addition, CFR/FWRCS collaborates with the MSU Extension Service to conduct outreach and informal instruction around the state.
CFR added new majors and concentrations to meet the needs of students and forest industries. For example, a new online master's program in conservation education was added, and a new non-thesis online master's program in the Department of Sustainable Bioproducts. Sustainable bioproducts were also added as one of MSU's Thrive-in-Five accelerated programs, allowing students to complete bachelor's and master's degrees in 5 years. In addition, a forestry business concentration was added to the forestry major in the Department of Forestry.
CFR students continue to excel. The Mississippi student chapter of the Society of American Foresters was the leading chapter in the nation for the third consecutive year in 2020. For 22 years, the student chapter has placed in the top three in the nation. Students in the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Aquaculture also placed in the Southeast Deer Study Group for their poster and oral presentations.
FWRC scientists in the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Aquaculture use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to improve grassland bird conservation and assist researchers in detecting quail coveys. The new method for estimating bird populations also provides a faster, more accurate, and less disruptive way to study other grassland bird species, while simultaneously benefiting conservation efforts. FWRC scientists in the Department of Forestry are using UAVs to conduct forest inventory and forest damage assessments. Additionally, foresters are using UAVs fitted with light detection and ranging technology, as well as hyperspectral imaging capabilities, to determine how fast trees are growing, how much water and nutrients they are using, and how much carbon they are storing.
The Department of Sustainable Bioproducts procured the 32,000-specimen David A. Kribs wood collection, the nation's fourth-largest such collection. It will be used to enhance machine learning, forensics, and artificial intelligence. For example, scientists are using the collection to teach computers to use machine vision technology to recognize wood species better.
Application Process & How To Apply
Please see the Application Process page for all information and details.
