Master of Science in Forestry

Admission

See About Forestry for details.

Career Preparation

The master’s degree in forestry is designed for students with an undergraduate degree in forestry or in one of the biological, physical or social sciences basic to forestry.

Students with previous professional education in forestry may wish to undertake preliminary preparation for both research and teaching, or may wish to obtain greater depth in a specialized area.

Students Without a Forestry Undergraduate Degree

Those without a baccalaureate degree in forestry may wish to further their education in forest science or to attain professional competence by completing course work in forestry.

Work required of students without a forestry degree who want a professional forestry education includes courses in dendrology, utilization of forest resources, resource measurements, forest inventory, forest fire control and use, ecology, silviculture, forest information systems, watershed management, forest management, forest economics, and public resource policy. Some of these courses do not carry graduate credit.

Plan of Study

To attain the master’s degree, 30 hours of course work must be completed; 15 hours or more shall be 8000 level. Research, problems, special investigations and special readings courses shall not exceed 12 of the 30 hours. The GPA of all course work submitted for the degree must be 3.0 or better.

Thesis & Exams

A thesis, or a minimum of 5 semester hours of non-thesis research acceptable to the student’s committee, shall be completed before the final examination. Research toward a thesis normally shall not exceed 8 hours. Thesis requirements and defense are as defined by the MU Graduate School.

A final oral examination is given to all candidates before completion of the degree.