From USDA News Release:
"WASHINGTON, Aug. 30, 2007 - Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today announced that $6 million has been awarded to the University of California - Davis to improve breeding technologies for conifer trees. Application of genomic-based breeding technologies will significantly reduce the breeding cycle time and the cost of extensive field evaluations at large, long-term test plantations."
"The Conifer Coordinated Agricultural Project (CAP) brings genomic-based breeding to major industry cooperative breeding programs within five years to develop a comprehensive undergraduate and graduate curriculum in modern plant breeding technologies to train the next generation of tree breeders. The program also will develop a comprehensive extension program to train existing tree breeders in the use of genomic-based approaches to tree breeding."
Read the entire news release.
Showing posts with label University. Show all posts
Showing posts with label University. Show all posts
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
What to Teach?
A former colleague of mine and professor at Virginia Tech, Dr. Stephen Prisley, dropped by over the weekend to say Hello and catch up on what has been happening over the last few years. As it always does, the subject eventually shifted to the changes that have occurred along with the nation's shifting timberland ownership. Steve's statements centered on the question "Are we at VPI teaching the right things to the new crop of foresters?"
For many years, Steve and I worked together as "industrial foresters". That term is almost an anachronism today! There are a few left at MWV, Weyerhaeuser is a holdout (for now at least) and some of the timber REITs do have minimal industrial holdings but, by and large, it appears that the day of teaching a crop of students for the industrial forestry market is over. In the area of industrial forest research, of the big three (International Paper, MeadWestvaco and Weyerhaeuser), only Weyerhaeuser remains. Most of my MWV forest research colleagues have returned to universities, gone somewhere in government, or in the case of one biometrician, went to work for HP where his skills were better rewarded financially.
But timberland must still be managed by someone so the questions are "Who" and "How does that affect how the new forestry students should be educated". The "who" part of the question is easily answered. TIMOs and the consulting foresters that serve them. Some of the TIMOs and TREITs mange the land themselves and some employ consultants to do the job for them. Either way, the basics of silviculture have not changed and they must still be taught. What has changed is the objectives of the landowner. The primary objective of growing a crop to supply mill furnish is generally not an objective of the new owner (even with fiber supply agreements). The new primary objective of TIMOs and TREITs is one of financial return which suggests that universities must strengthen efforts on teaching the tools that accomplish that objective. This includes not only a new emphasis on the traditional financial tools but on those, such as harvest scheduling, which are specific to timberland management. --Brian
For many years, Steve and I worked together as "industrial foresters". That term is almost an anachronism today! There are a few left at MWV, Weyerhaeuser is a holdout (for now at least) and some of the timber REITs do have minimal industrial holdings but, by and large, it appears that the day of teaching a crop of students for the industrial forestry market is over. In the area of industrial forest research, of the big three (International Paper, MeadWestvaco and Weyerhaeuser), only Weyerhaeuser remains. Most of my MWV forest research colleagues have returned to universities, gone somewhere in government, or in the case of one biometrician, went to work for HP where his skills were better rewarded financially.
But timberland must still be managed by someone so the questions are "Who" and "How does that affect how the new forestry students should be educated". The "who" part of the question is easily answered. TIMOs and the consulting foresters that serve them. Some of the TIMOs and TREITs mange the land themselves and some employ consultants to do the job for them. Either way, the basics of silviculture have not changed and they must still be taught. What has changed is the objectives of the landowner. The primary objective of growing a crop to supply mill furnish is generally not an objective of the new owner (even with fiber supply agreements). The new primary objective of TIMOs and TREITs is one of financial return which suggests that universities must strengthen efforts on teaching the tools that accomplish that objective. This includes not only a new emphasis on the traditional financial tools but on those, such as harvest scheduling, which are specific to timberland management. --Brian
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