![\"students](\"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2019\/01\/IMG_0166-300x225.jpg\")
This course provide students with a basic understanding of how environmental factors, disturbance, and biotic interactions influence the function and structure of forest ecosystems. Emphasis is placed upon students achieving an integrated understanding of ecological concepts in both managed and unmanaged systems. Students also learn basic field techniques to assess herbaceous and woody species composition, overstory structure, and the volume and distribution of coarse woody debris. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
FNR 37050 – Forest Habitats and Communities Practicum<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\r\n![\"students](\"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2019\/01\/IMG_2658-300x169.jpg\")
To effectively manage natural resources, professional foresters and wildlife biologists must understand the complexity of managing habitats and biological communities. This course is designed to introduce students to basic concepts of community and ecosystem ecology by focusing on the diversity within the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This is a week-long field based course where students use game cameras, habitat typing field keys, nested vegetation plots, and transect surveys to assess forest communities and wildlife habitat. This course is co-taught with Dr. Elizabeth Flaherty.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
<\/h3>\r\nFNR 433 – Grand Challenges in Forest Management<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\r\nThis course introduces students to the challenges facing professional foresters in the near and more distant future. Presented in a seminar format, this course examines issues including climate change, invasive species, fire management, and forest management across agencies and ownerships. The course brings in guest presenters from across the field forestry to discuss topics including consulting forestry, management on tribal lands, changes in the forest industry, restoration of forests, and human dimensions of forests and the forestry profession. <\/p>\r\n
<\/h3>\r\nFNR 536 – Ecology of Disturbance<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\r\nThis course examines the theories and concepts of disturbance in a variety of ecosystem. Student read and discuss classic and contemporary papers to determin![\"Students](\"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2025\/08\/PXL_20240310_195856691.MP_-225x300.jpg\")
e how viewpoints on the role of disturbance have evolved, how disturbance is related to taxonomic and functional diversity, how disturbance regimes differ within and across biomes, and how disturbance-based management is applied in forestry. The course includes a week-long field trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park where students observe class concepts in the field and interact with park staff to learn how concepts are applied through active management. This course is co-taught with Dr. Michael Saunders.<\/p>\r\n
![\"Group](\"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2025\/08\/PXL_20240311_165751866.MP_-300x225.jpg\")
<\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Because forestry is a practical field, I believe that courses should be hands-on experiences where students work in groups to find the solutions to real world questions. While ecological concepts are important, field laboratories and the collection of data are critical to understanding the function and management of forest ecosystems. At Purdue, I teach classes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-393","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":729,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/393\/revisions\/729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
To effectively manage natural resources, professional foresters and wildlife biologists must understand the complexity of managing habitats and biological communities. This course is designed to introduce students to basic concepts of community and ecosystem ecology by focusing on the diversity within the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This is a week-long field based course where students use game cameras, habitat typing field keys, nested vegetation plots, and transect surveys to assess forest communities and wildlife habitat. This course is co-taught with Dr. Elizabeth Flaherty.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nFNR 433 – Grand Challenges in Forest Management<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\r\nThis course introduces students to the challenges facing professional foresters in the near and more distant future. Presented in a seminar format, this course examines issues including climate change, invasive species, fire management, and forest management across agencies and ownerships. The course brings in guest presenters from across the field forestry to discuss topics including consulting forestry, management on tribal lands, changes in the forest industry, restoration of forests, and human dimensions of forests and the forestry profession. <\/p>\r\n
<\/h3>\r\nFNR 536 – Ecology of Disturbance<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\r\nThis course examines the theories and concepts of disturbance in a variety of ecosystem. Student read and discuss classic and contemporary papers to determine how viewpoints on the role of disturbance have evolved, how disturbance is related to taxonomic and functional diversity, how disturbance regimes differ within and across biomes, and how disturbance-based management is applied in forestry. The course includes a week-long field trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park where students observe class concepts in the field and interact with park staff to learn how concepts are applied through active management. This course is co-taught with Dr. Michael Saunders.<\/p>\r\n
<\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Because forestry is a practical field, I believe that courses should be hands-on experiences where students work in groups to find the solutions to real world questions. While ecological concepts are important, field laboratories and the collection of data are critical to understanding the function and management of forest ecosystems. At Purdue, I teach classes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-393","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":729,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/393\/revisions\/729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
FNR 536 – Ecology of Disturbance<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\r\nThis course examines the theories and concepts of disturbance in a variety of ecosystem. Student read and discuss classic and contemporary papers to determine how viewpoints on the role of disturbance have evolved, how disturbance is related to taxonomic and functional diversity, how disturbance regimes differ within and across biomes, and how disturbance-based management is applied in forestry. The course includes a week-long field trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park where students observe class concepts in the field and interact with park staff to learn how concepts are applied through active management. This course is co-taught with Dr. Michael Saunders.<\/p>\r\n
<\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Because forestry is a practical field, I believe that courses should be hands-on experiences where students work in groups to find the solutions to real world questions. While ecological concepts are important, field laboratories and the collection of data are critical to understanding the function and management of forest ecosystems. At Purdue, I teach classes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-393","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":729,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/393\/revisions\/729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
e how viewpoints on the role of disturbance have evolved, how disturbance is related to taxonomic and functional diversity, how disturbance regimes differ within and across biomes, and how disturbance-based management is applied in forestry. The course includes a week-long field trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park where students observe class concepts in the field and interact with park staff to learn how concepts are applied through active management. This course is co-taught with Dr. Michael Saunders.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Because forestry is a practical field, I believe that courses should be hands-on experiences where students work in groups to find the solutions to real world questions. While ecological concepts are important, field laboratories and the collection of data are critical to understanding the function and management of forest ecosystems. At Purdue, I teach classes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-393","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":729,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/393\/revisions\/729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/sites\/jenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}