Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences

College of Natrual Resource University of Idaho Experimental Forest prescribed burn

Department of Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences

For more than 100 years, the University of Idaho's Department of Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences has trained the leaders shaping the future of natural resource management. The Department offers four nationally accredited bachelor's degree programs in Forestry, Fire Ecology and Management, Rangeland Ecology and Management, and Forest and Sustainable Products.  Additionally, the Department offers a new degree in Ecology and Ecosystem Science, as well as three two-year degrees in Forest Nursery Management and Technology, Forest Operations and Technology, and Wildland Fuels and Fire Technology.

Students learn alongside internationally recognized faculty through hands-on experiences at world-class facilities, including the 8,500-acre University of Idaho Experimental Forest located just minutes from campus, the 10,000-acre Rinker Rock Creek Ranch located in southern Idaho, the Pitkin Forest Nursery which is one of the only operational commercial forest nurseries at a U.S. university, and the IFIRE Lab, one of the few fire combustion laboratories on any university campus in the nation. Faculty hold prestigious endowed chairs, direct nationally acclaimed research centers, and consistently earn university-wide distinguished faculty honors, as well as recognition from professional societies.

With affordable, high-quality programs, numerous scholarship opportunities, and unmatched access to Idaho's 32 million acres of public land, the Department prepares graduates for impactful careers in forestry, wildland fire, rangeland management, sustainable forest products, and ecosystem restoration. 

Academic programs

Undergraduate degrees:

Associate of Science

Bachelor of Science

Graduate degrees:

Logging and Maintenance at the Experimental Forest

Inside U of I – FRFS

Current students, staff and faculty can have access to additional resources on the Inside U of I FRFS page.

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Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences faculty

Our students gain hands-on research experience working alongside world-class faculty experts in the Department of Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences.

Department leadership

  • Charles Goebel

    Professor of Forest Ecosystem Restoration and Ecology and Department Head of Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences 

  • Kaella Dinius

    Administrative specialist II

Department faculty

  • Kristina Bartowitz

    Research Assistant Professor of Ecosystem Ecology

  • Ryer Becker

    Assistant Professor and  Extension Specialist in Forest Operations and Forest Products Manufacturing

  • Luigi Boschetti

    Professor of Earth Observation Data Science 

  • Randall Brooks

    Professor and Extension Specialist in Forestry 

  • Mark Coleman

    Professor of Forestry

  • Meghan Foard

    Senior Ecology Instructor

  • Paul Gessler

    Professor of Remote Sensing and Geospatial Ecology

  • Heather Heward

    Senior Fire Ecology and Management Instructor

  • Tara Hudiburg

    Professor of Ecosystem Ecology

  • Jason W. Karl

    Director of the U of I Rangeland Center, Professor of Rangeland Ecology, and Harold F. and Ruth M. Heady Endowed Chair of Rangeland Ecology

  • Robert Keefe

    Associate Professor of Forest Operations and Director of the University of Idaho Experimental Forest

  • Mark Kimsey

    Associate Professor of Forest Resources and Director of the Intermountain Forestry Cooperative

  • Leda Kobziar

    Professor of Wildland Fire Science, Director of Master of Natural Resources Program

  • Karen Launchbaugh

    Professor of Rangeland Ecology 

  • Armando McDonald

    Distinguished Professor of Forest and Sustainable Products

  • Jessica Miesel

    Associate Professor of Fire Ecology

  • Andrew Nelson

    Associate Professor of Forest Regeneration, Tom A. Alberg and Judith Beck Endowed Chair of Native Plant Regeneration, Director of Center for Forest Nursery and Seedling Research

  • Timothy E. Link

    Professor of Hydrology; Director, Water Resources Graduate Program

  • Steven R. Shook

    Professor of Forest and Sustainable Products

  • Kelsey Tobin

    Assistant Professor of Forest Health

  • Eric Winford

    Research Assistant Professor of Rangeland Ecology and Management, Associate Director of the Rangeland Center