Forest & Natural Resource Sciences - Graduate

• CV
• Personal Statement
  • This should describe one’s academic and professional goals and interests. Applicant must indicate in personal statement: (a) which faculty member s/he wishes to have as the major professor, and (b) whether or not s/he is applying for an assistantship.
• The GRE is not required for admission to this program.
• Three letters of recommendation.

Applicants must meet the Graduate School admission requirements.

Application Deadlines

​Spring: December 9, unless applying for for an assistantship; if applying for assistantship, contact DGS

Summer: April 15, unless applying for for an assistantship; if applying for assistantship, contact DGS

Fall: July 22, unless applying for for an assistantship; if applying for assistantship, contact DGS

• The University of Kentucky Department of Graduate Student Association: (Forestry GSA) is comprised of Forest and Natural Resource Sciences graduate students with the goal of enhancing graduate student professional, social, and personal development within the forestry department. The Forestry GSA meets regularly to facilitate social, philanthropic, and networking events to engage with other students, faculty, and the Lexington community. 

• Most Masters of Science in Forest and Natural Resource Sciences students are supported by Research and Teaching Assistantships, which include a stipend, a health insurance policy, and scholarship funds that cover in-state and out-of-state tuition for graduate courses.  
• Additional assistantships are sometimes available from Department of Forestry and Natural Resources funds. These assistantships are ordinarily awarded in March to students admitted for the subsequent fall semester; thus, the admissions application deadline for Departmentally funded assistantships is usually February 1. 

• FOR 530 Freshwater Ecology: Advanced biology and natural resources course about the ecology of freshwater environments. Course material covers 1) interactions among freshwater species and between the species and their aquatic environment, 2) how these interactions influence distribution and abundance of freshwater species, and 3) conservation and management of freshwater species and aquatic systems. 
• FOR 564 Forest Soils: The physical, chemical, and biological properties of soils as they relate to forest tree growth and the forest community. A study of the genesis, morphology, classification, and utilization of soils for forestry. Lecture, two hours; laboratory, two hours with occasional extended field trips. 
• FOR 612 Forest Ecosystem Dynamics: The study of ecosystem structure and function with emphasis upon eastern deciduous forest ecosystems. Topics discussed will include energy flow, mineral cycling, the influence of disturbance upon ecosystem properties, and dynamic processes in the development of ecosystems. 
• FOR 663 Spatial Analysis in Natural Resources: The application of spatial theory to natural resource management problems. Course topics include functions and uses of GIS, spatial theory and its application through GIS to resource management problems, linking aspatial and spatial databases, sources of spatial data, collecting and preparing spatial data for analysis, and spatial data confidence levels and spatial statistics. Lecture, three hours; laboratory, two hours per week.