forest engineering or wood product processing

[timhsu87]

Hi,

I did a google search and found this forum, which I should I have found long time ago given that I am a forestry student. I was reading some of the posts and I like the friendliness and helpfulness of the forum members. Ok a little about myself. I am studying Forest Operations at University of British Columbia (UBC) http://www.forestry.ubc.ca/Students/Undergraduate/Prospective/DegreePrograms/ForestOperations/tabid/428/Default.aspx. With the Forest Operations degree, I can be a registered professional forester in canada and also qualify for the professional forest engineer designation. I am in my final year in Forest Operations and I am wondering if I should continue with forestry. Before I decided to study forestry, I was going to go into engineering. But I am not the smartest in terms of math and physics even though I still did get an average mark. So I decided to look into other options such as business, architecture, etc. Business doesn't fit because I don't like dealing with money and numbers and I especially dislike accounting. Architecture was another choice but at UBC only 30 students are accepted each year. Forestry seems to be a good option since there is engineering involved.

So I registered in the Forest Operations program and found out that there are a lot of biology related courses that I have to take. I never liked biology since all you do is memorize and memorize. But I continued on in this degree and here I am now in my last year. There are lots of outdoor field trips to the forest where we would identity trees, try to understand what's going on in the forest, dig soil pits (it is so boring), use a chain and clino to measure distances and slopes, etc. I am starting to question myself whether this is the right career path because I don't really like the actual forestry work. But I do like the engineering aspect of forestry such as road building, bridges, harvest machines, etc (Check out the walking spider harvester, google it)

[SwampDonkey]

Math isn't really all the complicated in Forestry unless your into predictions and modeling and more detailed statistics. Which is generally mostly research related stuff and rarely used by the majority of folks. Mostly what you use is basic trigonometry I remember from grade 10 high school. A prism or point cruise isn't really that heavy duty either and is also based in trig and geometry often with a scattering of constants and conversion factors which masks a lot of the math equivalents. Soils is as much an art as a science and comes with a lot of experience, but with the field guides it doesn't take a lot of experience to know what site type your on. Mostly you can tell just by the vegetation on site and the forest floor type. Biology is a little rough and especially when asked to look through magnification to see if you can draw what an artists perception of an apical meristem, a dormant flower bud (it's parts inside the bud), or wood ray parenchyma. Hand lens to look for rays and pores and any pattern they exhibit that would identify the species of wood. : ;)

[fkarcha]

To be honest, if you don't like the actual forestry work, then you're in the wrong career.  As far as I know, the entry level forest engineering stuff is all field work, laying out road and switchback corners. 

That said, since you also qualify for P.Eng designations, you can still be a civil engineer is some cushy office.  Enjoy!

[timhsu87]

To continue on with my previous post (thanks for your responses!)

Beside not liking the actual forestry work, I am not sure if there will be a job available after I graduate given the current economic downturn. In British Columbia, many mills are closing, lots of laid-offs, government is cutting back on funding, and international market competition, and especially from the market crash in the US, economy in BC is not very good right now. I am sure there will be jobs in the future, but given the present situation, I am a bit uncertain. I will still try to look for jobs but I am not sure if there is any good opportunities right now. I would like to be able to work in the city but there are not very many jobs in the city. Are there jobs in urban forestry or can I find related jobs in the city that is not necessary related to forestry (for example parks and recreation, water, hydro, etc)

I think I will be working for 4 years to fulfill the requirements of a Professional Forest Engineer and then I am considering going back to school to study Wood Product Processing in UBC http://www.forestry.ubc.ca/STUDENTS/Undergraduate/Prospective/DegreePrograms/WoodProductsProcessing/tabid/463/Default.aspx. Check out the UBC Wood Product Processing program, it is a innovative program that involves engineering, science, and business. It is quite similar to Industrial Engineering that deals with quality control, manufacturing wood products, material science, and business. There are opportunities to become a manager and take on a leadership role in the company. I am actually quite interested in wood products and manufacturing. There are lots of career opportunities right now with this degree and the salary is pretty good (average starting salary is higher than mechanical engineering). Anyways, I would be happy to know if any of you have studies wood product processing or related program and your experience with job prospects, how the work is like and other experiences.

[fkarcha]

I am not sure how Wood Products would solve your problem.  If you're worried about jobs, you can be guaranteed no one is building a new mill for you to work at.

[steveforest]

Oregon State has a program where you can get a degree in civil engineering and forestry engineering.

[Samuel]

To continue on with my previous post (thanks for your responses!)

Beside not liking the actual forestry work, I am not sure if there will be a job available after I graduate given the current economic downturn. In British Columbia, many mills are closing, lots of laid-offs, government is cutting back on funding, and international market competition, and especially from the market crash in the US, economy in BC is not very good right now. I am sure there will be jobs in the future, but given the present situation, I am a bit uncertain.

Having lived in BC myself for 10 years and now next door in Alberta for just over 5, I can feel your concerns.  Having been involved with Forest Education myself (http://www.w-o-l-f.ca/index.cfm), am am aware of the steady decline in university and technology programs in Forestry in Canada.  With that said, I would expect that there will be numerous opportunities out there in the next 3-5 years, especially since your Minister of Forest- Pat Bell just did a tenure reform to make biomass industries (pellets, electrical generating, etc) eligible for forest licenses and lower stumpage fees, that there will be lots of work in BC.  Given the estimates of pine dead from the devastation from the MPB, there is lots of feedstock for these types of mills.

I would also suggest going after the eng degree also if you plan on staying in the coastal regions of BC.