Alumni Career Paths

Where Can Forestry Take Me?

The field of forestry provides a world of opportunities for a rewarding career in natural resources. Here are some types of jobs and paths MSU Forestry alumni have taken.

Sierra Barfield: Forest Management Career Path

MSU alum Sierra Barfield is a forester at forest product company Weyerhaeuser. Barfield's position is at the company's Snow Peak tree farm in Lebanon, Oregon, where she is an early rotation silviculture forester. In her position, Barfield is responsible for replanting a new tree after one has been harvested and managing those newly planted trees.

Anna Boruszewski: Forest Management Career Path

Anna Boruszewski started out as a student assistant for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources in Traverse City, Michigan, the summer after she graduated from MSU. Now she is the GIS analyst for the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) and helps people in the field involved in both agriculture and forestry.

Kerry Gray: Urban Forestry Career Path

Kerry Gray is a grant specialist with the Michigan DNR Urban & Community Forestry (UCF) program. She provides grants to communities and organizations in disadvantaged areas of Michigan to care for, grow and manage their urban and community forests.

Gerald Grossman: Forest Management Career Path

As a consulting forester, Gerald Grossman is an independent professional who provides forest management services to private land owners. This includes habitat enhancement, timber marketing and sales, property mapping, and other land management advice.

Jacob Slusser: Forest Education Career Path

As the Panama Program Coordiator in the Environmental Leadership and Training Initiative (Yale School of the Environment), Jacob teaches participants about forest ecology and degradation and the range of restoration strategies to restore forest cover in agricultural landscapes. He also provides long-term follow-up assistance and mentoring to alumni in order to empower future environmental leaders.

Ryan Beachnau: Forest Management Career Path

Ryan Beachnau works for the Washington Department of Natural Resources as a wildland firefighter. Among the many duties in this role are training, patrolling for lightning caused wildfires, working with private landowners on burn permits, logging compliance, and general outreach with the public about wildfire risks and how to mitigate them. He also works at a fire station, cleaning and repairing equipment, and putting out fires all across the state.

Angela Ayers: Government Policy Career Path

Angela Ayers manages public policy for Ford Motor Company as part of the Government Relations team. She helps track federal, state and local policy, mainly around the environment and infrastructure, that can impact the company and work to define Ford’s position.

Ethan Emick: Forest Management Career Path

Ethan Emick is a Technical Manager for EP Carbon, a consulting company that helps develop and manage forest-based carbon offset projects. His work is rooted in managing all aspects of carbon offset projects from forest and carbon inventories, environmental modeling, geospatial analysis, and professional writing.