Undergraduate Studies in Environmental Resources and Forest Engineering
B.S. in Forest Engineering

The undergraduate program in Forest Engineering is a fully accredited engineering program that originated at ESF in 1971. With over 800 graduates now in engineering practice, this unique program offers a breadth of engineering science and design coursework unparalleled in the United States. Required coursework in science and mathematics, engineering, natural resources, humanities, and social sciences ensures a well-balanced educational experience for graduates entering professional practice in engineering or those moving directly on to graduate school.

The primary objective of this degree program is to prepare qualified engineering graduates to operate with professional competence. A broad base of study in the fundamentals of engineering enables graduates to enter professional practices which focus on civil works as well as the use and protection of soil, water, air, and other renewable and non-renewable resources. The program is meant to educate professionals who will ensure sustainable development through engineering solutions that are environmentally responsible.

The design of our undergraduate program is similar to many Civil and Environmental Engineering programs, with 2 years of core science and engineering coures and upper level requirements in Water and Wastewater Treatment, Geotechnical Engineering, Hydrology and Hydraulics, and Solid Waste Management. In addition, our curriculum also reflects the three core strengths of the Department of Environmental Resources and Forest Engineering with classes in Ecological Engineering, Geospatial Engineeirng, and Water Resource Engineering. The curriculum is developed to include hands-on, design-oriented courses starting in the freshman year, and allows students to explore advanced topics of interest through senior engineering design electives. While many of our students use these engineering design electives to focus on the core strengths of Environmental Resources and Forest Engineering, some still choose a traditional Civil Engineering path with upper level courses in Structural and Geotechnical Engineering.

Graduates of the forest engineering program enjoy many benefits derived from their capstone-curriculum course in engineering planning and design. This service-learning, design-oriented course helps students integrate four years of education to solve complex design problems commonly encountered in professional practice, and serves as a segwey from engineering student to practicing engineer.

The Forest Engineering undergraduate program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission/Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (EAC/ABET). All of our students are encourage to sit for the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam during their senior year, and our accreditation along with the successful completion of the FE Exam are important steps towards a licensure as a Professional Engineering.

Forest Engineering students with an interest in graduate study can plan their undergraduate studies along an individualized track which will prepare them for entry into graduate study either at SUNY ESF or at other top universities throughout the country. Our past graduates have successfully pursued MS and/or PhD degrees at MIT, Princeton, Brown, Cornell, Illinois, and Berkeley, among other schools, and our unique undergraduate curriculum provided them with skills to succeed in these programs. As the graduate program in Environmental Resources and Forest Engineering has grown, many students have chosen to stay at SUNY ESF, where our unique graduate programs offer unparalleled opportunies for graduate study.