About the Program

The Master of Forestry (MF) degree is the advanced professional forestry degree granted by the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management. The student who has completed an undergraduate curriculum in forestry is usually broadly trained in the principles of forestry but has not yet developed proficiency in the application of these principles to diverse problems involved in professional practice. The Master of Forestry program is designed to advance the student's understanding of the essentials of professional forest management at the graduate level within the context of resource and environmental planning of sustainable systems.

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Admissions

Admission to the University

Minimum Requirements for Admission

The following minimum requirements apply to all graduate programs and will be verified by the Graduate Division:

1. A bachelor’s degree or recognized equivalent from an accredited institution;
2. A grade point average of B or better (3.0);
3. If the applicant comes from a country or political entity (e.g., Quebec) where English is not the official language, adequate proficiency in English to do graduate work, as evidenced by a TOEFL score of at least 90 on the iBT test, 570 on the paper-and-pencil test, or an IELTS Band score of at least 7 (note that individual programs may set higher levels for any of these); and
4. Sufficient undergraduate training to do graduate work in the given field.

Applicants Who Already Hold a Graduate Degree

The Graduate Council views academic degrees not as vocational training certificates, but as evidence of broad training in research methods, independent study, and articulation of learning. Therefore, applicants who already have academic graduate degrees should be able to pursue new subject matter at an advanced level without need to enroll in a related or similar graduate program.

Programs may consider students for an additional academic master’s or professional master’s degree only if the additional degree is in a distinctly different field.

Applicants admitted to a doctoral program that requires a master’s degree to be earned at Berkeley as a prerequisite (even though the applicant already has a master’s degree from another institution in the same or a closely allied field of study) will be permitted to undertake the second master’s degree, despite the overlap in field.

The Graduate Division will admit students for a second doctoral degree only if they meet the following guidelines:

1. Applicants with doctoral degrees may be admitted for an additional doctoral degree only if that degree program is in a general area of knowledge distinctly different from the field in which they earned their original degree. For example, a physics PhD could be admitted to a doctoral degree program in music or history; however, a student with a doctoral degree in mathematics would not be permitted to add a PhD in statistics.
2. Applicants who hold the PhD degree may be admitted to a professional doctorate or professional master’s degree program if there is no duplication of training involved.

Applicants may apply only to one single degree program or one concurrent degree program per admission cycle.

Required Documents for Applications

1. Transcripts: Applicants may upload unofficial transcripts with your application for the departmental initial review. If the applicant is admitted, then official transcripts of all college-level work will be required. Official transcripts must be in sealed envelopes as issued by the school(s) attended. If you have attended Berkeley, upload your unofficial transcript with your application for the departmental initial review. If you are admitted, an official transcript with evidence of degree conferral will not be required.
2. Letters of recommendation: Applicants may request online letters of recommendation through the online application system. Hard copies of recommendation letters must be sent directly to the program, not the Graduate Division.
3. Evidence of English language proficiency: All applicants from countries or political entities in which the official language is not English are required to submit official evidence of English language proficiency. This applies to applicants from Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Latin America, the Middle East, the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, most European countries, and Quebec (Canada). However, applicants who, at the time of application, have already completed at least one year of full-time academic course work with grades of B or better at a US university may submit an official transcript from the US university to fulfill this requirement. The following courses will not fulfill this requirement:
   • courses in English as a Second Language,
   • courses conducted in a language other than English,
   • courses that will be completed after the application is submitted, and
   • courses of a non-academic nature.

If applicants have previously been denied admission to Berkeley on the basis of their English language proficiency, they must submit new test scores that meet the current minimum from one of the standardized tests.

Where to Apply

Visit the Berkeley Graduate Division application page . 

Master's Degree Requirements

Curriculum

The MF program has four components: course work, an internship, a professional paper, and an oral examination, and typically takes about two years for completion.

Course work
Twenty-four semester units of upper division and graduate courses, of which at least 12 units are at the graduate level. The Forestry graduate adviser and the student’s guiding professor must approve the program of study to assure advanced specialized training in professional forest resource management. Advanced courses in forest measurements, silviculture, and management are required.

Internship
Normally with a public or private forestland management organization, the internship provides direct experience in the application of theory to professional land management.

Professional paper
The paper demonstrates a student’s ability to assemble and analyze data and to recommend a resolution of an applied forest problem. The paper may be based on the internship or on another supervised professional work experience, or may be a report based on independent analysis. The paper must have guiding professor and forestry graduate adviser acceptance and approval.

Oral Exam
A comprehensive oral examination covering forest management is taken after completion of course work and approval of the professional paper. Primary emphasis will be on work done in the period of residence, but students should also be prepared to demonstrate mastery of the general field of forestry.

For more information on the Master of Forestry degree, please contact Roxanne Heglar , the forestry graduate adviser.

Courses

Forestry

Faculty and Instructors

+ Indicates this faculty member is the recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award.

Faculty

Rodrigo P. P. Almeida, Associate Professor. Disease ecology, vector, plant disease, Xylella fastidiosa, emerging.
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Miguel A. Altieri, Professor. Agriculture, environmental science, pest management.
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Ronald Amundson, Professor. Pedology isotope biogeochemistry, impact of climate and life on earth processes, soils in biogeochemical cycles, human impacts on soils and ecosystems.
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Gary Anderson, Adjunct Professor. Microbial ecology, genomics, diversity in extreme environments.

Dennis D. Baldocchi, Professor. Biometeorology, biosphere-atmosphere trace gas fluxes, ecosystem ecology, climate change.
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Jillian Banfield, Professor. Nanoscience, Bioremediation, genomics, biogeochemistry, carbon cycling, geomicrobiology, MARS, minerology.
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John J. Battles, Professor. Forest Ecology and Ecosystem Dynamics.
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Steven R. Beissinger, Professor. Conservation, behavioral and population ecology.
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Gregory Biging, Professor. Forest Biometrics and Remote Sensing.
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Carl Boettiger, Assistant Professor. Theoretical ecology, ecoinformatics, modeling, data science, resilience, early warning signals, decision theory.
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Justin S. Brashares, Associate Professor. Wildlife, biodiversity, ecology, conservation, human livelihoods.
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Eoin Brodie, Assistant Adjunct Professor.
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Thomas D. Bruns, Professor. Microbial biology, plant biology, fungi, nucleic acid sequences, basidomycetes, ectomycorrhizal fungi communities.
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Stephanie M. Carlson, Associate Professor. Fish ecology, freshwater ecology, evolutionary ecology.
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Claudia J. Carr, Associate Professor. International and rural resource development.
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Ignacio Chapela, Associate Professor. Agriculture, biotechnology, environmental science, microbial biology, policy and management.
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Todd Dawson, Professor. Physiological plant ecology, evolutionary plant ecology, ecosystem processes, adaptations of plants, carbon, water, nitrogen.
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Kathryn De Master, Assistant Professor. Sociology and political ecology of agriculture, agrarian change, rural conservation and development, agri-environmental policy, food justice/sovereignty movements, heritage and terroir, diversified farming systems, participatory mapping.
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Perry De Valpine, Associate Professor. Population ecology, mathematical modeling and statistics.
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Richard S. Dodd, Professor. Tree genetics and systematics.
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Damian O. Elias, Assistant Professor. Neuroethology, behavioral ecology, and evolutionary biology of arthropods.
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Mary K. Firestone, Professor. Soils, environmental policy, environmental science, policy & management, wildlife, miicrobial biology.
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Brian L. Fisher, Associate Adjunct Professor. Entomology, Ants.
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Gordon Frankie, Professor. Urban entomology, policy, environmental policy, environmental science, pest management, management.
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Inez Fung, Professor. Global change, environmental policy, ecosystem scienes.
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Matteo Garbelotto, Adjunct Professor. Forest pathology, forest mycology, forest and tree management.
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Wayne Marcus Getz, Professor. Africa, disease ecology, wildlife conservation, resource management.
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Rosemary Gillespie, Professor. Evolutionary ecology, systematics, spider biology, conservation.
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+ J. Gilless, Professor. Environmental policy, resource economics, forestry, forest economics, wildland fire.
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Allen Goldstein, Professor. Global change, air pollution, environmental science, biogeochemistry, atmospheric chemistry.
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Charles Griswold, Adjunct Professor. Entomology.

John Harte, Professor. Global change, ecology, sustainability, energy policy, theoretical ecology, biodiversityl.
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Susan Hubbard, Adjunct Professor.

Lynn Huntsinger, Professor. Rangeland conservation and management.
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Alastair Iles, Associate Professor. Science, technology and environment; green chemistry; sustainability learning; environmental policy.

David Kavanaugh, Adjunct Professor. Systematics, biogeography, evolution, and natural history of carabid beetles.
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Maggi Kelly, Professor in Residence. Remote sensing, wetlands, ecosystem sciences, forests, geoinformatics, participatory web, GIS.
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Siamak Khorram, Adjunct Professor. Remote sensing, image processing.

Claire Kremen, Professor. Conservation Biology, Pollination, Agroecology, Entomology.

Isao Kubo, Professor. Agriculture, insect biology, pest management.
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Laura N. Lammers, Assistant Professor. Environmental geochemistry, crystal growth, mineral-fluid and fluid-fluid interfacial processes, contaminant transport.

Jonas Meckling, Assistant Professor. Climate policy, energy policy, political economy.
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Carolyn Merchant, Professor. Environmental history, philosophy and ethics.
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Adina Merenlender, Adjunct Professor. Conservation biology.
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Nicholas J. Mills, Professor. Invasive species, Biological control, Population ecology, Entomology/Insect biology.
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Katharine Milton, Professor. Tropical ecology of humans and non-human primates diet parasite-host interactions.
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Rachel Morello-Frosch, Professor. Race and class determinants of the distribution of health risks associated with air pollution among diverse communities in the United States.

Patrick M. O'Grady, Assistant Professor. Population genetics and phylogenetics of Drosophila, adaptive radiation, biogeography.
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Kevin O'Hara, Professor. Stand dynamics silviculture forest management.
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Kate O'Neill, Associate Professor. International environmental politics/ global political economy.
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Dara O'Rourke, Associate Professor. Environmental justice, globalization, industrial ecology, labor.
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George Oster, Professor. Computational biology, developmental biology, mathematical modeling of molecular and cellular systems, protein motors, cell motility, spatial pattern formation in eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells, neural pattern formation.
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Celine Pallud, Associate Professor. Biogeochemistry, iron reduction, metals and contaminants, soil aggregates, selenium kinetics of organic matter degradation, nitrate reduction, soil and environmental biogeophysics, biogeochemical cycles, fate and transport of nutrients, sulfate reduction, wetland soils, littoral sediments, spatial variation in biogeochemical processes.
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Nancy L. Peluso, Professor. Political ecology/resource policy and politics/forests/agrarian change/property and access.
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Matthew D. Potts, Associate Professor. Forest management, biofuels, plantation agriculture, land use planning, land use policy, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services, tropical ecology, environmental economics.
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Robert Rhew, Associate Professor. Geography, terrestrial-atmosphere exchange of trace gases, atmospheric chemistry and composition, halogen biogeochemistry, stratospheric ozone depletion issues, coastal salt marsh, chaparral, desert, tundra, boreal forest, grassland.
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George Roderick, Professor. Invasion biology, Biodiversity science, Sustainability and global change, Insects.
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Erica B. Rosenblum, Assistant Professor. Evolutionary ecology, speciation and extinction, ecological genomics, herpetology, global change biology.
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Whendee SIlver, Professor. Ecosystem ecology, biogeochemistry.
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Scott L. Stephens, Professor. Wildland fire science, fire ecology, forest ecology, forest policy, forest management.
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Mark A. Tanouye, Professor. Genetics, neuroanatomy, electrophysiology, mechanisms of nervous system structure and function, drosophila mutants.
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Neil Tsutsui, Professor. Genetics and behavior of social insects.
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Ian Wang, Assistant Professor. Landscape genetics, landscape ecology, ecological and conservation genomics.

Kipling Will, Associate Professor. Carabid beetles/ Insect Systematics/ Associate Director,Essig Museum of Entomology.
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David E. Winickoff, Associate Professor. Biotechnology, bioethics, environmental regulation, Science and Technology studies, geoengineering, technology transfer.
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Robert York, Adjunct Assistant Professor. Forest Ecology, Silviculture, Giant Sequoia restoration and ecology.
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Specialists

Van Butsic, Assistant Specialist. Land systems science, conservation, environmental economics and policy, coupled human natural systems, GIS applications.
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Kent M. Daane, Specialist. Control of insect pests in agricultural crops.

Christy M. Getz, Associate Specialist. Ethics, history, politics, rural development.

Ted Grantham, Assistant Specialist. Freshwater ecology, stream hydrology, climate risk assessment, California water management and policy.

Vernard Lewis, Specialist. Biology and management of structural and household pests.
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Max A. Moritz, Associate Specialist. Fire Ecology and Management.
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Thomas A. Scott, Specialist. Wildlife conservation, human impacts on wildlife, wildlife/urban interface.

Jennifer Sowerwine, Assistant Cooperative Extension Specialist. Building equitable, economically viable and culturally relevant food systems in metropolitan areas that contribute to healthy communities, ecological diversity and sustainable livelihoods.

Richard B. Standiford, Cooperative Extension Specialist. Forest management.

William Stewart, Specialist. Watershed management, forest management, resource economics.

William D. Tietje, Specialist. Oak woodland ecology, human impacts on wildlife.

Lecturers

Kendra Klein, Lecturer.

Alan H. Krakauer, Lecturer.

Patina Mendez, Lecturer.

Kurt Spreyer, Lecturer.

Bridget M. Tracy, Lecturer.

Visiting Faculty

Daphne Miller, Visiting Associate Professor.

Emeritus Faculty

Barbara Allen-Diaz, Professor Emeritus. Rangeland ecology and management, Plant community ecology.
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Reginald Barrett, Professor Emeritus. Wildlife biology and management.
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Frank Beall, Professor Emeritus.

+ Howell V. Daly, Professor Emeritus. Biosystematics of bees; traditional and modern taxonomic procedures, including use of computers in classification and data analysis and management.

Harvey Doner, Professor Emeritus. Chemistry of trace elements in soils, mineral-organic compound interactions, and chemistry of carbonates and more soluble minerals in soils.

Paul L. Gersper, Professor Emeritus. Soil/plant relationships, land use.
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Peng Gong, Professor Emeritus. Remote Sensing and GIS.
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Andrew Gutierrez, Professor Emeritus. Systems ecology biological control.
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Richard R. Harris, Specialist Emeritus. Forestry, resource management, riparian ecology.

John A. Helms, Professor Emeritus.

+ Joe R. McBride, Professor Emeritus. Forest ecology and urban forestry.
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John G. McColl, Professor Emeritus. Soil science: nutrient cycling, forest soils.
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Doug McCreary, Specialist Emeritus. Artificial regeneration of native California oaks.

Dale McCullough, Professor Emeritus. Wildlife biology and management.
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William Mckillop, Professor Emeritus. Forest economics, forest management, forest policy, timber supply, forestry economics.
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Gary Nakamura, Specialist Emeritus. Forestry and silviculture.

Alexander H. Purcell III, Professor Emeritus. Insect vectors of plant pathogens.

Robert D. Raabe, Professor Emeritus. Ornamental pathology.

Milton Schroth, Professor Emeritus. Ecology, pathogen physiology, biocontrol.

Philip Spieth, Professor Emeritus. Population Genetics and Evolution.

Robert Van Steenwyk, Professor Emeritus. Pest management, forestry, microbial biology.
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Stephen C. Welter, Professor Emeritus. Plant-insect interactions and agricultural entomology.