Sustainability in agro-forestry should be a priority not only to keep our industry alive, but also because this industry supplies every other industry and keeps people alive. I am a Parks, Recreation, & Tourism Management major pursuing a Forestry minor and an Environmental Education certificate. I plan to obtain a Masters in Forestry and work in private consulting, as well as working with livestock. This is called agro-forestry. Multiple initiatives are working on increasing sustainability, but they tend to focus on just one aspect (forestry, livestock, wildlife, etc.). I want to be able to create workshops and help guide discussions on how to incorporate sustainability across the board and including all aspects. I want to bring the wildlife, recreation, forestry, and agriculture parts of the natural resource community together to increase sustainability. Traditionally forestry & agriculture communities are divided, with the former caring more about growing trees for profit (mainly), and the latter caring more about wide open land for crops or livestock. There is a sizable community of small landowners who do practice agro-forestry, but I want to help bring it to the attention of more people and increase its presence in academia. Agro-forestry is more sustainable than traditional land management. It not only allows an owner to have multiple streams of income, but also has numerous ecological benefits. The vegetation (forests paired with grasses, along with any shrubs and undergrowth) allow shade and carbon dioxide fixation, and help retain moisture in the soil. Moving the livestock allows the forage to regrow, both giving wildlife and livestock the best available forage and keeping the soil healthy. When under proper management, agro-forestry systems can have economic and ecological benefits for generations. I’ve talked to multiple agriculture and forestry practitioners, as well as landowners. One of the main reasons for discord is they do not believe each other has their interests at heart, partially due to the way forestry and agriculture is traditionally done. With my background in outdoor education and conflict resolution through Scouts, I am confident I can help both communities find a solution. I want to do this by conducting interviews and designing an informal workshop with guided discussions on how to increase sustainability. I hope in my future career and going to graduate school I can inspire and teach others to adopt agro-forestry. I am a member of forestry, wildlife, and agriculture organizations and I am hoping to use my connections to foster a closer community and a focused goal of increasing sustainability.

I am studying Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management (essentially Outdoor Recreation), with a certificate in Environmental Education and a minor in Forestry. After undergrad, I want to attend grad school for forestry, and have a career in forestry consulting, as well as in environmental education & outreach. I chose the natural resources field to not only protect our environment, but also to restore native landscapes with a mix of forests, wildlife, and agriculture. I was led into this by camping and hiking with my family as a child, and joining the Boy Scouts. With my education and career goals, I want to encourage both clients and students to protect and steward our environment and natural resources, as well as encourage people to adopt silvopasture, a combination of agriculture and forestry. With this scholarship I will be able to attend conferences and workshops, and collaborate on outreach programs for a variety of audiences.

Environmental protection and stewardship is the forefront issue of my beliefs. I am a student at the UGA Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources. I am studying Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management (essentially Outdoor Recreation), with a certificate in Environmental Education and a minor in Forestry. Like many, I was introduced to the environment early on, going camping & hiking with my family, and eventually joining the Boy Scouts. As I spent more time in nature, working and learning, I developed a love and deep sense of protection for the outdoors. Not only do I care about it so that I can personally go camping, fishing, hunting, and all the things I love, I also care so that my future family can enjoy our shared landscape, but also so our wildlife and ecosystems can thrive. I want to continue my education and go on to graduate school for forestry, focusing on silvopasture, which is a combination of forestry with livestock and/or crops. This not only gives practitioners more economic benefits, but also much more environmental benefits. There is increased shade and forage for livestock, as well as better health and understory control for the trees. It also allows more carbon to be stored, more wetlands can be conserved, as well as introducing more people to the outdoors and conservation through outdoor and agricultural tourism. Lastly, it will help return habitats to their native states, as this was the management system practiced by native americans and early settlers. As both an outdoorsman and an environmental student, I recommend trying multiple ways to reduce one’s carbon footprint. An easy way is to have fun and go on a hike, ride a horse, go swimming, just don’t use a car. If you have to, try to carpool. Another way is you can plant gardens. This’ll help in a few ways, but the main one is the increased green space (especially if you plant fruit trees or leafy bushes) will retain more carbon. A garden will also allow you to collect healthier food for cheaper, as well as reduce waste by allowing you to compost. Another recommendation I would make is for my friends & family to try to buy local, whether that’s food, clothing, or whatever, as that will help reduce the carbon put out by the logistics system. With my degree in natural resources, I want to go into environmental consulting as a career, along with education and outreach. In my role I want to encourage people (both clients and audiences I’m teaching, such as Scouts or agriculture students) to adopt environmentally friendly practices such as silvopasture, reducing fossil fuel use, and increasing green space. All of these will help to protect the environment and reduce carbon footprints. This scholarship will help me to pursue my education further. It will allow me to attend professional conferences and to build connections, strengthening my network and thus my impact. At these conferences and professional events I will work with other students, academics, and professionals to create programs to better teach both our young generations and our working population the importance of protecting and restoring the environment, beginning with reducing our carbon footprint.

I've been entranced with the outdoors since I was two years old. What began as walking with my mom and grandma searching for bugs and plants in the garden morphed into going camping and hiking with my dad to now, being an assistant Scoutmaster in my troop. Through my Scouting career, I've gone camping hundreds of times, logged dozens of hiking and canoeing miles, and fell in love with the outdoors. My favorite part is when I see new scouts (who are usually 12-13 years old and phone addicted), or even just normal people, also be curious and wonder about the nature and animals. If they ask questions, I love helping them learn, whether it's helping them learn how to camp, basic bushcraft skills, or how to be more considerate in the outdoors. And in scouting, my biggest (human) inspirations are my Scoutmaster, who I believe knows everything, and then my dad, who I still remember my first camping trip with. But my biggest inspirations are the views that come on a mountain backpacking trip, or a cool river swim after a morning fishing, or even better, seeing a rabbit or a deer just up the trail. Throughout my life, I always wanted to go hunting, but due to our schedule and location it never worked out. That is until I was able to go to a hunter education camp in my junior year, and I absolutely loved it. Even though I unfortunately did not get a deer, I did see how to field dress a deer, as well as make friends that love the same things I do. But the most moving experience for me was meeting the teachers. We were taught by full and part time DNR employees, two rangers and a wildlife biologist. I realized that is my goal in life: to be the guy that teaches how to hunt and how to care for the environment, but is outside and not a lab or a lecture hall. Who is in charge of enforcing the rules and law and not just teaching about them. Ever since that trip, and just magnified by my scouts experiences since then, and going fishing with my friends, has led me to study at the Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources at University of Georgia. I don't know exactly what major I want, but I do want to stay in the school. Regardless of my major, I want to get additional certificates and hopefully a minor or double major in conservation, just allowing me to increase my knowledge and ability to help the outdoors. I want to do it so I can give the people after me the opportunities I had.