Renowned Forestry Expert Appointed to F&ES Faculty

Chad Oliver, renowned expert in the field of forest stand dynamics, has been appointed professor of Forestry and Environmental Studies at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. He will join the faculty next January.

“Chad is widely respected internationally as a silviculturist with a deep understanding of both the dynamics of forest processes and the interactions of human societies and forests,” Dean James Gustave Speth said. “He has worked on forest issues here and abroad, and is the ideal person to lead our Global Institute for Sustainable Forest Management.”

Oliver’s book, “Forest Stand Dynamics,” is considered one of the most important contributions to silviculture in the last 50 years. Oliver has more than 70 reviewed publications including journal articles, book chapters, and symposia proceedings. He also has a long record of providing testimony to congressional committees, scientific and policy advisory panels, and state boards.

Speth said that Oliver is a leading voice for sustainable forestry worldwide, breaking new ground with the development of computer models that provide important tools for forest land management. His Land Management System has been described as the equivalent to landscape architecture of putting different stands together into sustainable ecosystems. Timothy G. Gregoire, the J.P. Weyerhauser Jr. Professor of Forest Management at the school, said, “His appointment to the faculty will help ensure the science-based leadership and vision in forest policy for which the School is justly proud.”

Oliver received his Ph.D. from Yale in 1975, and held an instructorship briefly at Harvard. That same year, he joined the faculty at the University of Washington, rising to full professor in 1986. His academic and professional experience extends to all the major forested regions of North America, as well as Europe, Asia, and Central and South America.

Graeme Berlyn, E. H. Harriman Professor of Forest Management, said of Oliver: “I can think of no one who can command the same authority in matters of the world’s forests as Chad Oliver. He brings not only technical expertise with his computer programs, models, and analyses, but an unparrelled depth of knowledge of forests.”