"Through setting up timber harvests, running chainsaws, tapping trees for maple syrup, riding in the cab of harvesters, and working with other students, I have grown both as an individual and a natural resources professional."
Rock fords. Timber bridges. Bird boxes. Fish cribs. Installing wildlife cameras. Preserving side-stream vegetation. Protecting streambeds and banks. Timber cruising and marking. The FERMTM, our trademarked Forestry and Environmental Resource Management program, is applied learning by doing, stressing professional development. Student teams plan, act, and oversee conservation-oriented management in our forests—and for the community. Instructors accompany, at first. Once teams have the lay of the land, they're on their own. The brainchild of then-School dean Glenn Mroz, who went on to be Michigan Tech's president, FERM has been putting students in for-credit, real-life forestry and wildlife management situations since 2002. Students appreciate the preparation. So do employers.
"We have them out doing all sorts of things—the Tech Trails bridges, testing timbers and sawing to size. Swedetown. Calumet. The Nature Conservancy. It goes on and on. And the revenue helps our program be self-supporting."
You can re-enroll in FERM as often as you'd like. Register for one of the courses listed here. Plan on at least three hours of field time—maybe more—per credit hour per week in a normal 14-week semester. For example, if you sign up for 2 FERM credits, count on a minimum six hours of field time per week.
FERM Course Numbers
- FW3376—2 credits
- FW3377—3 credits
- FW3378—4 credits; Instructor permission required
- FW5376—1 credit; Graduate level, greater effort and time commitment required
- FW5377—2 credits; Graduate level, greater effort and time commitment required
- ENT2950, Section L25—1 credit;
- ENT2960, Section L25—1 credit; Enterprise minor
- ENT3950, Section L25—1 credit; Enterprise minor
- ENT3960, Section L25—1 credit; Enterprise minor
- ENT4900, Section L25—2 credits; Enterprise minor
- ENT4910, Section L25—2 credits; Enterprise minor
- ENT4950, Section L25—2 credits; Enterprise minor
- ENT4960, Section L25—2 credits; Enterprise minor