Penn State Live - Messina named director of Penn State School of Forest Resources

Messina named director of Penn State School of Forest Resources

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Michael Messina

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Michael Messina, professor and associate department head for undergraduate programs in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management at Texas A&M University, has been named director of Penn State's School of Forest Resources, effective Jan. 5.

Messina will replace Charles Strauss, professor of forest economics, who is retiring after more than seven years as director and more than 47 years on the Penn State faculty.

"Mike Messina brings to Penn State an impressive record of scholarly accomplishments and a demonstrated commitment to helping students achieve success," said Robert Steele, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences. "As a Penn State alumnus, he also understands our long history of excellence in forest resources and is dedicated to sustaining and enhancing that tradition."

The School of Forest Resources currently enrolls about 350 undergraduate and about 100 graduate students. As director, Messina will oversee more than 70 faculty and staff, including two endowed positions: the Maurice K. Goddard Chair in Forestry and Environmental Resource Conservation and the Joseph E. Ibberson Chair in Forest Resources Management.

After receiving his bachelor's degree in Forest Science from Penn State in 1979 and his doctorate in Forestry from North Carolina State University in 1983, Messina spent three years as a postdoctoral research fellow at the New Zealand Forest Service's Forest Research Institute. He joined the Texas A&M faculty as assistant professor in the Department of Forest Science in 1986, was promoted to associate professor in 1992 and achieved the rank of full professor in 2001.

Messina's academic interests include silviculture, intensive pine-stand management, forested wetland ecology and management, ecophysiology, and nutrient cycling. He has authored or co-authored more than 30 scholarly articles in refereed journals and has received or shared research grants totaling almost $2 million.

He also has taught several undergraduate and graduate courses in silviculture, fire in natural resources management, wood properties and utilization, forest ecology, field forestry techniques, and general forestry. As associate department head, he oversaw all advising, curricula design and general undergraduate issues for five degree programs.

The School of Forest Resources' teaching, research, and cooperative extension programs focus on wood science; forest biology and management; wood products marketing, management and manufacturing; wildlife and fisheries science and management; urban and community forestry; watershed science and management; wetlands ecology; and genetics and systematics. Recently cited for offering one of North America's 10 best forestry programs, the school celebrated its centennial in 2007.

In 2006, the school moved into the new, 95,000-square-foot Forest Resources Building, which houses classrooms; state-of-the-art laboratories for forestry, fisheries, water resources, wildlife and wood products; a 150-seat auditorium; and faculty and administrative office space. The building has a "green roof" and other features that helped it to receive a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.