Thomas Maness(’81 M.S. in forest operations) has been named dean of Oregon State University’s College of Forestry, leading a college with nearly 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students while also serving as director of the Oregon Forest Research Laboratory. Maness, who specializes in developing innovative forest policies and practices to balance traditional production with ecosystem services, has been a professor and head of the college’s Department of Forest Engineering, Resources, and Management since 2009.

“Dr. Maness is passionate about the College of Forestry and he has extensive industry and academic experience,” said Sabah Randhawa, OSU provost and executive vice president. “He is a broad thinker and understands sustainable, long-term management of forests and the resulting implications for forestry education, research, and outreach. His vision and experience will help us further advance the college and its contributions to the university’s signature area of advancing the science of sustainable earth ecosystems.”

Active in environmental education and awareness, Maness founded the Canadian National Centre of Excellence in Advanced Wood Processing in 1994 and directed the program for five years. Maness also founded the British Columbia Forum on Forest Economics and Policy, a research and outreach center to engage stakeholders in building a strategic vision for the future of British Columbia’s forest sector, in 2004. During a 2008 sabbatical, he worked as a senior policy analyst with the U.S. Forest Service in Washington, D.C., where he conducted research on climate mitigation and wood energy policy

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