Michigan Technological University

Our Forestry undergraduate and MF in Forestry programs are SAF accredited.


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School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science

Blair D. Orr

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Blair D. Orr

Professor, School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science

  • PhD, Forestry, University of Wisconsin
  • MA, Economics, University of Wisconsin
  • BS, Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin
"Is peace simply the absence of war? Or is peace the absence of the conditions that bring on war, the conditions of hunger, disease, poverty, illiteracy and despair?" —Loret Miller Ruppe

Combine Peace Corps and Graduate School

1n 1995 the School of Forest Resources began the Peace Corps Master’s International Program with five students. Over the years Michigan Tech has grown to become the largest Peace Corps Master’s International Program in the United States with students serving in Albania, Armenia, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Bulgaria, Cameroon, the Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, Gabon, the Gambia, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Paraguay, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Suriname, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Ukraine, Vanuatu, and Zambia.

The Master’s International Program in Forestry involves nine months of intensive forestry education at Michigan Tech, three months of Peace Corps training, and two years of field work with Peace Corps. The first 14 weeks of fall semester (commonly known as Fall Camp) are located at the Ford Center and Research Forest in Alberta, Michigan and focus on fundamental field skills in forestry, overseas research and tropical forestry. The spring semester is spent at the Michigan Tech campus in Houghton, Michigan. Students then take part in three months of Peace Corps technical, cross-cultural and language training in the country where they will work, followed by two years of Peace Corps service working to improve the environment with people who use and depend upon a healthy ecosystem for their livelihoods and that of their children. Students return to Michigan Tech to complete their degree, typically in one additional academic term.

The Michigan Tech/Peace Corps Master's International program not only develops the skills and knowledge to help meet these needs, but it gives participating students the confidence and credibility they need to make a difference on a grass-roots, people-to-people level. In addition, students gain two years of professional overseas field experience.

Recent Publications

  • Satterlee, B.M., M. Yemefack, and B.D. Orr. 2009. Maize yield and soil property responses to Entada abyssinica (Steud. ex A. Rich.) cuttings in the Adamawa Lowlands, Cameroon. J.of Food, Agriculture and Environment 7(1):192-196.
  • Slatton, R., and B. Orr. 2008. A Smorgasbord of Agricultural Technologies: Farmers’ Choices and Lessons from Chalite, Panama. Development in Practice. 18(1):125-130.
  • Orr, B. 2007. Cross-Country Skiing USSA Points as a Predictor of Future Performance among Junior Skiers. The Sports Journal. Online. Vol 10, No. 4.
  • Jones, Michael J., and B. Orr. 2007. Resin Tapping and Forest Cooperatives in Honduras. J.of Sustainable Forestry 22(3/4):135-169.
  • Cohen, M.E., J. B. Pickens, J. Cardenas Castillo, and B. Orr 2005. Ecological suitability and tree seedling survival in the Bolivian Altiplano. Ecologia Austral 15:207-215.
  • Jarvis, MC, AM Miller, J Sheahan, K Ploetz, J Ploetz, RR Watson, MP Ruiz, CAP Villapan, JG Alvarado, AL Ramirez, & B Orr. 2005. Edible wild mushrooms of the Cofre de Perote Region, Veracruz, Mexico: an ethnomycological study of common names and uses. Economic Botany. 58(Supplement):S111-S115.
  • Ploetz, K., and B. Orr. 2004. Wild herb use in Bulgaria. Economic Botany 58(2):231-241.

School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science

Forestry and Wood Products Building
1400 Townsend Dr.
Houghton, Michigan 49931-1295

Ph. 906-487-2454
Toll-Free: 800-WOODS-MI
  (800-966-3764)
Email: forest@mtu.edu

Michigan Technological University

1400 Townsend Drive
Houghton, Michigan 49931-1295
906-487-1885

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