Capstone is your crowning achievement. Academics, field, and lab studies in action—a culmination to demonstrate what you've learned, and what you can do with your knowledge and skills. The 4-credit fall-semester course integrates techniques from many applied ecology and forestry core courses:
- Conduct a multi-resource inventory of forested landscapes
- Describe and evaluate the potential for natural resources outputs
- Develop Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping and other applications
- Analyze diverse management alternatives
Bird-window collisions. Dam removal. Tree pests and diseases. Capstone topics with literal impact.
Your projects help our campus, surrounding communities, property owners, recreationists—and the landscape itself:
- Students formulated a timber-harvest plan for Lake Linden-Hubbell School District Forest to improve forest health, create revenue, and enhance recreation and education opportunities for students, families, and visitors.
- Sensitive vernal pools are protected in Michigan Tech's recreational forest thanks to size and vegetation measurements followed by mapping to aid smart management and wise trail development in the future—safeguarding the amphibians who use these sensitive, temporary wetlands as spring breeding grounds.
How will you make a difference—for the environment, and your résumé?