Currently we have five active projects and two pending projects that this will be funded and eight professors are working on these approved or pending projects to the USDA

The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded Louisiana TECH University $788,426 under the Cooperative Forestry Research (McIntire-Stennis) formula grant program on October 1, 2025.

Louisiana TECH is conducting forest research across five active projects and two pending projects, with eight faculty members leading work in evaluating the role of fungi in forest health in Louisiana; optimizing genetically improved seedlings for Southern forests; wood utilization in a changing economic environment; spatiotemporal simulation of forest ecosystem changes under different disturbances in the Southeastern United States; and high-resolution data and precision forestry applications in the Southern United States. Fourteen undergraduate students and one graduate student are engaged in these research activities.

Performance occurs in Ruston, Louisiana, with a period of performance through September 30, 2027. The McIntire-Stennis program supports forestry research in production, utilization, and protection of forestland while training future forestry scientists and involving other disciplines in forestry research and education. Funds are distributed to state-certified institutions as determined by the Governor or designee. Current policy allows fifty percent of the fiscal year 2025 allocation to carry over into the next fiscal year, with carryover funds fully expended by September 30, 2026, unless a waiver for greater carryover is approved.

These projects have already involved 14 undergraduate students and one graduate student with the activities including evaluating the role of fungi in forest health in louisiana; optimization of genetically improved seedlings for southern forests; wood utilization in a changing economic environment; satiotemporal changes simulation of forest ecosystems under different disturbances in the southeastern united states; high-resolution data and precision forestry applications in southern united states.