Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** our overall goal of this project is…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** our overall goal of this project is to increase female participation in the forestry profession in louisiana. To do this, we will (1) increase mentorship opportunities between young women of louisiana and professional female foresters, (2) assist k-12 educators with increasing female interest in forestry, (3) develop community outreach opportunities to increase interest among girls and young women in forestry, and (4) create an implementation and evaluation rubric for other institutions to create similar opportunities for young women in their states. Our plans to accomplish this goal include the development and implementation of an annual professional development workshop for 10TH-12TH grade female students in louisiana where they will learn about forestry from professional female foresters. We will also actively seek out opportunities to educate children, especially young girls, about forestry and all associated fields of study. Finally, we will create a virtual forestry education platform to provide forestry-related teaching resources to k-12 teachers in the state of louisiana. Our project goal aligns with the goals of the wams program as IT will provide education opportunities to young women in rural louisiana via workshops, virtual exercises, and outreach. We will be creating forestry-based learning materials to implement in the field and/or classroom. Project participants will develop many leadership skills required of a forestry professional. These skills include critical thinking to solve real-world scenarios, hypothesis-based problem-solving skills, and an understanding of professional ethics as detailed by the society of american foresters.