Our fellowship program will provide 2 fellows the ability to complete an innovative master program in a discipline relevant to the USDA mission and addresses strategic goals 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6. The…

Our fellowship program will provide 2 fellows the ability to complete an innovative master program in a discipline relevant to the USDA mission and addresses strategic goals 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6. The measurable national impact is the development of expert leaders who will pipeline into successful careers in forest business development, planning, and management and expand the intellectual capital of the food and agricultural sciences workforce experiencing dramatic shortages. Our relationships with the intertribal timber council and tribal governments and colleges across the nation enable US to recruit outstanding fellows. The program builds on the established forest leadership tradition, capitalizes on current developments in markets for ecosystem services in manner congruent with traditional knowledge and practice, and offers exceptional access to private and public investment and finance for nature based solutions. Our goal is to foster fellows' leadership skills and core competencies in forest resource management decision sciences with a focus on forest business and economics. We envision that the fellows will become preeminent leaders in a global and technology-driven world economy. The measurable objectives include 100% graduation success and successful performance in the unique aspects of the proposal including: immersion in entrepreneurship and leadership training; development of forestry research projects experiential training with world's leading forest organizations; development of relationships with major landowner organizations; interaction with global forest business leaders; and development of forestry research presentations and publications.