Program Overview

Forests and Climate Change Graduate Certificate

The Forests and Climate Change graduate certificate is designed to provide a thorough grounding in methods for assessing the impacts of climate change on forests, the evaluation of proposed adaptation strategies, and the development of management practices to enhance forest carbon sequestration for the mitigation of climate change.

Overview

Forests worldwide have begun to be impacted by global climate change, and over the coming century, they will be profoundly altered by it. The adaptation of managed forests to climate change may require both silvicultural and genetics-based options. Because forests have the capacity to both emit and sequester carbon dioxide, a leading greenhouse gas contributing to climate change, there is tremendous interest in managing forests for the mitigation of climate change.

Learning Outcomes

• Understand the basic concepts and relationships between forests, carbon, and climate change.
• Analyze the mechanism of climate change impacts on forests, and gain familiarity with the most current climate change scenarios and their simulated impacts on forests.
• Understand how resource management policies and regulations influence management motivations and options for adapting to and mitigating climate change.
• Evaluate options for adaptation to climate change.
• Understand carbon measurement practices in forests and gain experience with GIS and modeling tools for quantifying carbon stocks and flux over large areas.
• Assess the use of market-based approaches to managing GHG emissions, focusing on carbon trading markets, carbon credits, and offsets.
• Identify mitigation policies at international, national, and local levels.

Requirements

Course List

Additional elective courses will be considered in consultation with the FCC Program Director.

Certificate Code

The certificate code for the Forests and Climate Change Graduate Certificate is CG15.