Our Vision is to Sustain and Enhance our Understanding of New England’s Diverse Forest Resources
The Center for Research on Sustainable Forests (CRSF) was founded in 2006 to build on a rich history of leading forest research and to enhance our understanding of Maine’s forest resources in an increasingly complex world. Forest research and its application are rapidly evolving due to unprecedented availability of data provided by emerging technologies such as high-resolution digital imagery and GPS. As the CRSF looks to the future, we hope to lead the development, integration, and application of these emerging technologies to address current and future issues in natural resources.
OUR MISSION is coordinate, conduct, and communicate interdisciplinary scientific research to provide forestland and natural resources expertise and data relevant to the region’s diverse stakeholders.
CRSF GOALS
- Engage and serve a diverse array of regional stakeholders (e.g., researchers, forest industry, State & Federal agencies, conservation organizations, general public)
- Create a community network of researchers interested in regional forest-related issues both internal and external to the University of Maine System
- Sustain, coordinate, and promote a diverse applied interdisciplinary science program on relevant regional topics
- Implement an effective multi-media outreach and communications program that reaches a wide range of audiences
- Provide a number of practical decision-support tools that are primarily geospatially-based across a range of focus areas and scales
Student Research & Internships
The CRSF welcomes undergraduate and graduate students to engage in hands-on, applied forest research. CRSF empowers students to make key contributions to the advancement of forest research initiatives through field and lab work, data analysis, and professional internships. Opportunities include engaging and contributing to significant research on ecosystem sustainability, the intersection of forest management and AI, geospatial data and remote sensing. Our students gain valuable professional knowledge through a strong science and quantitative reasoning foundation. Funding sources include our Cooperative Forestry Research Unit, NSF-funded research programs, and US Forest Service joint ventures.
To learn more about working with us, contact our Research and Internship Coordinator, Eric McPherson (eric.mcpherson@maine.edu).
CRSF News
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Center for Advanced Forestry Systems Releases Phase 3 Final Report and Transitions to Phase 4
The National Science Foundation-supported Center for Advanced Forestry Systems (CAFS) completed its fifteenth year of operation and successfully graduated from the NSF Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) program in December […]
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New UMaine Study Reveals Significant Differences in Forest Carbon Models, Calls for Standardization
Premer, M., Simons-Legaard, E., Daigneault, A., Hayes, D., Solarik, K., & Weiskittel, A. Some Models are Useful… for Estimating Standing Aboveground Carbon in US Forests. J. For. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44392-025-00056-7 ORONO, Maine — As […]
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University of Maine Researchers Lead Development of Novel Forest Relative Density Maps
Maps will Guide Optimal Management and Resiliency of Forests Across the Continental United States Orono, Maine – Multi-institutional scientists led by researchers at the University of Maine’s Center for Research […]