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Graduate Certificate of Forests

Overview

Forests, the most biodiverse terrestrial ecosystems, are central to life on earth and planetary and human health. Halting deforestation and forest degradation, restoring forests in landscapes degraded by unsustainable use, and expanding the role of forests in climate change mitigation and adaptation, are global goals with diverse local implementation opportunities and challenges. 

Traditional Owners now manage a third of Australia’s forests, mostly for conservation and environmental services; state agencies manage another third. Plantation forests grow most of our wood. Farm forests improve agricultural productivity and sustainability. Urban forests make cities more liveable and improve their residents’ wellbeing. Wood from sustainably managed forests is often described as ‘the ultimate renewable’, and is now the basis of advanced engineered materials and buildings. Around the world, forests in their many forms, and how we conserve and manage them sustainably for their myriad services and products, are being re-imagined.    

Capitalising on these opportunities and addressing the associated challenges is both exciting and demanding. It requires innovative, interdisciplinary approaches to problem solving, drawing from a wide range of disciplinary and specialist knowledge. By completing courses across a broad range of knowledge bases and applied to forest science and management, you will develop the skills to integrate and adapt knowledge to design novel solutions to complex problems.

The ANU Graduate Certificate of Forests provides you with a flexible education experience and acts as an entry point for more advanced coursework degree programs. In addition, the program provides you with a range of professional development opportunities that you can immediately utilise in your workplace.

Program details

  • Demonstrate a broad knowledge and cognitive skills across a range of contemporary issues and challenges in the forest sciences and forest management.

  • Apply skills to engage with interdisciplinary approaches and multiple stakeholders.

  • Effectively communicate knowledge and understanding of forest systems, policy and management options to diverse audiences in both written and oral formats.

Key facts

Careers

There are opportunities for graduates across the breadth of the forests sector, in all its diversity, in Australia, in our region, and more widely. Graduates with forests expertise work in conservation and sustainable production systems, in partnership with First Nations peoples and with farmers, in the forest and environmental services industries, and across government, business, and community sectors. Graduates have the capacity to enter at managerial and strategic thinking -level positions, and to become the next generation of leaders for forests.

Our graduates are ranked number one in Australia for graduate employability.

The Graduate Certificate of Forests can be a pathway to more advanced study.

Students who successfully complete the Graduate Certificate of Forests with a GPA of 5.00/7.00 or above may be eligible to apply for admission to a Master degree offered by the College of Science or the College of Health and Medicine at the Australian National University. Courses successfully completed in the Graduate Certificate of Forests may be credited towards a Master degree, where eligible.

The Australian National University has been ranked as the top university for graduate employability in Australia in the Global University Employability Ranking 2020. As a student at ANU, you gain access to the ANU CareerHub – an online career development and employability tool that includes a jobs board and careers resources. You also have access to drop-in chats with a career consultant and to attend our career fairs to meet potential employers.

Lee Adamson-Ringk, a GIS Operator for Timberlands Pacific, and her husband Chris Ringk, a consulting forester, met while studying for a Bachelor of Science at the Fenner School of Environment and Society at ANU.

Now they run a Christmas tree farm from their home near Launceston, Tasmania.

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World class facilities

Our new $240-million science precinct on the ANU campus has state-of-the-art biological and chemical research laboratories, as well as a teaching hub.

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Top university for graduate employability

The Australian National University has been ranked as the top university for graduate employability in Australia in the Global University Employability Ranking 2022. 

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Pathway to a master's degree

Graduate with a GPA of 5.00/7.00 or above and you may be eligible to apply for admission to a Master degree offered by the College of Science.

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Learning experience

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Biodiversity internships

Science internship program

Get hands on work experience and network with future employers while earning credit towards your coursework degree.

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Fees & scholarships

Fees

Please visit the Programs and Courses website for information about fees.

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Scholarships

Whether you are looking for financial support to start your studies at ANU or help to move away from home for the first time, we have scholarship opportunities for you and your situation.

Convenors

Dr Sara Beavis

Dr Sara Beavis

Dr Sara Beavis

Dr Beavis has a background in environmental geology with a research and teaching focus on water. She is interested in exploring the impacts of landuse change on stream discharge and water quality, and the cascading consequences for downstream water-dependent ecosystems and human communities.

 

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