About the School of Forestry
The School of Forestry at Canterbury is the only university department in New Zealand to offer professional forestry degree programmes including
- the Bachelor of Forestry Science
- Postgraduate Diploma in Forestry
- Master of Forestry Science and
- Ph.D. in Forestry.
The School has first class facilities for teaching and research. With a major building extension it now consists of three interconnected buildings.
The first contains the secretary, staff offices and the main lecture theatre. It also accommodates the South Island branch of Scion. Staff from Scion contribute to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in the School and they collaborate in the School's research programmes.
The second building contains lecture rooms, seminar rooms, undergraduate and postgraduate computer laboratories, research laboratories and postgraduate offices.
The Wood Technology precinct is housed in the third building, which contains a timber drying and preservation unit, a pulp and paper room and a general workshop.
A distinctive feature of all buildings is the extensive use of timber, both structural and decorative, to provide pleasant surroundings.
The University of Canterbury has an excellent library with over 1.3 million items of which the Forestry collection forms one part.
Field trips are an integral part of many of our subjects and use is made of the forests, both indigenous and exotic, around
Canterbury. We have built up strong relationships with most of the forest organisations in Canterbury, whose staff contribute greatly to these field trips.
There are many plantation and native forest areas, both publicly and privately owned, used for teaching and research within convenient range of the University. Further afield, the School has its own field station in Westland at Harihari. This is used for practical courses and as a research centre. It provides an excellent location for the study of native forests. Other university field stations located near Arthur's Pass, at Kaikoura and at Westport are also close to extensive areas of indigenous forests. Students regularly visit several wood processing industries in Canterbury with which we maintain regular contact.