UC is the only university in New Zealand to offer professional forestry degree programmes, including undergraduate programmes run through the School of Forestry and the College of Engineering.
Our first-class facilities include teaching and research spaces and the Wood Technology precinct, which contains a timber drying and preservation unit, a pulp and paper room, and a general workshop.
There are many plantation and native forest areas, both publicly and privately owned, used for teaching and research within convenient range of the University.
Field trips to Canterbury’s indigenous and exotic forests are integral to our teaching and we have strong relationships with local forest organisations and their valuable staff.
Students also travel to Hanmer Springs; the West Coast; the Nelson region; and the central North Island on extended field trips. Students regularly visit several wood processing industries in Canterbury with which we maintain regular contact.
Overview
The Bachelor of Forestry Science (BForSc) is a professional degree offered by Te Kura Ngahere | School of Forestry. It is an interdisciplinary degree that prepares our graduates for managing forest resources by combining the study of core science courses with management, commerce, and technologies.
Forestry Science graduates are highly sought after by employers and follow exciting and rewarding career paths. As a graduate, you can choose a career in commercial forestry, conservation and restoration ecology, research, or policy and planning in Aotearoa New Zealand or overseas.
If you care about the management of natural resources and are interested in being part of a huge worldwide industry, of particular national relevance to Aotearoa, then forestry could be for you.
Courses
UC offers a Bachelor of Forestry Science, which focuses on the management and maintenance of forest resources.
There is also a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours specialising in Forest Engineering at UC.
Bachelor of Forestry Science
See the Bachelor of Forestry Science for the compulsory courses in the degree.
The first year is best taken at UC, although it may be taken at any Aotearoa New Zealand university. Students considering studying the first year of their degree at another Aotearoa university should consult the School of Forestry | Te Kura Ngahere for their course selection, which would include the distance courses FORE 102 Forests and Societies or FORE 105 Forests of the World.
Students who attain a good Grade Point Average during the second and third years will be invited to consider undertaking Honours in the final year of the degree. Those who choose to do so also complete a piece of original research on a Forestry topic of choice.
Career opportunities
The degree is very well supported by employers in Aotearoa New Zealand. Students are able to make employer contacts through New Zealand Institute of Forestry meetings and lectures on campus. These contacts can also provide summer work opportunities.
Some of the biggest companies in Aotearoa hire UC graduates and many students obtain work overseas. Of those choosing to enter the workforce, the majority of our graduates are employed by the time they finish their degree.
Possible careers include forest management or consultancy (plantation and native forests), conservation, harvesting, wood processing, planning, policy, forest science, timber appraisal, biosecurity, forest economics, sustainability, and land management.
Contact us
Phone +64 3 369 3500
Email [email protected]
Location
Level 2, Forestry building – see campus maps
Postal address
College of Engineering | Te Rāngai Pūkaha
University of Canterbury | Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha
Private Bag 4800
Christchurch 8140
New Zealand