Education of Forest Ecology and Forest Management

Our professors and lecturers act as supervisors for individual BSc-theses within the study programs Bachelor Biology (BBI) and Bachelor Forest and Nature Conservation (BBN). Who will supervise your thesis mainly depends on the topic you choose. The thesis can be written in English or in Dutch.

For more detailed information on doing your BSc thesis: see Brightspace page BSc thesis Forest and Nature Conservation.

All information about writing your bachelor thesis within the Forest and Nature Conservation programme, including course guide, contract and assessment form, can be found on the Brightspace page. If you are not enrolled yet, contact bscthesis.bbn@wur.nl (also for all questions that are not answered within the course guide).

Welcome to the exciting world of Forest Ecology and Forest Management! We have a wide range of thesis projects ranging from fundamental to applied questions, where you can study from the plant- to the ecosystem level, in the temperate or tropical zone through field studies, experiments, lab studies, or modelling.

How to choose an interesting subject?

• Search our FEM THESIS DATABASE by topic, by region, by supervisor or see them all.
• For more inspiration check our list of current Staff and Phd research projects. Contact the researcher or supervisor to find out what possibilities there are for you.
• You can also come up with your own project ideas, or do your research, via us, with another research institute in the world. Contact our thesis coordinator.

Before starting any thesis activities...

• Check with the study advisor of your study programme wether you can start a thesis project.
• Look at the "Thesis Guidelines FEM" for preparing an MSc-thesis or information on procedures and guidelines
• Make an appointment with our thesis coordinator.

During an internship you work for 16 weeks outside the university putting the concepts and methods you learned in the classroom into practice in a professional setting. The internship position should fit your academic background and ensure that you are properly supervised.

Where to do an internship?

Internships are diverse with the specific tasks, depending on the internship provider. Some students join research projects at Universities while others work in companies within a trainee program.

How to find an internship?

Most students know what they want to do and contact internship providers directly.

If you need advice you are welcome to make an appointment with our internship coordinator Alejandra Hernandez Guzman.

PhD education follows the standard PhD Programme of Wageningen University & Research. For this purpose the Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group is affiniated with the C.T. de Wit Graduate School for Production Ecology and Resource Conservation (PE&RC).

For an overview of current PhD projects see our list of research projects.

Students from the study Forest and Nature Management are active in several (international) groups:

• The International Forestry Students’ Association (IFSA) includes local and national organisations that support forestry students. The goal of IFSA is to enrich the formal education and mobility of forestry students world-wide and represent these students at a global level. IFSA organises for example meetings, workshops, discussions, exchange programs, yearly symposia, publish an information bulletin etc.
• The association ‘WSBV Sylvatica’. They provide members with events, sport activities and careers guidance days.