The Purdue FNR extension team was named as a recipient of the Family Forests Comprehensive Education Program Award presented by the National Woodland Owners Association (NWOA) and National Association of University Forest Resources Programs (NAUFRP).
The award, which is the nation’s top honor for forestry extension programming, recognizes superior performance across nine rigorous criteria, celebrating the standard of excellence for the profession.
Drs. Zhao Ma and Mike Saunders received the award on the team’s behalf at the NAUFRP annual meeting at the 2025 Society of American Foresters (SAF) national convention in Hartford, Connecticut, in October.
The Family Forests Comprehensive Education Program Award criteria includes:
- Faculty involved (including number and multi-disciplinary involvement)
- Educational needs assessment (including involvement of clients)
- Educational materials, events and other resources used
- Applied research incorporated
- Collaborations among disciplines, agencies and organizations
- Results, impacts or outcomes
- Evidence of program quality
- Degree of innovation
- Emulation of the program by others
NAUFRP extension chair Bill Hubbard, who oversaw the competition said “After a thorough review by our three judges and myself, the committee determined that both the University of Minnesota and Purdue University programs demonstrated such profound and differentiated excellence across the nine core criteria that it was decided to recognize them both.”
According to the NAUFRP announcement, “Purdue's program was honored for its massive scale, its deep connection to a long-term research asset, and its commitment to building future workforce capacity.”
Program highlights included:
- HEE Integration: The program directly integrates findings from the Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment
(HEE)—a 100-year research study—into its curriculum, providing landowners with unbiased, real-time data on management issues like oak/hickory regeneration and wildlife response to timber harvest - Economic & Ecological Scale: The program supports the multibillion-dollar hardwood industry by having an impact on over 57,000 acres and engaging a network of tens of thousands of landowners through its extensive publications.
- Curricular Innovation: Purdue was recognized for its pioneering move to formally incorporate Extension training into its undergraduate and graduate curricula, ensuring the next generation of forestry professionals is equipped with crucial outreach skills.
The Purdue team includes five faculty and nine professional staff members. Over the past five years, the group boasts many standout accomplishments including:
- Development of publications that have been downloaded more than 2.1 million times
- Publication and dissemination of the Indiana Woodland Steward newsletter, which has reached more than 31,000 family forest owners, impacting more than 1.2 million acres
- Creation of 215 training programs, which reached more than 50,000 landowners, impacting more than 57,000 acres of woodlands
- Production of 249 videos, downloaded more than 750,000 times, and 38 podcast episodes, reaching
more than 50,000 listeners in the United States alone. Videos can be accessed on the FNR Extension YouTube channel. The Habitat University podcast is available as part of the Natural Resources University network. - Awarded more than $4.4 million in extramural funding for faculty and staff
- Formally incorporated undergraduate and graduate students in Extension at the programmatic level
In the nomination packet, team personnel stated “We aim to address family forest owner needs through collaboration with many stakeholders. Our family forest education serves family forest owners, professional advisors, an industry that receives most of their product base from family forests and the general public who influence policy decisions affecting family forest owners. Our program focuses on adoption or maintenance of stewardship practices (e.g., invasive plant control, timber harvesting), developing or improving forestland planning, and engaging peer and professional advice. In doing these, family forest owners can make informed decisions that meet their personal land management objectives while enhancing the resource for all residents.”
Team members include:
- Jarred Brooke - Extension wildlife specialist; Specializing in wildlife conservation, habitat management and deer impact
- Diana Evans - Extension and web communications specialist; Specializing in website design and communications
- Lenny Farlee – Extension forester; Specializing in forest regeneration, hardwood management and genetics
- Dr. Rado Gazo – professor of wood processing and industrial engineering; Specializing in secondary wood products manufacturing processes
- Dr. Eva Haviarova – professor of wood products; Specializing in strength design and product engineering of furniture and product sustainability
- Liz Jackson – engagement specialist with the Indiana Forestry and Woodland Owners, Walnut Council and Purdue Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center; Specializing in black walnut, oaks and landowner engagement
- Dr. Doug Jacobs – Fred M. van Eck professor of forest biology; Specializing in forest ecology, silviculture, regeneration and restoration
- Dr. Brian MacGowan – Extension wildlife specialist and extension coordinator; Specializing in wildlife habitat management, wildlife conservation and wildlife damage
- Wendy Mayer – communications coordinator; Specializing in social media and communications
- Jessica Outcalt – natural resources training specialist; Specializing in natural resources, conservation and professional development
- Henry Quesada – professor, assistant director of Extension and ANR program leader; Specializing in wood products, hardwood lumber, biomaterials, hardwood markets and industry
- Ron Rathfon – regional extension forester; Specializing in forest management, timber marketing, tree planting, oak regeneration and ecology and invasive vegetation management
- Dr. Mike Saunders – professor of ecology and natural resources; Specializing in disturbance-based silviculture, growth and yield, modeling, disturbance ecology and management effects on wood quality.
- Kat Shay – HEE forest project coordinator; Specializing in environmental science and restoration
From 2020 to 2024, the FNR Family Forest Education extension team conducted 788 programs, covering 1,005 sessions and including more than 50,000 individual contacts.
