Premiere Blog Posting!

Hello Dear Friends!

This will be my very first blog ever! Yahoo! (Wait, no actually this is through Google..) The purpose is to document adventures that life throws at me and to show you those adventures from afar.  The blog will also serve a purpose to post required materials for school credit. This summer and fall will be very exciting because I will be living and working on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. I will be working for Western Forest Products as a forest engineering intern.  I am based in Port McNeill a small logging community on the Northeastern coast.  More details to come when I actually move up there.

Port McNeill is almost a 12 hour drive + ferry ride from Portland

My gracious parents are excited to drive me and my gear up the coast this coming week. A major setback currently is my lack of a work visa to enter Canada.  So the departure date is on hold until the Canadian immigration department grants me permission to enter their beautiful country.

Viberg Rubber Bottom Boots size 5 hand-built in Victoria, BC.
Brand new and no time to break in before heading up to Canada!
 Ordered from Sedlaks in Corvallis, Oregon.

 Here is a bit about me and what I have been doing for the last few months. I just finished my junior year at Oregon State University. I am studying Forest Engineering with an International Degree.  

What is forest engineering you may ask?  What can one do with an FE degree?
Forest engineers are often the project managers of harvest units in the forest industry.  They provide the skills to design roads and harvest system plans. It can be compared to civil engineering but with a forestry focus. FEs oversee almost any and all aspects of the forest harvesting and regeneration process to ensure sustainable and high quality forests and products. They work with contractors, landowners, and the public in order to provide a safe and efficient way to harvest trees.  In Oregon one can become a licensed forest engineer which is not the case anywhere else in the United States.

This past year has buried me into the forestry field in a great way!  It has been a year of outdoor field work in the McDonald-Dunn College Forests and indoor computer work in Peavy Hall. I really hope to use my experience in BC as an opportunity to realize what in forestry I want to do.

In addition to school I am increasingly involved with the OSU Chapter of Society of American Foresters.  It has provided me with the opportunities to meet many passionate individuals active in forestry throughout Oregon and Washington.  I use the opportunities to learn from professionals the ways they influence to forestry sector.  From a distance I am on the officer team as the communicator. As a chapter we are hoping to increase membership and participation of students with the College of Forestry.

1924 Grand Brothers Truck my Grandpa rebuilt

Until I can leave for BC I am spending time at my parents house in Portland, Oregon.  The farm is beautiful this time of year! The tons of fresh vegetables and fruits make it easy to cook, eat, and enjoy time spent with family and friends.



Please feel free to follow my blog for updates about my internship. Send me messages or comment if you have any questions or would like to get in contact with me.  I will have internet up in BC so it should not be any trouble.  

Go Beavs!