Michigan Tech College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science

06/05/2026

Computer Science PhD student Josh Dafoe has been awarded a 2026 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship (GRFP). This highly competitive, prestigious award recognizes outstanding graduate students pursuing full-time STEM research.
Josh, who earned his bachelor's degree at Tech in 2025, chose MTU for our strong STEM reputation and Houghton's incredible natural beauty. He connected with his advisor, Associate Professor Dr. Bo Chen, during his very first year on campus, scoring an invite to the Privacy and Security Lab.
Today, they work side-by-side with other colleagues in the lab researching critical ways to safeguard autonomous vehicles, cloud storage, and digital assets against malware, ransomware, and other threats.
Beyond the lab, Dafoe helps Chen and fellow lab members run cybersecurity hackathons and other outreach for high schoolers, inspiring the next generation of Huskies.
Please join us in celebrating Josh, Dr. Chen, and fellow 2026 MTU NSF GRFP recipients Molly Vander Werp and Lenka Doskocil of the Michigan Tech College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science on this incredible milestone!
Read the full story on the College of Computing newsblog: http://mtu.news/x6wt50Z7gPv

It’s a beautiful day to celebrate some great news! ☀️

Computer Science PhD student Josh Dafoe has been awarded a 2026 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship (GRFP). This highly competitive, prestigious award recognizes outstanding graduate students pursuing full-time STEM research.

Josh, who earned his bachelor's degree at Tech in 2025, chose MTU for our strong STEM reputation and Houghton's incredible natural beauty. He connected with his advisor, Associate Professor Dr. Bo Chen, during his very first year on campus, scoring an invite to the Privacy and Security Lab.

Today, they work side-by-side with other colleagues in the lab researching critical ways to safeguard autonomous vehicles, cloud storage, and digital assets against malware, ransomware, and other threats.

Beyond the lab, Dafoe helps Chen and fellow lab members run cybersecurity hackathons and other outreach for high schoolers, inspiring the next generation of Huskies.

Please join us in celebrating Josh, Dr. Chen, and fellow 2026 MTU NSF GRFP recipients Molly Vander Werp and Lenka Doskocil of the Michigan Tech College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science on this incredible milestone!

Read the full story on the College of Computing newsblog: http://mtu.news/x6wt50Z7gPv

06/02/2026

Sierra Williams, CFRES outreach coordinator and Summer Youth Programs instructor, loves seeing her students get up close and personal with the natural world for the first time.

🌳 Hugging trees while learning how to measure them
🐠 Holding a fish for the first time while learning about aquatic ecosystem management
🦇 Seeing bats nap while exploring a mine shaft
🐸 Jumping on a peat bog while learning about wetland dynamics

“The most rewarding part about teaching SYP courses is getting to witness the light bulb moments that participants have when they begin to meet the intersection of passion, curiosity, and understanding for a particular subject.” – Sierra Williams, outreach coordinator.

Learn about her students’ experiences on our blog: https://ow.ly/5iwf50Z6Ge8

📸Photos courtesy of Sierra Williams.

05/28/2026

Enjoy highlights from the 2026 Michigan spring conference! 🌳

05/27/2026

Welcome to the U.J. Noblet Forestry Building, home to eight degree programs, unique forestry-based art, and one of the sunniest study spots on campus.

The building was originally named after the first head of the Forestry department (who was also one of the first hockey coaches at !) and is a favorite among students for its serene atmosphere.

Have you ever taken a class in the Forestry Building? Tell us which one in the comments!

Want to see more of Michigan Tech? DM us to schedule a tour today.

Michigan Tech College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science

05/21/2026

Sierra Williams, CFRES outreach coordinator and Summer Youth Programs instructor, loves seeing her students get up close and personal with the natural world for the first time.

🌳 Hugging trees while learning how to measure them
🐠 Holding a fish for the first time while learning about aquatic ecosystem management
🦇 Seeing bats nap while exploring a mine shaft
🐸 Jumping on a peat bog while learning about wetland dynamics

“The most rewarding part about teaching SYP courses is getting to witness the light bulb moments that participants have when they begin to meet the intersection of passion, curiosity, and understanding for a particular subject.” – Sierra Williams, outreach coordinator.

Learn about her students’ experiences on our blog: https://ow.ly/rj4u50Z2KHY

📸Photos courtesy of Sierra Williams.

05/13/2026

The New York Times referenced a paper on nest material kleptoparasitism in Hawaiian native forest birds in their story "Building Nests Is Hard. That’s Why Some Birds Steal." The paper, titled "Upcycling in the Hawaiian Islands: Native Forest Birds Commonly Engage in Nest Material Kleptoparasitism" was co-authored by CFRES Dean David Flaspohler, and originally published in The American Naturalist.

🗞️For the NYT article: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/science/birds-steal-nest-material.html
🐦For the full research paper: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/740144

When researchers used GPS devices to monitor the nests of Hawaiian honeycreepers, they found dozens of cases of brazen avian burglary.

05/07/2026

CFRES's top stories took quite a journey this year:

🐺 Michigan Tech Geneticist Partners with Citizen Scientists, Biotech Company, and Public Partners to Save America's Red Wolves
🪵 Michigan Tech Researchers Develop Sustainable Building Material from Wood Waste
🫎 Student Researcher Explores Balsam Fir Oil Solution to Tick Infestations on Moose
🥾 Field-tested: Michigan Tech Grad Hikes from Isle Royale Research to a National Park Service Career
📣 Michigan Tech Unveils Nature Megaphone on Tech Trails

Find these stories and more at mtu.edu/news.

05/05/2026

Is there such a thing as too much Isle Royale moose, wolf, and researcher content? We don't think so!

🐺 The Isle Royale Winter Study shows a good year for wolves, a tough one for moose: https://ow.ly/ZQeA50YUuor
🫎 Michigan Tech grad Jacob Sutter hikes from Isle Royale research to a National Park Service career: https://www.mtu.edu/stories/2026/04/fieldtested-michigan-tech-grad-hikes-from-isle-royale-research-to-a-national-park-service-career.html

📸 Photos courtesy of Sarah Hoy, Jacob Sutter, and Wesley McGee.

04/29/2026

Michigan Tech's 2026 Spring Commencement was certainly a forest of caps and gowns. We're so proud of our CFRES graduates. Best of luck in your careers, Huskies! 🎓

04/28/2026

Even renewable building materials, like wood, have leftover waste. That’s why researchers are working to improve sustainability in the lumber industry. They’re developing a material lighter than steel and just as strong, made from leftover wood waste, that could revolutionize the lumber industry.

“Wood is the only renewable industrial raw material that has a negative carbon footprint. I believe that it has an important role in our sustainable futures. Really, the ultimate question is, can we use wood to replace all these non-renewable materials like steel and concrete?” — Xinfeng Xie, associate professor of forest biomaterials

Explore how Huskies are building a more sustainable future for industry and planet, while laying the groundwork for their own careers: http://mtu.news/Gigm50YQLY2

Even renewable building materials, like wood, have leftover waste. That’s why researchers are working to improve sustainability in the lumber industry. They’re developing a material lighter than steel and just as strong, made from leftover wood waste, that could revolutionize the lumber industry.

“Wood is the only renewable industrial raw material that has a negative carbon footprint. I believe that it has an important role in our sustainable futures. Really, the ultimate question is, can we use wood to replace all these non-renewable materials like steel and concrete?” — Xinfeng Xie, associate professor of forest biomaterials

Explore how Huskies are building a more sustainable future for industry and planet, while laying the groundwork for their own careers: http://mtu.news/Gigm50YQLY2

Michigan Tech College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science