Department of Forestry

The proposal of the Ondokuz Mayıs University Senate to open the Forestry and Forest Products program was examined at the Higher Education Executive Board meeting dated 07/19/2011 and deemed appropriate in accordance with article 7/d-2 of Law No. 2547, amended by Law No. 2880. With the decision taken by the Council of Higher Education, it began to provide education services under the name "Department of Forestry" and "Forestry and Forest Products Program". Opened in the 2011-2012 academic year, the Department of Forestry started education in the 2013-2014 academic year with a quota of 50+50 (including international student quotas) for both primary and secondary education, following Senate decision 2013/60. It produced its first graduates in 2015. As of the 2025-2026 academic year, it continues its education as primary education only.

Mission: To train qualified, responsible individuals who value national and international environmental values for the protection and utilization of our forests, are equipped with modern knowledge and understanding, and are disciplined, harmonious, and communicative. Vision: To be an entrepreneurial and international-level department that carries out the modern education, training, and research activities necessary to ensure all services provided by our forests to society are performed in the best possible way.

Our program derives its educational quality from its strong academic staff who hold doctoral degrees and senior engineer titles, contributing to national and international literature. Our approach is practice-based and professional competence-oriented.   · Lec. Dr. Cemile ÇAKIR; Given her Master's and Doctoral studies, her academic expertise is focused on "Forest inventory, biomass-volume estimation, and remote sensing-based analysis." She adopts an analytical forestry approach that combines traditional measurements with modern satellite data-based methods. She reflects her knowledge in statistical modeling, carbon/biomass calculations, and digital image processing in her courses.   · Lec. Seçil YILDIRIM; With her thesis on the carbon storage capacity of pure beech stands, she demonstrates a theoretical background in climate change-forest relationships and sustainable ecosystem services. She reflects her expertise in "Statistics," "Dendrometry," and "Forest Management" in her classes, ensuring students understand trees as part of a whole ecosystem.   · Lec. Cemil ÖZDEMİR; He possesses interdisciplinary expertise in "forest soil-fire relationships" with his work on post-fire soil properties. He teaches competencies in "Watershed Management," "Forest Fires and Fire Ecology," and "Ecosystem Management." He ensures students become qualified individuals with environmental awareness regarding forest protection and erosion control.

Our program keeps pace with the information age and continuously updates its curriculum. Through applied lessons in computer laboratories, our students learn office software, remote sensing applications (aerial photos, satellite and drone imagery), GPS devices, and Geographical Information Systems (GIS), as well as digital mapping software. These technologies allow for accurate and rapid planning by transferring field data to digital environments.

Graduates earn the title of "Forestry Technician." They have wide employment opportunities in the General Directorate of Forestry, National Parks, and Municipalities as "Forest Protection Officers." In the private sector, they work in the wood products industry, nurseries, landscape firms, and forestry consultancy companies. Graduates can also transfer to 4-year undergraduate programs such as Forest Engineering, Landscape Architecture, and Environmental Engineering via the Vertical Transfer Exam (DGS).