Michael J. Mortimer elected Society of American Foresters Fellow
Michael J. Mortimer of Alexandria, Va, director of graduate programs for Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment in the National Capital Region, has been elected a Fellow of the Society of American Foresters, a national scientific and educational organization representing the forestry profession in the United States.
Fellows are selected to honor those members who have provided outstanding contributions to the society and the forestry profession, and are limited to only 5 percent of the society’s more than 14,000 members.
“Being elected a Fellow in the Society of American Foresters puts me in the company of some of the most prominent and distinguished forestry professionals and scholars in the country, a great honor for me,” he said.
Mortimer has been active in state and national leadership for the society, serving twice as the chair of the society’s national Committee on Forest Policy. He co-authored the society’s certified forester examination, testified on behalf of the society before a U.S. congressional committee, and currently serves as an associate editor for the Journal of Forestry, one of the society’s refereed publications.
Mortimer, who has served as director of the college’s National Capital Region graduate programs since 2008, has responsibility for more than 145 master’s students and more than 25 adjunct faculty. He teaches graduate courses in natural resource law and policy, and environmental conflict management.
His research focuses on U.S. private and public forestry policy, as well as international forestry and natural resource policy issues. Mortimer has published more than 50 professional papers, articles, and book chapters on forest and natural resource policy, and has given more than 50 professional presentations in the United States, Belgium, Canada, China, France, and Sweden.
Mortimer received his bachelor’s degree from Washington and Jefferson College, his law degree from the Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law, and his doctorate from the University of Montana.
