Alumnus nurtures future forestry professionals education

This class is a very practical application of statistical and quantitative techniques. Mixed with field skills that we did today to quantify forest resources, so we can better manage them. Students were carried to the national forest where they were learning how to evaluate trees that have the potential for very high-valued wood products. Having an alumni like Kevin come in is just great. He has a tremendous amount of experience that I think it's great for the students to see that the program that they're in now has led to a very successful career as a small business owner. I am part owner and vice president of Big Timber Hardwoods. We buy and manufacture high-end veneer logs. They use that in high-end architectural panels, doors, desks. The purpose of today's lab was to give the students some experience and some knowledge in grading trees. We were talking about log quality. We were talking about defects of logs. We were talking about the value of those higher end products. It's such a unique field to work in, you know, I enjoy bringing that back and exposing the students to that part of the industry. Virginia Tech was my home. I love to come and give back to the students and hopefully by doing this, hopefully they get something that I didn't get when I was here. And that can help the industry in the future.

academics 1:37 Alumnus nurtures future forestry professionals education

By:

Lee Friesland

21 May 2026 190

Kevin Smith graduated from Virginia Tech in 2000 with a degree in industrial forest operations. As part owner and vice president of Big Timber Hardwoods, LLC, he recently joined Assistant Professor Corey Green's Forest Biometrics lab to lend his knowledge and expertise to students.

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