{"id":1023,"date":"2021-10-26T16:35:42","date_gmt":"2021-10-26T16:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8009\/stories\/?p=1023"},"modified":"2025-05-08T14:17:43","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T14:17:43","slug":"4th-generation-logger-chooses-uf-forestry-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forestrycareers.com\/stories\/4th-generation-logger-chooses-uf-forestry-school\/","title":{"rendered":"4th Generation Logger Chooses UF Forestry School"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The University of Florida graduate shares what it was like growing up in a logging family, and what made him choose to become a forester.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

If you want to know about Nolan Ward\u2019s work ethic, just ask how he spent his school vacations as a kid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInstead of spring break, I went to the woods and made money,\u201d recalls the Rayonier technical forester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nolan is the fourth generation in his family to work in the forest. It all started when his great-grandfather started a logging company in their hometown of Lake Butler, Florida. The business eventually passed down to Nolan\u2019s grandfather, and then to his father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMost of the time, I\u2019d run a tractor. As I got older, I would run the cut down machines and load logs,\u201d Nolan recalls. \u201cI always enjoyed the \u2018grind\u2019 of working in the woods.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Choosing Forestry College<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There was no doubt a career in the forest was the right fit for Nolan, but some advice from his mother stuck with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe told me, \u2018When you\u2019re a logger, you\u2019re married to logging. You just date <\/em>your wife,\u2019\u201d Nolan recalls. \u201cYou work long, 15-hour days. Even on the weekends, you\u2019re tending to your equipment. I knew that wasn\u2019t ideal if I wanted to have a family one day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He started out studying civil engineering, but soon realized working in the woods was still his passion. That\u2019s when he enrolled at the University of Florida College of Agricultural and Life Sciences<\/a> to major in forest resources and conservation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nolan\u2019s undergraduate program, offered through what is now known as the School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences<\/a>, utilizes an experimental forest, the Austin Cary Forest, for hands-on learning. \u201cWe would go out and do labs, try to understand wetlands, watching how rainfall affects the woods. We went out in the field for class at least once a week, for three hours at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Nolan, it was a perfect fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe weren\u2019t just stuck in a classroom being lectured; I didn\u2019t spend college in a library studying,\u201d he says. But it was still challenging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy specialization was forest business management, which gives you some of the business world of forestry. The toughest part was financial accounting. It was tough!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"students
Nolan loved days when his class worked outdoors. Here, students are shown learning in UF’s Austin Cary Forest. \/ Photo courtesy of the University of Florida<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A Small Community with Big Networking Opportunities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Both at UF and in the industry overall, forestry is a relatively \u201csmall world\u201d according to Nolan. That was his ideal situation because he made some of the best friends of his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe did group projects that made us really learn how to work with different people. I now have friends from all over the state and all over the country,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a high demand for workers in the forestry industry<\/a>, Nolan found there were a lot of scholarship opportunities<\/a> for forestry students. There were also internships with well-known companies. And that\u2019s how he got his start with Rayonier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He had already heard about Rayonier through his father\u2019s logging company. Then a group of Rayonier employees came to UF to speak about Rayonier internship opportunities<\/a> and Nolan applied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was accepted twice, interning with Rayonier in both 2018 and 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just enjoyed it. I really liked the people and felt like there was a good support system. We were outside doing something different every day: site prep, fertilization, cruising<\/a>, land management. It really opened my eyes,\u201d Nolan says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"students
University of Florida students watch a log harvest during class. \/ Photo courtesy of the University of Florida<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Joining the Rayonier Team<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After graduation, Nolan went back to working in the woods with his dad\u2019s logging company at first. Then one day, a friend from Rayonier called to tell him about a job opening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Nolan, relationships are an important factor in decision making: He chose forestry rather than logging with his future family in mind, and he loved UF\u2019s forest resources and conservation program largely because of the relationships he built with classmates and faculty. And, ultimately, it was his relationship with the Rayonier team that made the job the right fit for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe type of people you\u2019ll meet at Rayonier are good, honest, and they treat you fairly. They\u2019re like family,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To students considering a similar academic path, he offers this advice: \u201cIf you want a field with job opportunities anywhere in the country, and you want to work outside, you can\u2019t beat it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Learn<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The University of Florida graduate shares what it was like growing up in a logging family, and what made him choose to become a forester.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1025,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ryn_post_video":""},"categories":[2,63,41,42],"tags":[40],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n4th Generation Logger Chooses UF Forestry School | Rayonier Stories<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The University of Florida graduate shares what it was like growing up in a logging family, and what made him choose to become a forester.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/forestrycareers.com\/stories\/4th-generation-logger-chooses-uf-forestry-school\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" 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