{"id":1047,"date":"2022-02-07T16:07:37","date_gmt":"2022-02-07T16:07:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8009\/stories\/?p=1047"},"modified":"2026-01-29T18:38:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T18:38:59","slug":"studying-forestry-at-university-of-canterbury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forestrycareers.com\/stories\/studying-forestry-at-university-of-canterbury\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand Forestry Students\u2019 Experience in the University of Canterbury Forestry Program"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Seamus Bardoul discovered forestry early, choosing to attend the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, to bring his dreams to fruition.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Some people are destined to spend their lives outdoors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seamus Bardoul knew he was one of those people when he left his small hometown of Matamata to study at the University of Canterbury<\/a> in Christchurch, New Zealand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He loved the location, with the beautiful Southern Alps mountains and places to ski, hunt and surf. As a bonus, UC’s rugby program would allow him to continue playing a sport he had enjoyed since he was a toddler. But most importantly, he knew it was the only place in New Zealand to pursue the career of his dreams: working as a forestry engineer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had always been interested in engineering since a young age and had a strong passion for the outdoors,\u201d says Seamus, now a Rayonier Harvest Planner based in Tauranga. He was a young teenager when he first learned about forestry <\/em>engineering during a careers event. He set his sights on forestry from that day forward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mock
Seamus had hands-on building experiences, including this bridge project, as he studied forest engineering at UC. \/ All photos courtesy of Seamus Bardoul<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Studying forestry full of adventure<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For Seamus, there was rarely a dull moment at university. He split his time between his studies, rugby, and a job as a shearer. Forestry classes often were not the typical classroom-only experience. Instead, the students were on the go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere were often field trips around the South Island. We took one to the North Island in our fourth year of study,\u201d he recalls. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His forestry group was very tight-knit, sometimes pulling all-nighters together to get their work done. The forestry students spent their downtime together, too, regularly gathering for barbecues and social events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Seamus
Seamus, in red on the left, has enjoyed rugby since he was 4. He played in the inside centre position on UC\u2019s team.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Discovering Rayonier<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In his third year of study, Seamus received a scholarship and an internship with Rayonier Matariki Forests<\/a>. He quickly built friendships and became interested in working with the company after graduation. At the end of his final year at UC, Rayonier offered Seamus a graduate role. He gladly accepted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe relationship that I built with the Tauranga office in my internship and the team here is what cemented my decision to work here,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seamus has continued to learn and grow as a Rayonier forester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have a large independence in my role and work with an epic team,\u201d he says. \u201cThe mix of experience in the office makes learning easy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using what he learned<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Seamus says techniques he learned at UC play a role in his work on most days as he plans the most effective way to move logs from the forest to public roadways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He credits UC with equipping him with the skills he now uses to navigate mapping tools and GIS; design roads with civil engineering tools; and source forest rock using geotech knowledge. In addition, he says the people skills he learned at university have been invaluable on the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For students considering a forestry major, he recommends they \u201cgive it heaps\u201d of consideration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mountainous
Seamus captured this photo of the view from above the Oponae Forest.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Forestry at UC<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The University of Canterbury is New Zealand\u2019s only university offering professional forestry degree programs. Undergraduate programmes include a Bachelor of Forestry Science and\u2014as Seamus chose\u2014a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) in Forest Engineering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rayonier Matariki Forests has a longstanding relationship with the UC across our student programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Rayonier offers scholarships\/student vacation opportunities to 2nd and 3rd students annually, including student vacation work of 10-14 weeks over the summer period and a scholarship of up to $5K. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • We recruit for graduates each year. Our aim is to give our graduates broad exposure to the various aspects of operational forestry over their first 2 years of employment. We look for focused, driven all-rounders with a good attitude and who are passionate about forestry. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Other examples of our involvement include: our efforts to support dissertation projects work during a student\u2019s vacation work, hosting field trips for UC students, attending Meet the Employer Evenings at the UC Career evenings and participating in industry meetings at the UC.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    * Rayonier sold all of its interests in New Zealand June 30, 2025.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Seamus Bardoul discovered forestry early, choosing to attend the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, to bring his dreams to fruition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1079,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ryn_post_video":""},"categories":[2,63,41,42],"tags":[60],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nRayonier Grad: Harvest Planner Seamus Bardoul | Rayonier Stories<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Seamus Bardoul discovered forestry early, choosing to attend the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, to bring his dreams to fruition.\" \/>\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\/studying-forestry-at-university-of-canterbury\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta 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