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- LSU AgCenter scientist becomes forestry fellow
(11/14/23) BATON ROUGE, La. — The Society of American Foresters has named Sun Joseph Chang, a scientist at LSU AgCenter School of Renewable Natural Resources, as one of 32 fellows inducted in 2023.
The fellowship represents one of the highest honors for members of the society. It is an exceptional recognition bestowed on a member by their peers for outstanding contributions and service to the Society of American Foresters and the profession.
Chang is the first professor at LSU AgCenter School of Renewable Natural Resources to be so recognized in more than 42 years.
He said the mission of the society is to advance sustainable management of forest resources through science, education and technology, promoting professional excellence while ensuring the continued health, integrity and use of forests to benefit society in perpetuity.
Chang had already been a longtime member of society before he came to work at LSU in 1991. He first joined the society in 1975 as a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin.
At LSU, Chang teaches renewable natural resource policy, forest economics and forest management on campus as well as silvicultural prescriptions off campus during a spring camp.
In addition, he conducts research on forest management, forest economics, forest taxation and sawing optimization.
Chang said some of the highlights of his 30-plus year career with the AgCenter include the publishing of several key papers.
In 1998, he published the generalized Faustmann formula, which generalized the classical Faustmann formula, first published in 1849 by German forester Martin Faustmann.
In the 2000s, a series of papers on even- and uneven-aged forest management as well as forest taxation and valuation followed.
Then in 1999, Chang initiated and chaired the first international Faustmann symposium to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the seminal 1849 paper.
“I also developed TOPSAW, a hardwood sawing optimization software that allows you to scan logs to locate and identify defects inside a log, create the virtual log on the computer and determine the best way to cut the log to maximize the value of lumber produced before actually sawing the log,” he said.
Chang said an announcement about the fellowship can be seen in the October issue of the journal “Forestry Source.”
Sun Joseph Chang. LSU AgCenter file photo