Steven Tesch

Executive Associate Dean and Associate Director of the Forest Research Laboratory

BS, 1973 University of Montana
MS, 1975 University of Montana
PhD, 1981 University of Montana

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Steve Tesch is the Executive Associate Dean and Associate Director of the Forest Research Laboratory at the OSU College of Forestry.

Steve, who came to OSU from the University of Montana in 1981, has more than 30 years of experience as an academic leader, teacher, scientist, and outreach educator.

He is currently a Professor of Silviculture in the Department of Forest Engineering, Resources and Management. He served as the head of the Forest Engineering Department at OSU for 12 years, an academic unit with a strong global reputation for its faculty, programs, and graduates, and now an integral part of the new Department of Forest Engineering, Resources and Management. As department head, he worked with faculty and stakeholders to develop a new degree program in Forest Operations Management. He was instrumental in the accreditation of the Forest Engineering and Forest Engineering-Civil Engineering degrees by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology. This created a pathway to professional licensure for graduates. His efforts at generating private support for the department led to four endowed faculty positions and new graduate fellowship endowments, enabling the department to lead OSU in private support for its graduate students.

Steve was also a member of the former Forest Resources Department and was responsible for teaching, advising, research and continuing education duties. From 1981-1992 he served as an off-campus Extension Specialist in Medford, where he conducted research and led outreach programs on reforestation, and provided program leadership for the completion of the Forestry Intensified Research Program.

In addition to department head duties, Steve served as a Co-PI for the college’s national Center for Wood Utilization Research and as the program manager for the Forest Research Laboratory’s Fish and Wildlife Habitat in Managed Forests Research program. He also provided administrative leadership to establish the Watersheds Research Cooperative, which is a major collaborative effort to improve scientific understanding of modern forestry practices on water quality, native fish and aquatic habitats.

Steve has been recognized by the Society of American Foresters (SAF), the USDA Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for leadership in research, technology transfer, and continuing education, and received the OSU College of Forestry’s Aufderheide Award for Excellence in Teaching.