Justin is an Associate Professor of Forestry at Paul Smith’s College, where he has been teaching since 2017. Prior to joining Paul Smith’s, he worked at University of Vermont and the Penobscot Experimental Forest in Maine.
His formal education in forestry began with a Bachelor’s degree from Northern Arizona University in 2000, where he studied among fire-dependent ponderosa pine ecosystems and worked for the Ecological Restoration Institute. He continued there to earn a Master’s degree in 2003. He later completed a PhD at the University of Maine in 2011, studying inter-species competition in oak-pine forests that developed over the decades following a 1947 fire. He received the Marcia Caldwell Award from the University of Vermont in 2015 and the Carl Alwin Schenck Award from the Society of American Foresters in 2024, recognizing his contributions to forestry education and mentorship.
Teaching at Paul Smith’s College has provided Justin the opportunity not only to share his knowledge, but also to continue learning—exploring interesting topics alongside other curious minds in the classroom, outdoor labs, and extracurricular club activities.
Academic
- Ph.D., Forest Resources, University of Maine, 2011
- M.S., Forestry, Northern Arizona University (NAU), 2003
- Graduate Certificate, Applied Statistics, Northern Arizona University, 2003
- B.S., Forestry, Northern Arizona University, 2000
Courses Taught
- FOR 110 lab (Dendrology lab)
- FOR 150 (Wood Properties and Production Processes)
- FOR 240 (Forest Mensuration I)
- FOR 241 (Forest Mensuration II)
- FOR 310 (Forest Ecology)
- FOR 360 (Fire Ecology and Management)
- FOR 420 (Advanced Silviculture)
- NRS 540 (Forest Resource Assessment)
Kern, C.C.; Waskiewicz, J.D.; Frelich, L.; Muñoz Delgado, B.L.; Kenefic, L.S.; Clark, K.L.; Kabrick, J.M. 2021. Understanding compositional stability in mixedwood forests of eastern North America. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 51: 897-909.
Kuehne, C.; Weiskittel, A.; and Waskiewicz, J. 2019. Comparing performance of contrasting distance-independent and distance-dependent competition metrics in predicting individual tree diameter increment and survival within structurally-heterogeneous, mixed-species forests of Northeastern United States. Forest Ecology and Management. 433: 205-216.
Kabrick, J.M.; Clark, K.L.; D’Amato, A.W.; Dey, D.C.; Kenefic, L.S.; Kern, C.C.; Knapp, B.O.; MacLean, D.A.; Raymond, P.; and Waskiewicz, J.D. 2017. Managing hardwood-softwood mixtures for future forests in eastern North America: assessing suitability to projected climate change. Journal of Forestry 115(3):190-201.
Waskiewicz, J. and Heggenstaller, A. 2016. Planting, Survival, and Growth of TACF “Restoration 1.0” Chestnuts at University of Vermont’s Jericho Research Forest. Vermont-New Hampshire Chestnut Notes 8(1).
Kenefic, Laura S.; Knapp, Rachel A.; Waskiewicz, Justin D.; Wilson, Jeremy S. 2016. Overstory and regeneration data from the “Rehabilitation of cutover mixedwood stands” study at the Penobscot Experimental Forest. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. http://dx.doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2016-0024