Dr. Michael Goerndt is assistant professor of forestry and natural resources in the Darr College of Agriculture at Missouri State University. During his time at Missouri State, Goerndt has built a forestry curriculum including courses in forest ecology, forest measurements, silviculture and dendrology.
Prior to MSU, he worked for four years at University of Missouri as a postdoctoral fellow. His postdoctoral research focused on spatial estimation methods for forest biomass availability for co-firing in power plants as part of the Northern Forest Futures Project with the USDA Forest Service.
Goerndt is currently involved in two primary research projects. The first project involves assessment of different chemical and mechanical treatments for woody understory species and grassland woody invasive species. This project includes the implementation of field-based experimental design and random assignment of selected chemical and mechanical treatments for several species including: buckbrush, bush honeysuckle, Russian olive, gooseberry and several others.
The other project is made possible through seed funding from the Missouri Transect (EPSCor) project. This project includes collection of hyperspectral imagery of forest canopy using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The hyperspectral imagery will be used in conjunction with field measurements to model the correlation between climate variation and phenotypical vegetation changes, such as growth rate, chlorophyll flow and photosynthetic rate in several tree species. Dr. Goerndt is actively working to initiate research for establishment of silvopasture systems in the Ozark Highlands. This research will likely be a collaborative effort between MSU's Darr College of Agriculture and the Missouri Center for Agroforestry.
Forestry expert Dr. Michael Goerndt talks about Black Walnut production/research, silvopasture and cattle production at Journagan Ranch and the Mountain Grove Fruit Experiment Station.
Forestry expert Dr. Michael Goerndt highlights forestry careers.