Rate My Professor Michael Blazier

Michael Blazier serves as Dean of the College of Forestry, Agriculture, and Natural Resources and Professor at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, part of the University of Arkansas System. He concurrently directs the Arkansas Forest Resources Center within the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. Appointed to these roles in July 2021, Blazier oversees academic programs training foresters, farmers, ranchers, and natural resource professionals; drives research advancing knowledge of regional ecosystems; and facilitates extension services promoting sustainable forest, farm, and wildlife management. His leadership supports the integration of education, research, and outreach in agricultural and natural resource disciplines.

Blazier holds a B.S. in Forest Management from Louisiana Tech University (1997), M.S. in Forest Ecophysiology from Oklahoma State University (1999), and Ph.D. in Environmental Science from Oklahoma State University (2003). For the prior 18 years, he was a full professor and forestry project leader at the LSU AgCenter Hill Farm Research Station in the School of Renewable Natural Resources. His research specializes in forestry and agroforestry, encompassing loblolly pine growth and survival across genotypes, longleaf pine drought tolerance, hybrid sweetgum productivity, mid-rotation nutrient dynamics, phosphorus fertilization, conservation thinning adoption, machine learning for canopy analysis and disease detection, and forest climate resilience through physiological, edaphic, and biotic factor studies. Key publications include "Long-term stand growth and survival of loblolly pine open-pollinated families and clonal varieties in the West Gulf Coastal Plain" (2026), "Growth and Economic Performance Comparison of Twenty-Year-Old Open-Pollinated vs. Clonal Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda L.) Genotypes in Louisiana, USA" (2025), "Productivity of hybrid sweetgum (Liquidambar formosana x styraciflua) plantations compared to native sweetgum (L. styraciflua)" (2024), and "Mid-Rotation Silviculture Timing Influences Nitrogen Mineralization Rates in Loblolly Pine Plantations" (2015). With 82 publications and 437 citations, Blazier influences silvicultural practices as a Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center Principal Investigator. He received a 2015 LSU AgCenter faculty staff award.