Rate My Professor Richard Cristan

Richard Cristan is the Regions Bank Endowed Associate Professor of Forest Operations and Extension Specialist in the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment at Auburn University. He also directs the Southern Forest Nursery Management Cooperative with a split appointment. Cristan earned a Bachelor of Science in Forest Resources Management from the University of Tennessee in 2008, a Master of Science in Forestry with a focus on Forest Biometrics and a minor in Statistics from the University of Tennessee in 2010, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry specializing in Forest Operations and Water Quality from Virginia Tech in 2016. Prior to his current role at Auburn, he served as a professor in the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Kentucky State University from April 2017 to January 2020. His expertise encompasses forest operations, timber harvesting methods and practices, forestry best management practices, mechanical and chemical site preparation, competition control, water quality protection, and invasive species management.

Cristan's teaching responsibilities include the Timber Harvesting course, while his extension work involves facilitating the Professional Logger Manager Training Program and Alabama professional logging manager trainings through the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. He contributes to logger and forester continuing forestry education and researches applications such as drones and unmanned aerial vehicles for monitoring forestry best management practices. In January 2026, Cristan was awarded the Regions Bank Endowed Professorship in Forest Operations. His scholarly output includes key publications such as "Effectiveness of forestry best management practices in the United States: Literature review" (2016), "Long-term effects of wet and dry site harvesting on soil physical properties mitigated by mechanical site preparation in coastal plain loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) plantations" (2016), "National status of state developed and implemented forestry best management practices for protecting water quality in the United States" (2017), "Estimated Sediment Protection Efficiencies for Increasing Levels of Best Management Practices on Forest Harvests in the Piedmont, USA" (2019), "Selective herbicides for control of hen’s eyes (Ardisia crenata) in forests and natural areas" (2019), "Evaluating the feasibility and potential of unmanned aerial vehicles to monitor implementation of forestry best management practices in the coastal plain of the southeastern United States" (2023), and "Opportunities and challenges of woody biomass harvesting practices in the Southeastern region of the United States" (2023).