Field Trips

An important emphasis in our teaching consists in exploring real life settings to address research questions from an inter-disciplinary angle. We organize 1-day up to 14-day field trips, either individually or with partners from other chairs and institutions.

Inter-disciplinary Excursions

This excursion is a combination of history and forestry. It started more than 70 years ago upon the joint initiative of the silviculture professor Köstler and the art history professor Sedlmayer. The two professors shared the idea that buildings and forests can both be conceived as expressions of human interference and were excited about exploring parallels. Given that our forests are mainly second growth, considering their history is important for understanding their current structure. Aproaching this history is done by visiting built artifacts like churches or castles.

Excursions:

May 30-June 02, 2019 Lower Franconia, Hesse, Thuringia
May 10-13, 2018: Upper Palatinate and Czech Republic
June 15-18, 2017: Austria
May 26-29, 2016: Switzerland
June 4-7, 2015: Swabian Alb and Swabian-Franconian Forest
June 19-22, 2014: Czech Republic
May 30-June 1, 2013: Pfaffenwinkel area in Bavaria
May 17-20, 2012: Palatinate region, Bavaria
June 23- 26, 2011: Upper Franconia, Bavaria
June 3-5, 2010: Lake Constance area
June 11-13, 2009: Danube River area
May 1-5, 2008: Alpine Upland and Austria
June 7-10, 2007: Regensburg
June 15-18, 2006: Upper Swabia
May 5-8, 2005: South-East Bavaria
May 20-23, 2004: Werdenfels Country in Upper Bavaria
May 9-11, 2003: Lower Bavaria and Bavarian Forest
May 9-12, 2002: Lower Franconia, Swabia
May 24- 27, 2001: Czech Republic
June 9-11, 2000: Swabia

Yale Excursion and Summer School

The former forest policy professor Plochmann initiated the first US-German field trip. In 1980, Yale students came to visit German forestry. In 1987, German students from our school went for the first to the US in order to learn about forestry across the Atlantic. The joint Yale-TUM excursions with students from both forestry schools are organized on a regular basis since 1993, following a three-year go around: (1) Yale F&ES students visit Germany or neighboring countries; (2) TUM forestry students visit the US; (3) no excursion in the third year, organization of a joint Summer School instead. The field trip language is English, including – where necessary – provision of translation service if German guides do not speak sufficient English. A mix of research question related to silviculture, ecology and forest policy informs the 14-day Yale-TUM field trips. Since 2023 Prof. Dr. Peter Annighöfer has been responsible for the field trip.

Excursions:

May 2022: (Northern) Bavaria
2020 and 2021: No field trips due to the COVID-19-Crisis
May 2019: Summer School, Bavaria’s Alpine Forests
May 2018: Colorado and New Mexico
May 2017: Baden-Württemberg and France
May 2016: Summer School, Bavaria’s Alpine Forests
May 2015: Northern California, USA
May 2014: Poland
May 2013: Summer School, Bavaria’s Alpine Forests
May 2012: The Pacific Northwest – Washington and Oregon, USA
May 2011: Austria, Slovenia, Croatia
May 2010: Summer School, USA
May 2009: The South-East of the USA
May 2008: The alpine region – Bavaria, Austria and Italy
Sept 2007: Summer School, Yale University Forests, USA
May 2006: The South-West – Arizona, USA
May 2005: Mid-Germany and France
May 2003: Rocky Mountains in Canada and Montana, USA
May 2002: Alpine Region – Bavaria, Austria and Slovenia
May 2000: California, USA
May 1999: East-Bavaria, Franconia and Czech Republic
May 1997: The Pacific North-West, USA, and Canada
May 1996: The Bavarian Alps
May 1994: The South-East of the USA
May 1993: Bavaria and the new „Bundesländer“ (federal states) of Germany