Coming in 2027 The Graduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence – Forestry is intended to allow students to receive recognition for pursuing educational activities that provide a knowledge base and foundation for understanding principles and techniques of artificial intelligence (AI) and how AI might be used effectively to address contemporary issues in the field of forestry. The graduate certificate is intended to build and enhance the skills that may be necessary to apply AI methodologies for addressing complex problems associated with the management of forests and forest-based supply chains, and to provide students with knowledge and skills that may be useful in evaluating both the technical quality of AI-generated solutions and the potential ethical and societal implications of these outcomes. The program will expose students to the capabilities of AI to assist in collecting, processing, and analyzing forest-based information with the purpose of improving the ability of landowners, foresters, and forest managers to effectively, efficiently, and sustainably manage United States forests. These enhancements to the educational foundation of graduate students should position them well to communicate AI concepts and outcomes to forest business leaders, land and resource managers, forest landowners, and other stakeholders of the forest industry in the United States. Enrolling in the Certificate Program The certificate program will become available to current undergraduate students in 2027. At that time, students will be able to enroll in the certificate program using Athena. Under Student Services, select My Programs, then Add Certificate. This should be done before you intend to graduate. Once requirements for the certificate are completed, you may again use Athena to apply to graduate with the certificate. Program of Study The graduate certificate program requires the completion of at least 13 credit hours within four groups of courses. Some of these courses may also require prerequisites which students will need to complete. Students completing the graduate certificate must earn a grade of “C” (2.0) or better in each of the required courses. Students are required to take one foundational course covering the fundamentals of artificial intelligence and one foundational course addressing the ethics of artificial intelligence. Descriptions of the courses can be found in the UGA Bulletin. Group 1: Fundamentals of Artificial Intelligence (3-4 hours) Choose one of the following courses. AESC 6200, Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Agriculture: Principles and Applications (3 hours) ARTI 6555, Foundations of Machine Learning (3 hours) CSCI 6380, Data Mining (4 hours) CSCI(ARTI) 6550, Artificial Intelligence (3 hours) CSCI(ARTI) 8950, Machine Learning (4 hours) GEOG 6591, Introduction to Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (3 hours) Group 2: Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (3 hours) Choose one of the following courses. ARTI(PHIL) 6340, Ethics and Artificial Intelligence (3 hours) MIST 7440, AI in Business and Society (3 hours) In addition, students are expected to complete at least two forestry courses that have significant content related to artificial intelligence, and at least one other course in a domain closely related to forestry that has significant content related to artificial intelligence. Group 3: Forestry Elective Courses (6 hours) Choose two of the following courses. FANR 7630, Statistical Software for Natural Resource Management (3 hours) FANR 7640-7640L, Unmanned Aerial Systems' (UAS) Role in Natural Resource Management (3 hours) FORS 7690-7690L, Applied Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for Forest Resource Management (3 hours) FORS 8011, Lidar Remote Sensing (3 hours) FORS 8450, Advanced Forest Planning (3 hours) Finally, students will be required to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of artificial intelligence through a one-hour independent study course taken under the direction of a forestry faculty member. The topic and objective are: Develop and describe in a short, professional report, the application of some form of artificial intelligence that may specifically benefit the management of the Whitehall Forest, an 800-acre University of Georgia land holding in Clarke County. Group 4: Application to Forest Management (1 hour) Choose one of the following courses. FORS 7980, Forestry Problems (1 hour) FORS 8980, Forestry Problems (1 hour) Other courses may be approved if chosen in consultation with the certificate coordinator.
