JULIAN (JOHN) SESSIONS is a Professor in the Department of Forest Engineering, College of Forestry, Oregon State University. Before coming to Oregon State he held a variety of positions including Harvesting Specialist and Director of Logging System Training, USDA Forest Service, and Systems Analyst and Harvesting Division Manager, JARI Florestal, Brazil. He holds a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from the University of California, an M.S. in Civil Engineering from California State University, and M.S. in Forest Engineering from the University of Washington, and a Ph.D. in Forest Management from Oregon State University.

Dr. Session's research covers a range of topics in theoretical and applied engineering. He is the developer of the SNAP models for spatial planning of forest transportation networks and management activities, has been a leader in the development of spatial planning for watersheds, and has developed a variety of optimal bucking, cost analysis and planning software packages widely used by government and industry forest engineers and managers.

He has been a major participant in forest assessments, including being vice-chairman of the Indian Forest Management Assessment Team, and a member of the Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project. Recent projects include the Umpqua Land Exchange, the Jackson County Small Diameter Utilization Project, and development of harvest scheduling models for the state forests of Oregon. His research is reported in over 200 articles, books and chapters, and he has received awards for superior service from the USDA Forest Service and for outstanding teaching, most recently the Top Prof Teaching Recognition Award from Oregon State University. In 1999 he was named Distinguished Professor of Forestry and in 2001 became Stewart Professor of Forest Engineering. His overseas consulting experience is extensive, including service in Jamaica, Bhutan, Newfoundland, Costa Rica, Zaire, Italy, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Chile, South Africa, Colombia, Malaysia, Argentina, and Russia.

Selected Publications

Bettinger, P. and J. Sessions. 2003. Spatial forest planning: To adopt, or not to adopt? Journal of Forestry 101(2):24-29.

Nalle, D., J. Arthur, and J. Sessions. 2002. Designing compact and contiguous reserve networks using a hybrid heuristic algorithm. Forest Science 48(1):59-68.

Bettinger, P., D. Graetz, K. Boston, J. Sessions, and W. Chung. 2002. Eight heuristic planning techniques applied to three increasingly difficult wildlife planning problems. Silva Fennica 36(2):561-584.

Nalle, D., J. Arthur, C. Montgomery and J. Sessions. 2002. Economic and social impacts of an existing reserve network on future augmentation. Environmental Modeling and Assessment Vol(7):99-105.

Hobbs, S., T. Spies, and J. Sessions. 2002. Effects of Vegetation Management: Taking a Landscape and Multi-Resource Perspective. Pages 240-242 in H. Frochot, C. Collet, and P. Balandier (compilers). Popular Summaries from the Fourth International Conference on Forest Vegetation Management. Nancy, France, June 17-21, 2002. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Champenoux, France.

Sessions, J. and P. Bettinger. 2001. Hierarchical Planning: Pathway to the Future? In proceedings of the First International Precision Forestry Symposium, June 17-20, University of Washington Institute for Forest Resources, Seattle, p.185-190.

Sessions, J., D. Johnson, J. Ross, and B. Sharer. 2000. The Blodgett Plan, a non-reserve based landscape approach to developing mature forest habitat. SAF J. of For. 98(12)29-33.

Cousar, P., J. Sessions, and K.N. Johnson. 1996. Individual stand projection under different goals to support policy analysis for the Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project. In: Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project: Final report to Congress. Davis: University of California, Centers for Water and Wildland Resources. 55 p.

Sessions, J., K.N. Johnson, B. Bahro, D. Sapsis, and J. Gabriel. 1996. Methodology for simulating forest growth, fire effects, timber harvest, and watershed disturbance under different management regimes. In: Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project: Final report to Congress. Davis: University of California, Centers for Water and Wildland Resources. 60 p.

Johnson, K.N., J. Sessions, and J. Franklin. 1996. Initial results from simulation of alternative forest management strategies for two national forests of the Sierra Nevada. In: Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project: Final report to Congress. Davis: University of California, Centers for Water and Wildland Resources. 55 p.

Sessions, J. (Editor). 1994. Proceedings of the Workshop on Forest Operations, Ergonomics, and Environmental Protection. June 24-27, 1994. Harbin, China. Published by Oregon State University. 392 p.

Sessions, J. and J.D. Brodie (Eds.). 1995. Proceedings of the 1994 Symposium on Systems Analysis in Forest Resources, Pacific Grove, CA. Sept. 6-9, 1994. Published by Oregon State University. 482 p.

Sessions, J. (Editor). 1995. Proceedings of the technical sessions for forest operations under mountainous conditions, S3.06, XX IUFRO World Congress, Tampere, Finland, August 6-12, 1995. Published by Oregon State University. 226 p.