Assistant Professor of Cooperative Extension
Adjunct Associate Professor of Forestry
Co-Director, Berkeley Forests
UC Berkeley
Rob York works at the intersection of forest science and management. His scientific work explores novel approaches to the design of silvicultural treatments, or forest cutting plans, that are guided by how forests naturally experience disturbances such as wildfires. He has developed an approach to forest management called “Pyrosilviculture” which involves the use of prescribed fire to meet forest management objectives as well as the design of management strategies that make it easier to use prescribed fire in the future.
Rob is a Cooperative Extension Specialist and Advisor for a network of research forests operated by UC Berkeley in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. In this role, he actively demonstrates traditional and new approaches to management to a wide variety of stakeholders, including policy makers, landowners, practitioners, and environmental organizations. Rob serves as Director of Whitaker’s Forest Research Station, which focuses on the study and demonstration of restoring giant sequoia populations. He has published research on giant sequoia regeneration and growth, including investigations into how giant sequoias grow in response to pruning, mechanical thinning, and spacing in the forest.
Areas of Expertise: prescribed burning, pyrosilviculture, forest ecology, giant sequoia restoration