College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Forestry

DAVID ORNDORF | BS ‘64

I graduated MSU forestry in 1964 and worked for Mead paper for 32+ years. I am now long retired and still vertical. I live on 58 acres in central Ohio filled with wildlife and 200+ years of old growth timber.... ain’t much left around here. I am growing and hybridizing apples as a hobby.

I’m surrounded by turkeys and deer and glad to still be vertical at 83.

TERRY READ | BS ‘66, MS ‘67

I’ve been in Iron River, MI for 30 years now assisting forest owners in a four-county area managing their lands and helping them understand what a forest is all about. Most of my days involve inventory of forest lands. I write a lot of plans for Michigan’s Qualified Forest Program and Commercial Forest Program. 70% of the time, I am working on timber sales for land owners. So, my advice to all you older foresters out there, keep doing the work.

At age 80 I still mark and sell about 500 acres of northern hardwood timber sales a year. One area of frustration is after my first career working for the Forest Service, the last 15 years as District Ranger at Kenton, MI on Ottawa National Forest, I do get frustrated seeing how the Forest Service has degraded itself from a service organization to something else.

JERRY GRIEVE | BS ‘72

After two short stints with Osmose Wood Preserving Company & Bartlett Tree Experts, I spent 44 years with The Michigan DNR. The last eight of which were dealing with land management issues on state forest lands. Still reffing high school soccer, and some travel with Monica in our truck camper. We live on a 40 acre “farm” but the horses and cows are long gone.

I hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon 11/23. I thought that was pretty good for a 73-year-old, until two days later a 92-year-old hiked rim-to-rim.

We have a daughter working for the province of Alberta in water quality. Not a MSU grad, (Alma & IU). One son is teaching In England (MSU, ‘11 & Penn State) and another son is working as an Urban Forester in Washington, DC (MSU, Forestry, ‘14 & Virginia Tech).

BRIAN TURNER | BS ‘84

After 35 years with Washington State Department of Natural Resources as a forester, land manager and firefighter, I am retiring in 2025.

For the past 20 years, I have been managing the Straits District on the beautiful north Olympic Peninsula. I have had the pleasure of working with and supervising many devoted foresters, engineers, and -ologists to responsibly manage DNR’s lands.

The Spartan tradition lives on in Straits district. Ben Stein (2010) has been my Planning Forester since 2021 and Lucas Kuty (2025) interned last summer. They are both outstanding foresters, caring people, and committed to responsible forestry.

It has been a great ride and I am thankful to MSU for the valuable education.

BEN STEIN | BS ‘10

After finishing my M.S. at Penn State in 2012, I worked in Michigan for several years as a  conservation district forester and tried hardwood procurement. Wanderlust got the better of me and I headed west to try seasonal positions in Colorado and California.

For the past six years I have settled into a permanent job with Washington DNR in the foothills of the Olympic Mountains where I coordinate timber sales, manage T&E butterfly habitat, and fight wildfire. I have enjoyed the supervision and mentorship of Brian Turner (1984) and still maintain lasting relationships with dear friends from the class of 2010.

MATT DEERING | BS ‘22

I just had my degree from the University of Canterbury conferred in February: a Master of Forestry Science with Distinction. Additionally, I’ve started working at the University of Canterbury’s School of Forestry as an Assistant Lecturer for the next year. I’ll be delivering silviculture lectures to, and leading field activities for, undergraduate students here in New Zealand.