Authored by Jack Miscall, MFR ’27
Greyson Clark is a second-year Master of Forest Resources (MFR) student from Dublin, GA. A graduate of West Laurens High School, he went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in forestry from The University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources. Building on this foundation, Greyson decided to pursue his MFR degree with an emphasis in Forest Business to deepen his knowledge of timberland management, finance, and investments.
Greyson shares: “My passion for forestry really started in high school, when I spent time logging timberland and realized my love for the industry. That early experience made me want to go deeper into the business side of forestry, and that’s what led me to study Forestry at Warnell and continue with the MFR program in Forest Business.”
During his time in the MFR program, Greyson has seen a much broader perspective of the forestry industry. Courses like the Forest Business Seminar, where weekly guest speakers share their experiences and insights across a wide variety of different forestry sectors, have shown Greyson the diversity and interconnectedness of the industry. “Every time I turn around,” Greyson says, “there’s something new I was learning or a new aspect of the industry I was discovering. It has shown me that forestry is bigger than I ever imagined”.
This past summer, Greyson interned with The Westervelt Company as a Mergers & Acquisitions intern. In this role, Greyson was given invaluable exposure to timberland transactions, acquisition analysis, and disposition strategies. Furthermore, by working with multiple Westervelt teams, including Land Management, Real Estate, and the Land Systems Team, he developed skills in financial modeling, timberland valuation, mill market analysis, and mitigation banking models. Greyson credits his experience as a “full circle moment” as he was able to then piece together for himself how each of the different layers of forestry operations fit together. With this, he came away with substantially more financial skills, but also a deeper understanding of the critical role of sustainability and policy in today’s industry.
“The internship gave me the best experience I’ve ever had,” Greyson reflects. “It was incredible to see the financial side of forestry, but also how each team plays a role in the bigger puzzle, and I realized sustainability is woven through everything we do.”
Moving forward, Greyson is excited to explore the wide range of opportunities available in forest business. He believes his MFR degree and the professional experience he gained at Warnell, the Center for Forest Business, and his internships are a key foundation for his future career: “The MFR program is a strong scholarly program, where the professors do a great job at teaching their expertise, and I know that knowledge will carry me forward.”
Greyson also wanted to advise prospective MFR students: “Come in with open ears; ask questions, be humble, and know that you won’t know everything, treat your time here like being a sponge—soak up as much as you possibly can in the two years you have.”
Outside of the classroom, Greyson loves hunting and fishing as well as snowboarding whenever he can. Activities like these help keep him connected to the outdoors and remind him of his love for the woods.
