University of Georgia

Emma Merritt

Emma Merritt

Emma Merritt

MS (May 2027), Forest Operations

MS (May 2027), Forest Operations

Additional degrees:

  • BS Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, Minor in Agriculture & Applied Economics; Virginia Tech (2025)

Prior work experience:

  • Graduate Assistant, UGA Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources; Athens, GA (2025 – Current)
  • Undergraduate Research Assistant, VT College of Natural Resources and Environment; Blacksburg, VA (2025)
  • Forestry Contractor, USFWS, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge; Cambridge, MD (2024 – 2025)
  • Forestry Intern, MD DNR Forest Service; Snow Hill, MD (2024)
  • Field Technician, J.R. Simplot Company; Pocomoke City, MD (2023 –2024)
  • Teaching Assistant, Dr. Ryan Musselman, VT College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; Blacksburg, VA (2023)
Emma Merritt

Emma Merritt

MS (May 2027), Forest Operations

News & Announcements

09.02.2026

Student Spotlight: Yancey Kerr

Yancey Kerr chose the MFR in Forest Business program to deepen his understanding of both forestry and finance and explore how the two intersect. Since joining the Center in January 2026, he has taken advantage of the opportunities to learn from faculty, alumni, and industry leaders across the forest sector. This summer, Yancey further explored the connection between forestry and finance through an internship with MetLife Investment Management, gaining valuable experience on the debt side of the timberland investment industry while learning from several Warnell and Center alumni.

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08.06.2026

One-Year Forest Carbon Contracts: Do They Create Meaningful Benefits?

For many forest landowners, 100-year carbon contracts are a non-starter. But what about 1-year harvest deferrals? New research led by Bruno Kanieski Da Silva shows that short-term harvest deferral programs can increase carbon storage at the landscape level. However, if successful and widely adopted, they can also raise timber prices and push mills to source wood from farther away. The study used agent-based modeling to examine 100 years of timber and carbon market dynamics in the U.S. South.

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07.22.2026

A New Approach for Harvesting Small Wet Forest Sites in the U.S. South

Many forested wet flats across the U.S. South face a management challenge: these stands are too wet for conventional full-tree harvesting equipment and too small to justify the higher costs associated with specialized shovel logging systems. As a result, timber is often left unmanaged and unrecovered from wet sites. New research evaluated whether cut-to-length (CTL) harvesting systems, which have low ground pressure and good trafficability in wet conditions, offered a cost-competitive solution.

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