Becoming a student member of the CIF is an important step towards developing a fulfilling and useful relationship with the members of the Canadian forestry industry and provides many academic, professional and social benefits to members that will only deepen in value as students continue along their career paths.
Student members of the CIF gain reduced-rate access to workshops, technical sessions and annual meetings that provide the opportunity to network with industry professionals, expand their knowledge base and keep abreast of the latest technological advances in the natural resource management sectors. When students graduate and eventually earn their technical designations as RPFs or RPFTs, many of these sessions offer continuing competency credits necessary to maintain professional status.
Student membership in the CIF also affords access to a variety of useful academic resources, from weekly live e-lectures broadcast by a wide variety of natural resources practitioners on a broad variety of topics to archived editions of The Forestry Chronicle, the CIF’s official journal. Many of the CIF’s e-lectures are also eligible to provide attendees continuing competency credits.
Forestry students and recent graduates also receive consideration for awards and scholarships exclusive to CIF members. For example, the Prince of Wales Forest Leadership Award offers two Canadian forestry students the opportunity for an international work exchange involving a range of interdisciplinary forestry work opportunities.
By enrolling as a member in the CIF, students gain not only access to a variety of resources useful during their time in the academic world, but also have the opportunity to build a strong foundation for their careers in forestry and establish professional and personal relationships that could last a lifetime.