School of Forest Resources

Stephen Shaler

Stephen joined the University of Maine in 1992 as Associate Professor of Wood Science and Technology with previous positions as Instructor at the Pennsylvania State University (1982-1986) and Assistant Professor at Michigan Technological University (1986-1992). He taught courses in Wood Composites and Adhesion, Wood Mechanics, Wood Physics, Wood Machining, Understanding of Wood, as well as a sophomore level survey course of Wood Science. He was instrumental in the formation of the Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center (now known as the Advanced Structures and Composites Center) serving as Assistant Director from its inception through 2013. He was a co-principal investigator and served as Scientific Director of the National Science Foundation grant which was the precursor of the Forest Bioproducts Research Institute.  His career highlight was serving as Director of the School of Forest Resources Director from 2013-2021. 

He was active in state, national, and international organizations throughout his career, serving on the State Legislature’s Biomass Commission, chairing a review of Forest Tree Growth Tax policy, the Maine Forest Products Council,  FOR/Maine (formaine.org, interim chair of the executive committee from 2021-2023), member of the Buildings, Infrastructure and Housing working group of the Maine Climate Council, served on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (2015-2023), executive committee of the National Association of Forest Resources University Programs (NAUFRP), was United State Representative to International Union of Forest Research Organzations (IUFRO) from 2019-2021,  and as a trustee of the Maine Chapter of The Nature Conservancy (2018 till present) where his is chair of the Policy Advisory Committee.

Stephen and his wife Kendall live on Pushaw Lake in Old Town. He is proud of his son Ross who lives in Winthrop and teaches Latin at Freeport High School while pursuing his PhD in Latin from the University of Florida. He is equally proud of his daughter Kelsey, who has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Ohio State University, lives in Broomfield Colorado and conducts offshore wind R&D for Shell Oil.