Dr. Luben Dimov joins the University of Vermont’s Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources as a Senior Lecturer in the Forestry Program in August 2018. His teaching and research focus on forest ecology, silviculture, and sustainable forest management.
“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Dimov to the Rubenstein School as a member of our faculty in the Forestry Program," said Rubenstein School Dean Nancy Mathews. "Dr. Dimov brings exceptional instructional experience and has a strong focus on active learning. His past research in forest diversity and impacts of climate change strengthens our Forestry Program focus in this area and enriches our curriculum.”
Luben has already helped with teaching the three-week Rubenstein School Forestry summer camp this past May and June. He will teach undergraduate courses in the Forestry Program including Dendrology, Natural Resource Ecology and Assessment, and Management of Forest Woodlots. Beyond the classroom, he will serve as an academic advisor to undergraduate forestry students and as a mentor to the student chapter of the Society of American Foresters (SAF) and Woodsmen Team. He will also work with federal, state, private, and nonprofit forest landowners on issues of sustainable forest management in Vermont.
“Teaching forestry in scenic Vermont feels more like a dream vacation than a job,” said Luben. “I look forward to interacting and spending time with the students in the great outdoors of New England. I am also excited about working with the student SAF Forestry Club and the Woodsmen Team and collaborating on a variety of research projects with faculty in the Forestry Program and the Rubenstein School.”
His research interests include effects of natural disturbances and silvicultural treatments on forest diversity, productivity, and dynamics; relationships between forest diversity and productivity; mechanisms that maintain tree diversity; impacts of climate change on forests; and forest restoration.
Luben was most recently a Professor of Silviculture and Ecological Management at Alabama A&M University where he taught courses in forestry. He also developed a productive research program in forest restoration and community dynamics with graduate and undergraduate students.
He earned his PhD in Renewable Natural Resources from Louisiana State University in 2004. His dissertation research examined the intraspecific and interspecific spatial distribution among trees in bottomland hardwood forests. He received his Master of Science in Forestry from the University of Forestry in Bulgaria in 1998.