Student reflection from the 2025 SAF National Convention
Written by Samuel Fajana
My name is Samuel Fajana, a global ambassador for Youth4Nature and graduate student at Florida A&M University. I was privileged enough to participate at the 2025 SAF National Convention: 125 Years of Forestry and Natural Resources. This event celebrated more than a century of professional forestry by the Society of American Foresters through the support of Youth4Nature (Y4N), Society of American Foresters, and the Forest Stewards Guild. The convention hosted 1,400 attendees working within different sectors of forestry and through insightful plenary sessions, technical field tours, workshops, scientific and technical sessions, presentations, meetups and exhibitions, the convention created a space to reflect on the work of forestry and also the people who care for it’s health and sustainability through different generations.
As a youth delegate and representative of Youth4Nature, I had the opportunity to present the work of Y4N – specifically our storytelling program called “Faces of Forestry” – at the Innovation zone during the convention. Faces of Forestry is a living library existing to close the gap of the unrecognized work of people who sustain and care for our forests. Through storytelling, we showcase the human side to forestry and amplify the diversity of forests, people and practices that keep them healthy and sustained. I had about 25 attendees who listened to my presentation and watched the Faces of Forestry video series we filmed during the 9th American Forest Congress in July. This was an engaging moment for young people and youth leaders at the convention to share in the opportunity to connect with us and learn about our work.
The innovation zone was a great place to learn about what the convention exhibitors are doing as well as an opportunity to connect with them. As a young professional and student seeking career opportunities, the exhibition and innovation zone provided me and other young people at the convention to network with potential employers and organizations that are relevant to our career interests.
During the exhibitions, I connected with several organizations and learned more about the work they do within the forest sector as well as asked questions about how they create opportunities for young people and early career professionals. I witnessed poster presentations by students from different universities across the country with research that explored different forest topics.
The students and young professionals social events created an opportunity for students at the convention to connect, network and engage in conversations that allowed us to share our work, career journey and aspirations. This meet-up was really fun, engaging and also insightful as I got to share the story behind my journey into forestry and also learned about other people’s stories. Despite having a unique story as an international student from Nigeria, I had a great time connecting and networking. The young
professional meetup, was a session dedicated to build opportunities for young people. We had industry leader facilitaters at each table ready to answer questions about mentorship, networking, career building, volunteering, and work ethic. It was a roundtable discussion where everyone shared their thoughts and asked questions and I also got selected to be interviewed by the convention media team where I shared my convention experience and what stood out for me the most so far. These social meetups were opportunities to cool down, unwind and also connect with amazing people from different parts of the country and works of life. I must say it was one of the best parts of the convention for me because I had a chance to network, gain more insights into how the forestry professional space in the US works and practice my elevator pitch with some industry leaders.
My takeaway from these experiences is that while the human side of forestry can be under-appreciated and unrecognized, the convention provided the experience of hearing stories and learning about how far we have come, how much work has been done, and what is next for the work of sustainable forestry. This experience helped me learn more about the diverse work going on within the forest sector and the gaps young professionals like myself can fill, to lead system-wide solutions for our forests.
I am incredibly grateful for the experience and the great support received from Forest Stewards Guild through Forest Stewardship Council Sponsors Clearwater Corporation & FRAM, and Guild staffer Mackenzie Alexander. I look forward to being part of the 2026 SAF National Convention.