[8] ESF operates education and research facilities also in the Adirondack Park (including the Ranger School in Wanakena), the Thousand Islands, elsewhere in Central New York, and Costa Rica.

In 1907 he was made head of the botany department at Syracuse, and in 1908 he started teaching a forestry course in the basement of Lyman Hall.

[17][18] In 1911, in addition to assuming the deanship of forestry, Bray organized the Agricultural Division at Syracuse University.

[19] In 1915, the same year that Dr. Bray published The Development of the Vegetation of New York State, he became one of the founding members, along with Raphael Zon and Yale School of Forestry's second dean, James W. Toumey, of the Ecological Society of America.

[23] Research at the college commenced in 1912, with a study of New York state firms using lumber, including from which tree species and in what quantities.

[24] In January 1930, Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt, recommending an allocation of $600,000 towards construction of the college's second building, in honor of Louis Marshall, recently deceased, noted that: "under [Marshall's] leadership and the leadership of its late dean, Franklin Moon, the School of Forestry made giant strides until it became recognized as the premier institution of its kind in the United States".

[25] The cornerstone of Louis Marshall Memorial Hall was laid in 1931 by former Governor and presidential candidate Alfred E. Smith who was elected to assume the presidency of the college's board of trustees.

[26] ESF's main campus, in Syracuse, New York, is where most academic, administrative, and student activity takes place.

Other buildings on the Syracuse campus include one for maintenance and operations, a garage, and a greenhouse converted to office space.

[citation needed] Students in the forest and natural resources management curriculum may spend an academic year (48 credits) or summer at the Ranger School, in Wanakena, New York, earning an Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.)

[33] The campus, established in 1912,[34] is on the east branch of the Oswegatchie River that flows into Cranberry Lake, in the northwestern part of the Adirondack Park.

[35][36] The ESF mission statement is "to advance knowledge and skills and to promote the leadership necessary for the stewardship of both the natural and designed environments.

"[47] ESF is a "specialized institution" of the State University of New York, meaning that curricula focus primarily on one field, the college's being environmental management and stewardship.

[49] U.S. News & World Report ranked ESF as 64th best graduate school in Environmental/ Environmental Health Engineering category in 2016.

49 among the nation's top service-oriented colleges and universities for 2012 (and sixth in "community service participation and hours served").

[57] The first research report published in 1913 by the College of Forestry was the result of the above noted USDA Forest Service supported study of the wood-using industries of New York State.

[58] Since that time, the research initiatives of the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) have expanded greatly as faculty and students conduct pioneering studies, many with a global reach.

Recent international sites of research interest include Madagascar, the Amazon floodplains, Mongolia and the Galapagos Islands.

The nickname was given to students by their neighbors at Syracuse University, probably in the 1920s, and most-likely refers to forestry "stump jumpers".

ESF students take courses at their sister institution, can apply for admission to concurrent degree and joint certificate programs, and may join any SU organization except for NCAA sports teams.

Biomass is a renewable resource that draws light energy, carbon dioxide, and water from the environment; in return oxygen is released.

The Gateway Center was one of the final stages in the school's Climate Action Plan, that encompasses the vision of carbon neutrality and reduced fossil fuel dependence by 2015.

Included in Phase III is the opening of The Gateway Center, retrofits to Illick Hall, and rooftop greenhouse replacement.

[66] Gateway and other buildings on campus utilize rooftop gardens to reduce energy consumption and water runoff.The SUNY ESF athletic teams are called the Mighty Oaks.

[68][69][70][71] The men's soccer team was invited to the 2012 USCAA National Championship Tournament in Asheville, North Carolina, making it to the semifinals.

[83] ESF is an autonomous institution, administratively separate from Syracuse University, while some resources, facilities and infrastructure are shared.

ESF receives an annual appropriation as part of the SUNY budget and the state builds and maintains all of the college's educational facilities.

[86] Notable alumni include: From soon after its founding, ESF affiliated individuals have been responsible for establishing and leading prominent scientific and advocacy organizations around the world focused on the environment.