Monday, June 12 | 9:00 am
Jamie Babour
Conference Chair
Dr. James Barbour
Jamie Barbour earned BSc in Botany from Washington State University (1979), and a MSc (1983) and PhD (1990) in Wood and Fiber Science from the University of Washington. From 1984 through 1992 conducted research for the wood products industry for Weyerhaeuser in the US and FORINTEK in Canada.
In 1993 he joined USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station where he conducted research on the interaction of ecological and economic objectives for forestry focusing mostly on the interplay between timber and stand or landscape conditions.
He has authored or coauthored over 100 technical publications. In 2002 he became a Research Program Manager at the PNW Research Station with responsibility for establishing a new research effort called the Focused Science Delivery Program where he oversaw many of the Station’s science delivery efforts. In 2008 the Goods, Services, and Values Research Program was added to his portfolio and his responsibilities expanded to include oversight of research involved with social science, economics, and ecosystem services. In 2012 he became the action Assistant Director for Research at the PNW Station and then in 2013 he was transferred to the Deputy Chief for National Forest System staff in Washington DC to lead the effort to implement the Forest Service’s Inventory, Monitoring, and Assessment Strategy.
Since 2016 he is the Assistant Director for Adaptive Management in the Ecosystem Management Coordination Staff in the Forest Service’s Washington Office.
Pekka Saranpää
Dr. Pekka Saranpää
Coordinator of Division V “Forest Products”, IUFRO
Dr. Pekka Saranpää is a Principal Scientist at the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), formerly The Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla). Pekka Saranpää conducts research focusing on bioactive compounds and new products based on forest and agro biomass and side products. He leads the team specialised on extraction and fractionation techniques of different plant biomass at the New Business Opportunities unit. He also serves as Adjunct Professor at both the University of Helsinki and the University of Oulu. He has coordinated two research consortia of the “Wood Wisdom” forestry cluster research program and a joint Swedish-Finnish research consortia “IMWO – Impact of forest management and climate on tree structure and wood quality”. He also coordinated the Future Biorefinery (FuBio) program theme “Biochemicals for protection of goods and health”.
Dr. Pekka Saranpää joined IUFRO in 1990 and he was involved in organising the IUFRO World Congress 1995 in Tampere, Finland. He has been the coordinator of the Wood Quality group 5.01 during 2003—2013 and he chaired the IUFRO Division 5 Conference “Forest Products” in Portugal 2012. Since 2014 he is Coordinator of the IUFRO Division 5 “Forest Products”. He has also been Council Member of IAWA and Board Member of IAWS. He has actively participated European collaboration in many COST Actions
His main research interests are juvenile wood and heartwood formation in conifers and the effect of climate change and environmental factors on wood structure and chemistry. He has authored and co-authored 120 peer-reviewed articles.
Björn Hånell
Vice President for Divisions, IUFRO
Professor, Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Björn Hånell
Dr. Hånell is Professor of Silviculture at the Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. He was the Head of the Department between 2000 – 06. Following a 14 years’ service at various positions within IUFRO, including Coordinator of Division 1 (Silviculture), Swedish representative to the International Council and other, he stepped into the IUFRO Vice President Divisions position in 2014.
Björn holds a M.Sc. in Forestry and a Docent degree in Silviculture from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). In 2000, he became Professor of Silviculture at SLU’s Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Umeå. His research work in boreal forest growth and yield has covered site conditions and silvicultural measures from stand establishment to final felling; many of his findings have been implemented in guidelines for practical forestry. Björn’s teaching (since 1975) includes graduate and undergraduate courses on silvicultural systems, site classification, forest ecology and applied peatland forestry at SLU and universities abroad, as well as the supervision of B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D. students. He has authored and co-authored several national and international textbooks, has published over 100 national and international journal papers, practice guidelines and debate articles. He has been the guest editor of special issues in international scientific journals. Björn is a member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters. He chaired the 14th International Peat Congress ”Peatlands in Balance” in Stockholm in 2012, and was the President of the International Peatland Society between 2012/16.
John Innes
Dean, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia
John Innes
John Innes is Dean of the Faculty of Forestry at the University of British Columbia. He teaches in the field of international and sustainable forestry. He is Chair of the Commonwealth Forestry Association (since 2010), Chair of the Standing Committee of the Heads of Forestry Commonwealth Countries, Chair of the Association of University Forestry Schools of Canada, a Board Member of the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations and Chair of the Asia-Pacific Forestry Education Coordination Mechanism. He is a member of the Advisory Group on Forestry Education of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. He is an Honorary Professorial Fellow in the Melbourne School of Land and Environment at the University of Melbourne and Honorary Professor at four different Chinese universities. John also serves on the Genome BC and National Forestry Sector Steering Groups, and the Forestry and Fibre Work Group of the BC Forest Sector Bio-Economy Transformation Council.
John came to British Columbia in 1999, having previously worked as a Section Head in the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research. Since arriving in BC, he has worked on a range of issues associated with forest management. He is actively involved with climate change research, particularly its effects on forest ecosystems and the development of appropriate management strategies for adaptation, and in 2007 was part of the IPCC team that shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore.
As Dean of the UBC Faculty of Forestry, he is encouraging greater international involvement of the Faculty, and entrenching its position as the leading Faculty of Forestry in the world. Under his leadership, the Faculty has taken significant steps toward broadening the curricula and academic content to reflect changing realities in the forest and conservation sectors, also enhancing interdisciplinary and continuing education for forestry professionals and scholars from around the world.
Trevor Stuthridge
Executive Vice President – FPInnovations
Trevor Raymond Stuthridge
Dr. Trevor Raymond Stuthridge holds the position of Executive Vice President at FPInnovations, with overall leadership responsibilities for R&D operations, business development and organisational strategy.
FPInnovations is a not-for-profit world leader that specializes in the creation of scientific solutions in support of the Canadian forest sector’s global competitiveness and responds to the priority needs of its industry members and government partners. FPInnovations’ 525 employees and R&D laboratories are located in Québec City, Montreal, and Vancouver, and it has technology transfer offices across Canada.
Dr Stuthridge has served as a chairperson, director, strategic advisor or executive manager for a broad range of national and international research initiatives and technology commercialisation opportunities relating to sustainable forest management, wood processing innovation, waste utilisation, environmental risk management, biofuels and bioenergy, clean technologies, climate change, and life-cycle assessment. In addition, he has developed and maintained numerous direct collaborations in academic research, government investment, commercial science and innovation.
Dr. Stuthridge has a PhD in chemistry from the University of Waikato in New Zealand plus executive qualifications in business management and governance. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor at both University of British Columbia and University of Toronto. In addition, he currently holds positions as a Board Member for the Institute of Forest Biosciences and Innoventures Canada (I-CAN) respectively.
Bob Smith
President-Elect, Society for Wood Science and Technology
Associate Dean, Extension at the College of Natural Resources and Environment, Virginia Tech
Dr. Bob Smith
Bob is head of the Department of Sustainable Biomaterials and Associate Dean for Extension in the College of Natural Resources and Environment at Virginia Tech. In his current role he leads 15 faculty in one of the leading departments in sustainable biomaterial science in North America. He is also the Director of the Center for Forest Products Business (a collaborative effort among the forest products industry, state and federal agencies, and the university).
Bob holds a PhD from Virginia Tech (1994) in Forest Products Marketing, a MBA from the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh (1989), and a BSc in Wood and Fiber Utilization from Michigan Tech (1977). Bob taught undergraduate and graduate courses in the areas of wood science, business management, and forest products marketing. As an extension specialist for 14 years his work focused on assisting companies with business and marketing issues to help increase their competitiveness.
His research efforts focus upon industrial marketing and new opportunities for wood in international markets. Prior to completing his PhD, he worked for a major US manufacturer of wood products for 14 years as quality control director, production manager, and sales representative in the Midwest.
Glenn Mason
Assistant Deputy Minister, Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada
Glenn Mason
Glenn Mason is the Assistant Deputy Minister of the Canadian Forest Service (CFS), Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). He joined NRCan in 2011, as Director General, Policy, Economics and Industry Branch, CFS. Prior to that, he was Director of Strategic Operations for the Social Development Policy Secretariat in the Privy Council Office (PCO), where he was responsible for supporting the Social Policy Committee of Cabinet, and the health, aboriginal and justice/public safety portfolios, which earned him the Clerk’s Award for Policy Excellence.
Glenn is currently chair of the North American Forestry Commission of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and co-chair of MegaFlorestais, an informal network of public forest agency leaders from the largest forested countries. Glenn serves on the Boards of FPInnovations, the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, the Forest History Society and is external advisory council member for the Faculties of Forestry at the Universities of Toronto and British Columbia.
Glenn holds a M.A. in Development Economics from the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, a B.A. (Hons) in Political Science from the University of Western Ontario, and a Diploma in economic history from the London School of Economics, and is a graduate of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. Glenn lives in Gatineau, Québec with his wife and two children and is an avid photographer and hockey dad.
Dave Peterson
Assistant Deputy Minister, BC Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations
Dave Peterson
In March 2011, Dave Peterson was appointed to his present role as the Assistant Deputy Minister of the Tenures, Competitiveness and Innovation Division of the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations.
Since 2005, Dave has held various assistant deputy minister positions, and also held two significant additional roles. In May 2012, he was appointed to the position of Provincial Chief Forester until December 2014. He was also temporarily appointed as the Deputy Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations from April 2013 to October 2013.
In 1995, following Dave’s completion of a major land use planning exercise in the Cariboo, he moved into the private sector as President of the Cariboo Lumber Manufacturers’ Association (CLMA). Upon the disbanding of the CLMA, he took on the role of Vice-President Woodlands with Lignum Ltd. Corporate acquisitions led to positions with Riverside Forest Products, then Tolko Industries. During this period, he became the Interior industry-lead on joint industry/ministry land use planning, timber pricing, and softwood lumber technical committees until 2005 when he returned to the public sector.
Raised on Vancouver Island, Dave has a Professional Forester designation, built on a degree in Physical Geography from the University of Victoria. Dave currently lives with his family in Armstrong, BC.