Newly Elected Fellows for 2008

• Prof. Dr. Alexander Alekseev
  Vice-rector for Education and International Activities,
  Head of the Dept. of Forest Inventory, Management and GIS of Sankt-Petersburg State Forest Technical Academy
Prof. Dr. Alexander Alekseev is Vice-Rector for education and international activities at Sankt-Petersburg State Forest Technical Academy. He is Head of the Dept. of Forest Inventory, Management and GIS. His main fields of his expertise are forest inventory and management, forest ecology and monitoring, as well as mathematical modeling, computer science and GIS applications in forestry and forest ecology. He is also a specialist in analysis of tree stand growth under influence of climate change.

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• Prof. Dr. Terry Lee Amburgey
  Forest Products department, Mississippi State University
Terry Amburgey has gained an international reputation based on his research, publications, and presentations dealing with the prevention and control of wood-inhabiting fungi and insects in both primary and secondary wood products. His patents dealing with the foraging behavior of subterranean termites currently are in the process of being commercialized and promise to revolutionize methods of protecting structures from termites. The results of his long-term research on railroad crossties form the basis for new preservation techniques now in use for preventing biodeterioration of ties during both air-seasoning and in service.

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• Prof. Dr. M. Naceur Belgacem
  Professor at National Polytechnic Institute of Grenoble
Professor Belgacem works on the use of wood for the preparation of different materials. The essential driving force behind these strategies is related to the depletion of fossil resources. The chemistry and the chemical engineering and processes are the key parameter in the development of biomass refinery, in the field of fine chemicals, materials and energy. 21st Century will be that of bio-based materials and energy.

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• Dr. Jean Bouchard
  Principal Scientist FPInnovations – Paprican Division
Jean Bouchard’s research has focused initially on the mechanism of cellulose depolymerization in hydrolytic and solvolytic processes during the 7 years he spent at University of Sherbrooke within the group of Prof. Esteban Chornet. When he joined Paprican in 1991, his main focus was on the effects of the chemistry of kraft pulping and ECF-TCF bleaching on fibre quality. He participate in the development of several new processes such as polysulfide pulping, the OPx delignification stage, lower cost near-neutral sodium sulfite deinking. He was the first to measure reproducible chain length distribution of cellulose and of glucomannan from softwood Kraft pulp. Also, he has developed a new analytical procedure to monitor destructive ?OH radical during O2 delignification. He is presently also leading a group on nanocrystalline cellulose characterization and modification.

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• Prof. Dr. Joseph Buongiorno
  Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
He has fulfilled major accomplishments in modeling and understanding supply/demand relationships in forest products. He is developer of the Global Forest Products Model (GFPM). The GFPM is a dynamic-spatial econometric model of the world forestry sector. Since its beginning in 1997, the GFPM has been used extensively for forecasting and policy analysis. In particular, it was used by the author and students for the timber trends studies of the Food and Agriculture Organization (1998, 1999). Purpose is to make long-term predictions of the demand, supply, trade, and prices of forest products.

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• Dr. Bernard S.W. Dawson
  New Zealand Forest Research Institute Ltd, trading as Scion
For major contributions to wood science and technology in the areas of reproducibility of analyses of wood preservatives in both solution and wood through inter-laboratory trials and publication; chemical modification of wood cell walls; and dominantly in the area of surface technology and coatings especially photostabilisation of radiata pine surfaces prior to clear coating and exterior exposure. In the last case, the combination of chemical and high resolution microscopic techniques applied to probe the wood-coatings interface revealed information that is novel and highly relevant to the wood processing industry.

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• Prof. Dr. Jeffrey F. D. Dean
  Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602 USA
Over the past decade, Dr. Dean’s laboratory has played a leading role in applying state-of-the-art functional genomic approaches to understanding wood formation, as well as growth and development processes, and responses to environmental stress in conifers. Most recently, he has helped lead efforts to organize an international research consortium to sequence the first reference genome for a conifer species. Through the years, Dr. Dean’s research has also provided fundamental new insights into the contributions made by multicopper oxidases (laccases) to lignin deposition in woody vascular tissues, as well as the mechanisms whereby fungal laccases contribute to the degradation of lignin.

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• Prof. Dr. Kazuhiko Fukushima
  Nagoya University, Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences
Professor Fukushima has published many creative research papers and books in the field of most basic wood science as follows; biosynthetic pathway of monolignols by isotope tracer methods combined with high resolution mass spectrometry, heterogeneity in formation and structure of cell wall polymers in differentiating wood cell walls by micro-auto-radiography, distribution of lignin structural units and various extraneous components in the wood cell walls by the technique of ToF-SIMS (Time of Flight, Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry). He renders services to the cultivation and promotion of wood science as a member of the board of director of the Japan Wood Research Society.

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• Dr. Joseph Gril
  CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)
Dr. Gril is a specialist of rheological modeling and structure/properties relationships in wood. He leads a research group devoted to basic and applied knowledge on wood as a material, tree biomechanics, supporting research in developing countries, introduction of wood culture in the university curriculums. He has contributed significantly to the progress of wood mechanics in Europe by an active networking activity through the COST system. He established many collaborations with wood scientists, in Europe, Japan, China, Morocco, Iran, etc. where he usually contributes through data analysis and modeling.

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• Prof. Dr. Anatoly P. Karmanov
  Doctor of Chemical Science, Professor, Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Lignin, Institute of Chemistry, Komi Scientific Centre, Ural Division, Russian Academy of Sciences.
Professor Karmanov is a recognized expert in the field of Physical Chemistry of natural polymers and ecology. He is carrying out world-wide fundamental and applied research concerning self-organization, structural organization and properties of natural and biosynthetic lignins. He has developed new lignocellulosic materials according to the principle of «green chemistry».

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• Prof. Dr. Hyun-Joong Kim
  Seoul National University, Republic of Korea
Manufacturing and processing of bio-plastics (Bio-Composites) with natural flour (wood and bamboo flour) and natural fibers using bio-based biodegradable polymers (PLA and PBS). Pioneering works for adhesives & PSAs in the fields of wood and wood products using UV-curing technology and hot-melt adhesives. He is active in synthesis and physico-mechanical properties of coated films for wood –based materials and related products. He was involved in development and evaluation methods of wood-based composites and indoor air chemistry (emission of formaldehyde and VOCs).

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• Prof. Dr. Gerald Koch
  Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry, and Fisheries – Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute – vTI) , Institute of Wood Technology and Wood Biology (Formerly: Federal Research Centre of Forestry and Forest Products, BFH)
For major contributions to understand discoloration processes of hardwoods due to heartwood formation and artificial color changes, e.g. during drying or steaming. Dr. Koch also developed a special cellular UV-micro-spectro-photometric technique to localize lignin and aromatic compounds within woody cell walls. This is of great importance also for wood chemists to detect lignin loss in walls during pulping. Another major field is his pioneering activity in the development of computer-assisted wood identification software. The so-called CITESwoodID is an internationally widely used and important program for wood scientists as well as for customs officials to identify CITES-protected species.

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• Prof. Dr. Yuan-Zong Lai
  Department of Paper and Bioprocess Engineering, State University of New York, College of Environmental Science & Forestry (SUNY-ESF), Syracuse
Professor Lai’s research activities, in additional to earlier work on the thermal degradation mechanism of cellulose related substrates, are focused mainly around the chemistry of lignin in wood, lignin modification, delignification, and bio-refinery pertinent to the paper industry. A key feature has been in pursuing the structural analysis of wood and pulp residual lignin in-situ to reveal their intrinsic characteristics. Our works have advanced a quantitative understanding on the structural variation of lignin among softwood and hardwood and its influence by the presence of syringyl units; between the phenolic and etherified components of wood lignin; and on the impact of aryl ether cleavages in alkaline and acidic delignification of softwood and hardwood.

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• Prof. Dr. Holger Militz
  Institute of Wood Biology and Wood Technology, University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 4, 37077 Göttingen,GERMANY
Prof. Militz working groups, in the Netherlands as well since the year 2000 in Germany, are leading in the field of the development of new wood protection systems by wood modification. Basic research in understanding wood protection mechanisms and process development to introduce new techniques to the wood industry belong to his specialty.

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• Michael Paice
  FPInnovations, Paprican Division
Michael Paice has made major contributions to the area of enzyme applications in the forest products industry, particularly in pulp bleaching. More recently he has become a recognized authority on effluent treatment environmental issues. He was awarded PAPTAC’s Douglas Jones Award (Best Environmental Paper) in 1993, and was elected Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada in 1995. In 1998 he chaired the 7th International Conference on Biotechnology in Vancouver, and is currently Chairman of the IWA Specialist Group on Forest Industry Wastewaters. He is a Principal Scientist and Group Leader of Biotechnology and Effluent Treatment at FPInnovations, Paprican Division.

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• "Prof. Dr. Robert W. Rice
  University of Maine
My initial work centered on heat and mass transfer during drying and mechanosorptive stresses. Federal regulations in the United States caused my interests to refocus over concerns about the potential human health and environmental effects from volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) released during wood drying. I formed a team of health professionals, soil scientists and microbiologists and developed sampling methods and protocols for the research. To date, over 30 publications have been generated and, most importantly, no harmful human or environmental effects have been found at the levels commonly seen. The database of VOC release levels developed is used extensively by regulatory agencies and the work is now focused more on fundamentals. Particulate distribution studies are also a current focus.

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• Prof. Dr. Shiro Saka
  Graduate School of Energy Science, Kyoto University
Shiro Saka has a BSc (1975) in wood science in Kyoto University, MSc (1977) and PhD (1980) in wood science in NC State University. He was a post-doctoral fellow at McGill University/Paprican (1980-1983) and eventually became a Professor in the Department of Socio-Environmental Energy Science, Kyoto University. His research areas include: topochemistry of wood, functionalization of wood by chemical modification through sol-gel reactions and, thermochemical conversion of biomass to useful chemicals and biofuels by supercritical fluid science. He has won awards including: Minister’s Award on the Environment, Japan on Global Warming Protection Activities (2004), Wood Award from the Forest Products Research Society (1980)

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• Dr. R. Sam Williams
  USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Dr. Williams oversees a broad basic research program in surface chemistry that encompasses defining surface properties, chemical modification of surfaces and bulk, protection of lignocellulosic materials, development of adhesives, and basic science of wood adhesion. In his personal research, he is developing sophisticated protocols for understanding the chemistry of materials as they degrade during accelerated and outdoor testing and is investigating the effects of cyclic fatigue, UV radiation, and temperature and moisture changes on materials as they degrade. He has improved our understanding of the photochemical degradation of wood and defined the critical elements for achieving long-term durability of clear coatings on wood.

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• Prof. Dr. Hiroyuki Yano
  Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University
For chemical modifications aimed at the improvement of acoustical properties of wood for musical instruments; for the production of optically transparent nano-composites using wood pulp based nano-fibers.

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