Pro Silva Ireland have had a lot of success supporting early career professionals interested in silviculture with developing their skills/research, in return for them helping as research assistants in the forest.
The TranSSFor project, more formally titled “Transformation of Sitka spruce stands to continuous cover forestry”, is a 5-year research study funded by Teagasc Forestry Development Department and delivered in partnership with UCD Forestry.
The focus of the TranSSFor project is a study of tree and stand responses to three types of thinning, including “low” (the standard thinning approach in Sitka spruce), “crown” and “graduated density thinning”.
Ted Wilson, Walsh Fellow in Silviculture, is leading the project as the focus of his PhD studies at University College Dublin. Drs Ian Short (Teagasc) and Aine Ni Dhubhain (UCD), along with Paddy Purser (PTR Ltd) are supervising and advising the project.
For the second year now, early-career professionals from Europe and North America have joined the research team in order to assist with data collection, and to develop their skills and knowledge of silviculture. They represent Ireland, Scotland, England, France, Poland and Canada. To date, five of the team have completed capstone projects as part of their university degrees in forestry.
In 2019, we were delighted to welcome three research assistants to the TranSSFor project, including Mallaury Vagelli (timber engineer, University of Lorraine, France), Fraser Wight (forester, University of Aberdeen, Scotland) and Ted Smith (forester, University College Dublin, Ireland). Their invaluable contribution is making it possible to study tree and forest changes in more detail, and to share knowledge about CCF with a wider, international audience.
