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Alumni |
Program
Description
PDF download
Sponsorship Information
Application Information
Current Fellows
Current Events
Alumni
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For
many, the WFI experience is an important stepping stone in their career
advancement. 70 Fellows from 22 countries have participated in the
WFI Fellowship, with a growing network of alumni around the world.
WFI fellows have gone on to greater career challenges and successes
in varied fields within the forestry profession.
Where are
they now?
About a third of our alumni are currently in management or marketing positions
at forest products companies such as Enso (France), Klabin (Brazil), Western
Forest Products (Canada), Marbut (Australia), Forestal Lautaro (Chile) and Sumitomo
Forestry(Japan). Another third are in forestry non-governmental organizations,
or government bureaus including CIFOR (Indonesia), Institute of Scien-Tech Information
(China), Institute of Geography (Russia), and EFI (Finland). A quarter of alumni
have gone on to consulting practices such as Jaakko Poyry (US), A.T. Kearney
(Denmark), and Fortech (Australia). The remainder are pursuing advanced degrees
in forestry.
We
are currently updating the alumni page.
An incomplete list of alumni is posted.
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Mario Angel, Chile |
| marioa@beckgroupconsulting.com |
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Mario worked as both a Fellow at WFI and as Program Manager. He currently works at The Beck Group in Portland, Oregon. His work involves benchmarking studies, sawmill optimization benefit analysis projects, and providing support for industry studies. Mario has written reports relating to the forest industry in Chile, Argentina and Uruguay and assisted American companies doing business in Latin America. In addition, Mario has helped Latin American companies to enter in the US market.
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Alexandre
Battistella, Brazil |
| alex.battistella@bicmadeiras.com.br |
| Alexandre
is the Export Sales Manger for Battistella Ind. e Com. Ltda in
Rio Negrhinho, Brazil. He is responsible for marketing wooden products
worldwide. During his Fellowship in 1994-1995, Alexandre authored
the “Brazil Country Report” and participated in a Weyerhaeuser
training program. |
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Luke
Balcombe, Australia |
| lbalcombe@hotmail.com |
| Luke
is preparing to start a Masters/Ph.D. program in Social Sciences
in Cairns, Australia. He will be focusing on understanding communities
for fire management. During his Fellowship in 2002-2003, Luke researched
interagency fire management on public lands in the Pacific Northwest. |
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Marco Bernal, Mexico |
| marcoa_bernalh@hotmail.com |
| Marco Bernal completed a one-year fellowship in 2000-2001 involving the Monarch butterfly reserves in Mexico. He is still consulting in Mexico on projects involving the Monarchs. |
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Dr.
Igor Danilin, Russia |
| imdanilin@hotmail.com |
Igor
is a Senior Research Scientist at the Siberian Branch of the Russian
Academy of Sciences at the V.N. Sukachev Institute of
Forest. Igor works in forest biometrics, forest inventory and
remote sensing. During his Fellowship in 2001, Igor co-authered
a manuscript on Forest Policy in Siberia, titled: “Siberian
Expectations: An Overview of Regional Forest Policy and Sustainable
Forest Management,” which can be downloaded from WFI’s
Special Reports page.
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Moacyr
Fantini, Brazil |
| Moacyr.Fantini@storaenso.com |
| Moacyr works for Stora Enso China in Beihai,
Guangxi. During his Fellowship
in 1999, Moacyr researched the importance of Eucalyptus
solid and engineered wood products in the US market. |
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Blair
Freeman, Australia |
| blair.freeman@itclimited.com.au |
Blair has been promoted to managing business development
across the ITC (International Tree Cropping) group, which includes forestry and sawmill processing operations. ITC
Limited is Australia's leading integrated forestry company with over 150,000 plantation hectares under management
across all Australian states, and is also Australia's largest hardwood timber processor. |
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Jes
Munk Hansen, Denmark |
| jmunk@grundfos.com |
| Jes is the President, Regional Managing Director for Grundfos North America. Grundfos is a global leader in pumps and pumping systems.
During his Fellowship in 1994-1995 Jes researched various projects for Star Shipping, and completed work for WFI clients such as researching pricing for special forest products. After his Fellowship Jes completed a Masters degree in Forestry and an MBA at the London Business School. |
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Tateki
Hata, Japan |
| tateki@theia.ocn.ne.jp |
| Tateki is currently a consultant at Spacevision Research Institute Inc. in Osaka. His work involves forest products marketing and development of forest and agricultural area. Tateki has completed research involving the market adaptation and competitiveness of Japanese wood industries. During his Fellowship in 2001-2002 Tateki worked as an Information Specialist and conducted research on US wood supply for the Japanese housing market. |
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Rainer
Hummel, Germany |
| rainer.hummel@ifp.uni-freiburg.de |
| After more than ten years in the private sector Rainer has accepted a research position at the University of Freiburg, Germany in early 2007. The focus of his work are international trade, markets and marketing of forest products along with the meaning and influence of markets for the sustainable use of natural resources world-wide. This includes the use of market based instruments in expanding environmental markets, such as trade in emission allowances. |
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Claire
Huxtable, Canada |
| Claire.Huxtable@rbccm.com |
| Claire
is an Associate in the Paper and Forest Products division of RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) Capital Markets. in Vancouver, BC. In her position she manages timberland
investments and her primary clients are institutional investors.
During her Fellowship in 1995-1996 Claire worked as a country Information
Specialist and conducted research for WFI clients. |
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Nobutaka
Isoda, Japan |
| n_isodda@sfc.co.jp |
| Nobutaka
works as a Researcher for Sumitomo
Forestry Co., Ltd. at their
Tsukuba Research Institute. An architect by training,
he researches ergonomic solutions for special users of wooden homes,
such as the elderly and disabled. Nobutaka researched green building
design and techniques during his Fellowship in 2002-2003. |
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Mikko
Jaaskelainen, Finland |
| mikko.jaaskelainen@indufor.com |
Mikko
is a Forest Industry Consultant at Savcor
Indufor, Finland. He
works on feasibility studies and investment projects in emerging
markets in the wood products business as well as with plantation projects.
During his Fellowship in 2001-2002 Mikko conducted a study on the
forest
industry’s reaction to environmental protection laws in
the Pacific Northwest in the 1990s. |
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In
Chul Jung, Korea |
| icjung@eagon.com |
| In
Chul works for Eagon Industrial
Co., Ltd, in Lautara, Chile, as
a General Manager. In his work In Chul is responsible for Eagon’s
Chilean operation. Eagon manufactures veneer and plywood, trades
forest products, and is involved in forestation and harvest. During
his Fellowship in 1996, In Chul researched various projects for
WFI clients. |
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Kenji
Kariya, Japan |
| kariya@sfc.co.jp |
| Kenji
is a Researcher for Sumitomo
Forestry Co., Ltd. in their Research
Institute. He is an architect and is involved in a variety of research
related to the aesthetic value of trees and housing design and
construction, including ergonomics and Japanese life-styles. He
is also currently a postgraduate student at Tokyo
Institute of Technology in the Department of Architecture. During his Fellowship
in 200-2001 Kenji researched wood usage for the interior design
of houses in the Pacific Northwest as well as the benefits of wood
as a building material. |
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Phil Lacy, Australia |
| Phil.Lacy@csiro.au |
| Phil is a forester for Forests New South Wales and is currently completing his Ph.D. During his one-year Fellowship in 2003-2004, Phil sought to understand the biological, economic and environmental factors facing industrial
forest managers in the Pacific Northwest (PNW), and to examine the decision support systems that
various forest managers adopt. His final report, "The Changing World of Forest Management" can be downloaded from the Publications page. |
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Seol Woong Lee, Korea |
| swlee@eagon.com |
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Seol Woong Lee, an architect by training, works in the marketing division of EAGON Inc. His primary responsibility is developing new wood-based products and planning new business opportunities. During his six-month Fellowship in 2006, Lee explored wooden housing facilities for seniors, including retirement and assisted living communities. By 2026, Korean society is expected to become a “Super-aged Society” in which over 20% of the population will be above 65 years of age. Therefore, the development of facilities and dedicated housing for seniors has become a key issue in Korea.
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Dr.
Jiunn-Cheng "David" Lin, Taiwan, China |
| ljc@tfri.gov.tw |
| David manages 1000 hectares of forestland in the Taimali research center, under the Taiwan Forestry
Research Institute. The center is located in southeast Taiwan. It is one of six research centers which belongs to TFRI. During his Fellowship in 2005, David explored avenues
other
than
logging
to generate income from forestland, such as carbon sequestration projects
and ecosystem services. |
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Dr.
Bonnie Liu, Taiwan, China |
| sbliu@mail.tfri.gov.tw |
| Bonnie
works as an Associate Scientist at the Taiwan
Forestry Research Institute (TFRI) in Taipei City, Taiwan.
TFRI is the center for organizing research throughout the province
and conducts studies
on long-term sustainable management of the forests. In her position
Bonnie studies water chemistry and its relationship to forest ecology.
During
her Fellowship in 2003 Bonnie researched watershed management and
associated research techniques. |
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Zengwang Ma, China |
| zengwangma@yahoo.com |
| Zengwang Ma is a researcher at the Hebei Academy of Forestry Science. In 2006-2007 the Hebei Provincial government sponsored Ma for a 12-month Fellowship. Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing, has been overlogged, resulting in desertification, flooding and landslides. Consequently the government has imposed logging restrictions, and they are now faced with the task of finding alternative revenue sources through sustainable forest development. In his work, Zengwang studies silviculture and reforestation. |
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Nerijus Miskinis, Lithuania |
| nerijusabroad@yahoo.com.uk |
| Nerijus Miskinis is a Ph.D. forestry student at the Lithuanian University of Agriculture. Nerijus was WFI’s first Lithuanian and first non-Russian eastern European Fellow in 2007. His 12-month Fellowship was being sponsored by the Shelk Foundation. Nerijus explored the forestry business in the Pacific Northwest in order to take lessons learned back to apply in Lithuania. |
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Roger
Naylor, United Kingdom |
| roger.naylor@helsinki.fi |
| Roger
works as a forest products marketing Researcher in the Department
of Forest Economics at the University
of Helsinki, Finland. Roger researches the superior
wood and timber properties of Nordic pine for emphasis in the strategic
marketing planning and business models of Nordic forest industry
companies. During his Fellowship in 2000 to 2001 Roger was sponsored
by Jaako Poyry and examined global forests and their role in the
sustainable satisfaction of human needs. |
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Patrice
Ngalla, Cameroon |
| patricengalla2005@yahoo.co.uk |
Patrice
Taah Ngalla is currently working
for the World Wildlife Fund’s
Central Africa Regional Programme
Office as a GIS/Remote
Sensing Specialist. Patrice provides
advanced customized GIS and remote
sensing work to support
conservation and the sustainable
use of natural resources in southeast
Cameroon. During his Fellowship in 2005, Patrice explored different
options and procedures in GIS & remote
sensing that can be integrated with forest inventories in order
to provide decision support information for sustainable
forest use and management. |
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Mikkel
Nielsen, Denmark |
| mbn@iwc.dk |
| Mikkel
works as a forestry consultatnt at the International
Woodland Company in Copenhagen, Denmark. During
his Fellowship in 2004 Mikkel researched the risks and return issues
related to forestland investment
in the Pacific Northwest. He is the author of WFI Special Report
"Managing Risk in the Evolving World of Timberland Investments." |
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Claudio Ortolan, Brazil |
| CLOrtolan@klabin.com.br |
| In 1996, Claudio completed a one-year Fellowship as the Brazilian
representative at WFI. Claudio graduated in with a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering in Curitiba,
Paraná in 1981. He received his M.B.A. in Economic Engineering in 1990. Claudio has
worked in forest product companies in operations and projects for panels, sawmill, pulp
and paper. Since 1997 he has worked for Klabin, the largest paper company in Brazil
in the forest planning and economic assessment of plantations. |
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Cristopher Lopez Paniagua, Mexico |
| cristopher_lp@hotmail.com |
| Cristopher completed a one-year Fellowship in 2007, sponsored through a joint funding project with the USDA Forest Service's International Programs and the Chiles Foundation. Cristopher worked with several groups involved in the management of the Monarch Butterfly Reserve - including WWF-MEXICO, the Mexican Fund to the Nature Conservation, USAID, and CONANP - to develop his WFI research project. He investigated ecotourism activities in the Reserve and surveyed visitors to develop a market study of tourist demand. He also gave ecotourism guide trainings to local ejido members. |
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Kyungtae Park, Korea |
| kyungtaepark@gmail.com |
| Kyungtae
is a wood markets researcher at Eagon
Industrial in the Research
and Development division. Eagon is one of
the major integrated specialty wood product manufacturers in
Korea. During his Fellowship in 2006, Kyungtae explored green building and wood markets developments in the US. |
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Jaakko Rantanen, Finland |
| jaakko.rantanen@upm-kymmene.com |
| Jaakko has
been working in the sales of
wood products, plywood, and
lumber for the last 7 years. For
the last 2 years he has been
working for UPM-Kymmene Corporation
and is now the Export
Sales Manager and is responsible
for marketing sawn goods worldwide. |
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Jon Bingen Sande, Norway |
| jon.bingen.sande@umb.no |
| Jon Bingen Sande completed a one-year Fellowship in 2000-2001 and researched the globalization of the forest industry. He holds a Master of Forestry degree from the
Norwegian University of Life Sciences, where he later helped create a master-degree
program in Forest Business. Jon is currently a Ph.D. student at the same university, and
his topic is strategy and business-to-business marketing in the wood industry. He is
currently located at the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration,
following their Ph.D. courses in business administration. |
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Tony
Scherl, Australia |
| tonys@sf.nsw.gov.au |
| Tony
Scherl is a Fire Officer with Forests
New South Wales Fire Management
unit. Tony has worked for the Forests NSW for over 10 years, in
a range of positions from forest field worker to forester. During
his Fellowship from 2004-2005, Tony examined
measures the US has taken regarding the problems of re-introducing
prescribed fire and active fuel management into the landscape,
as well as ways Australian forests can benefit from the US experience.
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Sandra
Silva, Chile |
| silsandra@hotmail.com |
| Sandra
is the new
Regional Director of the Chilean Exports Promotion
Agency (PROCHILE) in Puerto Montt, Chile. She promotes
Chilean exports, including wood products. For
more information, go to: http://www.prochile.cl or
http://www.direcon.cl. During her Fellowship in 2001, Sandra
conducted
market studies on with forest issues and compiled and managed forest
products statistics information used to create a data mart prototype. |
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Jussi
Silventoinen, Finland |
| jussi.silventoinen@indufor.fi |
| Jussi was a fellow at WFI in 1995-96. He served 10 years at The Beck Group as a Senior Consultant in Portland. In 2007, he returned to Finland to take up a new position at Indufor Oy, a forest consulting company. He is now Head of Management Consulting and Senior Forest Industry Consultant. |
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Roland
Simpson, Australia |
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| WFI
Board members and staff were saddened to hear of the recent death
of Roland Simpson on October 22, 2004. Roland was a Fellow in
1998 and more recently worked as a forester with Forests of New
South Wales in their Investment Services Division.
Roland
died
as a
result of
injuries
sustained in a BASE jumping mishap in China. Roland’s ever-optimistic
attitude and broad smile will surely be missed both here in Portland
as well
as in Australia. |
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Michael Taylor, Australia |
| MichaelT@midway-pl.com.au |
| Michael gained international expertise in sustainable forest
management and certification and forest industry policy as Australia’s inaugural Fellow
at the World forest Institute in 1996. Michael has 17 years experience within the Australian and international forest
industry. Following graduation from the Australian National University with a B.Sc.
Forestry (1990), he has worked in a number of Australian states and has expertise in
processing, business analysis, harvesting and haulage, forest management and also policy
and political representation. Currently Michael is Operations Manager for
Midway Pty. Ltd., a plantation development and export woodchip company in Victoria.
He is responsible for the processing and export of around 1 million tonnes pa. of
woodchip. Michael has completed his Graduate Diploma of Business at the University of
Tasmania (1992) and Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and investment at the
Securities Institute of Australia. |
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Nathan Trushell, Australia |
| nathan.trushell@vicforests.com.au |
| Nathan Trushell is a Regional Manager with VicForests, responsible for overseeing business operations throughout the West Gippsland Region of Victoria, Australia. During his six-month Fellowship from 2007-2008, Nathan explored opportunities and potential strategies to promote and brand forest industries. |
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John Turland, Australia |
| johnt@sf.nsw.gov.au |
| John
is a senior forestry analyst / modeler at Forests
New South Wales in the Forest Resources Division
based in Sydney. Forests NSW is a Public Trading Enterprise responsible
for sustainably
managing more than 2 million hectares
of public native forests
and an expanding estate of hardwood and softwood planted forests.
John’s primary responsibilities are growth and yield simulation
model development, strategic wood supply forecasting and harvest
scheduling in the native Eucalyptus forests throughout NSW. John
spent 12 months in 2006-2007 studying North American approaches
to growth and yield modeling, and harvest scheduling
approaches in uneven-aged mixed species forest. |
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Dr.
J. René Valdez Lazalde, Mexico |
| valdez@colpos.mx |
| René is
an Associate Professor at Colegio
de Postgraduados in Texcoco,
Mexico. In his work, René teaches postgraduates and does
research on forest management and geomatics. During his Fellowship
in 1994-1995, René worked as a country Information Specialist
and conducted research for WFI clients. He also authored the WFI “Mexico
Country Report”. After his Fellowship, René completed
a Ph.D. in Forest Management and GIS at Colorado State University.
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Jasjit Walia, India |
| jasjitw@gmail.com |
| Jasjit
Walia is from the Indian
Forest Service where he is
the CEO of Ecotourism for his region, Himachal
Pradesh.
Jasjit was the
first Indian to participate in WFI’s Fellowship program in 2005-2006. Jasjit researched n environmental services, which he feels holds great promise
for
his Himalayan State of
Himachal Pradesh
in northern India. |
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Guangyu Wang, China |
| guangyw@hotmail.com |
| Guangyu (Jason) Wang completed a Fellowship in 1998 and is currently a Ph.D. candidate and research assistant in the faculty of
Forestry at University of British Columbia. He was former President of the Fujian
Forestry Investment and Development Inc., a top ten forestry company in China. He also
was the key organizer to the Secretary General of the China International Wood and
Forest Products Trade Fair in the years of 1999, 2001, and 2002. |
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Dr. Peijung Wang, Taiwan, China |
| pjwang@tfri.gov.tw |
| Dr.
Pei-jung Wang is an assistant researcher in the Division of Forest
Management at the Taiwan Forest Research Institute. Her research
interests and specialties include forest sociology, community forestry,
and forest policy. During her Felllowship in 2006, Pei-jung
examined how public forestlands use public participation methods
in their management decisions. |
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Xiaoli
Wang, China |
| xmhuwang@yahoo.com |
| Xiaoli
Wang is a forestland and forest tenure administration officer at
the State Forestry Administration in Beijing, China. Since 1997
she has worked making national policies, dealing with forest tenure
conflicts across the provincial boundary, and training and supervising
officials on implementing law, polices and regulations on forest
land and forest tenure administration. During her fellowship in
2005-2006, Xiaoli conducted research sponsored by INBAR on policy
recommendations for developing forestland and bamboo resource tenures
systems in
Africa and Asia. |
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Jialu Xie, China |
| Jialux@yahoo.com |
| Mr. Xie is the only Fellow to have completed two Fellowships, ten years apart. In 2004 he worked with WFI for one year researching forest certification schemes and their applicability to China. |
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Min-Chung
"Galy" Yang, Taiwan, China |
| galy.yang@gmail.com |
| Min-chung “Galy” Yang
(Taiwan) has moved from an NGO
to industry. He is the Research
and Development Manager for
Achieve Made international Limited.
He helps his company meet
their business development model in social networking services:
more can be seen at their website
at http://15fun.com/. |
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Dr.
Yanping Zhang, China |
| zhang99@163.com |
| Dr.
Yanping Zhang is the Director of the Resources and Environment
Department at the Research
Institute of Resource Insects in Kunming, China. During his
Fellowship in 2005, Dr. Zhang researched the seedling industry,
as China has ambitious plans to reforest and afforest
large
areas for both commercial wood products and soil protection. Dr.
Zhang was the
first Chinese Fellow to come through a joint-cooperation agreement
with the Department of International Cooperation at the Chinese
Academy of Forestry. |
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