Join UniSC's Forest Research Institute (FRI) on the first Wednesday of each month to learn about forestry and sustainability.
At each event, researchers and HDR students from the Institute will share insights from their latest projects, and discuss challenges and innovations in forestry, with a particular focus on sustainability and the vital role forests play in tackling climate change. A free brown bag lunch is provided for those who come in person, or you can join online.
More info and registration link here: Forests for our Future: Lunch and Learn series
When: 1 July (first Wednesday of each month)
Time: 12–1pm
Where: LT2, UniSC Sunshine Coast or join online via Teams
Speaker announcement
A/Prof David Lee will present: ‘Chasing the sweet scent of sandalwood.'
Sandalwood is an iconic and spiritual tree in Timor Leste that is part of the psyche of the nation. Hence sandalwood is part of the cultural and spiritual landscape, revered as "a symbol of purity, wisdom, and peace”.
Sandalwood has been an important trade good from Timor for over 1,000 years. It was one of the few valuable items that the people of Timor Leste had to trade with those outside the island and was the basis of royal power of the kings in northern Timor before and during colonial times. Sandalwood is the reason the Chinese, Portugues and Dutch all came to Timor Leste to exploit the resource. The most recent exploitation occurred with the Indonesian occupation of East Timor.
There were so few trees left in the wild after independence, the Timor-Leste Government banned the harvest of the trees.
Now, in an ACIAR project (CROP-2021-131) David and his team at the FRI are undertaking the work needed to build a sustainable sandalwood industry in this beautiful, wild but infrequently visited country. In this presentation, David will share the issues needing to be addressed to build a sustainable sandalwood industry in Timor Leste, a bit of the country's history, as well as tales of his travels in the country.
Bio: With a background in plant genetics, David leads genetic improvement programs for species including Corymbia, Eucalyptus, Santalum, and Zingiber in northern Australia. His expertise spans tree breeding, disease resistance, and wood quality assessment, and adaptation to climate change. His achievements include commercialising new hardwood species and developing plantations in Queensland, South Africa, and Brazil. Currently, his research focuses on sandalwood development in Australia and Timor Leste, and characterising wood properties of plantation grown trees using resistance drilling.
Click here to register for lunch on July 1
*(register by COB on June 24 for your free lunch)
