We are pleased to announce that the winner of the winner of the Scottish Woodlands\u00a0Student Excellence Award for 2012\/13 is Greg Searles, a postgraduate student then based at the\u00a0Forest \u00a0Products \u00a0Research \u00a0Institute, Edinburgh Napier \u00a0University. His \u00a0thesis \u00a0on \u00a0\u201cImproving \u00a0the \u00a0quality \u00a0of \u00a0Sitka \u00a0spruce \u00a0structural \u00a0timber \u00a0through \u00a0raw \u00a0material \u00a0segregation \u00a0and \u00a0alternative\u00a0sawmill cutting patterns – Acoustic segregation and structural timber production\u201d was completed \u00a0during \u00a02012. Recent \u00a0research mapping \u00a0the \u00a0properties \u00a0of \u00a0the \u00a0British \u00a0spruce \u00a0resource \u00a0has \u00a0given\u00a0reason to be concerned about the trend in quality over time; particularly in respect of stiffness, which is the \u00a0property \u00a0that \u00a0determines \u00a0structural \u00a0grade \u00a0for \u00a0British \u00a0spruce. The \u00a0research \u00a0shows that by processing lower stiffness logs differently it would be possible to reduce strength grader failure \u00a0rates \u00a0although \u00a0the \u00a0economics \u00a0of \u00a0this \u00a0would \u00a0depend \u00a0on \u00a0market \u00a0values \u00a0and \u00a0production
\ncosts.
\nSpeaking \u00a0from his home in Australia, Greg said, \u00a0\u201cI \u00a0thank \u00a0the Trust and Scottish Woodlands \u00a0for this recognition and I am extremely happy to have been able to contribute to this important area of research.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0I would also like \u00a0to \u00a0thank \u00a0James \u00a0Jones and Sons \u00a0for donating so many logs which were \u00a0essential \u00a0for \u00a0the \u00a0success \u00a0of \u00a0the \u00a0project. The \u00a0thesis \u00a0aims \u00a0to \u00a0show \u00a0the \u00a0effects \u00a0of \u00a0various sorting options with acoustic tools for trees and logs and tries to offer some practical processing alternatives \u00a0to improve \u00a0quality and productivity. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I am \u00a0really delighted \u00a0that \u00a0the work has \u00a0been recognised.\u201d
\nCourse supervisor Dan Ridley-Ellis of the Forest Products Research Institute, Napier University, Edinburgh \u00a0said \u00a0\u201cOn \u00a0behalf \u00a0of \u00a0all \u00a0of \u00a0Greg\u2019s postgraduate \u00a0advisers \u00a0I \u00a0am \u00a0delighted \u00a0that \u00a0his innovative applied \u00a0research has won \u00a0him the Scottish Woodlands Student Excellence award as well as a PhD.\u00a0 Greg\u2019s work has provided us with valuable new insights into the efficacy of the use of acoustic tools and has shed light on the problem of why sometimes these standing tree tools
\nwork well and sometimes they do not.\u201d
\nCommenting \u00a0on \u00a0the \u00a0latest \u00a0award, Guy Watt, \u00a0the \u00a0Chairman \u00a0of \u00a0The \u00a0Scottish \u00a0Forestry \u00a0Trust \u00a0said,\u00a0\u201cTrustees \u00a0were \u00a0particularly \u00a0impressed \u00a0by \u00a0the \u00a0quality \u00a0of \u00a0the final \u00a0thesis \u00a0and \u00a0by \u00a0the \u00a0practical relevance of the findings. The quality of British spruce coming to the market both now and in the future is an area of concern \u00a0to \u00a0the \u00a0forest industry and Greg\u2019s work has helped \u00a0to identify some practical opportunities and has pointed out areas for future research needs.\u201d
\nPresenting \u00a0the award \u00a0to Greg, Colin Mann, Managing Director \u00a0of Scottish Woodlands \u00a0Ltd and a Trustee of The Scottish Forestry Trust, said \u201cI am delighted to present Greg with this award and\u00a0wish \u00a0him every \u00a0success in \u00a0his \u00a0future \u00a0career. Not \u00a0only is it important \u00a0to \u00a0recognise achievement through excellence but it is also important to support graduates as they start off on their career path in the forestry sector.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"