Rotorua is home to New Zealand’s forestry research institute, Scion. Forestry research has been carried out on the site since 1947, with the Forest Research Institute as it was previously known becoming an internationally recognised leader in plantation forestry science.
Today at Scion, teams of scientists research areas such as sustainable forest management, biosecurity, wood processing technologies, wood-based bioenergy to replace fossil fuels, and environmental technologies such as the re-use of waste products.
If you were a scientist at Scion, you might be involved in projects such as:
- a tree-breeding programme to find suitable species to diversify plantation forests,
- investigating how information technology can support forestry planning and management
- researching how soil affects the health of forests
- looking at ways to increase the use of timber in construction
- identifying risks and trends that threaten Aotearoa’s biosecurity
- testing and developing new bioplastic products for industry.
Do you think you’d like to be a forest scientist?
