Forest Research

We have recently developed a Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Network, and now have 21 trained Mental Health First Aiders spread across the UK.

To mark the centenary of the Forestry Commission, “British Forests: The Forestry Commission 1919-2019” was published this summer. Research features prominently in the story of the Commission and contributors to...

Nicol Sinclair has been announced as the new Head of IFOS from 1st July 2019. He will be taking over from Peter Weston, who is retiring after a long and...

Research carried out by the University of Southampton and Forest Research is helping to tackle one of the biggest sustainability challenges – looking after and nurturing the natural resources in...

Steve Lee, who has recently retired from Forest Research, has been awarded an OBE for his expertise in tree breeding in the UK.

Professor Chris Quine has been appointed as the new Chief Scientist for Forest Research (FR), Great Britain’s principal organisation for forestry and tree-related research. The post of Chief Scientist oversees...

Over the next two years, social scientists at Forest Research are working with Kew’s Learning and Participation staff and programme participants to co-design and carry out an evaluation of the Temperate House Activity Plan.

Pioneering tree health partnership to continue thanks to funding boost

In August, Dr Joan Webber spoke at a symposium held to celebrate the life and career of Johanna Westerdijk. Johanna led the team of female mycologists who discovered the cause of the first epidemic of Dutch Elm Disease a fungus called Ophiostoma ulmi and also revealed much of the biology of this damaging pathogen and pioneered the first breeding programme to produce disease resistant elms. Johanna was a truly remarkable woman not only for these achievements but also for her efforts to inspire and empower female mycologists in the early part of the 20th Century.

The world-leading role that UK research is playing in the fight against tree and plant pests was demonstrated to Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey recently during a visit to Forest Research in Edinburgh