New Head of IFOS is Announced

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

In accepting his new role Nicol said: “ This is an important time for Forest Research as both the demands from and threats to our forests have never been greater.  I am excited to join Forest Research as Head of IFOS at such a pivotal time and look forward to working with the team, customers and stakeholders to continue to develop our management platforms, data offer and highlight the benefits of forestry”.

Nicol is a member of Institute of Chartered Foresters and has worked in the Forestry Commission since 1990. He started his career in Llandovery where he was involved with pioneering techniques to manage the prolific natural regeneration of Sitka spruce in Glasfynydd Forest.  He subsequently worked in Forest Enterprise Scotland (FES) in a number of roles, from harvesting and planning duties in Newton Stewart to Planning & Production in his native Argyll and FES Planning Manager in Inverness.  During his time in Argyll he led on  establishing the first Forestry Apprenticeship Scheme in Scotland and was part of a team rethinking timber transport through the Argyll Timber Transport Group.

Nicol helped introduce the first National Strategic Plan to articulate more effectively and transparently what was happening over time to the forests and woodlands on the National Forest Estate.  As part of this work, he worked very closely with the IFOS team and helped initiate a multi-year road map to develop Forester, the FC’s Geographic Information System.  After a brief spell as Head of Planning and Policy in Wales, Nicol took up the role of Head of Service Development in Central Services working with the devolved administrations to establish their new arrangements for forestry.

Nicol is married with three children and away from work enjoys mountain biking, hiking and playing the guitar.