martin novak

President of SFFA, Farm Forestry Consultant (Australia/Asia), Farmer

Martin has had 35 years of experience in farming and farm forestry. For the past 25 years he has also worked as an educator and consultant in these fields, in Australia and Asia. At present he is the president of the SFFA. In this role, he has been instrumental in managing and administrating a number of farm forestry projects funded by the Federal Government. He also owns and manages a macadamia and timber plantation family property.

See Martin's full CV here.

carol neal

Director Forest Management Services Qld P/L, President STG, President Australian Forest Growers southeast Queensland, Director Australian Forest Growers Australia, Farmer

Carol has a Bachelor of Environmental Management majoring in Tropical Forestry with Honours Class 1. She is Director of her consultancy, Forest Management Services Queensland P/L., established in 2008 with a view to improving forest management practices and marketing strategies with growers of mixed rainforest cabinet timber plantations.

Carol has extensive experience in wholesale and retail advertising, marketing and sales. She uses those skills to promote and market timber on behalf of growers into today’s markets. 

See Carol's full CV here.

darryl collins

Owner and Operator Arakai Estate, Prize-winning Artisan Tea Maker, Farmer

Darryl has a long history in the timber industry, owning and operating Advance Timbers on the Sunshine Coast for 30 years. The business grew from dressing timber in the home shed to having a large timber yard in Kunda Park with full machine shop.

Darryl purchased their 140-acre property, Arakai Estate, at Bellthorpe in the Conondale Ranges, southeast Queensland (SEQ). in 1998 with the idea of developing a mixed rainforest species farm forestry plantation. The Collins’ were winners of the Australian Forest Grower (AFG) Tree Farmer of the Year award for Queensland in 2012, hosted numerous Field Days, and the International Union of Forest Research Organisations (IUFRO) Conference Field tour in 2015. 

See Darryl's enterprises here.

alison dillon

Sales and Marketing, Account Manager, Scientific Researcher

Alison's interest in forestry led her to undertake a Bachelor of Forest Science and Management at Southern Cross University in Lismore, NSW.

During this time she worked as a Restoration Forester for the Biodiversity Connections project, revegetating degraded agricultural land in SEQ and northern NSW with mixed species plantings. She also carried out various forest mensuration and assessment projects in private plantations.

Alison currently works as a Forester for HQPlantations, the largest plantation management company in Queensland. In this role she plans, coordinates and supervises forest management activities from planting through to harvesting. 

Dr Graeme Palmer

Senior Lecturer, Southern Cross University (SCU) School of Environment Science and Engineering, Doctor of Environmental Science

Graeme is a senior lecturer for the Bachelors Degree of Forest Science offered at SCU; post graduate supervision and research collaborations in the fields of bioenergy, planted wood quality and planted hardwoods utilisation.

In 2008, he has completed a PhD project in rendering virtual logs for simulated sawing. Through his consulting business (BIL Technologies) he has provided services widely through Australia, New Zealand and Fiji including advice on drying technology and magnet of forest resources.

Graeme has presented his work in highly regarded research fora such the International Union of Forest Research Organisations conferences, Australia Forest Growers, Australian Forest Products conferences. Graeme's career has included:

• Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Forestry (QDPIF) 1989 - 2000 - wood drying technology (hardwoods and softwoods)
• Secretary of Australasian Timber Drying group
• Program Leader, Wood products at QDPIF, 1996 

See Graeme's full CV here.

dr Kevin Glencross

Southern Cross University Forest Research Centre

Kevin has been actively involved in farm forestry and the replanting of forest ecosystems for over 20 years, with particular interest in high value timber plantations. Kevin has planted about 5000 cabinet timber trees on his own farm near Kyogle since 1994. He has worked as a carpenter prior to entering PhD research in 2002 on high value timber production.

Kevin is currently involved in Southern Cross University based research programs in Australia, China and the Pacific region specialising in forestry, agroforestry, sustainable agriculture, natural resource management, carbon sequestration and restoration of complex ecosystems on degraded land.

Kevin is actively involved in managing, designing and supervising research activities in a range of farms in the subtropics, as well as, ecosystem restoration projects for community based groups and Government agencies.

See Kevin's research and publications here.