Gottstein Wood Science Course

THE GOTTSTEIN Wood Science Course “Understanding Wood” has been a feature of the forestry and wood products training space for over 20 years. The week-long course is normally held every second year and is aimed at new employees in the forest and wood products sector to give them some better understanding of the fantastic medium that is wood.
Wood, being a natural, biological material, has inherent variability, adaptability and beauty. “Understanding wood” with all of its vagaries, and making the most of this medium, is the aim of most forest and wood product companies. The Gottstein Wood Science Course will help employees to understand why wood behaves the way it does.
The course is based in Melbourne and is hosted by the University of Melbourne and by CSIRO. The course covers the spectrum from wood anatomy, sawing, drying, preservation, wood fibre composites, timber service life, pulp, paper and biorefineries, wood residues, carbon trading and wood use worldwide. It involves four days of lectures, lab work and round table discussions and includes a field trip to Gippsland to view hardwood and softwood sawmills, a preservation and pallet making operation and some forest operations.
Guest lecturers are drawn from the industry to ensure the latest information is available, and to include current operations and practices in Australia. After-dinner speakers at the two-course dinners also provide commentary into the state of play of the wood products industry and interaction between course participants has always been nominated as a highlight of the course.
The next Gottstein Wood Science Course will be held in February 2011. For the first time the 2011 course will include sessions on production forestry and marketing timber and wood products. Participant numbers are limited, and the course generally fills up fast. For further information please go to gottsteintrust.org or contact Silvia Pongracic, Course Director, on 0418 764 954.