Aussie Alum Returns to the Pacific Northwest

WFI Alumnus John Turland is now living in Olympia, Washington where he works for Washington’s Department of Natural Resources as a Senior Forest Management Analyst.

John completed a 12 month WFI fellowship in 2007 where he undertook a study on North American forest modeling software and approaches and the potential applicability to Australian native forest management.

John’s decision to move to the USA to work was the result of career advancement opportunities coupled with the outdoors lifestyle that was too hard to resist. He has spent much of his recreation time fishing for salmon, hiking, snow shoeing and a little skiing as well. “The mountains, rivers, winter snow and lush forest scenery of the PNW more than compensate for beautiful Sydney beaches and weather – for now anyway,” says John.

In his current position, John is involved is growth and yield modeling, formulating forest management planning models and determining strategic sustainable timber supply forecasts that balance economic, social and environmental management objectives on state trust lands. “Learning about silvics of forest trees in the Pacific Northwest, management policies, regulations and using imperial measurement units have all been reasonably steep learning curves,” explained John. “But the foundations provided with the WFI Fellowship training combined with the plethora of knowledge and literature provided by DNR staff have facilitated the transition into the US forest industry.”