Adam Faircloth
Timber Queensland has announced the recipients of its Growth Scholarship Awards Program for 2022-23. Timber Queensland’s Strategic Relations Manager Clarissa Brandt said the inaugural program invited early and mid-career professionals and skilled workers to submit details of a proposed learning project that would enhance their career and benefit local industry. Source: Timberbiz
“To have a timber engineer, an operations and production worker, a forester and a forest scientist receive awards met one of the goals that Timber Queensland and Michael Kennedy, CEO of Scholarship Foundation Partner Kennedy’s Timber, put in place for the Awards,” she said.
“We strongly encouraged people working in forestry and wood processing and manufacturing operations to apply and advance their careers, just as we encouraged those in forest science and technical development to make an application.”
The recipients of the 2022 – 2023 Awards are:
- $10,000 Kennedy’s Timber Award Adam Faircloth Learning Project “Vibroacoustic Study Tour”
- $5000 AKD Award Chandan Kumar Learning Project “Understanding silvicultural and environmental factors affecting density and stiffness of Queensland’s Southern Pine Plantations”
- $5000 HQPlantations Award Brendan Foster Learning Project “Refocusing the future of Queensland’s forests”
- $2500 DTM Timber Award Darcy Oborne Learning Project “Certificate IV in Human Resources”
Recipient of the Kennedy’s Timber Award Adam Faircloth, a research engineer at the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, said he is excited with the outcome and already planning to implement his learning project.
“The aim of my study tour across Australia and New Zealand is to gain an insight into perceived challenges, R&D opportunities and current achievements in the field of vibroacoustic assessment and bring what knowledge I find back to Queensland,” Mr Faircloth said.
Michael Kennedy, CEO, Kennedy’s Timber said he was impressed with Mr Faircloth’s topic and his decision to submit an idea for a learning project.
“I’m pleased to support individual ambition which will enhance the future of Queensland’s forest and timber industry,” he said.
“This year’s awards are the first step in our long-term commitment to work with Timber Queensland to help expand the depth of local knowledge and expertise and develop people who are committed to our sustainable industry.”
AKD Award recipient Dr Chandan Kumar will be seconded at HQPlantations Toolara forest to work with researchers from HQPlantations and the University of the Sunshine Coast.
Chandan Kumar
“My learning project will allow me to work with industry professionals and learn more about forest management and silvicultural operations of pine plantations in-situ with an aim to improve the quality and value of wood that we can get from these resources,” Dr Kumar said.
“My ultimate goal is to become a world-renowned scientist and a leader and expert through my industry-relevant research, publications, skills and collaboration. I would like to provide innovative and sustainable solutions to timber users, growers, and processors to promote the use of timber, optimise processing and the growing of timber to maximise profit and environmental benefits,” he said.
Brendan Foster, a forester based in Jimna, has received the HQPlantations Award and hopes to seek inspiration from a study tour to Finland and Sweden.
Brendan Foster
“In a practical sense I would like to see what is being done on the ground at the moment in terms of cutting-edge silviculture mechanization, and improvements to harvest and extraction,” he said.
“This opportunity provides an avenue to gain more international insights into how forestry is carried out around the world. This will be of assistance to my employer HQPlantations, and potentially other Queensland foresters as we strive for more efficient operations as part of our culture of innovation.”
Long-term AKD employee Darcy Oborne has been working in operations and production roles throughout his career.
Darcy Oborne
“Recently with the support of AKD and my manager, I’ve started to move my interest into human resources, recruitment and training,” Mr Oborne said.
The DTM Timber Award will support Mr Oborne, who told the selection committee he is passionate about building a sustainable workforce, developing others and creating a culture where people can thrive and stay engaged in the work that they do. He will use his award to undertake a Certificate IV in Human Resources.
Ms Brandt said designing and facilitating the Growth Scholarship program has been a rewarding experience.
“We are very pleased with the success of our inaugural year with the scholarship program. It would not have been possible without our foundation partner Kennedy’s Timber, Diamond partners AKD and HQPlantations and our Ruby partner DTM Timber. We would like to thank all our partners for their gracious support of the annual program,” she said.
“We would also like to thank all of the applicants for the awards and encourage them to continue their desire for ongoing learning and development, as well as the industry stakeholders who assisted with the selection process.
“Importantly, these awards are intended to provide a broad range of learning experiences and we will be emphasising this flexibility to future applicants.
“Overall, we are pleased to be investing in the future of our industry by promoting learning experiences and promoting the development of passionate people committed to the forest and timber industry in Queensland.”
