Prof. Dr. Peter Niemz, Institut f. Baustoffe (IfB), Zuerich, Switzerland
https://archiv.ifb.ethz.ch/wood/people/staff/niemzp/
e-mail niemzp@ethz.ch
Career
Peter Niemz was director of the Laboratory for Wood Physics and Non-Destructive Testing Methods at ETH Zürich from 1996 to 2002. He was awarded the title of Professor in 2002, and since then he is head of the Wood Physics Group, which moved from ETH Zentrum to ETH Hönggerberg in 2004.
The main focus of his work is on studying physical-mechanical characteristics of wood and timber materials as well as their structure-property relationships, and also on modeling them. An overview of his publications and talks can be found here. For his research efforts in nondestructive testing, he was awarded the Nondestructive Testing and Evaluation of Wood Distinguished Service Award by the International Organizing Committee for the Nondestructive Testing and Evaluation of Wood Symposium (at the conference 2009).
He gives lectures in wood technology and timber materials. Since 2002 he is member of the IAWS (International Academy of Wood Science), and since 2010 a member of the RCCWS (Regional Coordinating Council of Wood Science). He also is in the editorial or advisory board of diverse scientific journals: Holzforschung (Walter de Gruyter/Germany), European Journal of Wood and Wood Products (Springer/Germany), Wood Research (SDVU/Slovakia), Holzforschung Schweiz (SAH/Switzerland), Schweizer Holz-Zeitung (Schweizer Holz-Zeitung GmbH, Switzerland), Holztechnologie (IHD Dresden/Germany), El Bosque (Faculty of Forest Sciences at the Universidad Austral de Chile), Folia Forestalia Polonica (Polish Academy of Sciences/Poland), Acta Fakultatis Xylologiae (Technical University in Zvolen, Slovakia), Pro Ligno ("Pro Ligno" Foundation, Rumänien) and International Journal of Natural Resources and Marine Sciences (Tarbiat Modares University, Iran).
Takayoshi KOIKE, Dr. Professor emeritus of Hokkaido University
c/o Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8589, Japan
e-mail: tkoike@agr.hokudai.ac.jp
Research gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Takayoshi-Koike-2 and https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Takayoshi-Koike-3
Carrer
Takayoshi Koike served as a research staff member at the Forestry Agency (Forestry & Forest Products Research Institute) of Japan from 1981 to 1994. During this period, he earned his doctorate in 1987 and was immediately appointed as a postdoctoral fellow at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (~1989). In 1990, he was selected as a short-term researcher by the National Science Foundation, USA. From 1994 to 1998, he was an Associate Professor at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. From 1998 to 2019, he served as Professor of Silviculture and Forest Ecology at Hokkaido University (established 1876), Japan's oldest agricultural school. During this period, he served as Director of the Hokkaido University Experimental Forest Management Department and as a member of the committee establishing the Northern Biosphere Field Science Centre, handling negotiations with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). From 2016 to 2024, he was a part-time lecturer in Landscape Management, focusing on forest aesthetics, at Shimane University. He served as Vice President of the Forestry Society of Japan from 2009 to 2011.
His research has focused on the physiological ecology of biotic and abiotic stress responses affecting photosynthetic production in trees and forests. Including co-authored works, he has published approximately 320 papers, edited 7 textbooks, and contributed to 35 volumes. Since 2004, he has also engaged in translation and research on forest aesthetics. For these achievements, he received the Academic Award from the Forestry Society of Japan and the Association Award from the Japan Forest Technology Association in 2006. Furthermore, in 2017, he received the Education Award in the “Forests and Health” category from the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO). In 2018, he received the Academic Award from the Japan Root Research Association.
The lectures have covered forest conservation science with IPM in mind, silviculture and forest ecology aimed at ecosystem conservation, and forest aesthetics based on these foundations. Since 1985, as an IUFRO member, I have been active in Canopy Processes, Alpine Research, and Forest & Health. He also serves on the editorial boards of the following academic journals: Trees-structure and function (Springer/Germany), Journal of Plant Research (Springer/Germany), Journal of Forest Research (Taylor & Francis/London, UK), Forest Resources and Environment (Japan), Eurasian Journal of Forest Research (China/Japan), and Journal of Forest and Environmental Science (JFES: Korea).