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Philip W. West - CURRICULUM VITAE
Name: Philip Wallace WEST
Date of
Birth: 8th March 1948
Address: SciWest
Consulting,
Phone: (02)
6624 3966 International + 61 2 6624
3966 Fax: (02) 6625 1893 International
+ 61 2 6625 1893
Email : pwest@nor.com.au
Qualifications:
BSc
(Forestry) Hons (Australian National University,
1969), PhD (ANU, 1976)
Employment
History:
1997- Principal,
SciWest Consulting, Forestry Consultants
Adjunct Professor and
lecturer in forestry, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW
1995-97 Director,
Cooperative Research Centre for the Sustainable Development of Tropical
Savannas
1977- 94 CSIRO
Division of Forestry and Forest Products: Research Scientist, Senior Research
Scientist and Principal Research Scientist
1976 Research
Assistant, Dept. of Theoretical Physics, ANU
1973-76 PhD
studies
1970-73 Forester,
Woods & Forests Dept.,
Professional
Experience :
Following graduation as a forester in
1969, I was employed by the Woods and Forests Department, SA working in their Pinus radiata plantations in south-east SA. I
worked mainly in their research branch dealing with nutrition and establishment
practices.
In 1973 I returned to University to
undertake a PhD, studying physiological aspects of micronutrient nutrition of Pinus radiata.
From 1977-94 I was been employed as a
Research Scientist by the Division of Forestry and Forest Products of the
CSIRO. My research dealt mainly with growth processes in forests and their
representation in mathematical models for sustainable wood yield prediction.
This work dealt with both empirical and process-based models. Empirical yield
prediction models I have developed or expanded include a single-tree yield
prediction model for regrowth eucalypt forest in
Tasmania, a mixed single-tree/stand based model for regrowth
eucalypt forest in Victoria and another for
Pinus radiata in the ACT and stand based yield
models for forests of six eucalypt species covering several Australian states.
My work with process-based models has
included study of ecological relationships and competitive processes in forests
leading to model developments in light interception by forests, biomass
partitioning between tree parts, prediction of tree stem shape, assessment of
site suitability for eucalypt plantations and prediction of tree growth
following thinning.
Through this research I have a detailed
understanding of modern approaches to forest management. I have worked with a
diverse range of Australian forest types including the tropical rainforests of
North Queensland, Pinus radiata and eucalypt plantations, high
yield eucalypt regrowth forests and complex,
irregular native eucalypt forests. I am an experienced data analyst, user of
mathematical statistics and computer programmer.
During the 1990s, I undertook various
administrative and management tasks. From 1992-94 I was the Officer-in-Charge
of the CSIRO Division of Forestry laboratories in
In 1994 I was appointed the Director of
the CRC for the Sustainable Development of Tropical Savannas and took up the
appointment, on secondment from CSIRO, in
I left the CRC and CSIRO in 1997 to
conduct business as a forestry consultant, working from northern NSW. Major
jobs undertaken have included
l Development of the yield prediction and strategic management systems for
the large, hardwood plantation estate establishing by Forests NSW in the north
of the state. This include work on growth modelling, thinning and pruning practice, site assessment,
water use, carbon yields, bioenergy production,
economic values and long-term wood yield scheduling,
l Determination of the sustainable yield of firewood supply from the
l Estimation of carbon sequestration by forest plantations and other
vegetation types, including the development of allometric
relations to predict carbon contents of vegetation and inventory techniques for
broad-scale assessment.
l Assessment
and further development of a native forests growth and yield model for the
native forests of
Titles of reports on these and many
smaller consultancy task are included in my publication list:
I have been appointed as an Adjunct
Professor of Southern Cross University and teach part-time in their
I am the author of two monographs, Tree and Forest Measurement, a text on forest measurement
and Growing Plantation Forests, a text on the science
of plantation forestry, both published by Springer, Berlin.