Markku Kanninen has been honored for his outstanding scientific achievements by the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters. Membership of the Academy is granted by invitation only to meritorious Finnish scholars and is restricted to 328 persons under the age of 65 years, 189 in the area of science and 139 in humanities. The award is a fitting honor for Markku, who has over 25 years of experience in forests, research and development. His areas of specialization include forest ecology, silviculture, forest management, and global change. Markku has served on numerous national and international environmental boards, with the past ten years seeing him join a number of international committees dealing with forests and climate change. Markku has over 200 publications to his credit and holds a Doctorate in Science (Forestry) from the University of Helsinki. Everyone at CIFOR extends his and her heartiest congratulations to Markku and are honored to have his esteemed presence as a part of CIFOR’s Management Group.

Former Vice-Chair of CIFOR Board of Trustees, Professor Don Koo Lee was recently elected as President of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO). This is yet another honour in what has already been an outstanding career and life dedicated to forestry. Earlier this year Professor Lee was awarded the rare tribute of being appointed as a Foreign Fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry. Trained as a silviculturist and forest biometrician, Professor Lee has worked for more than 25 years in a range of areas, including the biomass production of fast-growing woody plant, plantation forestry, natural regeneration of trees and its relation to silvicultural systems, and the restoration of degraded ecosystems in temperate regions. The Professor’s other awards include the Korean Forestry Society’s Science Award, a Certificate of Appreciation from the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations and the Soho Culture Foundation’s Scientific Achievement Award.