Adam Taylor is a Professor and the Forest Products Extension Specialist in the School of Natural Resources at the University of Tennessee. His responsibility is to assist the wood products industry in Tennessee through information transfer and applied research. Dr. Taylor is based at the Center for Renewable Carbon in Knoxville.
An interest in the outdoors and work experience in commercial forestry operations led Dr. Taylor to pursue an education in Forestry. He earned a B.Sc.F, with a Wood Science emphasis, from the University of Toronto in 1996. He continued to explore his interest in wood quality while completing a Masters degree at the University of New Brunswick. The M.Sc.F. thesis examined the scientific basis of the ancient practice of girdling trees prior to using the wood for log building. After graduation in 1999, Taylor worked at the Wood Science & Technology Centre in New Brunswick. In his position as a Research Officer, he helped solve problems in the wood products industry in eastern Canada. He then moved to the west coast of the United States to join the Department of Wood Science & Engineering at Oregon State University. Dr. Taylor completed his PhD in 2004, with a dissertation that investigated the effect of environment on the natural durability of the wood of Douglas-fir and Western redcedar.
Although Dr. Taylor’s education and work experience has emphasized wood quality, wood deterioration and wood protection, he considers himself to be a wood generalist.
