Timber iQ August - September 2019 // Issue:45 | Page 46

WOOD WISE
A focus on how eucalyptus
trees grow
Wood has been essential to mankind for thousands of years; for
building, as fuel, for making tools, and for a myriad of other purposes.
Contributed by the Faculty of AgriSciences, Stellenbosch University
I
Department of Wood and Forestry Sciences at
Stellenbosch University, EucXylo is funded by the Hans
Merensky Foundation.
The contract formalising the ten-year initiative was signed
in May 2019 by Dr Khotso Mokhele, president of the board of
trustees of the Hans Merensky Foundation, and Prof Eugene
Cloete, vice-rector: research, innovation and postgraduate
studies at Stellenbosch University (SU).
The lead researcher is Dr David Drew, Senior Lecturer in
the SU Department of Forest and Wood Science (DFWS).
n recent times, its usefulness has changed. It is also
used for things like the production of purified
cellulose and its derivatives, such as cellophane. But
how do trees form wood? More specifically, how do
Eucalyptus or gum trees form their wood as they grow and
mature under different circumstances and conditions?
Such questions will be answered through research to
be conducted through the newly established Hans
Merensky Research Chair in Advanced Modelling of
Eucalyptus Wood Formation (EucXylo). Based in the
Seated, from left, Dr Khotso Mokhele from the Hans Merensky Foundation, and Professor Eugene Cloete from Stellenbosch University
shake hands, with members from both institutions looking on.
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AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2019 //
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