Adam Taylor
Assistant Professor and Forest Products Extension Specialist

Dr. Taylor’s responsibility is to assist the wood products industry in Tennessee through information transfer and applied research. He has been with the Tennessee Forest Products Center since November of 2004.

An interest in the outdoors and work experience in commercial forestry operations led him to pursue an education in Forestry. He earned a B.Sc.F, with a Wood Science emphasis, from the University of Toronto in 1996. Dr. Taylor 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, he 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. Dr. Taylor then moved to the west coast of the United States to join the Department of Wood Science & Engineering at Oregon State University. He 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 his education and work experience has emphasized wood quality, wood deterioration and wood protection, Dr. Taylor considers himself to be a wood generalist. He is also very much interested in the impact of human activities on our environment. He believes that “wood is good’ and that wood products have superior environmental-impact properties compared with other materials.

Dr. Taylor also enjoys cycling, hiking and canoeing with his family, brewing beer, and working on his house.