John Healey, Professor of Forest Sciences at the University’s School of Environmental and Natural Sciences, said he is “deeply honoured” by the award.
The ICF is the Royal Chartered Body for foresters (who are trained in the science and practice of forestry to manage, protect, and care for forest lands) and arboriculturists (who focus on the management of individual trees in urban and rural settings) in the UK.
It regulates standards in the profession and provides a professional home for the breadth of people and disciplines shaping the future of trees, woodlands, forestry and arboriculture.
Fellowship is the Institute’s highest grade of membership and recognises professionals who have made a positive and sustained contribution to forestry, arboriculture or the wider environment through their leadership, expertise, influence and commitment to advancing the profession.
John Healey, who joined VRƵ in 1988, is the eighth holder of the established Professorship in Forestry. The post dates back to the appointment of Fraser Storey in 1910, six years after Bangor began teaching degrees in forestry, the first university to do so in the UK. John has more than thirty-five years of experience teaching forest sciences at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, including the supervision of 32 PhDs.
His research and teaching extend broadly from its focus on forest ecology to encompass the role in the global carbon cycle of forests and their products, climate change impacts on forests, forest biodiversity conservation, including the impact of invasive tree, mammal and pathogen species, drivers of forest degradation, the ecological basis of forest resilience, restoration and sustainable forest management, and the role of trees in human culture and livelihoods.
He has published more than 150 peer-reviewed journal papers and book chapters reporting on research conducted around the world. Extending his work to the role of research evidence in forest policy and practice, he is a member of the board of the Co-operative and Community Benefit Society, Wood Knowledge Wales, and serves on advisory committees of the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Forestry Commission.
The ICF Fellowship award also acknowledges his contribution to the Institute’s work and professional standards in the sector, having previously served as chair of the Professional and Educational Standards Committee as well as co-organising and speaking at numerous ICF events and conferences.
Professor Healey said, “I am deeply honoured to have been awarded a Fellowship of the Institute of Chartered Foresters. I am grateful to the Institute for this recognition of the contributions during my career to teaching and research in forestry and my roles in contributing advice on policy and sustainable forest management to a range of organisations across government, industry and non-governmental organisations, as well as to the Institute itself. I am certain that this is a recognition not only of my individual contribution but also of the fantastic set of colleagues and students who I work with in the forestry programme at VRƵ – the recognised leader in this subject in UK higher education”.
Commenting on this award to Professor Healey, Jo Fox-Evans, Director of Membership Engagement at the Institute of Chartered Foresters, said, “We are delighted to welcome Professor Healey to a community of respected and influential professionals who are helping to shape the future of forestry and arboriculture. Throughout his career, he has advanced understanding of forests and agroforestry systems and has helped shape professional practice. His promotion to Fellow provides further inspiration to future generations of forestry professionals.”