Forest Bioeconomy and Climate Change

Lauri Hetemäki is a Professor of Practice at the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Helsinki and a Senior Researcher at the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance, European Forest Institute (EFI). He has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Helsinki. Previously, he has worked as the Assistant Director of EFI; Professor in Forest Sector Foresight at the University of Eastern Finland; and as a Senior Scientist at the Finnish Forest Research Institute. He has extensive experience in science-policy work, e.g. in supporting the work of the European Parliament, European Commission and Finnish Government and Parliament, as well as coordinating pan-European science-policy studies. He is an author of over 250 scientific and popular publications. Hetemäki is a Fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry. 

Jyrki Kangas is a Professor of Forest Bioeconomy at the University of Eastern Finland, and Director of the Forest-Human-Machine Interplay (UNITE) Flagship of Science. He has a Ph.D. in Forest Sciences from the University of Joensuu. He was the Director General of Metsähallitus (2006-2014), Director of Forestry at UPM (2003-2006) and CEO of UPM’s real estate daughter company Bonvesta (2005-2006), and a Professor of Forest Planning and a Research Station Head at Finnish Forest Research Institute (1994-2003). He is an author of over 300 scientific and popular publications. Kangas has been awarded the Scientific Achievement Award by IUFRO. His positions of trust have included Vice-President of EUSTAFOR, Chair of Koli Forum and Chair of the Foundation for European Forest Research, among others. Currently, he is a member of the Board of Directors of Business Joensuu Ltd and of A. Ahlström Real Estate Ltd. Kangas was FORBIO’s Vice-PI and Interaction Coordinator.

Heli Peltola is a Professor of Silvicultural Sciences at the Faculty of Science and Forestry, University of Eastern Finland. She has a Ph.D. in Silvicultural Sciences from the University of Joensuu. Previously, she was a member of the Research Council for Biosciences Health and the Environment (BTY 2019-2021). Currently, she is a member of the Finnish Climate Change Panel (2020-2023). She has extensive experience in leadership of research projects, including the SRC FORBIO project in 2015-2021. She is an author of over 200 scientific peer-review publications. Peltola was awarded with the decoration Knight First Class of the Order of the White Rose of Finland by the President of the Republic of Finland in 2020, and with the Carola and Carl-Olof Ternryd's award by the Linnaeus Academy's Research Foundation in 2020.