photographist

“How can trees stand upright?” I have always followed this research question. I began to be interested in during my PhD in the context of forest and wood research in French Guiana. I joined the French Ministry of Agriculture after studying in “Ecole Polytechnique” because I wanted to serve the State, and by chance I came across wood sciences, the beginning of a great adventure. How can trees stand upright? Why don’t they fall down? Because they are living bodies, because wood grows slowly under bark, because the whole organism can control itself – for example a tree subjected to wind stops its growth in height to make itself stronger, developing roots. If the trunk begins to lean, the tree can perceive the disequilibrium and create systems to right itself. That is what allows trees to reach great heights from a small wooden pole.

“Research of forest and timber resources” That is the name of the lab I am leading in Nancy, the Institute lab which is providing higher education to forestry students, from ecology to wooden material. In this lab, wood physicists and tree ecologists are associated. The first appeal of research is creativity; the second is to work with people – and not only with lab equipment - on common projects. Forest management is not simple in a centralised State, with a huge diversity of forest owners (75% of French forests are private). French forests are unbelievably diverse, firstly because France is located at the crossroads of several climate zone. Time of forestry management is long, especially in hardwoods forests, whereas the timber market change every 2/3 years with a high degree of dependence between the different actors of the forest-wood chain. Oak is the emblematic species of the French forest, with secular use for making barrels.”

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