2024

2023

The 10th IAWA-China Group Annual Meeting in Nanjing, Nov. 10th-12th, 2023, China

The 10th IAWA (International Association of Wood Anatomists) – China Group Annual Meeting was held on November 10th -12th, 2023, sponsored by IAWA – China Group


IAWA Wood Identification Symposium of IUFRO Division 5 Conference in Cairns, Australia on June 4th - 8th, 2023

The next –All-Division Conference of IUFRO Division 5 - Forest Products will be held in tropical Cairns, Australia on June 4th - 8th, 2023. The IAWA-IUFRO Symposium titled “S21 Promoting Data-driven Methods for Species and Origin Identification of Forest Products” can be found at www.iufro-div5-2023.com/.


EGU co-hosted by IAWA will be on April 23th-28th,2023

BG3.3 - Trait-based approach to assess plant species vulnerability to environmental changes in agriculture, forestry and natural ecosystems will be presented at the EGU meeting co-hosted by IAWA.


IAWA co-sponsored 2023 World Wood Day Symposium and the Fifth IUFRO Forest Products Culture Colloquium, March 21st - 22nd, 2023

The Online 2023 WWD symposium and the Fifth IUFRO Forest Products Culture Colloquium co-sponsored by IAWA were held on March 21th-22nd. Please visit the web page http://www.worldwoodday.org/2023/symposium for more information.

2021

The 8th IAWA-China Group Annual Meeting and 2021 International Youth Forum for Wood Anatomy
The 8th IAWA-China Group Annual Meeting and 2021 International Youth Forum for Wood Anatomy, co-sponsored by IAWA and IAWA China Group will be held on November 12-14, 2021 (Registration on November 12th) in Chengdu, China.
 

Wood and Charcoals in Mediterranean Forest Ecology at Naples, Italy, June 21-25, 2021
High success for the International Summer School “Wood and charcoals in Mediterranean forest ecology: anatomical identification and functional traits to interpret past and current climate changes” held at the Department of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Naples Federico II at Portici (Naples, Italy) on 21-25 June 2021.  
 

Webinar on Identification of Endangered Tropical Wood Species
 

The 3rd IUFRO Acacia Conference in Sarawak, Malaysia, postponed to June 22-24, 2021
The 3rd IUFRO Acacia Conference, Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia will be postponed to a later date which is June 22-24, 2021.
 

2021 WWD Symposium and Third IUFRO Forest Products Culture Colloquium, themed CO2 & Wood, March, 21-22, Online
The 2021 World Wood Day Virtual Symposium and the Third IUFRO Forest Products Culture Colloquium, themed CO2 & Wood: Carbon Capture and Storage in Forests, Harvested Wood and Non-Wood Products will be held on March, 21-22, 2021.
 

EGU General Assembly 2021: Gather Online, April 19-30, 2021
EGU General Assembly 2021 will take place from April 19-30, 2021 fully virtually. IAWA members are co-organizing a session of “Forests under pressure: causes and consequences of climate-induced forest dieback across biomes” during this EGU meeting.
 

2020

The 7th IAWA-China Group Annual Meeting at Lin-an, China, November 28-29, 2020
The Seventh Annual Meeting of IAWA-China Group will be held in person at Lin-an city, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Provicnce of China on November 28-29, 2020.
 

IAWA Fossil Wood Symposium in Prague, Czech Republic, 12-19 September 2020
The IAWA Fossil Wood Symposium, dedicated to the memories of Prof. Dr. Herbert Süß (1920-2017) and Prof. Dr. Alfred Selmeier (1923-2018), will be postponed to May 1-7, 2021, organized during the XIth IOPC held conjunctly with the XVth International Palynological Congress.
 

EuroDendro 2020 Conference
The forthcoming EuroDendro 2020 Conference organized by the University of Latvia, will take place on August 31-September 4, 2020 in Riga, Latvia.
 

Sandalwood Workshop Online Held in Australia, August 5th, 2020
Sandalwood Workshop organized by the Advanced DNA, Identification and Forensic Facility (ADIFF), University of Adelaide
 

Positive Digital Initiatives in Plant Anatomy Triggered by the Current Global Pandemic
We are in special times, something only few of us could have predicted. But the sudden confinement, the impossibility of gathering in our institutional and societal meetings have also brought up new possibilities.
 

2019

AsianDendro 2019 in Lucknow, India, November 24-30, 2019
AsianDendro 2019 - The 6th Asian Dendrochronology Conference was held on November 24-30, 2019 in the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences in Lucknow, India.
 

14th Joint Seminar of China-Japan-Korea on Wood Quality and Utilization of Domestic Species, in Seoul, Republic of Korea, December 4-7, 2019
On December 4-7, 2019, the Fourteenth Joint Seminar of China-Japan-Korea on Wood Quality and Utilization of Domestic Species (14th CKJ Seminar) was held at Seoul
 

The 6th IAWA-China Group annual meeting at Hefei, China, November 23-24, 2019
The sixth Annual Meeting of IAWA-China Group has been successfully held at Anhui Agriculture University (AAU), Anhui province of China, on Nov. 23 and 24, 2019. More than 150 representatives from 35 related institutions and universities attended this annual meeting.
 

IAWA Symposium at the XXI Mexican Botanical Congress, October 20-25, 2019, Universidad de Aguascalientes, Mexico
The latest edition of the Mexican Botanical Congress took place at the peaceful city of Aguascalientes.
 

The 6th China Tree Ring Annual Conference, October 23-27, 2019, China
From October 23 to 27, 2019, the 6th China Tree Ring Annual Conference was held in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan province, China.
 

Wood Identification Session of IUFRO Congress in Curitiba, Brazil, September 30, 2019
XXV IUFRO World Congress 2019 "Forest Research and Cooperation for Sustainable Development" was held on September 29-October 5 in Curitiba, Brazil. More than 2,500 participants from 92 countries and regions around the world attended the congress.
 

IAWA-IUFRO International Symposium: Challenges and Opportunities for Updating Wood Identification, May 20-22, 2019, China
On May 20-22, 2019, the IAWA-IUFRO International Symposium on Challenges and Opportunities for Updating Wood Identification was held in China.
 

Annual Meeting of the Association of Tree Ring Research-TRACE 2019,7-11 May 2019,San Leucio,Italy
The Annual Meeting of the Association of tree ring research -TRACE 2019 - was held in San Leucio, Southern Italy from 7 to 11 of May 2019.
 

European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly 2019, 7-12 April, Vienna
The EGU General Assembly 2019, the largest geosciences meeting in Europe, was successfully convened on 7-12 April in Vienna (Austria). This year, EGU General Assembly hosted a session, co-organized also by IAWA members
 

Report from the World Wood Day Symposium 2019, Stuebing, Austria
The joint symposium of the World Wood Day Foundation, IAWA, IAWS and IUFRO from 21—23 March, 2019 in the Open Air Museum in Stuebing, Austria, was a great success.
 

Wood anatomy: an African perspective January 2019 at the University of Johannesburg South Africa
This symposium “Wood anatomy: an African perspective” was held on 7–10 January 2019 in Johannesburg, South Africa, at the annual Conference of the South African Association of Botanists (SAAB).
 

2018

61st SWST International Convention,November 5–9,2018,in Nagoya,Japan
The 61st Society of Wood Science and Technology (SWST) International Convention, in cooperation with the Japan Wood Research Society (JWRS) and Nagoya University
 

5th IAWA-China Group annual meeting in Fuzhou, China
The fifth IAWA-China Group Annual Meeting will be held at Fuzhou city, Fujian Province of China, 23 and 24 November, 2018, organized by the Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University.
 

The 18th International Course on Wood Anatomy of Tree Rings
The 18th International Course on Wood Anatomy of Tree Rings "Wood Anatomy and Tree-Ring Ecology 2018" will be held on November 26 to December 1, 2018, in Klosters Dorf, Switzerland.
 

IAWS/IAWA Meeting, October 15-19, 2018, Guadalajara, Mexico
The IAWS (International Academy of Wood Science)/IAWA (IAWA as an equal partner) meeting combined with an IAWS Plenary Meeting will take place in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
 

XII Latin American Congress of Botany – XII Congreso Latinoamericano de Botánica, October 15–21, Quito, Ecuador
The most prestigious meeting of Latin American botanists is programmed to take place in Quito, Ecuador, October 2018.
 

13th Joint Seminar of China-Korea-Japan on Wood Quality and Utilization, 2018, in Nanjing, China
The 13th Joint Seminar of China-Korea-Japan on Wood Quality and Utilization of Domestic Species will be held on October 25–27, 2018
 

Timber trade and the conservation of forests, Five years EUTR, October 8-9, 2018, Hamburg, Germany.
The international event "Timber trade and the conservation of forests" held on October 8-9, 2018 at the Thünen Institute in Hamburg highlights five years enactment of the European Timber Regulation (EUTR), and at the same time the 5th anniversary of the Thünen Centre of Competence on the Origin of Timber. The conference considered experiences to date in order to draw conclusions for successful further development.
 

IAWA Sessions of Fossil Woods at 10th EPPC, August 12-17, 2018, Dublin
IAWA staged two successful sessions on the anatomy of fossil woods at the 10th European Paleobotany & Palynology Conference (EPPC), held from 12-17 August 2018 at University College Dublin, Ireland.
 

Memorable IAWA-BSA Colloquium in Rochester, July 21-25 2018, USA
“Hundred Years of Baileyan trends - Wood Evolution, Function and Future” was the title of a full session of twelve talks discussing wood evolutionary research at the Botany 2018 Meeting in Rochester, Minnesota, from 21-25 July 2018.
 

5th Academic Symposium on Dendrochronology of China, January 18-21, 2018, Harbin
The 5th Academic Symposium on Dendrochronology of China focusing on Tree Rings, Forest Ecology -Climate and Environmental Changes was held in Harbin, China, on January 18-21st, 2018. It wasorganized by Northeast Forestry University, Institu
 

2017

12th Joint Seminar of China-Korea-Japan on Wood Quality and Utilization, December 18-20, Japan
On December 18-20 2017, the 12th Joint Seminar of China-Korea-Japan on Wood Quality and Utilization of Domestic Species (CKJ Seminar) was held at Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan. The aim of thisseminar series, initiated in 2006
 

The 4th IAWA-China Group Annual Meeting at Zhang-Jia-Gang, China, November 25-26, 2017
The fourth IAWA-China Group Annual Meeting was held at Zhang-Jia-Gang city, China, on November 25-26, 2017, organized by the Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau of Zhang-Jia-Gang. In total, about 100 participants from more than
 

1st Forum of Amazon Wood Anatomists (FAMAZON) in Belém, Pará, November 22-24, 2017
In order to strengthen wood anatomy, the 1stFAMAZON congregated at the Center of Natural Sciences and Technology from Par State University in the city of Belm, approximately 120 participants among academics, curators of wood scientific
 

9th Pacific Regional Wood Anatomy Conference (PRWAC) and Annual Meeting IAWS 2017 in Bali, Indonesia
The joint conference of the 9thPRWAC (Pacific Regional Wood Anatomy Conference), the Annual Meeting of IAWS (International Academy of Wood Science) 2017 and the 9thInternationalSymposium of the Indonesian Wood Research Society (IWoRS) was
 

International Botanical Conference (IBC) in China, July 23–29, 2017
The IBCs are the largest conferences in our field and take place every six years. During the latestedition in the booming city of Shenzhen, which is situated in southeastern China and is home toaround 14 million inhabitants, 

2016

October 2016
Salvador de Bahia 2016 IAWA Symposium: The hydraulic architecture of plants through time
During the next World Congress of IPC and IOPC in Salvador de Bahia (Brazil) from 23–28 October, 2016, Jonathan P. Wilson, Anne-Laure Decombeix & Lisa D. Boucher will be convening an IAWA Symposium on hydraulic architecture of plants through time. They will soon solicit contributions fitting the themes of the symposium as outlined below.
Land plants function as integrated systems despite their ability to shed discrete organs in response to reproductive necessity or environmental stress. Roots, stems, and leaves work in a concerted physiological network that must often serve opposing needs. For example, with xylem there must be a tradeoff between efficient mechanical support and water transport. This session will explore how new fossil discoveries, novel qualitative and quantitative approaches to plant function, and experimental analyses of living plants together shed light on the evolutionary history of plant hydraulic architecture. Studies of land plants ranging from Silurian to the present, united by the theme of water relations – including anatomical, hydraulic, and environmental interactions – are invited. In palaeobotany, root, stems, and leaves are typically found isolated and there has been a tendency to focus on single organs, so we particularly welcome studies of whole plant hydraulics and anatomy. Presentations relating to single organs, groups of organs, or trends through time are also encouraged to foster discussion from different perspectives.
Please visit http://alpaleobotanicapalinologia.blogspot.nl/2013/04/xiv-i-nternational-p-alynological-c.html

June 2016
International Academy of Wood Science (IAWS) 50 years young
Readers are reminded of the Jubilee meeting of the IAWS in Paris from June 1–3, 2016. The conference covers “all aspects of wood science, i.e., biology, chemistry and physics of lignified natural materials and products derived therefrom” (www.iaws-web. org). Over the last half century many IAWA members have been elected Fellows of the Academy, and there has always been a close and fruitful cooperation between IAWA and IAWS. At his stage it is befitting that the 85 years old IAWA offers the Academy its congratulations and best wishes for a brilliant future.

March 2016
World Wood Day 2016 in Nepal
The World Wood Day celebrations organised by the International Wood Culture Society (IWCS) will be on the 21st of March (coinciding with World Forest Day of the UN) in Kathmandu, Nepal. As usual there will be a scientific symposium (from 21–23 March) in addition to many cultural events and an international wood carving exhibition and competition.
The theme of the symposium is Nature and Culture: Interdisciplinary approaches to Peaceful Coexistence and Sustainable Development. There are six main topics: 1) Historical Utilization and Cultural Heritage; 2) Wood Products and Traditional Practice; 3) Recovery and Restoration; 4) Economic Growth and Sustainable Development; 5) International and Domestic Challenges; 6) Art, Design and Architecture.
For more details, please visit www.worldwoodday.org

2015

September 2015
IAWS Annual meeting in Québec
The International Academy of Wood Science (IAWS) will hold its annual meeting jointly with the 5th International Scientific Conference on Hardwood Processing (ISCHP 2015) from September 15 to 18, 2015 in Québec City, Canada. Topics covered by ISCHP 2015 will be: Hardwood Forestry Practices & Wood Quality; Hardwood Product Development; Hardwood Processing & Optimization; Hardwood Market & Sustainability; Hardwood on Building material; Hardwood on Composite Product. (Further information at www.ischp2015.org and www.iaws-web.org).

July 2015
World of Wood 2015 – Joint IWCS–IAWA meeting – Call for papers
World of Wood 2015, the annual meeting of the International Wood Collectors Society, this year co-sponsored by IAWA, will be on the campus of the Pennsylvania State University. The programme will run from Monday, July 20th to Thursday, July 23rd. Host and organiser Dr. Chuck Ray writes: Attendees will be able to select from a menu of classes, lectures and events, including microscopic wood identification (how to use the IAWA Hardwood and Softwood Lists and the InsideWood database); principles of wood collection, documentation, and organization; the Penn State wood collection; numerous demonstrations, e.g. wood turning and wood sculpting, etc. Seminars on wood energy, certified wood marketing, wood appreciation, and forest woodlot stewardship are also on the programme. The focus from IAWA is outreach to knowledgeable wood collectors and enthusiasts. There are still time-slots available for contributed papers on wood anatomy and wood science in general. Please contact Chuck Ray (cdrpsu@gmail.com) and visit the dynamic web page at: http://extension.psu.edu/natural-resources/forests/woodpro/world-of-wood

July 2015
Joint IAWA-IWCS meeting in Penn State University – July 2015
At the invitation of the International Wood Collectors Society, IAWA has agreed to co-organize its Annual General Meeting at Penn State University from 20–23 July 2015. The theme will be “Back to School”, and the full facilities of the university, including faculty and guest speakers will be used to “hold class” on both “wood science” as well as current research topics. It is also envisioned to have concurrent meetings in related fields such as forestry, bioenergy, lumber drying and grading, silviculture, etc. The role of IAWA members will include teaching microscopic and macroscopic wood courses and workshops, and lecturing on current topics in applied and fundamental wood anatomy research. Currently a planning committee is being formed. We will keep the IAWA Membership posted on new developments.

May 2015
IAWA co-organizes the Tropical Forest Ecology Meeting in Tervuren

From 26–29 May 2015 the international closing symposium of the XYLAREDD project “Wood science underpinning tropical forest ecology and management” will be held at the Royal Museum for Central Africa (Tervuren, Belgium). The Afro-European Group of IAWA and the IUFRO Unit 1.02.00 - Tropical and subtropical silviculture, will act as co-organisers.

Background: Tropical forests and woodlands contain substantial carbon stocks, buffer climate change and produce raw material for local communities and international trade. The public concern for the fate of tropical forests resulted in the creation of a number of mechanisms assuring forests to sustainably produce valuable goods and services. One of the best-known mechanisms is the REDD+ mechanism of the United Nations aiming at the reduction of carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. Since the Conference of Parties in Poznan in 2008, it comprises a chapter on sustainable tropical forest management. Another mechanism is the CITES convention regulating the international trade of endangered species, including important tropical timbers like American mahogany, afrormosia, ramin and some of the rosewoods and ebonies.

Next to REDD+ and CITES, several instruments have been established to conserve and manage tropical forests, their species and populations: some national forest laws, the FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade) mechanism, the timber regulation of the European Union, the US Lacey Act and a number of forest and timber certification systems.

Sound forest management and effective conservation policies, including the ban of illegal logging, typically needs scientific information. Tools from the domain of wood science provide part(s) of this key information. Indeed, wood anatomy allows for verification of the authenticity of the material. The carbon sequestration processes can be evaluated by retrospective growth analysis performed on stem discs or wood cores. Finally, high-resolution data on wood density hold key information for the development of models on carbon stocks.

The objective of this international symposium is to explore how wood science can contribute to the needs of tropical forestry. We aim at bringing together wood and tropical forest scientists as well as policy makers and invite keynote speeches, oral presentations and poster sessions related to the following four subtopics:
  • Wood anatomy and other identification means for the enforcement of laws and regulations
  • Wood density analysis to evaluate carbon stocks of tropical forests and woodlands
  • Age determination, growth analysis and dendrochronology of tropical trees
  • Wood anatomical functional traits to study and predict forest dynamics
For further information please contact Hans Beeckman.

April 2015
COST-Action STReESS, final meeting
On 13 and 14 April the EU COST-Action on “Studying Tree Responses to extreme Events – a SynthesiS” (STReESS) will hold its final meeting in Joachimsthal (Berlin), Germany. This COST-Action, co-ordinated by IAWA Member Ute Sass-Klaassen, has been very successful in generating collaborative, interdisciplinary research on forestry science and tree biology, emphasising the crucial role of wood and phloem structure, function, and development. One of its earliest meetings in Naples was co-sponsored by IAWA and led to the much cited special IAWA Journal issue on “Wood Structure in Plant Biology and Ecology” (Baas, Battipaglia, De Micco, Lens, & Wheeler, eds., 2013). The forthcoming IAWA Journal issue on Functional Traits in Wood Anatomy, is another result of the successful cooperation between STReESS and IAWA.
For further information visit www.streess-cost.eu

March 2015
WWD 2015 Symposium Wood and Humanity in Eskisehir, Turkey
The third World Wood Day Symposium will have as its theme “Wood and Humanity” and will be organised by the International Wood Culture Society in Eskisehir, Turkey from 21 to 23 March. Please refer to the following link for the whole event programme and the symposium (http://www.worldwoodday.org/2015/symposium.html). Please feel encouraged to register and present a paper.

2014

October 2014
2014 IAWA Pan-American Meeting in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil 
Speakers at the special IAWA symposia (October 21, 2014) convened by Carmen Marcati, and Lázaro Silva at the Latin American Congress in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil (from 19 to 24 October 2014) will include Pieter Baas, Claudia Barros, Peter Gasson, Mark Olson, Teresa Terrazas, Carmen Marcati Neusa Tamaio, María Agueda Castro, Silvia Aguilar-Rodríguez, José Villanueva Díaz, Jochen Schongart, Juliano Morales Oliveira, Claudio Lisi, and Fidel Roig. The themes of the symposia are: 1) dendrochronology, 2) development and variation in the vascular system and 3) systematics, evolution and ecology (for updates see: www.65cnbot.com.br).August 2014

IAWA Symposium at European Palaeobotanical Congress in Padua, Italy
Marc Philippe and Jakub Sakala are convening an IAWA Symposium at the 9th European Palaeobotany and Palynology Conference (EPPC) which will be held from 26—31 August in the beautiful city of Padova, Italy. Theme of the symposium (S 5): Fossil wood, from taxonomy to palaeoecological syntheses. For information on registration fees, housing, field trips, programme, etc. please consult the conference website at:http://www.geoscienze.unipd.it/eppc2014/index.htmlMay 2014

IAWA Committee on Bark Terminology meets in May – Brazil
From 17—24 May the IAWA Bark Committee will convene in Brotas, Sao Paulo State, Brazil, to discuss and hopefully finalise an IAWA List of Macro and Microscopic Features for Bark Research. The workshop is generously funded by Brazilian research agencies and hosted by Veronica Angyalossy (chair) and Marcelo Pace, both from the University of Sao Paulo. Other members are Guillermo Angeles, Pieter Baas (co-chair), Alan Crivellaro, Jozica Gricar, Leo Junnika, Ekatarina Kotina, Frederic Lens, Carmen Marcati, Solange C. Mazzoni-Viveiros, Nadezhda Nikolaeva, Alexei Oskolski, Karamanchi Rao, Teresa Terrazas. Special advisor in absentio is Professor Ray Evert, world famous phloem expert.