Future Foresters Initiative

The Future Foresters Initiative (FFI) Committee is made up of young forestry professionals and forest science students. The purpose of the FFI is to provide support to students and early career professionals from scientific forestry or related fields, through mentoring, training, networking and other social and professional development activities.

Our mission is?

  • Connect future foresters with industry and government organisations across Australia and with other international organisations;
  • Grow our influence on policy, visibility and representation in the industry;
  • Learn from the best through a range of leadership and mentoring programs.

How we help?

  • We are involved in the organisation of a range of events, both social and professional, to forge and strengthen connections;
  • We promote achievements of young foresters and regularly publish stories in The Forester;
  • We advocate for young foresters across the IFA’s sub-committees.

Meet the Committee

Jenna Hammond (TAS) – Chair

Interests: Native Forestry | Sustainable Forest Management | Stakeholder Engagement

Jenna is the Senior Engagement Advisor at Sustainable Timber Tasmania, and works collaboratively with regional operations teams to navigate and engage a variety of external stakeholders and to develop communications approaches that support sustainable forest management outcomes for the Tasmanian community.
Jenna completed a Bachelor of Media at the University of Tasmania in 2018, majoring in Strategic Communications. Jenna is a trained forest firefighter and Public Information Officer and has worked in Incident Management Teams on campaign fires in both Tasmania and New South Wales.
Jenna is an active member of Forestry Australia, and has been part of the Future Foresters Initiative since 2020. In 2023, Jenna was the recipient of the Forestry Australia Prince of Wales Award

Jack Davis (VIC – Regional)

Interests: Disturbance Ecology | Active Forest Management

Jack studied a Masters of Environments specialising in Conservation and Restoration at the University of Melbourne, graduating in 2019 after completing a research project examining the Effect of Fire on Natural Regeneration following the Removal of Invasive Woody Vegetation. He currently works at the Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action as a GIS Officer for the Port Phillip Region, and holds an active fire role as a General Firefighter and Mapping Officer for the Tambo District. He has previously held roles as an Operational Planner and a Silvicultural Forester at VicForests, as well as a short secondment as a Fire Ecology officer at DEECA. He is passionate about using his operational knowledge to guide spatial solutions for Forest Management, as well as Fire Ecology and First Nation Land Management Practices.

Jack has been a member of Forestry Australia since 2020 and joined the Future Foresters Initiative committee in 2022 to connect with other young foresters and help advocate for the future of forest management in Australia.

Tara Pedersen (VIC – Regional)

Interests: Farm Forestry | Sustainable Forest Management | Community Engagement | Fire Ecology

Tara studied a Masters of Ecosystem Management and Conservation at The University of Melbourne. During her studies she was the recipient of a Chinner Medal for outstanding performance in field studies. She has since worked in the forestry sector in both native forest management as a Tactical Planner and small scale private forestry as a Farm Forestry Officer as well as being a forest firefighter. Tara is now the Membership, Administration and Branch Officer for Forestry Australia as well as the Secretariat for the Forest Growers Committee. Tara loves the forest and is enthusiastic about sharing that passion with others. She joined the FFI committee in 2022 to learn from and connect with other young people in the field and advocate for their voices to be heard in the broaderforestry sector.

Yasika Subasinghe (VIC – Regional)

Interests: Forest Ecosystems | Plant Physiology | Forest Fire Management

Yasika is a Research Forester at Hancock Victorian Plantations Pty Ltd (HVP Plantations), located in Gippsland.  She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Management and Forestry from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka, and a PhD from The School of Ecosystems and Forest Sciences of The University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on Forest Ecosystems, Plant Physiology, and Forest Fire Management. After a brief academic career, Yasika transitioned to the industry to bridge the gap between academic and industry research. At HVP Plantations, she leads research trials on various plantation management activities and is also a General Firefighter and a Plantation Firefighter. Yasika has been a member of Forestry Australia since 2017 and a committee member the Future Foresters Initiative since 2023.

Events & Networking

The importance of professional networks for developing your career cannot be underestimated.

Students and early career professionals can face challenges in entering the workforce and a strong network can go a long way! The FFI are involved in a range of social and professional events across the year which provide a platform for students and early-career foresters to connect with other forest students and professionals working across Australia.

The FFI continues to work on exciting opportunities to collaborate with the forest industry in Australia as well as with peers from the International Forestry Student Association (IFSA) and our Future Foresters colleagues across the ditch in New Zealand. We are in the process of establishing a mentoring program in Australia to connect different generations of foresters for the benefit of our industry. Stay tuned!

Get in touch

Do you want to know more about the FFI?
Do you want to be part of a team of other young forest professionals?
Do you want to collaborate with us?
Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the FFI committee – we would be excited to work with you!
Send send us an email via futureforesters@gmail.com