Forest Informatics, Inc. was formed in 2003 to fulfill the need for software and consulting specifically tailored to small and medium sized landowners and forest products operations.

We chose the name Forest Informatics because of the broad scope of the term informatics, which can be used to represent the application of computers to the analysis of complex biological structures (bio-informatics) as well as how information technology will change society - or be changed by society in general (social informatics). It can also represent the study of the behavior of those seeking to be informed regarding potential medical treatments (a part of health informatics). We believe that the term incorporates at least three domains: (1) technology and its application, (2) information organization and structure, and (3) human behavior and communication related to these other two domains. The intersection of these three domains is of particular interest to us in forestry because it seems like our field is often neglected when it comes to the application of technology and the use of computers to solve complex problems.
 

Jeff Hamann began his career in forestry, after graduating from Humboldt State University in 1992, working for International Paper in Reedsport, Oregon. He then went to develop the groundwork for the future of growth and yield model software at the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station in Redding, California before returning to International Paper in Washington as a Forester. He left in 1995, to pursue sawmill simulation and optimization working for various Canadian companies before returning to the States to attend graduate studies in Forest Modeling at Oregon State University. During his time at Oregon State, he developed a system for addressing very specific criteria required in complex silvicultural systems and created the ability to simulate harvest schedules in record time. To put the system to the test, he created a landscape scale polygon level individual tree forest inventory from a few ground points and satellite images that rivaled continuous inventories. In addition, he started the OpenFVS project which combined the tools that he developed in the previous decade into a common library that can be called from various software such as Microsoft Access and Visual Basic to model complex management options and store simulation results into a database directly.

Click here for a copy of Jeff's resume.

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