“Definitely the increasing international interest in illegal logging and thus in timber identification and tracking technologies”, explains Eleanor Dormontt when asked about the newest developments in the field of timber identification technologies.
Being a researcher in DNA identification and forensics at the University of Adalaide, Dormontt has extensive knowledge of alternative developments and technical innovations as well. In the interview, she elaborates on improvements in identification techniques “making them faster, making them cheaper”, on including more species, on constant improvements in getting DNA from “old and long dead” timber samples and of course the role GTTN plays in all of this. “My hope for GTTN is, that it will be able to translate this kind of increased interest and initiative for timber identification into some real action”, says Dormontt.
Watch the full interview and find out what she had to say about the future outlook for GTTN and outcomes of the working group on standardization.