Lukas Emmerich
Click on thumbnails and links for enhanced or enlarged content
Who I am…
My ID card says: Dr. Lukas Emmerich, born on February 28th in 1992, 187 cm, German nationality – If you’ve asked me first: Lukas Emmerich, born and grown up in Bad Driburg, a small town – actually more of a village - in the mid-west of Germany, which is a low-mountain region characterized by agriculture and forestry. Most likely the origin of my passion for WOOD – The ‘little thing’ which connects all of us, isn´t it?
How I found my way to wood and wood sciences…
In 2009 my educational plans were clear – at least seemed to be clear: After school I will move to Goettingen (Lower Saxony) and start my studies in agriculture. Working on a medium-sized farm for several years paved the way in this direction, but did finally initiate a relevant change of my plans. Once I had been repairing a fence around a meadow close to a forest, I got in touch with a local forester. A spontaneous two-week internship at his forest district followed and made clear to me: Being fascinated by the forest ecosystem and wood, working in agriculture could be nice, but forestry might be great. So, finally I changed one half of the plan and moved to Goettingen in 2011, starting my studies in Forestry at the Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology. Where could you find me during the semester breaks? On the roofs of North Rhine-Westphalia, working for a small roofing company.
After my Bachelor degree and fascinated by the renewable raw material WOOD, a Masters in ‘Wood Technology and Wood Biology’ (2014 - 2016) followed and finally a PhD (2017 – 2023). The focus of my PhD: Wood modification. Actually, studying the mode of action of a specific modification system in different directions connected me with the overall topic of wood protection and topics around durability and finally the IRG-WP network. Of course, further interesting topics like impregnation techniques, drying and curing processes and even testing of other characteristics besides decaying processes became part of my daily research activities.
During my time at Holger Militz’ department (Wood Biology and Wood Technology, University of Goettingen, 2017 – 2023), I had the chance to coordinate and initiate research projects with partners from research and industry, on a national and international level. Specifically, the combination of both was the fascinating but alike challenging thing and made my ‘wooden’ network grow, in both directions to ‘science’ as well as ‘practice and industry’. But this was just the beginning in 2017, what I had to realize later…
The IRG-WP and me…
In 2018 a very important step followed: My first IRG scientific conference. The venue that year was in Johannesburg (South Africa). Thus, I combined my second scientific conference with my first intercontinental flight; you should know that before becoming a PhD candidate, I preferred to stay within a 100 km radius around my hometown. My travel companions in 2018: Holger Militz, Christian Brischke and Susanne Bollmus. So, IRG-WP woke my fascination with and desire to travel. The fascinating talks, presentations and new inspirations I gained during the annual meeting were for sure one of the reasons for that. What did strongly support my attendance in 2018? – The Ron Cockcroft Award. This was for sure a great pleasure, to be honoured with a RCA before ever participating in an IRG-WP conference.
Thanks to all supporters – this is a very important and valuable part of the IRG-WP, which constantly widens our network and provides young researchers the chance to participate. But the IRG-WP should become even more. I got to know Gry Alfredsen, who later on became the second referee of my PhD thesis, and many other fascinating people, playing a crucial role in my scientific network since that time. But even more, I became the chance to train myself in committee work on an international level, becoming a member of the IRG-WP Communication Committee in 2023.
What does IRG-WP mean to me, if I had to answer in just one sentence?
IRG-WP is about connecting people from science and relevant industries, it´s about sharing innovations and discussing research and it provides a platform to young scientists with several opportunities to grow and widen their professional and personal competences and finally it´s about fun (Personal recommendation: You should never miss the Fun Run – The best start in an annual IRG-WP conference!).
Today, you can find me here…
Since September 2023 I´m located in the wonderful Sauerland region of South Westphalia (North Rhine-Westphalia) and took over the lead of the subject area ‘Wood research’ at the State Forest Enterprise of North Rhine-Westphalia. This section is part of the Team Wood-based Industries being integrated in the Centre of Forests and Wood-based Industries, which had been found in 2020 as the training and research institute for forest- and wood-related topics in North Rhine-Westphalia. Our today´s challenges: The consequences of a massive bark beetle calamity in North Rhine-Westphalia (2018 – 2024) and the conversion of our forests to climate stable, mixed tree stands. The latter directly affects the resource base ‘wood’, which will be available in the future. Thus, our mission: Support the synchronisation of the wood industry with the new resource base ‘wood’ by active research together with universities, universities of applied sciences and partners from the wood and building industry and a target-group specific knowledge transfer.
How do we put the latter into practice besides publications in relevant journals? For instance, by presentations at fairs like the LIGNA25 and linking up between education and practice for the young generation of foresters, wood technologist, architects and engineers. Besides that, I became part of the administration for the Cluster I.D. HOLZ e.V. in 2023, which is a platform for collaboration and networking among companies from wood industry, interest groups, educational institutions, research institutions and public administration. A key focus of this registered association is the knowledge transfer and communication about the use of wood in construction. As a networking platform within the Zentrum HOLZ, the cluster supports the introduction of new wood-based products and technologies and by that provides a platform and channel for the transfer of research findings to relevant industries and stakeholders of the Cluster Forest and Wood-based Industry. With several others, both the Team Wood-based Industries and the Cluster I.D. HOLZ e.V. can be found under the roof of the Zentrum HOLZ, which has been found as a unique platform and development centre for companies and actors of the Cluster Forest and Wood-based Industries. News: In 2024 we established a test site for above-ground and in-ground durability testing, which is located here. You are interested to cooperate or expose materials?
How I charge my batteries…
When I'm not on the road at work or in the lab, you'll find me on my racing bike, mountain bike or hunting with my dog Vana (German Spaniel). And, of course, making music – my passion: Playing trumpet or hunting horn. The latter makes me look back on the time in Goettingen, leading the hunting horn choir at the Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology.
Questions? Ideas to cooperate? Let´s connect and get in touch lukas.emmerich@wald-und-holz.nrw.de
This bio was written for inclusion with the May 2025 IRG Newsletter