Prof. Dr. Thomas Purfürst holds the Chair of Digitalised Forestry Processes and Systems at Dresden University of Technology (TUD). The chair is a central component of the forestry sciences department at TUD in Tharandt.

Prof. Purfürst previously held the Chair of Forest Engineering at the University of Freiburg. His expertise is based on more than 20 years of intensive research and practical experience in the interplay of digitalisation, geoinformatics, forestry technology, and logistics, always with a focus on increasing the efficiency of forestry processes and optimising the timber supply chain. His academic career includes degrees in forestry and geoinformatics, and a postdoctoral qualification focusing on digital documentation and data management for forest soil surveys.

The research conducted under Professor Purfürst’s leadership aims to shape precision forestry and Forest 5.0. A central theme is the design and implementation of dynamic, individual tree-based digital twins of the forest, combined with comprehensive geodata management.

His key research pillars include the digitalisation of the supply chain, sensor technology and data collection, immersive technologies, and sustainability assessment.

Prof. Dr. Andreas Rothe has been a professor at the Faculty of Forestry at the University of Applied Sciences Weihenstephan-Triesdorf since 2005. He began his scientific career in the 1990s at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), focusing on forest ecology and mixed-species stands.

With over a decade of practical experience working for the Bavarian State Forest Enterprise, Prof. Rothe brings a strong background in applied forestry. From 2016 to 2019, he was engaged in forest management planning during an extended leave from the university, further strengthening his ties to practical forestry. Currently, he teaches courses on tree species suitability and forest management planning for forestry students.

His research focuses on the application of remote sensing technologies for operational forest management planning. Throughout his career, Prof. Rothe has consistently advocated for the close integration of practice, education, and research in forestry.

Dr. Lars T. Waser, is a senior researcher at WSL with more than two decades of expertise in remote sensing with focus on forests. His main research focuses on modelling forest parameters (area, structure, tree species, biomass, forest edge etc.) at different scales (with a focus on nationwide products) and the appropriate validation of remote sensing-based forest products.

He leads national and international projects and programs, and supervises master and PhD students. He’s associate editor of two Q1 remote sensing journals and member of several scientific and steering committees and associations. He is actively engaged in bringing together applied research and forest practitioners and has achieved important milestones in this regard.