SPeaker bio

Thomas Breunig is a forester at the Freiburg Forestry Directorate.

He is part of the forestry team there and is the technical representative of the
Baden-Württemberg State Forestry Administration in the WWW 4.0 project.

SPeaker bio

After studying forestry at BOKU Vienna, Günther worked for the Austrian Federal Forestry Office in the Department of Forest Management and Silviculture until 2000. There, he was responsible for the assessment of approximately 40,000 hectares, carried out boundary surveys, and headed the division for GIS and remote sensing since 1990. From 1995 onwards, he helped to establish international consulting and integrated GNSS applications into forestry processes at an early stage.

Since 2001, he has been managing director of Umweltdata GmbH, which specialises in sustainable monitoring, mapping, modelling and management solutions. Its main areas of focus include forest inventories, GIS services, and the use of modern technologies such as airborne laser scanning, terrestrial laser scanning, and SmartForestTools. He has led numerous R&D projects, including five as consortium leader.

He regularly speaks at international conferences, including SilviLaser and ForestSAT, and cooperates with leading partners from industry and research.

SPeaker bio

Stefano Puliti is a researcher specialising in forest remote sensing and artificial intelligence, with a focus on advancing 3D computer vision for forest monitoring and management.

His work bridges cutting-edge AI methods and forest science, aiming to enable accurate, scalable, and automated forest analysis from terrestrial, aerial, and satellite data. Stefano has been instrumental in developing a new generation of deep learning models for 3D forest understanding, including ForestFormer3D, ForAInet, SegmentAnyTree, FOR-instance, and FOR-species, which push the boundaries of object detection, segmentation, and species classification in complex forest environments.

His research contributes to improving how forests are mapped, measured, and modelled, supporting sustainable forest management and climate change mitigation. Through interdisciplinary collaborations, Stefano continues to explore how AI can unlock new insights into forest structure, function, and dynamics.

SPEAKER BIO

Thorsten Reitz is the founder of wetransform GmbH.

After studying computer science in media, he worked at Fraunhofer IGD from 2004 to 2012 as a research assistant and later as head of department. Through this work, he gained broad knowledge of INSPIRE and other geodata standards. He is also the “father” and first developer of hale»studio.

From 2012 to 2015, he was Head of Product Engineering at the Esri R&D Centre Zurich. He continues to do research on interoperability, data ecosystems and data infrastructures.

In 2015, he and Simon Templer founded wetransform GmbH, with the mission of making geospatial and environmental data accessible and useful. His personal mission is making open digital ecosystems work – and to create the technical and organisational structures required for that.

SPeaker bio

PD Dr Tobias Schlechtriemen is a lecturer at the Institute of Sociology at the University of Freiburg.

His research focuses on topics such as the social debate around Artificial Intelligence, sustainability research and the study of transformation processes.

Since 2024, he has been leading the research project ‘Wissen über den Wald im Wandel (WWW 4.0)’, in which the Department of Computer Science at the University of Freiburg, the Freiburg Forestry Directorate, and the Forest Research Institute BW are involved.

SPeaker bio

Cornelius Senf studied geography and physics at the University of Innsbruck, Humboldt University in Berlin, and the University of Bern. He earned his doctorate at Humboldt University in Berlin with a thesis on the analysis of insect outbreaks using Landsat satellite data, in collaboration with the Canadian Forest Service.

After his postdoc at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, he habilitated at the Technical University of Munich in the field of Earth observation and has been head of the Chair of Earth Observation at the School of Life Sciences in Weihenstephan since 2024. His research is at the interface between Earth observation and ecology, with a focus on developing new approaches to monitoring ecosystems in the context of climate change and changing land use.

Speaker Bio

Péter Benedek is CEO of Rockwood Digital Europe (RDE), a Netherlands-based consulting and innovation company focused on digital trust, identity, and data governance. At the SmartForest conference, he will talk about SAGE, one of RDE’s European collaboration projects in the forestry domain, showing, without the jargon, how well-governed, interoperable data can actually support better decisions by improving trusted access and reuse across organisations.

Péter brings 20+ years of leadership across finance and enterprise technology. He spent 16 years at IBM in Hungary and Central/Eastern Europe, including regional leadership and as Country Leader of IBM Hungary. He later served as CEO of the Blockchain Competence Center, driving multi-party collaboration and trusted technology adoption. He studied accounting and business in Budapest, completed legal studies at Eötvös Loránd University, and attended INSEAD executive education in strategy and leadership.

Speaker Bio

Dr. Mirela Beloiu Schwenke is an established researcher at ETH Zürich in the Department of Environmental Systems Science, working at the intersection of forest ecology, remote sensing, and climate warming.

She earned her Ph.D. from Bayreuth University, where she focused on the impacts of climate warming on forest regeneration. Dr. Beloiu Schwenke leads multiple projects on tree species health assessment, including the TreeAI Global Initiative, a groundbreaking effort to assess tree species diversity using artificial intelligence.

Speaker Bio

Ludwig Douglas manages his own forestry business and is testing digitalization in practice there.

As the founder of TimberData and TimberTom, he and his team are developing the first fully integrated, cloud-based ERP system and a marketplace for the forestry industry to make the sector fit for the future.

Speaker Bio

Prof. Dr. Fabian Faßnacht has been Professor of Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics at the Institute of Geographical Sciences at Freie Universität Berlin since April 1st, 2022.

His research carries an emphasis on the application of remote sensing data to understand ecological patterns and processes of vegetation ecosystems and the development of workflows for quantifying and mapping forest characteristics using remote sensing data.

Before his appointment, Prof. Faßnacht worked as a Senior Scientist at the Institute of Geography and Geoecology at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

Speaker Bio

Richard Georgi studied forestry in Tharandt and spent 10 years as a research assistant at the Chair of Forest Conservation at TU Dresden.

He has been working at OGF GmbH since 2020, where he has been a managing partner since early 2024. His focus is on the digitalisation of forest inventories, in which modern drone technology with LiDAR sensors is used to develop precise and sustainable solutions for forest management.

SPEaker Bio

Felix Fürst zu Hohenlohe has been managing director of the medium-sized forestry machine manufacturer HSM Hohenloher Spezial-Maschinenbau GmbH since 1996. Over the past two decades, HSM has been involved in numerous research projects in the field of forestry technology and timber harvesting.

Zu Hohenlohe studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Munich and then worked in the development department for mobile hydraulic systems at Mannesmann-Rexroth in Lohr am Main. His field of work was the programming of microprocessors and the development and optimisation of electro-hydraulic systems for mobile machines.

Speaker Bio

Nancy Lazecky is a specialist for digitalisation in the public relations department of Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V. (“Agency for Renewable Resources”) (FNR).

After completing her master’s degree in forestry in 2020, she gained practical experience in the forestry service at the AELF Kempten. At the FNR, she has been organising and moderating the “Digitalisation of Forestry and Wood” roundtable for the last three years.

Her role consists of facilitating networking among stakeholders, identifying synergies, and promote collaboration for innovative solutions. She utilises her overview to ensure that all participants work together to create solutions for existing challenges and make progress in digitalisation.

Speaker Bio

Nina Meyer works as a communications expert and moderator in the forestry industry. 

She advises companies and organisations on successful communication and supports them in its implementation. This includes press and public relations, project management, and speaker placement. Her clients include forestry IT companies, forestry administrations, associations, forestry trade fairs, and scientific institutions.  

She studied political science, economic policy, and business administration. She entered the forestry industry in 2009 at the Franconian Switzerland Forest Owners’ Association. Today, she specialises in digitalisation, private forests/FWZ, and women in forestry. In her LinkedIn interview series “In conversation with…”, she regularly talks to leaders from the forestry industry about current forestry topics. Nina Meyer also moderates forestry events and panel discussions.

Speaker Bio

Stephan Philipp studied forestry at the Technical University of Munich and Seoul National University. In addition to completing his traineeship in Bavaria and working for several years as project manager of the Mountain Forest Initiative in the districts of Miesbach and Bad Tölz, he also passed the state examination for senior forestry service in Austria, where he now works as deputy state forestry director in Vorarlberg.

His extensive experience in forest management, which he has also discussed in television interviews and radio broadcasts, has also helped him in his second great passion: investing on stock markets around the world. He has also appeared on a well-known YouTube programme to discuss this topic.

Speaker bio

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.

Speaker bio

Dr. Werner Rammer is a Senior Scientist at the Chair of Ecosystem Dynamics at the Technical University of Munich. He develops and uses forest ecosystem models to analyse the effects of climate change, disturbances and forest management. He is also a pioneer in the application of artificial intelligence in ecosystem research.

His research focuses on ecosystem modelling, artificial intelligence/deep learning, software development, the effects of climate change, ecosystem services, and forest management.

Speaker Bio

Martin Roth has been a district manager in the Lake Constance district for 25 years. He is responsible for a district with seven municipal forests and almost 700 private forest owners, who together manage around 1,500 parcels of land. One of the most challenging aspects of his work is dealing with the massive liquidation of stands due to calamities, especially in small private forests.

Roth relies on innovative digital technologies and was involved in the development of Wood.In.Vision. He also lectures at Rottenburg University of Applied Sciences and the University of Freiburg, where he teaches practical applications of digital technologies in forestry.

Speaker bio

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.

Speaker bio

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.