Prof. Dr Fabian Faßnacht has been Professor of Geomatics at the Institute of Geomatics at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna (BOKU) since 1 March 2026.

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

Before taking up his post at BOKU, Prof. Faßnacht worked as a professor of remote sensing and geoinformatics at the Free University of Berlin and as a senior scientist at the Institute of Geography and Geoecology at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

Johanna Heinemann is deputy operations manager at the forestry division of the Fürst von Hohenzollern Group.

In her day-to-day work at one of Germany’s largest private forestry companies, she focuses heavily on optimising operational and strategic challenges, including through digitalisation.

Johanna Heinemann studied forestry and forest ecology at the Georg-August University of Göttingen and subsequently worked as a research assistant in the Department of Forest Economics. She is currently working on her PhD, which focuses on optimising the management of small private forests and the inter-organisational collaborations taking place within them, against the backdrop of new institutional economics.

She is also currently a lecturer in forestry economics at Rottenburg University of Applied Sciences.

As Managing Director of Umweltdata GmbH, Franziska Hochenegger combines many years of international project experience with in-depth specialist knowledge in the fields of the environment, geodata, and digitalisation.

With a degree in forestry and experience in earth observation, GIS, and data-driven environmental solutions, she operates at the intersection of technology, science, and sustainable development.

Her focus is on actively shaping the digitalisation of forestry. Alongside her team, she develops digital solutions that enable forest data to be efficiently collected, analysed, and utilised.

Sönke Lulies is a specialist in the Project Management Department of the Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V. (FNR).

He joined FNR after attaining a degree in industrial engineering for energy and environmental management in 2005. There, he’s been responsible for research funding in various areas (sustainability, bioenergy, certification, bioeconomy, forests and wood, agroforestry).

His current role involves reviewing and supporting projects in the field of forest digitalisation and timber supply. This includes technical research, coordinating with ongoing projects, and discussing future research topics. This work is also linked to the activities of the Roundtable on Forest and Timber Digitalisation, which he currently chairs on behalf of Nancy Lazecky. Among the participants at the Roundtable are grant recipients and ideas from the discussions are incorporated into research funding and, upon successful completion, into practical applications.

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.

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.

Martin Roth has been a forest district manager in the Lake Constance district for 28 years. He is responsible for a forest district comprising seven municipal forests and just under 700 private forest owners, who together manage around 1,500 parcels of land. A particular challenge in his work is dealing with the massive clear-cutting of stands caused by natural disasters, especially in small private forests.

Roth specialises in innovative digital technologies and was involved in the development of Wood.In.Vision. He also holds teaching posts at Rottenburg University of Applied Sciences, where he teaches practical applications of digital technologies in forestry.

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

With roughly 10 years’ practical experience at the Bavarian State Forestry Administration, Prof. Rothe has a solid background in forestry practice. From 2016 to 2019, he worked as a forest management planner for the Bavarian State Forests whilst on secondment. He currently teaches the subjects ‘Tree Species Suitability’ and ‘Forest Management Planning’ on the Forestry Engineering degree programme.

His current research focuses on the use of remote sensing technologies for the preparation of forest management reports in small private woodlands. In line with his professional work, he has always championed close links between forestry practice, education, and research.