Think you know what the forest and timber industries are all about? Macho lumberjacks in checked shirts with axes hacking down trees and destroying the world's forests? Well think again...

For starters, in countries like the UK, the people (men and women) who harvest the trees actually actually help make forests bigger...and they have hi-tech machines not axes...and that's just a very small part of a much bigger picture that includes everything from tree breeding and tree planting to timber engineering and advanced manufacturing.

Wood is one of the few truly renewable materials we have. We can manage forests to give us a constant supply of timber, as well as providing other valuable functions like places to visit and havens for wildlife. In fact, thanks to responsible forestry for wood, the UK has more forests now than it had 100 years ago...and the forests are still growing.

As trees grow they take carbon dioxide out of the air helping to combat climate change. When that wood is used to make products like furniture and houses the carbon is stored away and doesn't get back into the atmosphere until the wood product decays or is burnt...and that might be decades or even centuries. What's more is that we can make things out of wood that we would otherwise have to make from materials that cause environmental problems when they are made - like metals, concrete and plastics.

Wood is also one of the most interesting engineering materials from a scientific viewpoint. We'd like to share our enthusiasm for it with you, because we think people should be more aware of how important it is to our daily lives as well as our future.

Remember to check out our ever-growing list of links to interesting places on the web. We've collected some of the things we've found into a blog.

If you are interested in the actual research we do - or want to contact someone you've met at an event, take a look at the websites for the SIRT project and the CTE itself.

If all this has got you wanting to find out more, there are two UK careers websites that you can visit:

If you interested in wood based careers, from processing to craft and engineering, you can visit the Timber Trade Federation’s "The Doorway" website.

If you are interested in forestry and other land based careers you can go to Lantra’s website for kids or for adults.

There is also the Forest Education Initiative website, which contains resources for teachers designed specifically for the UK

We are still adding things to this website, so remember to check back regularly.