Joël Hamada
Doctoral candidate
14 January 2016
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Joël Hamada is a PhD student working with two ARBRE labs, the Research Unit for the Study and Research of Wood Materials (LERMAB) at the University of Lorraine, and the Joint Research Unit for Forest and Wood Resource Studies (LERFOB). He is currently participating in the EVAQBT2 project. The topic of his research is “Effects of the natural variability of wood on the reactions of thermo-degradation involved in the heat treatment of wood in order to better control the process and the quality of the material obtained”.
Joël talked with us recently about his personal path as a researcher, where and when his interest in forest sciences began, and what brought him to study thermal wood treatment. Interestingly, Joël has the advantage of having worked in the forest products sector, which brings valuable perspective to his research. He is also fluent in Italian. Below is that interview.
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Where are you from originally?
I am originally from Cameroon in Central Africa along the coast of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean, between the equator to the south and Lake Chad to the north.
Can you describe your educational path up to now, and what brought you to work with the LERMAB research unit at INRA?
I am currently studying engineering in wood science and timber technology. After spending three years studying in Florence, I first began by studying wood processing and then later concentrated on production of forest products and derivatives before starting the FAGE Masters program (Biology and Ecology for Forest, Agriculture and Ecosystem Management) at the University of Lorraine.
It was within this program that I began a 6 month long internship working with the LERMAB team at INRA which involved working collaboratively with the LERFOB unit. The topic of my research associated with this internship was for a cross-disciplinary project (EVAQBT2) which brought together these two labs — which was launched with support from LabEx ARBRE.
Tell us about your science — explain briefly what your specific focus is and why this is important.
The primary focus of my research is on the thermal-treatment of wood. This is a method used for preserving wood against biodegredation caused by wood-decomposing micro-organisms such as rot fungi. The particularity of this method is that it involves using heat instead of chemical products to protect wood. I am also interested in understanding the base phenomena that cause wood defects which ultimately affect the forest products sector and the timber industry. In broader terms, my goal is to understand the mechanisms that cause wood defects; we know that the quality of wood properties is from the start strongly linked to its highly variable nature and is significantly influenced by forestry management.
This preservation technique which uses no chemical products is ecological and environmentally friendly. Furthering our understanding of what initially causes wood defects which affect the overall wood quality will make it possible to develop non-destructive tools for controlling wood quality at the source through to the adaptation of “appropriate” forest management techniques.
When did you first become interested in the forest, wood and its preservation?
Wood has interested me since I was little living in Cameroon. I was raised in eastern Cameroon, the most forested region in the country. Even very young, I spent a lot of time exploring the forest with my dad where I learned to recognize and identify different tropical species, and learned very early on which species where the most sought after by the timber industry. Once I had received my baccaulaureate in wood science and technology from the technical high school in Sangmélima in south Cameroon, it felt totally natural to continue my graduate studies in Florence studying wood technology and the wood products sector.
It was after I had completed my initial theoretical training in wood preservation that I started working in the wood products sector which is when I began to take an interest in what is involved in protecting the wood itself — from both the elements or weather, but also from micro-organisms — since I needed to be able to explain to clients the risks involved in using or implementing wood products. When I learned that preserving wood could be done without using chemical products, I became fascinated by the science behind this advancement. The idea that I could contribute somehow to improving this technique motivated me even further to start working specifically on the theme of the effects the natural variability of wood can have on its thermal degredation (modification) during this thermal-treatment process.
In your opinion, what are the major scientific issues for forest and wood sciences?
For me, the focus of scientific research, as a rule, comes down how we as humans aim to better understand our immediate and more distant environment. This invariably means understanding as much as possible about the materials that surround us in our everyday lives, ultimately to improve the human condition.
As for what that means for wood and forests, I believe that a thorough understanding of the wood material and how forest ecosystems function will allow us to optimize how wood is used and to manage forest wood production to guarantee certain levels of quality and quantity for future generations, while at the same time limiting carbon emissions driving the phenomenon of global warming.
Advice for young researchers?
The activity of conducting research is mainly organized around 3 moments: designing the subject (characterizing the problem, identifying the assumptions, choosing the method), collecting the data, and validating the data for processing and analysis.
Young researchers (specifically PhD candidates) are generally provided with a pre-selected subject for which they then work on collecting data and validating for analysis or end-use. This kind of work often requires using specific materials or equipment (which can vary in complexity and availability, accessibility) — which means learning how to use these tools; it also means acquiring sound scientific knowledge to be able to fully explore the subject in whatever direction the work progresses; if the subject is interdisciplinary, it will no doubt involve one or several collaborative phases with other team members, or other labs; and it requires a certain understanding of how research projects are financed to ensure future projects or a future position.
My advice might be to try to be as ready as possible with the full range of skills this job calls for — personal initiative, organization, motivation, intellectual curiosity, patience, perseverance, and maybe most importantly, team spirit which will help combat the inevitable moments of doubt and uncertainty every researcher experiences.
Could you comment on the idea of collaboration in science? How has that played a roe in your most recent work?
Collaboration definitely plays a part in my work — my current research topic is the result of collaborative work between two joint research units, LERMAB and LERFOB. In practical terms, the LERMAB unit provides expertise about wood preservation procedures, and specialized expertise in wood thermal-treatment which is the result of extensive work on chemically analyzing wood and developing new methods for preserving wood. As a complement, the LERFOB unit provides expertise in forestry practices and the impacts these practices have on the growth and formation of wood — thanks to its specialized team working on wood quality.
Having access to this comprehensive range of skills and expertise allowed me to move forward with my own work by conducting a series of heat treatment experiments in the LERMAB laboratories, specifically on European oak (Quercus petraea L.) and fir (Abies alba) provided by the LERFOB unit along with stand density studies before and after treatment by X-ray scanner and micro-densitometer (located on site at the INRA Nancy-Lorraine Center in Champenoux). Further, and importantly, both teams contributed to the scientific development of my research by interpreting the results.
And lastly, where do you hope your science will lead you in the future (in the short or long term)?
In the short term, I still have to write my thesis and afterwards, pass my thesis defense. My current contract will go through October 2016. I would really like to continue working on research focused on the thermal transformation of wood and to study in further detail the mechanisms governing the law of thermal degredation of wood and its constituents (cellulose, helicellulose, lignin, extractives). The goal being to make it possible to predict the phenomenon associated with mass loss due to thermal degredation of wood components, which would contribute to developing more refined methods for tracking treatment cycles to ensure overall quality control of the final product. All of this will depend on whether or not I find a post-doctoral position in France or abroad. To open up possible options, I am considering other avenues including, for example, energy recovery from biomass by gasification. Whatever the future holds for me, I am staying optimisitc!
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