Dr John Morgan has been appointed head of the Forestry Commission’s Plant Health Service.
He was previously head of the Commission’s Plant & Seed Supply business unit for 13 years, overseeing the production and supply of more than 300 million forestry plants from the Commission’s tree nurseries in that time.
Dr Morgan holds a PhD in Forestry and a BSc in Ecological Science from Edinburgh University, and has worked in a variety of research, advisory, management, policy and technical support roles during his 20-year career with the Commission. Areas of responsibility have included forest management, harvesting and marketing, conservation, recreation management, forest restocking standards, legislation and use of pesticides, Christmas tree production and wildlife management. He has also published research reports and bulletins.
Dr Morgan succeeds Roddie Burgess, who has retired after leading the Plant Health Service for 14 years.
One of the final events of Mr Burgess’s career was receiving an honour from the UN Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO). He was presented with a plaque and Certificate of Excellence in recognition of his decade of work under the FAO umbrella and his contribution to the FAO’s new Guide to implementation of phytosanitary standards in forestry, which was published just before he retired.
