The Institute of Wood Science (IWSc) was incorporated in 1955 as a professional body for the timber industries and allied professions in the United Kingdom. In 2009 it merged with the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3), and became known as The Wood Technology Society. Following restructuring and rebranding of the IOM3 it changed its name to the Wood Technology Group in 2021. I have been a board member since 2011 and Fellow (FIMMM) since 2015.

You can follow current activity on the Linkedin group.

For more history of the IWSc see: True A, Ridley-Ellis D, Spear M, Ansell MP. The Presidents of the Institute  of Wood Science. International Wood Products Journal. 2024;15(2-4):139-151. doi:10.1177/20426445241246844

There is more history at https://blogs.napier.ac.uk/cwst/wtg/

Here is an archive of past communications.

IWSc newsletters

This list is incomplete

1989 March / 1989 September / 1990 March / 1990 September / 1991 March / 1991 September / 1992 March / 1992 September / 1993 March / 1993 September / 1994 March / 1994 September / 1995 March / 1995 September / 1996 March / 1996 September / 1997 March / 1997 October / 1998 March / 1998 Autumn / 1999 Spring

Woodfocus (The IWSc magazine)

#01 1999 Autumn / #02 2000 Spring / #03 2000 Autumn / #04 2001 Spring / #05 2001 Autumn / #06 2002 Spring / #07 2002 Autumn / #08 2003 Spring / #09 2003 Autumn / #10 2004 Spring / #11 2004 Autumn / #12 2005 Spring / #13 2005 Autumn / #14 2006 Spring / #15 2006 Autumn / #16 2007 Spring / #17 2007 Autumn

Talking Timber (a regular item in the Timber Trades Journal)

#000 2016 January : Society support (TTJ Talking Timber forerunner)
#001 2016 April : Timber prices (Andrew True)
#002 2016 May : Wood: under-priced and undervalued? (Andrew True)
#003 2016 June : Separating fiction from fact (Jim Coulson)
#004 2016 July : Wood and water (John Park)
#005 2016 July : Wood science – why does it matter? (John Park)
#006 2016 September : The “science” of buying and selling (Andrew True)
#007 2016 October : Time to increase visibility (Gervais Sawyer)
#008 2016 November : Education, education, education (Jim Coulson)
#009 2016 December : The appliance of festive science (John Park)
#010 2017 January : Modifying wood (Graham Ormondroyd)
#011 2017 February : Taking care (James Berry)
#012 2017 March : Checking your IDs (Gervais Sawyer)
#013 2017 April : Wood-plastic composites (Morwenna Spear)
#014 2017 May : When wood science is used for the wrong reason! (John Park)
#015 2017 June : Taking timber construction further (Martin Ansell)
#016 2017 July : Making the grade in timber grading (Dan Ridley-Ellis)
#017 2017 August : It’s not rocket science (John Park)
#018 2017 September : Agents never die (Andrew True)
#019 2017 October : The vexed relationship between wood and wool (John Park)
#020 2017 November : Is wood “fireproof”? (Jim Coulson)
#021 2017 December : Woodfuel debate heats up (Graham Ormondroyd)
#022 2018 January : Is wood “fireproof”? Part 2 (Jim Coulson)
#023 2018 February : It’s an ill wind… (Andrew True)
#024 2018 March : Putting the squeeze on wood (Martin Ansell)
#025 2018 April : This wood stuff – it’s not just about buying and selling (Andrew True)
#026 2018 May : Wood in water: the ultimate challenge (Gervais Sawyer)
#027 2018 June : Our unsung heroes (Andrew True)
#028 2018 July : How not to be twisted (Mike Jarvis) [not Mark, that is a typo]
#029 2018 August : The IWSc is dead … long live the WTS (John Park)
#030 2018 September : Wood is not the issue (John Park)
#031 2018 October : Blue stain – a problem or not (Andrew True)
#032 2018 November : Waste not, want not (Andy Hill)
#033 2018 December : How lovely are they branches (Dan Ridley-Ellis)
#034 2019 January : Visible and invisible wood (Morwenna Spear)
#035 2019 February : What exactly are you dealing in? (John Park)
#036 2019 March : What has wood science done for us? (Martin Ansell)
#037 2019 April : Wood science pays (John Park)
#038 2019 May : No such thing as “WBP” plywood (Jim Coulson)
#039 2019 June : Burning bright (Andrew True)
#040 2019 July : In the face of aggression (Iain Thew)
#041 2019 August : Don’t blame the wood (John Park)
#042 2019 September : The plywood saga part 2 (John Park)
#043 2019 October : The plywood saga… continued (John Park)
#044 2019 November : Standards life (Vic Kearley)
#045 2019 December : The new species of the season (Morwenna Spear)
#046 2020 January : Can’t see the wood for the trees! (John Park)
#047 2020 February : Wood, science and strength (John Park)
#048 2020 March : The art and science of the value of wood (Andrew True)
#049 2020 April : Don’t keep it to yourself! (John Park)
#050 2020 May-June : Something in the air (Andrew True)
#051 2020 July-August : Class-y stuff, timber (John Park)
#052 2020 September-October : Juvenile delinquency in trees (John Park)
#053 2020 November-December : Innovation imperatives (Graham Ormondroyd)
#054 2021 January-February : How others see you (Gervais Sawyer)
#055 2021 March-April : Plywood revisited (John Park)
#056 2021 May-June : Words from wood (Andrew True)
#057 2021 July-August : The True value of wood 2021 (Andrew True)
#058 2021 September-October : Softwood… respect! (John Park)
#059 2021 November-December : Marlon Brando understood (John Park)
#060 2022 January-February : Mysteries new and old (Morwenna Spear)
#061 2022 March-April : In search of freedom (John Park)
#062 2022 May-June : Superheroes at work (Marlene Cramer)
#063 2022 July-August : Consider timber to tackle carbon emissions (Tabitha Binding)
#064 2022 September-October : Current challenges for timber engineers (Matt Caldwell and Natasha Watson)
#065 2022 November-December : Your waste could be treasure for schools (Gervais Sawyer)
#066 2023 January-February : Circular economy of timber buildings (Andrew Shea and Eleni Toumpanaki)
#067 2023 March-April : Dendrochronology reveals history of heritage buildings (Martin Bridge)
#068 2023 May-June : New chair for IOM3 Wood Technology Group (Andrew True)
#069 2023 July-August : Combustibility challenge (Daniel Brandon)
#070 2023 September-October: Going local (Iain Thew)
#071 2023 November-December : “Lavers’ labours last” (Dan Ridley-Ellis)
#072 2024 January-February : The “re-emergent” properties of wood (Parvez Alam)
#073 2024 March-April : Coppice construction (George Fereday)
#074 2024 May-June : The mysteries of ancient timber (Jonathan Foyle)
#075 2024 July-August : A living lab approach (Tim Belden)
#076 2024 September-October : Trees, traffic and pollution (Martin Ansell)
#077 2024 November-December : Celebrations and a Christmas wish (Andrew True)
#078 2025 January-February : Tree bark helps to mitigate global warming (Martin Ansell)
#079 2025 March-April : A win-win for sustainability (Tabitha Binding)
#080 2025 May-June : Good reasons for nostalgia (Morwenna Spear)
#081 2025 July-August : The four Cs (Andrew True)
#082 2025 September-October : Urban tree trails (Martin Ansell)
#083 2025 November-December : Reuse of structural timber (Marlene Cramer)

Journal

The official journal is the International Wood Products Journal https://journals.sagepub.com/home/IWP
Its forerunner was the Journal of the Institute of Wood Science. For old documents you can try https://iom3.captureweb.co.uk/, which is part of the IOM3 library