By Sherri Taylor,
Journal News Editor

"Louisiana is sitting on a gold mine," said Dr. George Grozdits, research associate at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston on Friday, December 11 speaking of southern pine timber. "Our job is to make certain that we get the best possible use of southern pine lumber."

Dr. Grozdits explained that since Southern pine can be treated while many other woods can't, that is a great advantage for industry here.

Dr. Grozdits works in the forestry research center at the University where his project involves juvenile wood in trees. Around the crowded lab, hundreds of tiny jars filled with pink liquid are stored, boxed and stacked upon one another after being tested by the staff. Others small bottles await their turn at the laboratory testing.

Grozdit has worked in Ruston since 1992. Behind him he has a wide base of experience both in plywood mills and doing research in this country as well as in Canada.

He made his way to North America from Hungary during the revolution of 1956. Grozdits was actually a forestry student in Hungary at a college on the border with Austria. When the conflict over Soviet occupation began, a large majority of those in his school, from janitors to students and professors, took the opportunity to remove themselves from the war-torn area and the subsequent crack down by Communist forces of the Soviet Union.

"We were lucky," Grozdit admits. One of the professors suggested the entire student body remain together. Two hundred and twenty students found their way to British Columbia, and joined a forestry school that already had 300 students, nearly doubling the enrollment.

"When all those forestry students graduated, there weren't enough jobs," Grozdits explained. "That meant a large number went on to graduate school." More than 20 of those original students obtained their Ph.D.s.

Dr. Grozdit said they were lucky in another way as immigrants. Although they didn't speak English, they had a long time to learn because they were all together and their professors were also learning the language. For the next two years, they studied the new language together.

"I still can't speak English," Dr. Grozdits said with a wide shrug of his shoulders. "That's no surprise since I couldn't speak my native language either."

He remembers that early on, he and his fellow students would often go to American movies twice, just to get the words right.

"And we still argued about what they were saying," he told me.

Dr. Grozdits didn't complete his doctorate until 1971 in Virginia, where he also met his wife. During the intervening years, he gained experience in plywood mills.

"That has given me an appreciation for the ones who do their jobs in mills," Dr. Grozdits said. Those who peel pine into veneer for plywood have a much more difficult job than those who use cypress or cedar, he said.

"Anyone can peel cedar," Grozdits said. "Those who make plywood from pine need professional ability to get the job done."

Over the years, he has seen tremendous improvements in the forest industry. The work he participates in today, lead by Dr. Mark Gibson involves taking a native tree in the forest, dissecting it and evaluating its fiber contents.

Participating loggers cut down a tree for them. Dr. Grozdits and Dr. Gibson take out slices from each eight feet, bring each slice of wood into the lab and there make tests to determine density, fiber lengths and rate of growth. These findings are vitally important for the industry where growing trees for a shorter harvesting cycle but without sacrificing quality is so important.

Their job is to examine where juvenile wood exists in each tree. There are different uses for juvenile wood and for mature wood which surrounds it. Genetically improved trees have been bred to mature for quicker harvesting. Since juvenile wood is the major component in the tree for the first 12-14 years, it tends be more prevalent in those trees. It's imperative that modern processes be designed to know just where that wood is and how to utilize it in an advantageous manner.

"We take the tree apart from top to bottom, from bark to pith," Grozdit said.

The lab is also doing experiments with new forms of glue used in plywood and similar products.

"This is a most wonderful place to do this research," said Dr. Grozdit. "One reason is because there are so many mills right around us here."

In April of 2004, he and Dr. Gibson will speak at the Oklahoma State University Wood Utilization Workshop there.

"Last year we had 300 people in attendance," Dr. Grozdit said. "We need to plan something like that in this area."

As for the future, Dr. Grozdit wants to see southern pine used in the most profitable manner and that's the focus of the work he does each day. He and the others at Louisiana Tech Department of Forestry hope for a day when U.S. southern pine is the only major product for sale at such places as Home Depot and other discount lumber yards, rather than materials from Canada and other countries.

Back