A professional who conducts research to determine composition, properties, behavior, utilization, development, treatments, and processing methods of wood and wood products. Responsibilities include:

• Analyzes physical, chemical, and biological properties of wood.
• Studies methods of curing wood to determine best and most economical procedure.
• Develops and improves methods of seasoning, preservation, and treating wood with substances to increase resistance to wear, fire, fungi, insects, and marine borers.
• Conducts tests to determine ability of wood adhesives to withstand water, oil penetration, temperature extremes, and stability, strength, hardness and crystallinity of wood under variety of conditions.
• Evaluates and improves effectiveness of industrial equipment and production processes.
• Investigates processes for converting wood into commodities, such as alcohol, veneer, plywood, wood plastics, and other uses.
• Determines best type of wood for specific application, and investigates methods of turning waste wood materials into useful products.
• May specialize in research, quality control, marketing and sales, materials engineering, management or administration, manufacturing, production, or process development.