Women in Wood: New Zealand to Ontario

Kia ora! My name is Phoebe, and I am a Woman in Wood.

I am a forester from New Zealand, in Ontario as part of the Young Professional Foresters Exchange Program. This industry initiative is designed to foster international forestry connections and is facilitated by the Institutes of Forestry in New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. As a participant, I have spent March through May working with the Ontario Woodlot Association (OWA), contributing to their current projects, engaging with woodlot owners around Southern Ontario and learning about what makes the forestry industry tick in this part of the world.

Back home, I work in a technical role at Rayonier Matariki Forests. My focus is on estate modelling, growth and yield systems, harvest reconciliations and forest valuation. Essentially, anything and everything relating to projecting harvest volumes from our estate of ~120,000 hectares of plantation Pinus radiata.

Like in Ontario, women are underrepresented in the forestry workforce in New Zealand, and this is especially notable across operational and leadership positions.

New Zealand’s sister organization to Women in Wood is Wāhine in Forestry. Wāhine means woman in Māori. Like Women in Wood, this initiative was founded to support and empower women in forestry.

I attended Wāhine in Forestry’s inaugural conference in 2023, and it remains one of the most impactful professional events I’ve attended. Unlike traditional conferences, this prioritized connection, through workshop sessions, sharing experiences and hearing tips on dealing with tough situations in the workplace. Further, the time between sessions was purposely extended, allowing real conversations to be had and relationships to be built.

Maria McKenzie was a speaker who left a lasting impression. She opened with a skit that demonstrated the difference between entering a room with and without confidence. The following takeaways from this have stuck with me and become a personal mantra as I have navigated the early years of my forestry career.

1. Own your space. Walk into a room with confidence, shoulders back, purposeful stride. Don’t wait for someone to approach you (noting men are often more comfortable approaching other men than women), extend your hand, introduce yourself, and set the tone.

   
   

2. Use your voice. Speak with conviction. Avoid the upward inflection that makes statements sound like questions. Trust your knowledge.

   
   

3. Practice this. Confidence and outwardly backing yourself (even if it’s rehearsed to start with) is often a crucial step to earning the confidence of others.

   
   

To all the Women in Wood out there, as the Wāhine in Forestry mantra goes, “we are rare, we are brave.” Our presence matters, our voice matters and together we’re shaping a more inclusive and resilient forestry future.

I really enjoyed the opportunity to connect with many of you while I was in the province this spring, thanks so much for having me!

Phoebe Milne

To learn more about the incredible work being done to support women in forestry in New Zealand, visit Wahine in Forestry.