You are here: FPL Home
/ Information
/ Employees Directory
/ Profile
![]() Grant T. Kirker | Grant T. KirkerDurability and Wood Protection ResearchUnit: FPL-4723 Research Forest Products Technologist One Gifford pinchot Drive Madison, WI United States 53726 Phone: 608-231-9256 grant.kirker@usda.gov |
- Research
Narratives - Education &
Experiences - Organizations &
Awards - Products &
Publications - Research
Highlights - Lab Notes
-
Research Interest
- Microbial Community Dynamics of Wood Decay
- Microbial Degradation of Wood Preservatives
- Termite-Fungal Interactions
- Naturally Durable Wood Species
Education
- Mississippi State University, MS, Ph.D. Forest Products , 2008
- Mississippi State University, MS, M.S. Entomology (minor=Plant Pathology) , 2004
- Mississippi State University, MS, B.S. Agricultural Pest Management , 2001
Professional Organizations
- ASTM International, Chair Of Subcommittee D07.06 (2015 - Current)
- American Wood Protection Association, Chair Of Committee P6 (Methods For The Evaluation Of Wood Preservatives) (2014 - Current)
- Entomological Society of America, Member
- Forest Products Society (FPS), Member
- Society of Wood Science and Technology (SWST), Member
- International Research Group on Wood Protection, Member
Below are the 90 US Forest Service publications sorted by year. You may re-sort the list by: Title, Date Posted, Category, Publication or Year.
Publication Year: 2020 | |
![]() Highlight ID: 1653 | Guide for Selection and Use of
Pressure-Treated Wood This report describes and provides guidance for selection and use of pressure-treated wood for specific applications. ... |
![]() Highlight ID: 1673 | Investigating the Role of
Moisture in Durability of Acetylated Wood FPL researchers join international effort to investigate fungal decay resistance of acetylated wood ... |
![]() Highlight ID: 1664 | Role of leaf litter in above
ground wood decay FPL researchers in Wood Durability and Protection investigate the contributions of leaf litter accumulation to the decay of wood in above ground exposure. ... |
Publication Year: 2019 | |
![]() Highlight ID: 1332 | Going Big with Mass Timber Protection Researchers are leading efforts to better understand mass timber as a next generation building material and provide safe effective protection strategies to ensure public safety and responsible forest stewardship. ... |
Publication Year: 2018 | |
![]() Highlight ID: 1302 | Examination of Historic National Park System Ship Eureka Researchers collaborated with the National Park Service (NPS) to examine a historic ship preserved at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. ... |
Publication Year: 2017 | |
![]() Highlight ID: 1298 | Effective utilization of naturally durable wood biomass offers an overlooked source of potential wood protectants Forest Service researchers at the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisc., are evaluating extractives as potential next-generation wood preservatives. This bio-rational approach offers environmentally friendly alternatives to wood preservatives ... |
Publication Year: 2012 | |
![]() Highlight ID: 7 | Natural Wood Durability Studied to Estimate Wood's Performance Naturally occurring chemicals in some wood species make them more durable against deterioration ... |
Title | Date Posted |
---|---|
![]()
Thanks to Grant Kirker for writing this article spotlighting how homeowner's can better maintain their wood decks. Kirker is a Research Forest Products Technologist at FPL in the Durability and Wood Protection Research unit.
The experimental test block setup used to examine the role of accum... | 05-13-2022 |
![]()
A tenacious fungus, a conspiracy theory, a historic ship, a unique gift from Princeton University, and two Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) researchers, Grant Kirker and Samuel Zelinka, collaborating with researchers from Germany and Canada all converged in the right order of events to produce some... | 06-26-2020 |
![]()
There was nothing earth-shattering found—though some hypotheses were discarded and new research launching points were identified. And that’s extremely important because science, research and development are not linear. Sometimes there isn’t a “Eureka!” moment, just insatiable curiosity, g... | 05-04-2020 |
![]()
Imagine a trail dipping below a steep valley edge surrounded by lush, verdant greens. A brook chatters below and in its soft watery tones invites hikers to a moment of relaxation and communion. The breeze is soft and sweet as the leaf canopy dances in unison overhead. It is idyllic and accessib... | 03-25-2020 |
![]() The simple soil bottle presents an extremely useful tool for predicting performance of preservative treated, modified or naturally durable woods. The methodology was developed in the 1940s exclusively for evaluating wood preservatives against wood decay fungi. It has been adapted over several decade... | 06-07-2017 |
![]() It is truly impossible to divide the wealth and richness of America’s forest resources into two categories, but when evaluated in terms of natural durability, two distinct camps emerge: trees which yield naturally durable wood, and those that don’t. Naturally durable trees tend to produce their ... | 06-03-2015 |
![]() A new report has just been published: Wood Protection Research Council, Research Priorities 2013 | 09-11-2014 |
![]() Carol Clausen and her group are serious about wood as a sustainable and versatile building material. Here Amy Blodgett, Rachel Arango, and Bessie Woodword check soil block samples in their ongoing research... | 07-29-2014 |