Biography
Peter Matzka is a native Oregonian, born and raised in Portland. He attended Oregon State where he obtained a B.S. in Forest Engineering, M.S. in Logging Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Harvesting with a minor in Forest Science. During this time he worked 4 seasons as a wildland firefighter with the Oregon Department of Forestry, 3 seasons as a tree planter and reforestation technician, 1 year in private consulting, and 6 years conducting forest operations research across the state. He left OSU for Humboldt State University (located on the North Coast of California) where he was an Assistant Professor in Forest Operations for 5 years, and then took a position in the private timber industry. After spending a year in industry, Peter and his family relocated to his wife’s home town, Silverton Oregon. In Silverton he worked for 6 years as a Contract Forest Educator with the Oregon Forest Resources Institute where he led the Careers in Forestry program and assisted OFRI’s efforts at the Rediscovery Forest. Now based out of the Hopkins Demonstration Forest (since 2014), Peter serves as the Program Coordinator for educational outreach and public engagement serving Clackamas County and surrounding areas. He is also the State Advisor and Co-founder of the Oregon Future Natural Resource Leaders a statewide, high school career technical student leadership organization.
