Careers

Phoebe Milne has packed a lot into her short career, experiencing everything on offer and embracing opportunities as they present themselves.

She graduated with a Bachelor of Forestry Science with First Class Honours from Canterbury University in 2021 and joined Rayonier Matariki Forests as a graduate forester in Hawke’s Bay the following year.

“Being a part of RMF’s graduate programme has been a real bonus,” says Phoebe. “It’s been a varied and interesting role covering different operations, including forestry, roading and harvesting, allowing me to establish a holistic understanding of the business of forestry. I knew immediately I had made the right career choice,” says Phoebe.

When the Hawke’s Bay was devastated by Cyclone Gabrielle in February, Phoebe was on the ground and able to lend a hand to the immense cleanup efforts.

“The community really came together and the forestry industry rallied and collaborated to better understand the situation and put in action a woody debris response plan. Although extremely tough, this was quite unlike anything else I had ever experienced.”

Phoebe really enjoyed her graduate role spending a lot of time in the forests and meeting and working with a diverse group of people.

A few months later opportunity knocked and she was offered her current position of Forest Planner, based in Auckland. While it is completely different to her previous outdoor-based role, she is delighted to experience yet another side of forestry.

“This role sees me, more often than not, behind a desk with only the occasional forest visit. But it’s like having a bird’s eye view of the business. I interact with all the regions and get insights into how their operations differ.

“At this stage in my career it’s desirable to have as many different experiences as possible and RMF has provided me with the opportunity to do that,” says Phoebe.

In the Forest Planner role Phoebe has responsibility for understanding and reporting forest growth and how much wood will be available for harvest. In conjunction with regional staff, she then determines how much to harvest, from which forests and when to schedule this for. This requires an understanding of the drivers of forest productivity and profitability, like markets, environmental constraints and logging crew capacities. “It is fascinating learning what drives the business and being able to look at it from an estate level.”

The forestry sector has always been a part of Phoebe’s life. Her father is a forest consultant and her parents own and manage a forestry nursery in Canterbury. Growing up, she would often tag along on her father’s visits to clients and enjoyed seeing some beautiful countryside and meeting amazing people.

So when it came time to choose a career Phoebe already knew that the forestry industry was full of options. “I think there is a job in forestry to suit everyone. The possibilities are endless… and there’s nothing better than being in a forest on a good day.”

Bevan decided very early in life that forestry was for him.

Bevan’s father started working in forestry at the age of 14 and now, at 70, is still enjoying the job and the lifestyle.

So when it came time to find a school holiday job in his home region of Northland, the forestry door was wide open. Bevan worked as part of a silviculture crew and tree planting and just loved being outside in nature. He quickly realised that it not only paid a whole lot better than other school holiday jobs but there was a great professional career waiting for him.

Bevan obtained a Bachelor of Forestry Science at Canterbury University and first went logging in North Canterbury while he saved for an extended European holiday. On his return to New Zealand he relocated to Hawke’s Bay and took up a role as graduate forester before moving into a harvest planning engineer role for three years.

Home turf started to call and Bevan returned to Northland and took up the Harvest Operations Coordinator role at Rayonier Matariki Forests. A year later, the Harvest Planner role became available and Bevan jumped at it but continued to transition out of his Coordinator role for a year, while a replacement was found.

“The people are just awesome to work with – both my immediate RMF team and contractors,” says Bevan.  “Everyone is so connected and engaged – there is no conversation you can’t have. The focus is always on how to do things better. In Northland we deal with small catchments and challenging terrain, that requires specialist management. It makes for an inspiring and dynamic day, every day.”

In his spare time Bevan enjoys the glorious Northland beaches, the diving and the fishing.

“It’s great to be back on home soil and working for a progressive and caring company. Forestry is not an ‘on the tools job’ that it has previously been perceived as. It offers such diverse career paths, requiring a lot of different skills. It pays well and provides a great lifestyle choice,” says Bevan.

“There is a big future for forestry in New Zealand with a lot of new roles yet to be created as the sector changes and evolves..”