Applications & Solutions in Digital Forestry International Conference
Applications & Solutions in Digital Forestry International Conference
June 3-5, 2026
Purdue University | West Lafayette, Indiana
Join us for this one-of-a-kind event showcasing innovative tools, AI-powered solutions and their real-world applications in forestry.
Registration Closes may 22!
Space is limited, so register soon to attend.
Regular registration: $350
Student registration $250
Conference UPdates
conference approved for SAF continuing Forestry Education Credits
Earn 6.5 SAF CFE credits, Category 1.
We're pleased to announce that you can earn 6.5 Society of American Foresters (SAF) Continuing Forestry Education credits (CFEs) when you attend the conference. We will have a sign-in sheet at the registration table for those who wish to obtain the credits.
Have you booked your hotel yet?
Hotel rooms are still available at the Hilton Garden Inn. Use this Hilton Booking Link to get the discounted conference rate. Book soon before the room block is full. The conference rate expires May 20.
Click here for more hotel and travel information.
Featured conference speakers
Meet the experts delivering keynote and signature talks at this year's conference.
Keynote Speaker
Juha Hyyppa
Finnish Geospatial Research Institute, Department of Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry
Juha Hyyppä is Professor and Head of Department at the Finnish Geospatial Research Institute, which specializes in geodesy and geospatial information science and technology. Hyyppä's research interests include remote sensing of forests, mobile mapping/mobile laser scanning, drone remote sensing and AI data processing. He likes to use new disruptive technologies for new remote sensing applications, with forestry, road pavement quality, forest road quality and corridor mapping currently his major interests. He serves as vice-captain of the Finnish forestry flagship UNITE (2020-2028) and previously was director of the Centre of Excellence in Laser Scanning Research. Hyyppä earned his doctorate in electrical engineering from the Helsinki University of Technology (current Aalto university) and has published 600+ scientific papers; he has also co-founded several start-ups.
signature talks
Leslie Boby
Director, Southern Regional Extension Forestry, University of Georgia
As Southern Regional Extension Forestry director, Leslie Boby facilitates communication, collaboration and regional work across the southern forestry community, working with Extension foresters, state forestry agencies and other partners. Working as a networker means that she knows a little bit about a lot of forestry-related topics with a few key focus areas including forestry markets to prescribed fire and education of forestry professionals and landowners. She is the lead author of the Guidebook for Prescribed Burning in the Southern Region. Her background includes a Doctorate of Education in Adult Learning, Leadership & Organizational Development from the University of Georgia, a master's degree in forest ecology from the University of Florida and a bachelor's degree in plant biology from the University of Illinois.
David Coomes
Professor, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge
David Coomes is professor of forest ecology and conservation at the University of Cambridge and director of the Centre for Landscape Regeneration. His interests lie in evidence-based conservation and landscape restoration worldwide. His research combines large ecological datasets, high‑resolution remote sensing and AI to investigate how forests respond to logging, land‑use change and climate change, with an emphasis on biodiversity conservation and carbon dynamics. Coomes collaborates closely with computer scientists to develop systems for assessing carbon credits and advancing geospatial foundation models.
Paul Cooper
Chief Operating Officer, Arbor Day Foundation
Paul Cooper is Chief Operating Officer at the Arbor Day Foundation, where he helps define and execute the organization's strategy to increase the scale and predictability of impact. He joined the foundation more than five years ago, first serving as Chief Information Officer with a focus on modernizing technology, data stewardship and delivery capabilities. Today, he brings a cross-functional lens to operationalizing innovation—connecting emerging digital tools to real-world adoption through clear governance, practical change management and data-informed decision making.
John Couture
Associate Professor, Department of Entomology and Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University
John Couture is an associate professor in the departments of entomology and forestry and natural resources at Purdue University. His research focuses on plant and insect chemical ecology, vegetation spectroscopy and ecosystem monitoring. He integrates ecological data, plant physiology and hyperspectral remote sensing to understand how plants respond to environmental stress, including drought, pests and pathogens, with implications for forest health. His work emphasizes scaling plant trait responses from individuals to landscapes to improve productivity, resilience and sustainability. His research program is highly collaborative and combines field, laboratory and remote sensing approaches to advance precision agriculture and forest management.
Ayman Habib
Thomas A. Page Professor of Civil Engineering, Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering, Purdue University
Ayman Habib is the Thomas A. Page Professor at the Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering at Purdue University. He is also co-director of the Civil Engineering Center for Applications of UAS for a Sustainable Environment and associate director of Purdue's Institute of Digital Forestry. His research interests include the fields of terrestrial and aerial mobile mapping systems using photogrammetric and LiDAR remote sensing modalities, UAV-based 3D mapping, and integration of multi-modal, multi-platform and multi-temporal remote sensing data for applications in transportation, infrastructure monitoring, environmental protection, precision agriculture, digital forestry, resource management and archeology. Habib holds M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in photogrammetry from The Ohio State University.
Jinha Jung
Associate Professor, Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering, Purdue University
Jinha Jung received his PhD in Geomatics – Civil Engineering, specializing in Computational Science and Engineering, from Purdue University in 2011. He worked as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Purdue. Prior to joining Purdue as a faculty member, he served as a faculty member at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. Jung is noted for his work in 1) the development of UAS-based High Throughput Phenotyping system for agriculture applications, 2) developing algorithms to process UAS data for feature extraction, 3) data fusion of hyperspectral and full-waveform LiDAR data, 4) vegetation structural analysis using LiDAR data, 5) high-performance computing for advanced remote sensing algorithm development and 6) WebGIS software development using Free and Open Source Software (FOSS).
Frank Mastrobuono
Vice President of Business Development, greehill
Frank Mastrobuono is Vice President of Business Development at greehill brings 17 years of experience in forestry, natural resource management and technology-driven business development. His career has progressed from technical forestry roles into management and commercial leadership, giving him a practical understanding of both field operations and strategic implementation. For nearly a decade, Mastrobuono has worked at the intersection of forestry and remote sensing, helping organizations apply satellite, LiDAR, AI and geospatial analytics to improve how natural resources are measured, monitored and managed. He is passionate about advancing technology that supports better decision making, stronger operational efficiency and more sustainable outcomes for forests and urban natural assets.
Carlos alberto silva
Associate Professor of Quantitative Forest Science, University of Florida
Carlos Alberto Silva is an associate professor of quantitative forest science at the University of Florida, where his research focuses on advancing the understanding of forest ecosystem dynamics through the integration of remote sensing, artificial intelligence and quantitative analysis. His work leverages LiDAR data from terrestrial, airborne and satellite platforms (e.g., GEDI, ICESat-2), combined with optical and radar imagery, to quantify forest structure, monitor aboveground biomass, and assess the impacts of disturbances such as fire and hurricanes. Silva develops innovative statistical models and open-source tools, including rGEDI, TreeTop, rLiDAR, ForestGapR and ICESat2VegR, supporting scientists and land managers worldwide. He is actively involved in NASA’s Carbon Monitoring System and ICESat-2 Science Teams. He has also led multiple projects funded by NASA, the NSF and the USDA Forest Service.
Youngkeun Song
Professor, Graduate School of Environment, Seoul National University
Youngkeun Song is a professor at the Graduate School of Environment, Seoul National University, Republic of Korea, where he has been serving since 2015. He received his BS in Landscape Architecture from Seoul National University in 2005, and his MS (2008) and PhD (2012) in Environmental Management from Kyoto University, Japan. Song has led over 30 national and public research and development projects, published more than 70 peer-reviewed papers and holds over 20 patents. His research focuses on integrating advanced geospatial technologies such as LiDAR and remote sensing with environmental planning to address challenges in urban ecosystem services, conservation planning and ecological restoration.Ge Sun
Supervisory Research Hydrologist and Director of the Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center, US Forest Service
Ge Sun is Supervisory Research Hydrologist and director of the Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center at the U.S. Forest Service. Sun's research focuses on effects of forest management, wildland fires and urbanization on water quantity and quality using various research techniques including eddy flux towers, paired watershed experiments and integrated simulation modeling. Currently, he leads studies for improving the Forests to Faucet assessment tool that quantifies benefits of U.S. forest lands to drinking water supplies. He has published over 400 peer-reviewed journal papers on forest-water relations and global change. He is recipient of the U.S. Forest Service Chief’s Distinguished Science Award and the International Union of Forest Research Organization's Scientific Achievement Award. Sun holds a PhD in forest hydrology and watershed management from the University of Florida.
