THE STORY

Dr. Lee W. McKnight’s expertise in blockchain technology provides a strong foundation for its application in tracking timber supply chains, ensuring transparency and integrity from forest to market. By leveraging blockchain’s immutable ledger, every stage of the timber lifecycle, harvesting, transportation, processing, and sale, can be securely recorded, reducing fraud and preventing illegal logging. This technology enhances the credibility of sustainability certifications and voluntary carbon markets by verifying that timber comes from legal, responsibly managed sources. By eliminating counterfeit credits and unauthorized deforestation, blockchain can foster greater trust among buyers, regulators, and environmental organizations. Dr. McKnight’s work in blockchain management along with the Syracuse University's Dynamic Sustainability Lab could serve as a blueprint for implementing decentralized tracking systems that improve accountability and sustainability in the global timber industry.