PETER M.A. TIGERSTEDT (born 1936) holds a M.Sc. in Forestry (Silviculture), and a Ph.D. in Genetics (Population and Quantitative Genetics) from the University of Helsinki, Finland. During the period from 1970-99 he has been a full professor and chairman of the Department of Plant and Forest Tree Breeding at the University of Helsinki. During this time he has also held a variety of external posts, including 1972-73: Visiting professor (Tree breeding) University of Wisconsin; 1978: Visiting scientist (Plant physiology) Chinese Academy of Science; 1979-80: Visiting professor (Plant genetics) University of California, Davis; 1972-90: Chairman Finnish Gene Bank committee; 1985-91: Board of Trustees  International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, India; 1989-95: President European Association for Research on Plant Breeding; 1993-97: Member of the Technical Advisory Committee to the Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research.

Dr. Tigerstadt has undertaken several R&D reviews in the fields of  forestry, agriculture, horticulture, ecological genetics and genetic resources in Asia, Europe and Africa. His strengths are in silviculture, plant breeding, genetic resources in forestry and agriculture and generally in developing world issues within agriculture, horticulture and forestry. He speaks and writes four languages fluently (English, German, Finnish, Swedish), and has published more than 200 miscellaneous papers. He has personally been involved in the management of a family farm and forestry enterprise for over 30 years.

During his emeritus years he has become increasingly interested in the management, conservation and the enhancement of genetic resources for future use and also in the management and conservation of human cultural heritage. He is presently the vice-chairman of the Finnish National Cultural Heritage Trust and chairman of its landscaping chapter.

Selected Publications

Hill, J, Becker, HC, Tigerstedt PMA, 1998. Quantitative and Ecological Aspects of Plant Breeding. Chapman & Hall, 350pp.

Kundu, SK and Tigerstedt, PMA, 1998. Variation in net photosynthesis, stomatal characteristics, leaf area and whole-plant phytomass production among ten provenances of neem (Azadirachta indica). Tree Physiology 19: 47-52.

Pulkkinen, Rautio, Haapanen, Alen, Stener, Beuker and Tigerstedt, 2001. Genetic control of wood physicochemical properties, growth and phenology in hybrid aspen clones. Canadian Journal of Forestry Research 31: 1348-1356.

Tang, X and Tigerstedt, PMA, 2001. Inheritance of flowering, maturity, yield and hardiness of sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides). J. Amer. Soc. Hort. 126(6):744-749.

Tigerstedt, PMA and Niskanen, A-M, 2002. Plant Cell and Tissue Culture Techniques Used in Plant Breeding. In: Plant Biotechnology and Transgenic Plants. Marcel Dekker, Inc. New-York: 59-76.