2025 Summer Extension Experience with Andrew Goben: Exploring the Mass Timber Market and Its Role in the Economy

Project Overview

This summer, I mentored Andrew Goben, a senior in Sustainable Biomaterials, through an extension-focused research initiative examining the mass timber market and its economic implications. Our goal was to produce a scientific literature-based resource that could inform wood products marketing strategies and support my extension workshop programming.

Andrew’s work centered on understanding how mass timber—particularly engineered wood products like cross-laminated timber/CLT—intersects with market dynamics, cost structures, and broader economic trends.

Using the Web of Science database, we conducted a targeted search with the keywords: "mass timber" OR "laminated timber" (Topic) AND econom OR cost OR market (Topic), yielded 827 academic papers. Over the summer, Andrew reviewed all of them to extract relevant insights and build a curated database. His analysis focused on identifying themes such as market adoption barriers, cost competitiveness, policy incentives, and regional economic impacts of mass timber.

Extension Experience Highlights

Andrew’s experience was deeply embedded in extension principles, including:

• Applied research synthesis: transforming academic literature into actionable insights for industry and outreach audiences
• Stakeholder engagement: attending the Virginia Loggers Association meeting (Figure 1), where he informally shared preliminary findings and received feedback from professionals in the field
• Collaborative learning: working with my PhD student, Galit Gatut Prakosa, to refine communication strategies for presenting technical findings to non-academic audiences. We aim to present at VT’s Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium.
• Resource validation: meeting with Virginia Tech librarians to confirm the robustness of our search methodology and ensure replicability.

These experiences helped Andrew understand the real-world relevance of academic research and how extension serves as a bridge between scholarship and industry practice.

Student’s Future Plans

Andrew is considering graduate studies in sustainable wood products and is particularly interested in roles that combine technical expertise with economic development and stakeholder engagement. His summer experience has reinforced his interest in market analysis and policy-driven innovation in the wood products sector.

Advisor Reflections

This was a highly valuable use of my time and resources. Andrew’s contributions directly supported my extension programming and helped advance our understanding of the mass timber market. His work ethic, analytical skills, and ability to synthesize complex information were exceptional.

I strongly recommend continuing funding for these types of student-led extension experiences. They not only support faculty outreach but also cultivate future professionals who understand both the technical and economic dimensions of sustainable materials. If any changes are considered, I would suggest hosting a formal presentation or poster session at the end of the summer to showcase student work.

Overall, Andrew’s experience exemplifies the power of extension to connect students with meaningful, market-relevant work that benefits both academic and industry.

Advisor Reflections, part 2

Together, Andrew and I explored the evolving mass timber market, reviewing over 800 academic papers to build a curated database on themes such as product adoption, policy incentives, cost dynamics, and stakeholder engagement. But the real impact went far beyond the data. What I learned is mentorship is a two-way street, Andrew’s curiosity challenged me to rethink how we translate research into action. Also, extension experiences can empower students to see their work as part of a larger movement toward sustainable value creation.

Andrew’s contributions laid the groundwork for a potential manuscript submission, such as to Society of Wood Science and Technology's BioProducts Business Special Issue: Scaling Up Innovation for Sustainable Value Creation.

We’re excited to keep building on this momentum, and I encourage others working in sustainable biomaterials, forest sector innovation, or stakeholder-driven research to consider mentoring too!