Mr Marcus Yates

Biography

As Site Technician, Marcus is responsible for supporting day to day operations, in addition to maintaining and developing the Samford Ecological Research Facility (SERF), a 51 hectare forested property located 25 minutes north west of QUT's Gardens Point campus.  SERF offers researchers, educators and visitors access to 38 hectares of remnant Dry Schlerophyll Forest, 3 hectares of remnant Gallery Rainforest, 10 hectares of pasture, Barracks accommodation, screenhouses, monitoring installations and access to environment data gathered from infrastructure installed on the property.

Prior to his QUT position, Marcus completed an Advanced Diploma in Horticultural Practices and undertook studies in the Bachelor of Environmental Science at Griffith University. He gained employment as Field Manager for local legend, Jack Mitchell, founder of Mitchell’s Forest Farming Systems, and co-owned Sustainable Forest Systems, a private enterprise to assist landowners with property regeneration. Both businesses established many successful harvestable Queensland cabinet timber plantations as well as revegetation projects on private and local government land along the East Coast of Queensland and Northern NSW, and many within the Samford Valley.

Marcus has lived and worked in the Samford Valley since 1992, where he married and raised his three children. Currently residing at Ocean View, his position at SERF enables him to continue his passion for Forest Management and assisting with innovative research projects that bring hope in solving our environmental challenges.