"Transliteration" in and of itself is not any sort of dismissal of "gopher" or "gofer." That's the way Hebrew words are dealt with in other languages, and how words in other languages are dealt with in Hebrew.
The fact remains that the intended meaning of the word remains unclear to Hebrew scholars of the modern era.
It's been thought to mean any number of species of tree, and so it's reasonable to name species known to be used in shipbuilding. Cypress was and is treasured because it doesn't rot. But, that's speculation.
It's also thought to be a reference to a means of processing or forming wood for shipbuilding. Squared beams is one such translation. Laminated wood is another.
One thing it's not, is unpitched knotty pine lap siding, though. Not seaworthy at all. It would sink.
And of course the needs of a vessel that is under power and /or steered are different from one that just needs to stay afloat for a relatively short period of time.
Still the fellow has accomplished quite a feat and helped to visualize somewhat the scale of what the Noah and family built.
Strongs says “gofer” is apparantly cypress..