Daniels, Lori

My research strives to advance fundamental scientific knowledge on forest dynamics, which is imperative for conserving and managing contemporary forests and adapting to global environmental change. My research characterizes how natural disturbances, humans and climate interact to drive temperate forest dynamics and resilience. It has produced three key contributions:

(1) My international collaborations demonstrate widespread tree mortality in North and South America, disentangling the relative impacts of drought, insects and pathogens.

(2) Many forests in the Canadian Cordillera are increasingly susceptible to wildfire due to complex interactions among fire suppression, land-use and climatic change.

(3) My novel forest reconstructions include tree-ring methods adapted to address aboriginal cultural uses and traditional management, largely overlooked by forest managers.

My enduring partnerships with local to national governments, environmental organizations, forest management companies, community forests, and First Nations have helped me translate these scientific advances to operational conservation, restoration and management policies and practices.

Awards

Henry C. Cowles Award for Excellence in Publication , Biogeography Specialty Group, Association of American Geographers 2005
Killam Teaching Award, Faculty of Arts, University of British Columbia 2007
Physical Geography Professor of the Year (2009-10, 2005-6, 2003-4), Geography Students Association, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia