Varhola, Andrés

My doctoral research project involved using remote sensing to evaluate the effects of canopy cover loss on snow dynamics in the interior of British Columbia.  More specifically, I linked Landsat and LiDAR data to characterize forest structure changes produced by the mountain pine beetle across a large watershed, where prototype ultrasonic range sensors were deployed to monitor snow accumulation and ablation. While the increased risk of flooding resulting from clearcutting due to more snow accumulation and faster melting has been well documented, I was able to estimate a suite of key canopy structure variables used for hydrologic modeling at a pixel-by-pixel level in the entire watershed.  This represented a major methodological improvement for hydrologic modeling, increasing our ability to more accurately predict the hydrologic impacts of widespread insect outbreaks.

I the past few years, I have been fully dedicated to teaching undergraduate courses about Forest Management, Statistics, Remote Sensing and Hydrology at UBC and SFU.  I am passionate about the implementation of innovative learning techniques, the creation of the best teaching materials with cutting-edge technological resources, and the inspirational lecturing seen among the best speakers of the world.  I wish to ultimately have a broad influence on improving education internationally at all levels of instruction.

Awards

National Best PhD Thesis – Canadian Remote Sensing Society 2013
Best PhD Thesis – Faculty of Forestry, UBC 2013
Killam Graduate Teaching Assistant Award – Faculty of Forestry, UBC 2009
Best Representative – Faculty of Forest Sciences, UACh 2004
Best historic GPA at graduation – Faculty of Forest Sciences, UACh 2001
Collaboration Award – Canadian Forest Service 2014