Lead Faculty
Hélène Marcoux, RPF
MSFM Co-Director
Malcolm Knapp Research Forest Manager
helene.marcoux@ubc.ca
As the manager of the Malcolm Knapp Research Forest, I bring over 20 years of experience as an ecologist, Registered Professional Forester (RPF), post-secondary instructor, and “bush” worker. My journey into forestry began with 7 years of tree planting in BC, after which I earned a BSc in land reclamation and restoration (University of Alberta) and an MSc in fire ecology (UBC Faculty of Forestry). I am an enthusiastic field instructor with a keen interest in silviculture, forest health, soil and plant sciences, value-added wood products, and small-scale community-based forestry.
Nicholas Coops
MSFM Co-Director
Canada Research Chair in Remote Sensing (I)
Professor and Department Head, Forest Resources Management
nicholas.coops@ubc.ca
My main research focus is the use of remote sensing technology to assess forest resources, both for conservation and production applications. I am specifically interested in advanced forest inventory techniques using high spatial resolution optical remote sensing imagery and LIDAR, use of remote sensing for the ecosystem and carbon accumulation modelling for biodiversity, production and greenhouse calculations, and detection of damaging agents in forests using spectral forest condition mapping.
Ken Byrne, RPF
Program Coordinator
Lecturer
ken.byrne@ubc.ca
I am a professional forester with a background in natural disturbance modelling and extensive practice implementing research in forest operations. Topics of particular interest include harvesting and silviculture system modelling, adapting to the impacts of climate change and leveraging technologies in the forest sector. I enjoy sharing these passions and embrace continuous improvement in teaching for the benefit of students beginning their careers in forestry.
Faculty
Janette Bulkan
Associate Professor
Working with Diverse Knowledge Systems in Sustainable Natural Resources Management
Research interests:
- Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD)
- Indigenous and forest-dependent peoples
- Community forestry
- Illegal logging
- Forest certification
- Food sovereignty
Allan Carroll
Director, Forest Sciences Undergraduate Program
Professor, Forest and Conservation Sciences
Entomology
Ongoing research interests:
- Role of climate change in the population dynamics and impacts of eruptive forest insects
- Coevolution of insect-plant interactions
- Integrated management of forest insect populations
- Advanced techniques for detection and monitoring of forest insect populations
Lindsay Cuff
Assistant Professor
Transdisciplinary Communication
My approach to teaching is learner-centered, supportive and experiential. I am inspired by the Universal Design for Learning Principles and strive to weave real-world applications into the classroom, creating a space for learning that is rooted in my students’ experiences and everyday lives.
Richard Hamelin
Professor and Department Head, Forest and Conservation Sciences
Pests and Disease
I study diseases of trees and I use genetic and genomic approaches to better understand forest disease epidemics and to develop innovative diagnostic and surveillance tools.
Neil Leveridge
Assistant Professor
Transdisciplinary Communication
Dr. Neil Leveridge is a distinguished Communication Strategist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Wood Science, Faculty of Forestry at UBC. With an extensive background in academia, he has previously held lecturer positions at Vantage College, UBC, National Taiwan Normal University, and Da Yeh University, Taiwan. Dr. Leveridge is currently dedicated to indigenizing his courses and revolutionizing assessment and communication practices for forestry practitioners, with a focus on decolonization.
As an active contributor to the field, Neil holds the esteemed position of President of BC Teachers of English as Additional Languages (BC TEAL). Demonstrating his leadership, he recently chaired the BC TEAL 2023 conference, which attracted over 500 delegates and was proudly hosted by the Faculty of Forestry, UBC.
David Montwé
Assistant Professor
Silviculture
Increasing forest resilience to climatic extremes using silvicultural interventions is my main research objective. This involves overlapping methodologies in silviculture, growth and yield, tree-ring science and climate change adaptation. Evaluating silvicultural treatments on timber quality and value, as well as reducing impacts from forest disturbance agents under climate change, are also key components.
Harry Nelson
Associate Professor, Forest Resources Management
Economics and Policy
My long-term research interest is in analyzing natural and environmental resource policy with an emphasis on forestry and in developing new policy options that can help enhance the long run sustainability of Canadian forests and the communities and businesses that rely upon them. The forest sector itself is undergoing a structural transformation as the industry has to adapt to changing markets and new opportunities and risks; at the same time, there is an increasing emphasis being placed on the non-market values of those forests, spurred by changing public expectations on how those forests should be managed. Climate change makes the challenges even more complex.
I currently am investigating what role Ecosystem Services could provide as an alternative business model for indigenous groups managing forest lands in BC. I continue to work on assessing the impacts of climate change on how we manage our forests and exploring adaptation options.
Greg Paradis, P.Eng
Assistant Professor
Forest Estate Modelling
My research spans a wide range of forest management problems, with a common thread being the application of operations research (OR) methods to formulate and solve complex decision problems as mathematical optimization problems. I use a systems approach to modelling interactions between forest ecosystems, industrial supply chains, governments, and society. My research and teaching interests lie at the intersection of forest science, forest economics, forest and industrial engineering, data science, computer science, and operations research. I am always looking for motivated students, especially quantitative and creative ones who are not afraid to do something totally new.
Paul Pickell
Assistant Professor of Teaching
Geomatics
Paul Pickell earned his Bachelors of Arts and Sciences from The Evergreen State College in 2011, with his area of interest being sustainability and environmental studies. He later completed his Ph.D. at The University of British Columbia in forestry. He has worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of British Columbia, a lecturer at Simon Fraser University, and more recently as a remote sensing scientist with the BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor of Teaching for the MGEM Program. Paul has been teaching geographic information systems at The University of British Columbia since 2017. He has also taught remote sensing, biogeography, urban forestry field school, research methods, and scientific writing. Currently, he is writing an open-access textbook on geographic information systems.
Lee Salmon, RPF
Lecturer, Forest Operations
I am a professional forester who specializes in forest development planning and management. These practice areas are my passion and represent my core teaching interests. Coming from a professional background, my teaching approach is centered around experiential and active learning. I am committed to preparing students for their careers after UBC while improving myself as a teacher.
