Lead Faculty
Hélène Marcoux, RPF
MSFM Co-Director
Malcolm Knapp Research Forest Manager
Email program questions to 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.
Dr. Nicholas Coops
MSFM Co-Director
Canada Research Chair in Remote Sensing (I)
Professor and Department Head, Forest Resources Management
Email program questions to 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.
Anna Tobiasz, RPF
Program Coordinator
Email program questions to anna.tobiasz@ubc.ca
I am a Registered Professional Forester with experience in landscape-level planning and forest operations across various regions of British Columbia. I hold a BSc in Forest Ecology and Management from the University of Northern British Columbia and a MSc in Forestry from UBC, where my research focused on modelling stand susceptibility to Douglas-fir beetle. As part of the Malcolm Knapp Research Forest team, I carry out strategic and landscape-level planning. Within the Faculty of Forestry I contribute to various programs through teaching and coordination. My interests lie in disturbance ecology and helping others explore the complex dynamics of forest ecosystems and management.
Faculty
Dr. 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
Dr. Ken Byrne, RPF
Lecturer, Forest Land Management and Planning
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.
Dr. 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
Dr. 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.
Dr. Tzeng Yih Lam
Assistant Professor
Forest Measurements
My research interests are tree measurement, forest sampling, and quantitative silviculture. I develop close-range photogrammetry tools to measure hard-to-reach tree attributes. My work in forest sampling is designing efficient and cost-effective probability-based inventory systems to estimate timber production, ecosystem services, and forest growth. I focus on using auxiliary information to guide the selection of ground samples. My primary interest in quantitative silviculture is Bayesian filtering to project forest development.
Dr. 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.
Dr. 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.
Dr. 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.
Dr. 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.
