MSc’86 in Forestry, PhD’89 in Forestry
1989 — Hired at UBC Forestry
1997 — UBC Killam Teaching Prize
2013 — 3M National Teaching Fellow
Simon’s notable career with UBC Forestry shines for his passionate approach to his work in the role of teaching the next generation of foresters. Simon taught WOOD 280 (Wood Anatomy and Identification) for 34 years and WOOD 120 (Introduction to Wood Products and Global Trade) for half of that time. He also taught a variety of other courses in the old Wood Science and Industry program, and the newer Wood Products Processing program, along with the fundamentals of wood properties and wood products for students in most other programs in the Faculty. Simon was appointed as the first Program Director of the Wood Products Processing program in 1996 and served almost continuously in the role until shortly before his retirement. In 1997, Simon became the youngest recipient of the Forestry UBC Killam Teaching Prize, and was awarded a 3M National Teaching Fellowship — Canada’s most prestigious recognition of excellence in educational leadership and teaching at the post-secondary level — in 2013.
What drew you to wood anatomy and products?
This is a long story. I was originally interested in horticulture. My parents had a very large vegetable garden where I spent lots of time helping out when I was younger. When I was in my final years at high school, considering what university program to take, my parents wanted me to apply to Oxford University. Oxford offered no programs in horticulture but they did in forestry. Although I decided Oxford was not for me, I had become more interested in forestry, and then during the university interview process in the UK at the time, I came across the wood science program at Bangor University. Something about that program clicked almost instantly with me. The ability to apply a range of traditional sciences to one beautiful material greatly appealed to me.
Why did you want to work with UBC Forestry?
After my undergraduate program at Bangor, I wanted to spread my wings a little. I had the opportunities to join either UBC or the University of Toronto for my master’s program. The deciding factor was I knew cricket (the sport dominated my summers in the UK) was played in Vancouver but I was not sure about Toronto – hence, I chose UBC!
When did you start working with UBC Forestry and in what role?
I first came to UBC for my master’s program in September 1983. I thought I would be in Vancouver for perhaps two years! I completed my masters in 1986 and my PhD also at UBC in 1989. Right after that, I was fortunate to be taken onto faculty as an Assistant Professor in September 1989.
What is your fondest memory as a UBC Forestry prof?
I don’t think I have one particularly fondest memory because I have greatly enjoyed the vast majority of my time at UBC. I think the moments which have brought me most pleasure are those times when a student “gets” a concept I have been covering in class, and I can tell it is going to stick with them in the future. It was those “ah ha” moments which drove me to continually work to improve my teaching.
What is one research project/outcome that was as notable feather in your cap and why?
Lab or field research has never been my “thing” – I have always been drawn much more to the teaching and educational leadership aspects of our academic lives. To some extent, my role as Program Director of the Woof Products Processing program was essentially action research in educational leadership. As the program was being rolled out, the role both created a need for me to develop my educational leadership skills but also presented many opportunities for me to broaden my professional development in the relevant areas. My moment of greatest pride was being awarded a 3M National Teaching Fellowship in 2013. At the time, there were only 14 previous recipients at UBC in the 27 years the NTF program had been running. To me, the NTF reflected both my individual successes but also, more importantly, those of the Wood Products Processing program.
How did you stay sane when your scheduled became overly busy?
I have always been able to maintain a pretty healthy life/work balance (I think it starts by putting “life” first in that phrase). Once Linda and I had our two children, they reinforced for me there are plenty of very important things in life away from the UBC campus. I’d always been involved in plenty of sports in my younger days and as our boys grew up, I then lived my sporting life vicariously by coaching some of their various sports teams (yes, they let a Brit coach a bunch of Canadian kids playing ball hockey!).
What book do you turn to for work/life lessons?
For relaxation, my favourites would be any of the John le Carré novels and the five books in the trilogy of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
What characteristic do you think you’re most known for among your students?
I think the word which appeared most often in my teaching evaluations was “passion”. For some reason, something about wood simply hit a chord in my psyche and I have always both been genuinely passionate about the material but also in my desire to try to ignite some of that passion in the students I have taught. Also, I think my students have probably thought while I had high expectations of their learning in my classes I also had a very strong fairness streak in my assessments of their learning.
What do you look forward to most in retirement?
There is nothing I have been leaving to do until I retired. If something means that much to me, I have been doing it already! I will simply have more time to spend on the things I already enjoy doing, without the calls of work distracting me. I suppose the one thing in particular I will have more time to spend on is teaching myself to play the saxophone. It has always been an instrument I wanted to play (ask some of my friends from my grad student days) and now I have no excuse not to practice daily.