Advanced understanding of invasion ecology and the complexities of invasive species management globally in the context of a changing climate. This course will meet in-person two times per week and includes a combination of lectures, problem-based learning, group discussion and guest lectures. Find more details here:
Katie Zinn awarded P.E.O Scholar Award
Congratulations to Katie Zinn (PhD, Hinch Lab) on winning The Philanthropic Educational Organization (P.E.O.) Scholar award!
About Katie’s Research
Katie studies the cumulative effects of recreational catch-and-release, temperature, and infectious agents on Chinook salmon: from marine environments to spawning grounds
About The Philanthropic Educational Organization
The P.E.O. Sisterhood is a nonprofit organization that has helped more than 125,000 women pursue educational goals by providing more than $435 million in educational assistance, making a difference in women’s lives through six philanthropies and a foundation.
New Indigenous land stewardship degree will prepare the next generation of land protectors to restore ecosystems and take action on climate change
View PDF of press release
Partnership between the University of British Columbia Faculty of Forestry and the Mastercard Foundation will expand opportunity for Indigenous students in environmental management
A new program co-developed by Indigenous leaders and the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Forestry will provide Indigenous youth with a unique opportunity to learn Indigenous science and land stewardship approaches. Part of a growing movement, this first-of-its-kind degree program will be part of a globally recognized standard for environmental management by 2050.
The four-year, interdisciplinary Bachelor of Indigenous Land Stewardship (BILS) was created with Indigenous Peoples in Canada in response to the growing need for Indigenous-led land management and sustainable resource stewardship, especially important in the face of climate change. The program will integrate Indigenous science and ways of knowing with courses in ecological sciences, governance, law, economics, and business management.
“Through the BILS program, we unite as Knowledge Keepers, community leaders, academics and the next generation of land stewards,” said Dr. Garry Merkel, Director of the Centre for Indigenous Land Stewardship and a member of the Tahltan Nation. “We will embrace ancestral wisdom and collective action as we embark on this educational journey.”
The BILS program is unique in its Indigenous-led, experiential, and multi-access learning approach. Students will learn directly from Indigenous scholars, Elders, Knowledge Keepers and allies in a culturally safe space. They will gain hands-on experience in environmental stewardship through select field-based courses, which will take them into the forests, waters, and territories they aim to protect. The program also prioritizes relational, community-based education that fosters meaningful connections between students, Indigenous communities, and the land.
“Respect for diverse knowledge systems is at the heart of BILS,” says UBC Forestry Dean, Dr. Rob Kozak. “By weaving traditional knowledge with current environmental management approaches, we create a learning environment where both knowledge systems are valued and integrated, empowering future leaders to develop truly sustainable practices and solutions.”
The BILS program is designed to meet Indigenous Peoples where they live, so they have the option to learn and to continue supporting the self-governance goals of their Nations. Students with personal and family commitments will have options for remote learning from their home communities. In addition, learning hubs will be established in three regions of British Columbia to support remote learning. The first will be established in the Cariboo-Chilcotin region.
The program will be supported through a partnership with the Mastercard Foundation EleV Program. With an investment of $8.5 million, the Mastercard Foundation collaboration will make the program more accessible while respecting cultural and geographic ties. This includes contributing to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit students’ tuition and relocation costs, as well as work support.
“The Bachelor of Indigenous Land Stewardship shows us the innovation and ultimately the success, that is unlocked through co-creation with Indigenous Nations,” says Jennifer Brennan, Senior Director, Canada Programs at the Mastercard Foundation. “Indigenous youth will develop the skills and experience in their home territories to build meaningful livelihoods in sectors including natural resources, governance, and clean energy. The power of community-based delivery models, like this one, is their alignment with self-determination.”
Career opportunities for BILS graduates will span natural resource management, policy, environmental consulting, and community conservation, ensuring Indigenous leadership remains central to land stewardship.
“As Indigenous governments reclaim stewardship roles, BILS graduates will be prepared to protect lands, restore ecosystems and uphold Indigenous law,” said Dr. Merkel. “BILS is more than a degree – it is the future of land stewardship.”
About UBC Forestry
UBC Faculty of Forestry is globally recognized for its award-winning programs, research, and initiatives. Home to innovative minds and approaches, our interdisciplinary team leads forward-thinking research, education, and community outreach to address today’s pressing issues. Our students receive cutting-edge education from top forestry experts across various disciplines, preparing them to be global citizens and leaders in their careers. We are united in our passion for supporting the health and well-being of the planet’s forested ecosystems.
About the Mastercard Foundation
The Mastercard Foundation is a registered Canadian charity and one of the largest foundations in the world. It works with visionary organizations to advance education and financial inclusion to enable young people in Africa and Indigenous youth in Canada to access dignified and fulfilling work. Established in 2006 through the generosity of Mastercard when it became a public company, the Foundation is an independent organization separate from the company, with offices in Toronto, Kigali, Accra, Nairobi, Kampala, Lagos, Dakar, and Addis Ababa. Its policies, operations, and program decisions are determined by the Foundation’s Board of Directors and leadership. To learn more, visit mastercardfdn.org.
Media Contact:
Jillian van der Geest
Marketing & Media Relations Strategist
University of British Columbia, Faculty of Forestry
jillian.vandergeest@ubc.ca
250.580.3654
Q&A with Bachelor of Indigenous Land Stewardship Student Emma Charles
UBC Forestry’s new Bachelor of Indigenous Land Stewardship (BILS) program provides students with the knowledge and skills to bridge Indigenous science and current land-management practices. We sat down with BILS student Emma Charles as she shares her journey from Seattle to UBC, future career aspirations, her experiences in the program, and how it has deepened her connection to land and community.
Tell us about your background and where you’re from.
I am from Seattle, Washington, the traditional, unceded territory of the Duwamish people. I am Cowichan and Duwamish through my maternal grandmother, and Lower Elwha Klallam through my maternal grandfather. I have lived in Seattle my entire life but have family in Duncan, Port Angeles and Vancouver.
What inspired you to pursue the Bachelors in Indigenous Land Stewardship at UBC Forestry?
Coming from the States, there are not many opportunities similar to Indigenous Land Stewardship at the university level. Other Indigenous studies and sustainability options exist, but as a Pacific Northwest Native, I wanted to stay close to home, which I have achieved. Especially with the other opportunities through UBC Forestry, the First Nations Longhouse, and events and research at UBC, I made the right choice.
How does the program help you connect with the land and understand holistic land-management practices?
This program taught us about land-management practices from so many different communities. We have learned from Indigenous communities in BC, and across North America, Australia and Indonesia. We’ve really been able to look at how Indigenous people from different areas of the world and locally connect their values to the earth and each other.
What has been the most meaningful or impactful part of the program so far?
Our field camp at the Malcolm Knapp Research Forest at the beginning of the program helped welcome me to my new community. We spent a week sharing stories, learning, laughing and participating in great activities. This helped me build meaningful connections to my professors and classmates and make new friends at UBC.
Tell us about your experience learning about weaving together Indigenous science and current land management systems?
Because our program is within a Western system, everything we learn is from weaving together both forms of knowledge, not just from a traditional science perspective. This is often called the two-eyed way of seeing, and we are learning to balance both through classes like Ways of Knowing, Community Engagement, and our field course. This way of seeing and knowing is the future of land management, and it is an important value to our program that we learn how to work with and not leave Indigenous perspectives out as they have often been.
How do you see this program preparing you for a future career?
This program serves as a basis for many different career paths, whether in forestry, government, or Indigenous tourism, to name a few. I want to work in law and policy in the future, and the education I’ll receive through this program will hopefully prepare me holistically. Because this program is so well-rounded, we learn not only how to work in forestry but also in other fields through business, law, ecology, and community development classes we have taken and will be taking.
Learn more about the Bachelor of Indigenous Land Stewardship program.
Q&A with Bachelor of Indigenous Land Stewardship Student Drew Brown
Drew Brown’s journey to UBC Forestry’s Bachelor of Indigenous Land Stewardship (BILS) has been shaped by his deep connection to Heiltsuk Territory and a passion for Indigenous governance and sustainability. Originally from Bella Bella and raised in Vancouver, Drew is now in his third year of the BILS program at UBC Forestry. We spoke with Drew about what inspired him to pursue this path, the impact of blending traditional ecological knowledge with current land management practices, and how the program is preparing him to support Indigenous-led land stewardship and governance.
Tell us about your background and where you’re from.
My name is Drew Brown. I’m from Bella Bella, Heiltsuk Nation, on the central coast of British Columbia. I grew up in Vancouver on the territories of the Coast Salish, Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. I am in my third year of the Bachelors Indigenous Land Stewardship. Although it is a brand new program at UBC, I had transferred from a different school that also had a one-year diploma in Indigenous Land Stewardship at Native Education College.
What inspired you to pursue the Bachelors in Indigenous Land Stewardship at UBC Forestry?
I was inspired by my deep connection to Heiltsuk Territory, especially the Koeye River, where I spent my childhood learning cultural and ecological knowledge from Elders and teachers. The Idle No More movement and the work of Indigenous leaders like Arthur Manuel and John Burrows also shaped my understanding of land stewardship as a form of governance and self-determination.
How does the program help you connect with the land and understand holistic land-management practices?
The program blends traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) with western science, reinforcing that land stewardship is about relationships between people, land, water, and all living beings. It centers Indigenous governance, laws, and sustainability practices, showing that stewardship is not just about conservation but about sovereignty and decision-making. A key teaching is
m̓ ṇúxvit, a Heiltsuk word meaning “to become one”—reflecting the interconnectedness of land, culture, and governance. Through this lens, I’ve learned that true stewardship is about reciprocity and responsibility, ensuring that our practices align with the needs of both present and future generations.
What has been the most meaningful or impactful part of the program so far?
I look back to my experience with my cohorts when we went on our field studies in the Malcolm Knapp Research Forrest at Loon Lake. That’s where we got to meet our Director Gary Merkel (Talhtan Nation) and he taught us about land ethics and Indigenous world views. That alongside with many other guest speakers including one of my favourites, Lenny Joe, the CEO of First Nations Forestry Council and member of the Nlaka’pamux First Nation.
Tell us about your experience learning about weaving together Indigenous science and current land management systems?
Braided knowledge systems recognize that Indigenous and Western sciences are not in opposition but can work together. The program emphasizes collaboration—how Indigenous laws, ecological knowledge, and scientific research can be woven together to create stronger, community-driven solutions. This approach validates Indigenous knowledge while addressing real-world land management challenges.
How do you see this program preparing you for a future career?
It’s preparing me to work in Indigenous governance, land-use planning, and environmental policy. I see myself contributing to comprehensive community planning (CCP), co-management initiatives, and nation-building efforts that prioritize Indigenous laws, self-determination, and sustainable land relationships.
Learn more about the Bachelor of Indigenous Land Stewardship program.
Job Posting: Seasonal/Entry-Level Positions with Williams & Associates Forestry Consulting Ltd.
Learn more about Williams & Associates at http://forestar.ca/
2025 AMS OER and UDL Champions
UBC Forestry wishes to congratulate three faculty members on being recognized at the AMS UBC Teaching and Learning Champions Gala on April 1, 2025.
This event honors UBC faculty who advocate for Open Educational Resources (OER) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL), enhancing affordability and accessibility for students. By adopting OER, they help break economic barriers, saving UBC students an estimated $15 million annually.
OER Excellence and Impact Individual Award
Winner: Lindsay Cuff
The OER Excellence and Impact Awards honor faculty who make significant contributions to expanding the use and impact of open educational resources in UBC credit courses.
About Lindsay Cuff
Lindsay Cuff, Assistant Professor of Teaching in Forestry and Land & Food Systems, champions open educational resources (OER) to enhance accessibility and break economic barriers in education.
In 2022, she created Writing Place: A Scholarly Writing Textbook, a free, interactive online resource for LFS 150 and NRES 150. Designed with Universal Design for Learning principles, it includes 13 chapters, student narratives, interactive activities, and discipline-specific content tailored to Forestry and Land & Food Systems.
This resource empowers students to engage in scholarly conversations and communicate beyond academia, integrating an inclusive, decolonial approach to writing. Reflecting Professor Cuff’s belief in storytelling as a transformative tool, Writing Place has benefited over 900 students.
UDL Champion Award
Winners: Nolan Bett & Lee Salmon
This new award recognizes faculty who integrate UDL principles—addressing learner diversity and educational barriers—to create a more accessible, inclusive classroom where all students can thrive.
About Lee Salmon
Lee Salmon explores how learning environments shape students’ understanding of science. He teaches biology, ecology, and the societal role of science, incorporating experiential and evidence-based learning. Committed to accessibility, he integrated Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles into Tree and Stand-Level Measurements (FRST 239), a math-intensive, hands-on course. To further enhance its inclusivity, Lee participated in the UBC UDL Fellows Program.
About Nolan Bett
Nolan Bett explores how learning environments shape students’ understanding of science. He teaches biology, ecology, and science’s role in society, emphasizing experiential and evidence-based learning.
Branchlines: Fact-Finding Mission to Finland
Finland is a well-known hotbed of developments in sustainable forest operations, the latest of which were showcased on a UBC Forestry-led delegation of 31 representatives from the BC government, forest industry, community forests and forestry associations that took place from September 24 to October 3, 2023. The expedition was organized and led by Faculty members Dominik Roeser, Assoc. Dean of Research Forests and Community Outreach, and Jorma Neuvonen, Asst. Dean of Professional Education and International Collaboration.
“There is a great deal of demand to find new forest management approaches to address some of the challenges facing the forest sector in BC right now,” states Dominik. “Finland is one of the world’s leading jurisdictions when it comes to active, sustainable forest management, which is why we decided to organize this delegation.”
The most densely forested country in Europe, Finland has long relied on a strong forest sector. Besides its traditional forest industry, Finland is known for its broad expertise in machine and equipment construction and exports. Around 60% of the country’s forested land is owned privately by local residents who run small-scale operations – many of which have been passed down over generations. Another 10% is owned by corporations, with the remaining approximate one-third owned by the state.
This land ownership arrangement contrasts with BC’s system of public ownership, where forests are parceled into tenures, with tenure holders often focused on maximizing timber access and near-term yields. The arrangement incentivized the buildout of higher-value monoculture tree plantations and fire suppression.
The negative consequences of these dramatically altered forest landscapes has included a reduction in forest resilience to the effects of climate change and pests, such as the mountain pine beetle that decimated over 50% of lodgepole pine forest in the province. BC’s forests have also become more vulnerable to catastrophic mega-fires, which have occurred with greater frequency and intensity. The four worst wildfire seasons on record took place within the past eight years, with the all-time record-breaking 2023 season resulting in 2,245 wildfires and 2,840,545 hectares burned.
“Not everything has gone well in Finland’s forest sector, either,” states Jorma. “We also wanted to learn from their mistakes so as not to repeat them, including the overly intensive forest management practices in Finland that have led to some biodiversity loss.”
“However, Finland has done an excellent job in many areas, including building up its bioeconomy and training foresters and forestry machine operators through university and college programs,” Jorma adds.
The Finland trip was organized to identify best practices and lessons learned that could be adopted in a BC context in order to seek solutions to some of the present challenges facing the BC forest sector.
Delegates on the Finland trip visited several forest operations in the country, and spoke with industry leaders. One of their first discussions was with representatives from Metsä Group wood supply and forest services, a co-operative owned by more than 90,000 Finnish forest owners, with an annual purchase of 24 million cubic metres of wood.
Members of the Metsä Group, along with many other forest operations in Finland, use forest thinning, also called selective harvesting, approaches in which wheeled harvesters and forwarders pluck individual trees, leaving much of the forest canopy and ecosystem untouched. This creates space between trees, improving stand vitality and resilience to pests and diseases.
The BC delegation was guided through the Nuuksio National Park near the capital Helsinki in the south of Finland to discuss park services, such as trails, amenities and visitor services, available there. About a 4320-kilometre-drive north-east of Helsinki, delegates visited the Arbonaut company’s head office in Joensuu to learn about its digital timber inventory, analysis and management services – used by over 30 companies around the world.
Also in Joensuu, the delegation toured the Joensuu Biomass District Heating Plant and future site of a biochar production facility. The Finnish government’s National Forest Strategy and Circular Bioeconomy Strategy support bio-based material industries, such as this, while also serving to align both the forest sector and government forestry staff around specific forestry goals and policies.
On the final day of the expedition, delegates visited the Metsä Group’s Bioproduct Mill in Äänekoski, located in central Finland, around a 275-kilometre-drive west of Joensuu. The mill uses 6.5 million cubic metres of wood annually to produce 800 thousand tonnes softwood pulp and 500 thousand tonnes of hardwood pulp per year, which the company transforms into raw materials used in paperboard, tissue, printing papers, and specialty products. The mill of around 250 employees is also 240% electricity self-sufficient, producing its own bio-based electrical energy, along with energy for the local community, and using no fossil fuels.
“Finland has solid forest monitoring systems that are helping them collect data and conduct inventory checks to inform decisions about which trees to remove, as well as all aspect of forest management, from timber yields to wildlife habitat, fire risk and biodiversity,” says Dominik. “Good monitoring can help us in BC, too, as we transition our operations to the new climate reality, and the reality that we re looking at more second growth trees over the next while to find value-added opportunities.”
At the close of the trip, several delegates put together the following suggested ideas for implementation in BC:
1. Develop a focused and coherent Forest Strategy that articulates BC’s vision and goals of linking First Nations values, resilient forests and a world-class forest sector.
2. Create and make publicly available detailed forest inventories using remote sensing, data science and forest inventory sources of information.
3. Incentivize investment and innovation in high-value timber objectives with clear, long-term strategies, predictability and cost recognition for a full growth cycle on a subset of forested land to be managed intensively.
4. Create best practices guides and training programs for intensive forest management by ecosystem/stand types.
5. Develop approaches to incentivize the increased utilization of all biomass at the time of primary harvest when it is economically reasonable to do so, e.g., in an intensive forest management zone.
6. Implement community heating systems for communities to create new markets for small diameter logs from thinnings and fuel treatments.
7. Develop a training school for specialized harvesting equipment operators.
Teaching Assistants in Wood Science (Deadline: April 30, 2025)
Are you interested in becoming a Teaching Assistant in Wood Science?
To view the available job postings, download the PDF below:
- BEST TA Job Postings 2025 Winter Terms 1 & 2 – Wood Science
- WOOD TA Job Postings 2025 Winter Terms 1 & 2 – Wood Science
Interested applicants should apply through the Forestry TA Application Portal by April 30, 2025.
Please note that positions posted are available subject to course enrollments, provision of funds, and application of suitable candidates.