UBC Forestry at the IUFRO World Congress

UBC Forestry is proud to be sending our largest delegation to date to attend the IUFRO World Congress in Stockholm, Sweden from June 23-29.

This event, held by the International Union of Forest Research Organizations, is a global platform for forest science collaboration and innovation. Our faculty and students will be presenting cutting-edge research, participating in discussions on sustainable forest management, and networking with leading experts from around the world. Join us as we contribute to shaping the future of forestry at this landmark conference.

UBC Forestry Booth

UBC Forestry welcomes all to visit our booth #A04:20 to chat with current faculty and students or to collect materials about our programs and research.

In addition to our UBC Forestry booth, we will be represented at the IUFRO Canada Education booth #A01:10.

Keynote Speaker – Sally Aitken

Sally Aitken, Professor in the Department of Forest and Conservation Science at UBC Forestry, is a keynote speaker at this year’s IUFRO World Congress. Her presentation titled Valuing Diversity in Uncertain Times is on Theme 3 (Friday) of the conference, Forest Biodiversity and its Ecosystem Services. Read the summary of her presentation below.

“With unprecedented rates of climate change and uncertainty around future abiotic and abiotic conditions, species and seed-source decisions for reforestation are challenging. At the same time, we are counting on healthy managed forests to provide carbon sequestration, habitat for biodiversity, and a multitude of other ecosystem services. New approaches informing forest management and conservation decision-making will be discussed that integrate climate, species distribution, and genetic models.”

IUFRO Scientific Achievement Awards

We’re thrilled to have two UBC Forestry professors receiving IUFRO Scientific Achievement Awards at this year’s event.

Dr. Shannon Hagerman

Dr. Hagerman is an internationally recognized scholar in the interdisciplinary field of social-ecological systems. Her work addresses climate change and the role that forest interventions can play in adaptation and mitigation efforts. Her pioneering research on social aspects of emerging novel environmental interventions for forest management, including assisted migration of tree species, identified the interacting roles of values, trust, and the politics of knowledge, and blazed the trail for a new line of scholarly inquiry at the nexus of climate change and forests.

Through her innovative methodological approach, Dr. Hagerman’s research demonstrates the complex ways that people make sense of novel environmental risks, and how over time, decision logics about intervening in nature are changing along with the environment itself. Her work provides crucial insights for policy makers who might otherwise misdiagnose forest controversies as stemming from a lack of public support for forest interventions when, in fact, concern from publics and communities often has more to do with who is making the decisions, who is benefitting, and the types of knowledge that are considered (or not).

Dr. Cindy Prescott

Dr. Prescott is a world leader in decomposition, carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, and nutrient availability in forest soils. Her research is both theoretically groundbreaking and has important practical implications. She has elevated the importance of sustainable carbon and nutrient management in forests and has recommended forestry practices based on her research findings. Her recent publications presenting the scientific basis for plant surplus carbon underlying many ecological phenomena are paradigm changing.

Her research has improved our scientific understanding of the interactions between trees and the belowground ecosystem, and the influences of forestry practices on soil organic matter and nutrient availability. It has also improved our ability to restore forests on poor or degraded soils.

IUFRO Student Award for Excellence in Forest Science

We wish to congratulate UBC Forestry graduate student, Liam Gilson, on receiving an IUFRO Student Award for Excellence in Forest Science.

Liam Gilson

Liam Gilson’s research, published in their M.Sc. thesis and subsequent peer-reviewed publication, contributes incremental science towards understanding responses of a tree species to environmental conditions outside those in its current geographic range. Their work therefore contributes to building strategies for mitigating effects of climate change on a very important tree species both ecologically and commercially.

Their research helps fill a gap in fundamental research on identifying climatic factors that explain growth differences observed at a wide range of geographic scales. Liam Gilson’s current research seeks to create climate-sensitive growth and mortality models for interior spruce (Picea glauca X Picea engelmanii), a species of commercial and cultural importance in British Columbia, Canada.

UBC Forestry presentations at IUFRO World Forest Congress

From Monday to Friday, UBC Forestry delegation will present on topics ranging from forest therapy, strategic forest management, urban forestry and more.

Here is a detailed breakdown of all UBC Forestry presentations:

Forest Therapy Walks

Dr. Guanyu Wang and his team are hosting two guided forest therapy walks in addition to their sessions. All are welcome to attend the walk but registration is required.

Dates: June 25 & 27

Time: 6:30 -7:30 PM

Location: Prästgårdsparken, 12 minutes walk from Stockholmsmässan

Meet-up point: Sjörövarparken

Register now