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.
4-4:45 pm | Defining, implementing, and evaluating integrated landscape approaches
This presentation will reflect on over a decade of research into integrated landscape approaches (ILAs) to conservation and development, including theory, global reviews, and fieldwork in Ghana, Zambia, and Indonesia. It will examine the challenges of defining ILAs, their implementation and evaluation, and offer recommendations for improving their effectiveness.
Speaker: Dr. James Reed is an environmental social scientist in the Governance, Equity, and Wellbeing theme at the Center for International Forestry Research. He is interested in inter- and transdisciplinary research approaches that attempt to better understand the dynamics and potential synergies and trade-offs within tropical landscapes.
4:45-5:30 pm | Not all fire is one: clarifying the Amazon’s burning crisis
Fire is diverse, shaping people-nature relationships for millennia and supporting the resilience of rural communities. However, the widespread conflation of all fire as destructive has marginalized traditional fire users, increased flammability, and led to injustices. Recognizing fire diversity is essential for just and effective fire governance.
Speaker: Dr Rachel Carmenta is Tyndall Associate Professor in Climate Change and Global Development at the University of East Anglia. She is an environmental social scientist specialising in interdisciplinary research at the intersection of environment and development, environmental risk and the relationship between place and well-being.
Partnership between the University of British Columbia Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship 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 & Environmental Stewardship 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 & Environmental Stewardship 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 & Environmental Stewardship
UBC Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship 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 & Environmental Stewardship jillian.vandergeest@ubc.ca 250.580.3654
UBC Forestry & Environmental Stewardship’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 & Environmental Stewardship?
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 & Environmental Stewardship, 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.
Drew Brown’s journey to UBC Forestry & Environmental Stewardship’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 & Environmental Stewardship. 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 & Environmental Stewardship?
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.
UBC Forestry & Environmental Stewardship 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.
This half-day hybrid Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) event is hosted by the UBC Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship and made possible through the generous funding support of the Canadian Operational Research Society (CORS). Take part in engaging talks and a plenary session on EDI in teaching, research and modeling.
Speakers
Dr. Garry Merkel
Director of Centre of Indigenous Land Stewardship, Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship, UBC
Dr. Neil Leveridge
Assistant Professor of Teaching in Communication Strategies, Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship, UBC
Dr. Hisham Zerriffi
Associate Dean of EDI, Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship, UBC
Dr. Amanda Giang
Canada Research Chair in Environmental Modelling for Policy, Faculty of Applied Science, UBC
Abstracts
EDI in Action – Life Stories
Dr. Garry Merkel
Garry will speak to life lessons he has learned around EDI from his close involvement with large social movements like Indigenous-Canada reconciliation, creating successful aboriginal post-secondary education, implementing gender equity in the workforce, shifting land stewardship paradigms, and fostering earthbased land ethics and approaches. One important life lesson is that any EDI movement requires a shift in thinking before real change will happen on the ground; otherwise, the movement often ends up being an unsupported, intrusive, and empty collection of regulations, policies and rules. Paradigm shifts are the essential first step of any societal change.
EDI and Accessibility in a Changing World: Adapting Teaching for a New Era
Dr. Neil Leveridge
As academia faces shifting student needs, rapidly evolving technology, and calls for decolonization, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (EDI&A) must adapt. This keynote explores practical strategies for making education more inclusive and accessible in forestry and beyond. From rethinking assessment and grading to integrating diverse perspectives and AI tools, we’ll examine how small but meaningful changes can create learning environments where all students can thrive.
EDI in Research Practice and Research Design
Dr. Hisham Zerriffi
Granting agencies are increasingly requiring applicants to address how Equity, Diversity and Inclusion are incorporated into the research approach (EDI in Research Design) and into the how the research is conducted (EDI in Research Practice). In this talk I will review some of the justifications for such approaches and how they contribute to strengthening research. I will also discuss how current attempts to reverse course on EDI in research can have wide-ranging negative impacts on research more generally.
Equity and Justice in Modelling
Dr. Amanda Giang
In this talk, I highlight progress in integrating equity into systems modeling for sustainability as on example of equity in models, as well as key challenges, tensions, and future directions. I present a conceptual framework for equity in modeling, focused on its distributional, procedural, and recognitional dimensions. I then share selected examples of how modelers engage with these different dimensions throughout the modeling process. These include: community-engaged air quality modelling processes that involve a wider range of stakeholders in determining what is important to represent; drawing on Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science to develop environmental change modeling scenarios for fisheries management; and advances in water resources modelling that can illuminate distributional impacts of climate change on urban water affordability at the household level. I also identify future directions, such as an increased focus on using models to identify pathways to transform underlying conditions that lead to inequities and move toward desired futures.
Program
Time
Title
Description
9:00am – 9:10am
Opening Remarks
Welcome address by Dr. Taraneh Sowlati, Associate Dean of Research and Innovation, Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship, UBC
9:10am – 9:45am
Keynote Speech 1
Speaker: Garry Merkel Title: “EDI in Action – Life Stories”
9:45am – 10:15am
Keynote Speech 2
Speaker: Dr. Neil Leveridge Title: “EDI and Accessibility in a Changing World: Adapting Teaching for a New Era”
10:15am – 10:45am
Coffee Break
10:45am – 11:15am
Keynote Speech 3
Speaker: Dr. Hisham Zerriffi Title: “EDI in Research Practice and Research Design”
11:15am – 11:45am
Keynote Speech 4
Speaker: Dr. Amanda Giang Title: “Equity and Justice in Modelling”
11:45am – 12:15pm
Open Discussion
Theme: “Open discussion on equity and justice in Operations Research” Moderator: Dr. Hisham Zerriffi
12:15pm – 12:30pm
Closing Ceremony
Summary of key takeaways. Thank-you notes to participants and keynote presenters.
12:30pm – 1:30pm
Networking Lunch
Event Organizer
Dr. Taraneh Sowlati (she, her) Associate Dean, Research and Innovation | Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship | University of British Columbia Website: https://ierg.forestry.ubc.ca
Hosted by UBC Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship, the Sustainability Hub and alumni UBC.
Thursday, April 3 | 6PM – 8PM
Centre for Interactive Research in Sustainability 2260 West Mall [map]
Join us for a public talk on the new wildfire reality facing urban BC with best selling author and writer John Vaillant, Koerner Chair for the Centre for Wildfire Coexistence and UBC Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship Professor Lori Daniels. The conversation will be moderated by UBC Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship Professor Suzanne Simard.
John VAILLANT
Fire Weather Best selling author and writer for The New Yorker and National Geographic
Lori DANIELS
Koerner Chair, Centre for Wildfire Coexistence Professor of Forest Ecology, UBC Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship
Moderated by
Suzanne SIMARD
Finding the Mother Tree Professor of Forest Ecology, UBC Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship
Students and other priority groups: FREE (Get Promo Code)
Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability 2260 West Mall [map]
IN-PERSON LIVESTREAM at UBC Okanagan | Free
TBC
ZOOM WEBINAR | Free
Speakers
JOHN VAILLANT
John Vaillant is an author and freelance writer based in Vancouver, BC whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, National Geographic, and The Guardian, among others. His journalism, fiction, and non-fiction, explores collisions between human ambition and the natural world.
His latest book is the 2024 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in General Nonfiction, Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World, a stunning account of a colossal wildfire and a panoramic exploration of the rapidly changing relationship between fire and humankind. In May 2016, Fort McMurray, the hub of Canada’s oil industry and America’s biggest foreign supplier, was overrun by wildfire. The multi-billion-dollar disaster melted vehicles, turned entire neighborhoods into firebombs, and drove 88,000 people from their homes in a single afternoon.
Through the lens of this apocalyptic conflagration—the wildfire equivalent of Hurricane Katrina—Vaillant warns that this was not a unique event, but a shocking preview of what we must prepare for in a hotter, more flammable world. With masterly prose and a cinematic eye, Vaillant takes us on a riveting journey through the intertwined histories of North America’s oil industry and the birth of climate science, to the unprecedented devastation wrought by modern forest fires, and into lives forever changed by these disasters. Vaillant’s urgent work is a book for—and from—our new century of fire, which has only just begun.
LORI DANIELS
Dr. Daniels is the Koerner Chair in Wildfire Coexistence at the Centre for Wildfire Coexistence, and a Professor of Forest Ecology at the UBC Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship, where she directs the Tree-Ring Lab at UBC. She is an internationally recognized expert in forest ecology and the impacts of humans and climate change on wildfires. Dr. Daniels is familiar with BC’s diverse ecosystems and has a proven track record of Indigenous and community partnerships. As the co-director of the Centre for Wildfire Coexistence, Dr. Daniels will be positioned as a go-to expert in wildfire.
Awarded the 2023 Association of Fire Ecology Distinguished Leader in Research Award and 2020 Killam Teaching Prize in Forestry, she is a proven public educator, having given over 250 presentations, workshops and field tours to forest professionals and community and school groups. Since 2015, she has conducted close to 300 media interviews as a specialist. In 2022, Dr. Daniels was a panelist on the “Expert Roundtable on Wildfire and Forest Resilience” held in conjunction with the UN General Assembly (UNGA77) release of their report on climate.
SUZANNE SIMARD (Moderator)
Dr. Suzanne Simard is a Professor of Forest Ecology at the UBC, and leader of The Mother Tree Project and Mother Tree Network. Her research focuses on the complexity and interconnectedness of nature and is guided by her deep connection to the land and her time spent amongst the trees. She is known worldwide for her work on how trees interact with one another and communicate using below-ground fungal networks.
Dr. Simard and her colleagues have established the Mother Tree Project, an innovative experiment crossing a 900-km climate gradient that is investigating how retention of old trees helps protect biodiversity, carbon storage and forest regeneration as climate changes. The Mother Tree Project serves as the foundation for the Mother Tree Network, a circle of collaborators and Indigenous partners Dr. Simard and her colleagues have formalized. The Network serves to protect forests and accelerate an ecological transition from an extractive economy to one that is regenerative.
She is an advocate for science communication and empowers people with science-based knowledge to help manage and heal forests from human impacts, including climate change. She has communicated her work to a global audience through interviews, documentary films and her TED Talk How trees talk to one another which, to date, has accumulated more than 5.4 million views and has been translated into dozens of different languages. Her award-winning book Finding The Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest, was published in May 2021 by Penguin Random House.
Hosted by UBC Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship, the Sustainability Hub and alumni UBC, with support from the UBC Centre for Wildfire Coexistence, UBC Campus & Community Planning, and the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS)
