Are you interested in becoming a Teaching Assistant in Wood Science?
To view the available job postings, download the PDF below:
Interested applicants should apply through the Forestry TA Application Portal by March 31, 2026.
Please note that positions posted are available subject to course enrollments, provision of funds, and application of suitable candidates.
Meet Eric Mensah Kumeh.
Eric is jointly appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Forest Resources Management and the Faculty of Land and Food Systems. He studies critical agroforestry and land-use and supply chain governance, including cocoa and coffee.
His research includes decoloniality, equity and transformation frameworks, and the role of power in land degradation, biodiversity loss, and historical inequities where forests and farming landscapes intersect.
Eric grew up across the rural and peri-urban landscapes of Ghana where land use was very diverse. Raised in a migrant household, they were not guaranteed land access by birth. Eric had to earn it and often found creative ways to grow vegetables, legumes, grains tubers in abandoned building projects and fallow lands.
As we welcome Eric to the Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship, we spoke to him about his work and what he hopes to achieve during his time at UBC.
Drawing on my personal experiences with land, my research pays attention to how power influences how people’s ability to benefit from land. Using my training in agroforestry and land-use governance, I am drawn to interdisciplinary projects that employ political ecology approaches to understand how different actors assemble and use various constructs to legitimize who governs and benefits from the forest-farm nexus.
I connect this with broader debates around global value chains, landscape restoration, and climate justice. I am particularly biased towards developing equitable solutions that confront and redress the structural, material and epistemic asymmetries that not only drive but exacerbate land use challenges.
My experiences in Ghana quickly made me aware of the challenges of land access and the importance of negotiating with pluralistic actors. We were not successful all the time. I still remember how broken I was seeing a developer destroy about an acre of our cassava without compensation because they had accelerated their project schedule. This, my parents struggle to secure land for housing, and my experiences of how different traditional rulers settled land disputes shaped my thinking profoundly.
It made me realize that accessing land is not about entitlement or need. On the contrary, it’s about power and asymmetrical struggle. When contestations emerge, it is a question of who can outlast the other, using both convention and unconventional means. Over the years, I have tried to better understand the elements of such struggles, how they are institutionalized, and how to develop more equitable alternatives.
I joined FES to expand my research and teaching on land-use governance. My experiences across Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe enables me to bring international perspectives to the teaching, learning, and research at the faculty. Besides, with my interest in issues at the forest-farm nexus, working across FES and Faculty of Land and Food Systems provides a good opportunity to build interdisciplinary collaborations for impact.
I hope to lead teaching, learning and research in Agroforestry, particularly Critical Agroforestry, which focuses on how to systematically reflect on and integrate power perspectives in the design, implementation, and evaluation of agroforestry systems globally.
Many governments, development agencies and private companies around the world define agroforestry as the deliberate integration of trees with crops, and/ or animals. Often most of these actors fall short to consider adequately who designs agroforestry for whom and with what implications for different social groups’ access to the distribution of land, capital, labour to address basic needs and concerns, including poverty and food insecurity.
Neglecting discussions on this creates a situation where agroforestry is becoming a tool for marginalizing different actors as we are seeing in Ivory Coast where Cocoa Agroforestry has been legislated by the government as an instrument to control who can benefit from land. The International Development Research Centre of Canada played a pivotal role in developing agroforestry as we know it today from 1975. Perhaps it is only fitting that the Faculty and UBC become a leader in taking a more power-responsive approach to agroforestry of the future.
Between catching up with my family and friends around the other parts of the world, I volunteer at the Pacific Spirit Park Society and enjoy walks with Richmond Fitness and Wellness Association. I also love watching and playing football (soccer, as its often called in this part of the world).
UBC Forestry & Environmental Stewardship is happy to announce the winners of the 2025 Best Doctoral Dissertation and Master’s Thesis Awards!
Supervisor: Bianca Eskelson
PhD, FRM | Conferred Nov 2025
Thesis: Robust models for forest growth and yield predictions under climate change
Supervisor: Younes Alila
MSc, FRM | Conferred Nov 2025
Thesis: Understanding and predicting hydroclimatic extremes in the Anthropocene: a causal, stochastic physics
UBC Forestry & Environmental Stewardship wishes to congratulate two of our faculty members on being awarded 2025 UBC Killam Research Awards.
Cole’s research focuses on mammal communities in human-impacted ecosystems, with an emphasis on carnivore ecology, human–wildlife coexistence, wildlife population estimation, habitat modelling, and biodiversity monitoring using camera trapping.
Every year, six UBC Killam Accelerator Research Fellowships are provided from the Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Fund for Advanced Studies established through a bequest from the late Dorothy J. Killam. These annual fellowships are intended to support exceptional early career researchers (within 15 years of PhD) across all disciplines who have the potential for significant impact in their field of scholarship and are ready to launch the next stage of their career.
Lorien is an interdisciplinary researcher whose work focuses on urban forestry, environmental justice, and climate resilience. Her research examines equitable urban greening, civic stewardship, and access to urban nature, with growing emphasis on climate justice and the role and limits of nature-based solutions in urban adaptation. Through participatory research and partnerships with communities and governments, she advances more inclusive approaches to urban sustainability.
Every year, ten UBC Killam Faculty Research Fellowships are provided from the Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Fund for Advanced Studies, established through a bequest from the late Dorothy J. Killam. These fellowships support promising faculty members undertaking research projects of broad significance during a recognized study leave, recognizing scholars with a strong and growing record of scholarly achievement.
They raid compost bins, outsmart latches and sometimes look gleeful doing it. A new study by UBC Forestry & Environmental Stewardship in Animal Behaviour suggests raccoons may not just be opportunistic—they may be genuinely curious.
UBC researchers Hannah Griebling and Dr. Sarah Benson-Amram from the Department of Forest & Conservation Sciences found raccoons continued solving puzzles long after retrieving the only food reward available. This behaviour reflects intrinsic motivation rather than hunger and is described as “information foraging,” because no additional food was given for continuing.
Researchers used a custom multi-access puzzle box with mechanisms such as latches, sliding doors or knobs. The box had nine entry points, grouped as easy, medium and hard. In Each 20-minute trial the puzzle box contained a single marshmallow, yet raccoons often continued opening new mechanisms after eating it, a clear sign of information-seeking.
“We weren’t expecting them to open all three solutions in a single trial,” said Griebling. “They kept problem solving even when there was no marshmallow at the end.”
When solutions were easy, raccoons explored broadly, trying multiple openings and varying their order. As task difficulty increased, they favoured a dependable solution—but still explored multiple solutions even at the hardest level, showing flexible problem-solving.
Griebling said the pattern reflects a classic tradeoff between curiosity and effort or potential risk. Raccoons adjusted strategy based on perceived cost and risk, mirroring decision-making frameworks in other animals and humans.
“It’s a pattern familiar to anyone ordering at a restaurant,” she said. “Do you order your favourite dish or try something new? If the risk is high—an expensive meal you might not like—you choose the safe option. Raccoons explore when the cost is low and quickly decide to play it safe when the stakes are higher.”
The findings help explain why raccoons thrive in urban centres like Vancouver. Their success could be attributed to the cognitive and physical traits that suit urban life.
Their forepaws, rich with sensory nerves for foraging in streams, are well suited to manipulating latches and handles—often the same kinds used by humans. Solving problems for information, not just food, may give them an advantage in complex environments, helping them access garbage bins or other food sources. Vancouver’s greenspaces, waterways and generally tolerant public provide near-ideal habitat.
“Understanding the cognitive traits that help raccoons thrive can guide management of species that struggle, and inform strategies for other species, like bears, that use problem-solving to access human-made resources,” said Griebling.
Although the experiment involved captive animals at a research facility in Colorado, previous research suggests wild raccoons show similar problem-solving abilities, though researchers caution the behaviours may not be identical.
“Raccoon intelligence has long featured in folklore, yet scientific research on their cognition remains limited. Studies like this provide empirical evidence to support that reputation,” said Dr. Benson-Amram.
Article originally posted on UBC News.
Media contact:
Charlotte Fisher
Marketing & Media Relations Strategist
UBC Forestry & Environmental Stewardship
charlotte.fisher@ubc.ca
Webinar date: March 24, 2026 | 12-1 PM (PST)
Location: Online via Zoom
Invasive species are an unintended consequence of globalization and one that is wreaking havoc on forest ecosystems. From the blister rust fungus that decimated BC’s white pines to more recent invasions of Dutch elm disease and the emerald ash borer beetle, invasive pests and pathogens are a real and present danger that are reshaping forest and urban ecosystems in lasting ways. Join Dr. Richard Hamelin, a forest pathologist specializing in forest health and the application of genomics to disease management, for a timely and engaging look at the scope of the problem and the scientific tools being used to respond, including the application of genomics and tree breeding. Increasingly, citizen scientists play a critical role in detecting emerging threats, helping enable early intervention and improved forest protection.
Moderator:
Dr. Allan Carroll
Professor, Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences
Director, Forest Sciences Undergraduate Program
Presenter:
Dr. Richard Hamelin
Professor and Forest Conservation Sciences Department Head
UBC Chair in Forest Conservation
Date: March 26, 2026 | 10 AM – 11:30 (PST)
Location: UBC Robson Square Theatre (Room C300)
Cost: Free to attend online
Presented by Resilience
Forest ecologist Dr. Nalini Nadkarni will share insights from decades of canopy research on how forest ecosystems function as interconnected networks, alongside UBC Forestry & Environmental Stewardship Lecturer Dr. Teresa Ryan (Sm’hayetsk), a Tsimshian scientist whose work bridges Indigenous knowledge and Western science in forest and watershed stewardship.
Together they’ll explore how trees share information and resources – and what these living networks can teach us about resilient ecosystems and communities.
Meet Dr. Santiago Izquierdo-Tort.
Santiago serves as Assistant Professor, David Brand Professorship in Sustainable Forestry and Conservation Finance at the Department of Forest Resources Management.
He is an interdisciplinary economist from Mexico and studied an undergraduate degree in economics at Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México. Early in Santiago’s career he worked in forest conservation projects at non-for-profit Natura y Ecosistemas Mexicanos in Selva Lacandona (Mexico’s Southeast state of Chiapas). This experience sparked a now long-lasting interest in conservation and working among interdisciplinary teams.
Santiago’s impressive academic record includes MPhil and DPhil (PhD) degrees in International Development at the University of Oxford. Since then, his work has been rooted in economics but constantly draws on a wide range of theories and approaches from the social and natural sciences. Prior to joining UBC Forestry & Environmental Stewardship, Santiago held positions as Postdoctoral Fellow at Université du Québec en Outaouais and Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, and later as an Associate Researcher at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México’s Institute for Economic Research.
Santiago is currently co-holder of a UNESCO Chair in Socio-Economic Evaluation of Biodiversity and Ecosystems, an honorary appointment with the aim of developing innovative economic frameworks and tools for sustainable environmental governance.
As we welcome Santiago to the Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship, he spoke to us about his work and what he hopes to achieve at UBC.
UBC Forestry & Environmental Stewardship, and in particular the Department of Forest Resources Management, were especially intriguing for three main reasons. Firstly, the strong alignment between my research and teaching interests and the Faculty’s established accomplishments in forestry and sustainability, as well as its expanding vision as reflected in its new name ‘Forestry and Environmental Stewardship’.
Secondly, the vibrant, supportive, and interdisciplinary academic environment, including world-class colleagues, outstanding students, and strong support for research, teaching, and professional development. Finally, the opportunity to live and work in British Columbia, with its exceptional nature.
I am interested in the emergence, effects, and debates surrounding the implementation of so-called market-based or economic approaches to forest governance, such as Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) schemes and carbon offsets, particularly in Latin America. These approaches, which rely on economic theories and use financial and economic incentives to promote conservation have become increasingly prominent in policy and practice over the last two decades. Yet they also remain highly contested and debated in academic and policy settings.
A central part of my work has been to develop a long-term ‘PES Observatory’ in Selva Lacandona (Chiapas, Mexico) to track the evolution and local-level impacts of Mexico’s national PES, one of the largest, longest-lasting, and most studied PES schemes worldwide.
Findings from this work, and from related research across Mexico and Latin America, have shown that cash-for-conservation schemes can be highly effective and socially legitimate under certain conditions. However, their real-world implementation often differs significantly from theoretical models and can produces a range of unexpected outcomes and processes. This research highlights the importance of recognizing and supporting Indigenous and local knowledge, diverse value systems, territorial rights, and forest stewardship as foundations for effective and socially legitimate conservation.
Conservation finance can help address some of the challenges faced by communities in managing forests by mobilizing new resources (from private or public stakeholders) or redirecting existing funds (from environmentally harmful public subsidies) towards supporting forest management practices, enhancing forest resilience, and incentivizing sustainable land use. However, simply increasing conservation finance is insufficient: without careful design, it can be ineffective, inequitable, or crowd out other critical resources.
I am particularly excited about the opportunity to build synergies between my existing research and networks in Mexico and Latin America, and the wide range of opportunities and resources available at UBC Forestry & Environmental Stewardship and across Canada. The David Brand Professorship provides a unique platform to significantly advance my research, teaching, and engagement activities on conservation finance in an interdisciplinary, policy-relevant, and community-engaged way. I am deeply grateful to Dr. Brand for his vision.
I aim to build a research programme centred on establishing a ‘Conservation Incentives Lab’, focusing on advancing the evaluation, design, and implementation of incentives for forest conservation and sustainable management. This includes expanding my existing long-term research in Latin America while developing new projects in Canada and other geographic regions. This research lab will bring together students, researchers, and other community and practitioner partners to co-develop applied, policy-relevant research.
In teaching, I am excited about the opportunities at UBC Forestry & Environmental Stewardship to develop interdisciplinary and critical understanding of economic approaches to sustainability.
Canada’s drinking water can remain at risk long after wildfires burn out, according to a global review by UBC Faculties of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship and Applied Science. It found water-quality impacts often emerge months or years later—not just immediately after a fire.
Researchers analyzed 23 studies across 28 watersheds worldwide, comparing pre- and post-fire levels of sediment, nutrients, metals, organic carbon, ions and wildfire-fighting chemicals. Across climates, contamination often intensified over time, particularly when storms or snowmelt washed stored ash and debris into rivers.
The findings carry particular weight for Canada, where wildfire activity has intensified. In 2023, over 15 million hectares burned, more than twice the previous national record.
The review focused on studies tracking water quality for at least six months to determine whether impacts fade or grow.
“The same delayed contamination pattern kept appearing,” said Raúl de León Rábago, study author and master’s student in civil engineering.
After the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire, rivers showed elevated sediment, nitrogen, phosphorus and lead even where less than one-quarter of the watershed had burned. The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo increased annual treatment chemical spending by roughly $500,000 to manage wildfire-related changes in raw water.
In Alberta’s southern Rockies following the 2003 Lost Creek wildfire, phosphorus and nitrogen remained high for years. Floods in 2013 washed stored ash and soil back into rivers, causing phosphorus levels to jump to seven to nine times higher, with some increases persisting more than 14 years downstream. Similar long-term effects have been documented internationally.
“Imagine emptying a bucket of ash into a bathtub,” said Dr. Qingshi Tu, assistant professor in the Department of Wood Science. “When the water is stirred, the ash resurfaces. That’s what can happen in watersheds after large fires.”
Across the reviewed studies, wildfire activity increased sediment, nutrients, heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons—chemicals formed when vegetation and other materials burn. Smoke can also carry contaminants into unburned watersheds.
Canada relies heavily on long-term fire retardants such as Phos-Chek in B.C. and Alberta. These products contain nutrients and trace metals that can fuel algal blooms and raise treatment costs. After the Fort McMurray wildfire, higher chemical dosing was required to treat wildfire-affected water.
Researchers note that water utilities’ ability to respond depends on fire intensity, duration, size, what burned, weather conditions and treatment system design. Not all systems have equal capacity to adapt, and smaller communities with limited budgets face greater risk from prolonged post-fire impacts.
The team is developing a model linking wildfire behaviour, smoke and river systems to help Canadian utilities anticipate multiyear risks. They say fire-prone provinces such as B.C. and Alberta need coordinated long-term water monitoring and preparedness planning, especially when fires burn near drinking water sources.
“Canada is entering a new era of wildfire risk,” said Dr. Loretta Li, senior author and UBC civil engineering professor. “If we want to protect drinking water, we have to treat wildfire impacts as long-term, not short-term.”
Interview language: English, Mandarin (Tu), English, Spanish (de Leon Rabago)
This article originally appeared on UBC News.
Media contact:
Charlotte Fisher
Marketing & Media Relations Strategist
UBC Forestry & Environmental Stewardship
charlotte.fisher@ubc.ca
Date: March 19, 2026 | 6:30-9 PM (Registration opens at 6 PM)
Location: UBC Robson Square Theatre (Room C300)
Presented by UBC Connects at Robson Square
Join a panel of experts from the Allard School of Law, Vancouver School of Economics, Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship, and Political Science to explore the evolving Canada–U.S. economic relationship and what it means for Canada’s future.
As the 2026 joint review of the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) approaches, Canada faces significant shifts in its most important trading relationship. From tariffs on steel to ongoing tensions in British Columbia’s forestry sector, long-standing trade dynamics are being tested and the era of predictable trade and stable multilateral rules may be coming to an end.
This discussion will move beyond the headlines to examine emerging geopolitical realities and their implications for Canada and for Canadians’ daily lives. Panelists will:
This session is designed for policymakers, industry leaders, and members of the public interested in understanding the structural changes shaping Canada’s economic future.