Community Wildlife Resiliency Coordinator at City of Port Moody in Port Moody, BC
For my final co-op work term, I had the pleasure of working as the Community Wildfire Resiliency Coordinator for Port Moody Fire Rescue. In this role, I was involved in every aspect of wildfire management and emergency response in a municipal context. Over the past 5 months, my main task was developing a presentation and report for Port Moody City Council to adopt the updated 2019 Community Wildfire Protection Plan, which is a document that outlines a toolbox of best practices for wildfire threat mitigation and adaptation. This began with reviewing the draft document and prioritizing recommended action items, from neighbourhood FireSmart education to by-law amendments. Subsequently, I organized the diverse scope of action items into summary statistics in the form of charts and diagrams for ongoing project management. I also had the opportunity to participate in a province-wide emergency response exercise simulating what would happen if an Earthquake were to hit coastal BC. When I am not in the office, I am outside assisting Environment staff with Nature Walks and addressed any questions related to wildfire management and ecological restoration.
I am so grateful to have gained insights into how climate adaptation policies are adopted into municipal legislation. I thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with other city departments on environmental projects, as environmental management challenges are often interdisciplinary in nature. Thank you to UBC Forestry Co-op and my wonderful supervisor Deputy Chief Kirk Heaven for this wonderful and memorable opportunity!
UBC Forestry wishes to congratulate Bianca Eskelson, Associate Professor in the Department of Forest Resources Management, for receiving the Humboldt Research Fellowship for Experienced Researchers awarded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
Bianca is being recognized as a Humboldt fellow in support of the following research project: Climate-sensitive tree mortality models and economic consequences of altered mortality probabilities under climate change in mixed-species stands of central Europe and interior British Columbia, Canada.
“I have no words to express my excitement about returning to the Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology in Göttingen, where I get to build research collaborations with Dr. Carola Paul as a visiting scientist almost 20 years after my graduation,” says Bianca. “I am honored to receive the Humboldt Research Fellowship, which makes my research visits over the next three summers possible. Many thanks to my family and my awesome graduate students, who put up with my crazy ideas and accommodate my time in Göttingen!”
In her future as a Humboldt Fellow, Bianca will be able to host Humboldt postdoctoral fellows funded by the foundation in her lab.
About the Humboldt Research Fellowship
This fellowship is among the most prestigious research awards worldwide, giving researchers across all disciplines and career stages the opportunity to conduct their own research in collaboration with a host at a German research institution of their choice.
Undergraduate Intern at Alex Fraser Research Forest in Williams Lake, BC
Over the past 2 months I have been working as an undergraduate Intern at the Alex Fraser Research Forest in Williams Lake. Being an Intern I have had the opportunity to be involved in many different projects and help in the planning and execution to the extent that was possible with my skillset. One of the first projects I was a part of was layout out blocks for logging. After going around the block and seeing the regen from previous entries we went in and started laying out chunks within the block that were harvestable while retaining valuable regen. We also laid out Wildlife Tree Patches to protect important habitat. I was also a part of GPS the plot and mapping them on GIS and creating maps for site plans and operators. We also worked on managing the mule deer winter range. For which we selected clumps of trees throughout the block to remove that would open up the canopy to promote a multilayered, uneven-aged stand structure by reentering the block multiple time over 250 years. This helps maintain the diversity of habitat within the block so that it can provided, thermal and security cover for Mull Deer. During selection of the tree we took diameters of the trees selected and specie of the tree so keep track of the volume that will be remove and minimize negative impacts of removal.
In October I was introduced to doing stocking surveys and multilayered surveys which was a great opportunity to refresh my memory on the topics that I had learnt in university and also be in the field physically doing it. We also timber cruised two plots ( about 45 plots) at Gavin, and as a part of it we took DBH, Height, logs obtainable, recorded species and their status. I was also able to work with the contractors doing Beetle probing and worked with their crew in the field looking at trees in the previously detected beetle spots. We assessed trees for Fir beetle frass and if we found a tree with frass we would chop into it to check to see if we can find live beetle. I am excited to see what the rest of my term has in store for me!
Wildlife Biologist at BC Ministry of Lands, Water and Resource Stewardship in Surrey, BC
This term, I am finishing up my work on the project that I started in January. My primary responsibilities include supervising volunteer data entry, conducting data analyses, and communicating my work through scientific reports. This position has allowed me to gain confidence in many areas that I lacked confidence in previously. Like presenting, supervising/leading, scientific writing, networking, and more. This is a role I have aimed to fulfill for a long time, and I’m grateful to have been offered to continue in this position even after my co-op has ended.
Junior Forestry Technician at Coastal Natural Resource Management Ltd. in North Vancouver, BC
For the last 12 months, I have been working as a Junior Forest Technician for Coastal Natural Resource Management. I have been working across British Columbia working on forestry consulting projects on the coast and the northern interior. During the last year, I have completed forestry assessments, timber evaluations, stream inventories, road engineering and more. I was able to learn and build upon my skills which have been a valuable experience. I have enjoyed the coop program and it is a great opportunity for students to get practical work experience during their studies.
Remote Sensing Analyst at Pacific Forestry Centre in Victoria, BC
Deforestation Remote Sensing Analyst with Pacific Forestry Centre in Victoria, BC (currently remote). I am responsible for visual satellite image interpretation and analysis while incorporating high-resolution images tools such as Google Earth in ArcMap to detect new deforestation events between the years 2016 – 2021 in 3km x 3 km cells. After finding a deforestation event that has an area of a minimum of 1 hectare, I need to delineate the event and record proper attribution (eg. forest pre-type, post-class, and current land use). This co-op work term not only has given me the chance to apply the remote sensing knowledge I have learned in my forestry courses in real-life work experience while learning new skills, I was also able to meet more people to build connections outside of school and I think it is extremely important to have good connections because it will benefit me in my future career. The actual working experience was probably the most valuable to me because it will help me prepare and know what to expect in a working environment.
Sustainability Assistant with Solaires Enterprises Inc. in Victoria, BC
For my third co-op term, I am continuing my remote position at Solaires, a cleantech company that specializes in solar energy–specifically solar cells to make solar energy more accessible. As the sustainability assistant, I play a role in increasing sustainability efforts in the company, help employee engagements, and implement company policies. This term, I assisted in the research of carbon offset projects for the company to help Solaires in the journey of becoming carbon net-zero. Carbon offset was always something that I learned in my studies and I got to experience it first-hand on how companies offset their carbon emissions. In addition, I have been improving student engagement for the company, and this term, I had the wonderful opportunity to host invasive plant species removal corporate volunteering events for the company (as pictured). In my first ever co-op job, I was the volunteer coordinator to help assist corporate groups just like this, so it was super exciting to be on the other end! Without co-op, I would have never found my love for corporate sustainability so I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to widen their experience and to try different sectors of environmental science jobs!
US Expansion Intern with Campaign.com in Jakarta, Indonesia
Working as a US Expansion intern at campaign.com has taught me various skills in managing a growing tech startup company, specifically one that communicates conservation and incentivizes its user base to take action in tackling real-world issues. These skills include flexible verbal, written, and visual communication with teammates, partners, and sponsors alike, and most importantly our user base that consists of citizens from all around the world. This internship opportunity as taught me that action and education can be achieved by people of all sorts of communities and backgrounds, allowing people to take action and make donations without spending a single dime.
Intern at Wildlife Institute of India in Dehradun, India
For my 3rd co-op semester, I worked at the Wildlife Institute of India and developed a project in which my primary focus was around human-wildlife conflicts from a landscape perspective. I had travelled across the country to the state of Tamil Nadu to collect data in the field and had been there for three months. In the field I worked alongside a master’s student, as well as two researchers from the tiger reserve in the area. Every day we planned to go into the field at the necessary sites and collect data, rain, or shine. We were quite fortunate that it hardly rained as it is monsoon season, meaning that there is endless rain during these months. During this time, I was also able to interact with the locals in the areas that we stayed and conducted data collection in, as well as grasp a further understanding into the conflicts that the people in the area were facing with certain species of wildlife such as elephants, tigers, and leopards. Through this experience I explored part of my field that I knew little about while gaining valuable research skills by creating, implementing, and analyzing my own research project. This, however, is only one aspect of what I got to experience. Everyday, in the field I travelled to villages and collected data, it gave me perspectives into the lifestyles and social complexities driven within a different society. A global opportunity is in my opinion rare, and one of the best experiences that I got from joining the co-op program. I feel that as an individual I have grown not only personally but professionally. It has impacted the way I think about environmental issues worldwide as I feel more connected to a global community. If an individual is restricted to a country, they only see the problems that occur there and see them as a separate entity from the rest of the globe. However, by traveling outside, and seeing the issues of another place, it is so easy to see the correlations that occur and how problems in one country affect another so greatly. This would not have occurred if I had not gotten the opportunity from co-op to travel outside of Canada. Therefore, I encourage other students to join the co-op program to expand their opportunities within forestry and understand that there is much more outside of British Columbia and Canada.
Established in 2016, this prize was made available by ForesTrust, registered charity of the Association of BC Forest Professionals (ABCFP). Each year, students enrolled in the Master of Sustainable Forest Management program who have demonstrated academic excellence and leadership skills through their studies will be selected for the prize.
Congratulations to Pauline Flottat for being the 2023 recipient of the ABCFP Sustainable Forestry Management Prize!
MGEM Best in Class Award
Each year two graduating students in the Master of Geomatics for Environmental Management (MGEM) program will be selected for the MGEM Best in Class Awards. The recipients have demonstrated outstanding leadership and teamwork skills during their studies and show exceptional career promise in the field of Geomatics.
Congratulations to the 2022/23 recipients of the MGEM Best in Class Awards!
1st Place: Jackie Ng
During the MGEM program, Jackie was always a team player and showed a dedication to learning. Jackie was always helping their peers. They would pause their own work to ensure that others were succeeding and was always willing to help explain concepts. They embody many traits of a leader: they raise other up, help others, are patient, kind and humble. Jackie’s dedication to sharing knowledge is part of what made them an exceptional MGEM student. It will be exciting to see where the Geomatics industry takes them!
2nd Place: Chenghao Yang
During the first week of the program Chenghao was nominated to be one of the cohort representatives. This was a role that Chenghao took seriously. He checked in with his classmates, raised concerns and advocated for shifting deadlines when the workloads because intense. Chenghao was someone who crossed social lines in the program, weaving into different groups. This was fueled by his desire to learn, not just about geomatics, but about people. Chenghao often asked insightful questions, and offered help to his peers. Chenghao’s quite leadership has made him an outstanding recipient for this award.
MGEM GTA Award
The MGEM GTA Award recognizes outstanding contributions by graduate teaching assistants (GTA) from the Master of Geomatics for Environmental Management (MGEM) program. Each year one GTA who has demonstrated exceptional teaching excellence will be selected for the award.
Congratulations to Liam Irwin, 2022/2023 recipient of the MGEM GTA Award!
About Liam
GTA’s are essential to the MGEM program, they are the heart beat that pumps energy and enthusiasm into every aspect of the program. In a group of people that all do so much, Liam’s dedication stood out. He assisted students outside of his mentorship group, never hesitating to share knowledge, advice and technical assistance. In term 1 Liam lead a R-intensive session out at Loon Lake. This workshop set the foundation for Liam allowing him to play a crucial role in helping the students learn coding and R.
Students have highlighted that Liam took the time to explain material carefully, and helped create an atmosphere to ask questions. Liam was also a consistence presence in the class and made sure to check-in with students outside of questions directed at him. Liam has dedicated time and effort above and beyond what is expected of a TA and as a small repayment we are delighted to award Liam the Best MGEM GTA award!
