A new era of forestry is being ushered in by the rise of digital technology and automation, a great deal of which is also addressing the urgent need to mitigate climate change and respond to shifting community priorities. Find out how UBC Forestry & Environmental Stewardship is pushing boundaries with innovative research, teaching and community outreach that is equipping students and faculty members to tackle global challenges. Other features include a tribute to the late, great Dr. John Worrall, forestry student emergency fund details, student profiles and details about the new Centre for Wildfire Coexistence and Chair.
Job Posting: Forestry positions with Coastal Natural Resource Management Ltd.
Coastal Natural Resource Management Ltd. are looking for people. If you answer yes to the questions below you probably are a great fit for our team.
- Do you want to live in Vancouver, Prince George or any other location in BC while working in Forestry?
- Do you want to work on a variety of projects that challenge your skill set and allows you to work with a diverse group of people?
- Do you want to work with a diverse group of people who bring varied perspectives and focus on a team first environment?
- Do you want to have a flexible schedule that allows for time off when you want it not when your told to take it?
- Do you want to get paid more than industry standard ($23$40/hr), have a benefit package, boot allowance and annual bonus?
- Do you want to work as part of a small team with tons of potential to grow?
- Do you want to jump into a role or expand your career with tons of learning potential? We have the ability to find the role that fits you and will work with you to find what works best.
- Do you want to have a good mix of projects with everything from layout, project management, silviculture surveys, silviculture supervisions and planting implementation?
- Do you want to work somewhere that values you as an employee and will work with you to ensure you are getting what you want out of the job?
For more information and how to apply please see the link below.
UBC Giving Day 2024
Giving Day is back at the University of British Columbia on April 4!
What is UBC Giving Day?
For 24 hours, UBC’s community of alumni, faculty, staff and friends come together to raise funds that will support UBC students.
What do the donations support?
This year, the Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship will raise funds for the Forestry Student Emergency Fund and the Malcolm Knapp Research Forest Renewal Project.
What is the Forestry Student Emergency Fund?
The fund will support current students facing unexpected financial burdens during their studies. To learn more, hear from fourth year student Jamie Butts about the realities and barriers students are facing today.
What is the Malcolm Knapp Research Forest Renewal Project?
The fund will help establish a hub for innovative, hands-on, nature-based research and education, further engaging and inspiring the public and future forestry leaders. Learn more about the project here.
How can you get involved?
Click the button below and donate on April 4. A tax receipt will be emailed to you directly afterward.
To incentivize our community to give, the Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship along with generous members of the Faculty’s community will offer challenge funds to help unlock additional money for these funds.
Jessica Quinton and Sofie McComb Receive 2023/24 Jordan L. Burke Memorial Award in Forestry
On behalf of UBC Forestry & Environmental Stewardship, congratulations to Jessica Quinton and Sofie McComb on receiving the 2023/24 Jordan L. Burke Memorial Award in Forestry!
Jessica Quinton
Jordan L. Burke Memorial Award in Forestry – 1st Place
Supervisor: Lorien Nesbitt
Jessica’s research focuses on the link between urban greening initiatives and gentrification in Canada. She is interested in learning about the impact that urban forestry and urban greening has on cities and their residents. Jessica is also part of a wider SSHRC-funded product, led by Dr. Lorien Nesbitt, studying green gentrification and urban forest governance in Vancouver and Toronto, Canada.
Sofie McComb
Jordan L. Burke Memorial Award in Forestry – 2nd Place
Supervisor: Tara Martin
Sofie’s research examines the impact of cumulative anthropogenic threats on species and ecosystem vulnerability in the Salish Sea of Coastal British Columbia. She is passionate about combining ecological modeling and decision science to better understand the impact of interacting threats on biodiversity, as well as to prioritize cost-effective conservation and management interventions in the face of global change.
Jordan L. Burke Memorial Award in Forestry
The award has been made available through an endowment established by friends, family and colleagues in memory of Jordan L. Burke (1982-2019) for graduate students in the Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship who have demonstrated a passion for teaching in their roles as Teaching Assistants. Jordan (B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. 2016) was a postdoctoral research and teaching fellow with the Forest Insect Disturbance Ecology Laboratory in the Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship. His research focused on the range expansion of the mountain pine beetle in British Columbia and Alberta. Jordan served as a TA and instructor to many undergraduate students in the Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship. This award was established in recognition of Jordan’s legacy as an enthusiastic and encouraging instructor.
Congratulations to the 2023/24 Binkley Family Graduate Scholarship Recipients
UBC Forestry & Environmental Stewardship wishes to congratulate Dimitrios Markou, Katarzyna Przystupa, Alan Verona, and Robin Hastings on being the 2023/24 recipients of the Binkley Family Graduate Scholarship!
MGEM – Dimitrios Markou
MGEM is delighted to announce Dimitrios Markou as this year’s Binkley Family Graduate Scholarship MGEM recipient. Dimitrios has consistently shown academic excellence and engagement in this years MGEM cohort. In addition to his exemplary grade point average, Dimitrios is a student who is quick to ask questions and help facilitate classroom discussions. He is an active member of this year’s social committee and has helped organize events that have brought the cohort together. Overall, Dimitrios represents what it means to be both a Binkley Scholar and top MGEM student.
MIF – Katarzyna Przystupa
MIF is delighted to announce Katarzyna Przystupa as this year’s Binkley Family Graduate Scholarship MIF recipient. Katarzyna has demonstrated strong academic performance, as well as engagement within class discussions. Katarzyna has also played an informal yet important leadership role in bridging the gap between domestic and international students in class. She has made an effort to learn a few phrases in Mandarin, and get to know the customs of other classmates, while teaching others about her own (Polish) culture and traditions. Having taught environmental sciences at the high school level for six years prior to joining the MIF program, Katarzyna brings an important perspective into the class, and we value her contributions.
MSFM – Alan Verona
MSFM is delighted to announce Alan Verona as this year’s Binkley Family Graduate Scholarship MSFM recipient. Alan’s academic excellence and leadership are demonstrated by the quality of his work, dedication to the well-being of his classmates and active engagement in all program activities. Alan can always be relied upon to support discussion and inquiry that enriches course material and encourages peer participation. He exemplifies the qualities of a Binkley Award Winner.
MUFL – Robin Hastings
MUFL is delighted to announce Robin Hastings as this year’s Binkley Family Graduate Scholarship MUFL recipient. Robin demonstrates outstanding work in the classroom. He brings his extensive cross-sectoral experience as an arborist to his academic work, enriching discussions and challenging and supporting his colleagues to think critically. Robin’s passion for urban forestry has helped to build networks and enhance education in urban forestry locally and internationally, most prominently in his role as the Continuing Education Director for the PNW ISA Chapter.
Binkley Family Graduate Scholarship
This scholarship is made available through an endowment established by Dr. Clark S. Binkley, and is awarded to one outstanding graduate student in each of the Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship’s professional master’s programs (MGEM, MSFM, MIF, and MUFL). A scholarship is awarded to one student in each program with high academic standing (minimum 85% overall average at the end of Fall Term) and also demonstrating exceptional engagement and leadership within their cohort.
Where the wild bees are – and aren’t – impacts food supply
Where the wild bees are – and aren’t – impacts food supply
Honey bees—plump, fuzzy and famed for their honey-making—capture the popular imagination. Yet, wild bees are equally vital for pollination and, by some measures, outshine honey bees as pollinators. This is why UBC researcher Matthew Mitchell and his colleagues are deeply concerned about their declining populations.
Dr. Mitchell, a landscape ecologist in the faculties of forestry and land and food systems, sheds light on the link between diminishing numbers of wild pollinators and reduced farm productivity in a recent study published in Environmental Research Letters. In this Q&A, he delves into the research findings and proposes ways the public can contribute to protecting wild bees.
Where can we find wild pollinators, and why are they essential?
Native wild bees—which include mason bees, carpenter bees, sweat bees and bumble bees—and other wild pollinators like moths, wasps, beetles and flies, are found everywhere: in parks and fields, near farms and forests. There are more than 800 species of just native bees in Canada, not counting other pollinators.
Wild pollinators play a vital role in pollinating various crops, including fruits, vegetables, nuts and oilseeds. Blueberries, cranberries, buckwheat, canola and orchard crops rely heavily on wild pollinators. Wild pollinators also help preserve biodiversity by facilitating the reproduction of numerous plant species.
Native pollinator populations are declining from habitat destruction and fragmentation, widespread pesticide use, and the spread of parasites and pathogens like mites and viruses.
What would happen if all wild pollinators were to disappear?
We’d likely witness a loss of native plant species reliant on wild pollinators, and significant crop yield reductions where wild pollinators supplement or are the sole pollinators of crops. Farmers would face higher costs to cultivate pollinator-dependent crops, as reliance solely on European honey bees wouldn’t always be feasible given current honey bee capacity. In some cases, farmers might shift production away from pollinator-dependent crops, leading to increased costs to consumers or scarcity of fruits and vegetables in supermarkets.
Your study focused on the impact of wild pollinator numbers on food-production potential. What did you find?
In Canada, wild pollinators aid in pollinating crops that generate an annual farm income of nearly $2.8 billion and produce calories and nutrients that could feed the equivalent of around 24 million people (although not all these crops are directly consumed by people, as some go to livestock).
Collaborating with colleagues at the Nature Conservancy Canada, we analyzed publicly available data on crops, farm income and nearby pollinator habitats such as forests, wetlands and grasslands to estimate the potential food production and farm income that could be gained if wild pollination was increased.
In Saskatchewan and Alberta, the two provinces most affected by lack of pollinator habitat near croplands, increasing wild pollinator habitat and populations could potentially increase food production by the equivalent of 11.5 million and 4.3 million people fed, respectively, and increase farm income by approximately $1.6 billion for Saskatchewan and $597 million for Alberta.
What can be done to reverse the decline?
Solutions include targeted conservation efforts, such as restoring pollinator habitat in areas where crops depend most on wild pollinators. It’s also crucial to promote sustainable farming practices that restore and maintain wild pollinator habitats near croplands.
On an individual or community level, urban gardens, especially if they include pollinator-friendly plants, can greatly benefit wild bees. Advocating for sustainable farming and habitat conservation can influence policymakers.
If addressed, targeted increases in wild pollinator habitat in Canada could help provide additional nutrition for an equivalent of 30 million people annually and increase farmer income by up to $3 billion every year. We would ensure the long-term health of native pollinators and enhance the sustainability and stability of Canadian agriculture and food supply. Without these types of actions, farmers will instead have to use other, potentially more costly, ways to increase productivity or will have to rely on honey bees.
Originally posted on UBC News
Urban Forestry Student Poster Symposium
Please join our Urban Forestry Students are Presenting Posters in the FSC Atrium April 2 and 4, between 12 – 1:30 pm.
Please stop by and see the great work our BUF students are presenting while socializing with other students, faculty, staff, and community practitioners interested in the study of university neighborhoods as complex social-ecological systems. The BUF Program will be providing food and drinks for this casual and fun poster symposium and networking event!
What are the Bachelor of Urban Forestry (BUF) capstone (UFOR401) students working on?
The BUF Capstone students have been collaborating with SEEDS Sustainability Program, Campus and Community Planning, and the University Neighborhoods Association (UNA) on strategies and methods for measuring urban ecosystem structure, function, and services over time in order to inform decision-making at UBC. Specifically, our students engaged with different interest groups, practitioners, and residents involved with UBC’s new land use plan, and then developed projects to help inform the new Wesbrook Neighborhood plan amendment process that is now underway.
Students have been working in teams on intensive analyses of key themes identified by our community partners, and they also had the opportunity to develop individual projects which are meant to be a creative exploration for their own “portfolios” or visual resumes. Individual projects were designed by each student based on their interests and skills and will be presented in poster form on April 2 and April 4 in the FSC Atrium. Feel free to stop by and chat to students about urban forest research and management, landscape design, and thermal dynamics at UBC in between 12-130 pm in the atrium! If you are interested in watching their team presentations you are also welcome to stop by the classroom (West Mall Swing Space 205) from 11-2pm of Tuesday and Thursday the following week (April 9 and April 11).
Over 40 posters will be presented during the two-day symposium that consider a broad range of urban forestry themes. Below are a few examples of what are students are interested in:
- Reimagining Green Network Planning and Management
- A Comprehensive Toolkit for Studying Urban Heat at UBC: High-Resolution Landcover Classification and Land Surface Temperature Derivation Tools
- Rooting for Success: a Decision Framework for Soil Cell Installation
- A Time Series Analysis of Healthy Vegetation in Westbrook Village
- Optimizing Urban Green Spaces: Evaluating Canopy Shapes and Tree Species for Shading Services in the Westbrook Neighbourhood
- Mapping Cultural Ecosystem Services: Locating Landscape Values of Outdoor Spaces on the UBC Campus
In case you are also interested in the team presentations, below is a schedule of the teams and their themes! As a reminder, students are focusing on the Wesbrook Neighborhood on UBC’s Campus.
Tuesday, April 9
- 11:10 am: The Forest Spirits: Nick Mantegna, Jiahou Lyu, Ximing Lin, Ziheng Niu, presenting on Urban Structure
- 11:30 am: Climate Crafters: Samantha Huang, Molly Kim, Rose Ren, Rebecca Liu presenting on Ecosystem Service Assessment of Water Features
- Break: 11:50 – 12:10
- 12:10 pm: Tree Trackers: Thomas Huen, Luke Baes, Anson Pao, Shichun Wu, Yuhan Chen presenting on Tree Inventory
- 12:30 pm: Shrubbies: Tessa Black, Lucila Gonzalez, Larry Liu, Tingting Zhang presenting on Shrub Inventory
- 12:50 pm: Ecopolis: Sophie Damian, Shane Hunt, Johnny Zhen, Max Garvey presenting on Assessment of Biodiversity, Resilience, and Cooling
Thursday, April 11
- 11:10 am: Giraffe GIS: Madeleine Martin, Troy Sgro, Xiaofan Shen, Naomi Sun presenting on Land Use and Land Cover Mapping
- 11:30 am: Thermal Toasters: Daniel Shen, Charise Pelan-Maclean, Ashley Zhu, Gavin Lyu presenting on Temporal Surface Temperature Changes
- 11:50 pm: SALA: Sierra Wheeler, April Liu, Angellet Soh, Liam Sullivan presenting on Hot Spot Analysis
- Break: 12:10 – 12:30 –
- 12:30 pm: Pavement to Park Professionals: Tyler Blackwell, Heather Bylsma, Mark Fillo, Helen He presenting on Open Space Typology
- 12:50 pm: Open Space Innovators: Fernanda Navarro, Saara Tanha, Youquan Gong, Malli Granby, Hana Kimura presenting on Observational Assessment of Greenspace Use
- 1:10 pm: ABGD Co.: Bernadette Uy, Alerik Wang, Damian Augustyn, Gavin Zeng presenting on Interactive Mapping of Perceptions of Thermal Comfort
Job Posting: Marketing Coordinator with Nature Canada //
Coordinates the digital marketing for the annual online photo contest, preparing the digital social media promotions, digital online email promotions, outreach to photo clubs and nature groups, assist with the volunteer recruitment, on-boarding and coordinating volunteer schedules. The candidate with also assist with the day to day processing of incoming telephone calls, email and mail correspondence from our members, donors and general photo contest inquiries. The candidate will also be tasked with research, outreach and recruitment of youth from diverse backgrounds to participate in our Women for Nature mentorships; and research and outreach to professional women to recruit as mentors for our Women for Nature Mentorship gender-equity based program. They will assist with communications around young nature leaders. They will also research and compile digital resources and research and recruit speakers for our gender-equity based leadership capacity webinars to strengthen the capacity and diversity of young women working in the conservation sector.
Student Engagement Assistant with Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship // Deadline April 18
The Student Services team in the Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship is responsible for the programming and advising services that support the academic, professional and personal development and success of students throughout their experience into, through and out of the Faculty. Within Student Services, the Student Engagement portfolio serves to enhance student life by helping students find and connect with experiential learning, leadership and career development opportunities that are meaningful to them.
The Student Engagement Assistant will play a key role in enhancing the student experience as part of the Student Services team within the Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship, as well as fostering and strengthening the connections between the Faculty, campus, and community. This is carried out through providing valuable contributions to a number of programs offered by Forestry Student Services, including the Forestry Tri-Mentoring Program, the Forestry Digest, the Orientation and Transition Program and the Peer-Assisted Study Session Program.
Deadline to apply extended to Thursday, April 18th.
Jessica Quinton Receives 2023/2024 UBC Killam Graduate Teaching Assistant Award
On behalf of UBC Forestry & Environmental Stewardship, congratulations to Jessica Quinton, PhD Candidate in the Department of Forest and Resources Management, on receiving a UBC Killam Graduate Teaching Assistant Award!
About Jessica’s Research
Jessica’s research focuses on the link between urban greening initiatives and gentrification in Canada. She is interested in learning about the impact that urban forestry and urban greening has on cities and their residents. Jessica is also part of a wider SSHRC-funded product, led by Dr. Lorien Nesbitt, studying green gentrification and urban forest governance in Vancouver and Toronto, Canada.
About the UBC Killam Graduate Teaching Assistant Award
In recognition of the valuable role that Graduate Teaching Assistants play in our programs, UBC annually awards nineteen Killam Graduate Teaching Assistant Awards. Each award includes a Certificate and $1,000. These awards are intended to recognize teaching excellence within our institution and to underscore the importance and value that UBC places on high-quality teaching.