Field Team Member Co-op with Surrey’s Natural Areas Partnership Program
This summer I’ve been working as a Field Team Member with a program called SNAP: Surrey’s Natural Areas Partnership. It’s a partnership between three non-profits and the City of Surrey designed to give post-secondary students from the ages of 18-30 valuable field experience through various ecological restoration projects throughout the city. While most of our job consists of removing invasive species like Himalayan blackberry and white sweet clover, we get many opportunities to help out with a variety of other projects needed around Surrey’s parks. We help monitor purple martin nest boxes, remove waste from sensitive areas, monitor a new tree well pollinator plant project, and help out in some youth workshops as well!
SNAP has been an incredibly positive experience for me both in terms of career and personal development. I learned more than I ever have in four months, plant ID, social and workplace confidence, and teamwork. Co-op is a great way to test out what kind of work works for you, gain practical skills and get started in your career!
Empowering community voices through Traditional Ecological Knowledge
Physical health is often connected to the health of our environment. A new project led by fourth-year UBC Forestry & Environmental Stewardship undergraduate student Alexandra Thomas highlights how Indigenous knowledge about the healing and nurturing properties of the land could help mitigate negative health effects from climate change-related events, such as extreme heat, in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES) – Canada’s poorest postal code.
“How can we be a healthy city if we don’t lift up every resident?” questions Alexandra, who is majoring in Forest Resources Management and minoring in Community and Aboriginal Forestry. “I hope other young people, especially young Indigenous students, who learn about this project will be inspired to follow their passions and realize their potential.”
Alexandra, who is of Kwakwaka’wakw and Coast Salish descent – with lineages from the Tlowitsis and shíshálh First Nation – comes from a matriline of action-oriented women whose leadership skills and community involvement have been a fountain of inspiration.
“While my passion for the outdoors and natural resources comes from my mom, I also drew a lot of teachings from my grandmother and how she lived her life.”
Alexandra’s mother works as a manager with the Coastal Guardian Watchmen, monitoring their traditional territories on Vancouver Island near Campbell River, BC, where Alexandra and her mom grew up. As a child, Alexandra remembers visiting her grandmother’s bookstore in Campbell River and hearing stories about the many foster children she raised over several decades.
“My grandmother was the matriarch of the family,” Alexandra recalls. “I was her only biological grandchild, and grew up with my family and community looking to her for guidance.”
After moving to Vancouver, Alexandra was surprised to find many areas of the city with minimal tree cover and vegetation. News reports of hospitalizations, particularly among people living in the DTES, during the 2021 heat dome that baked BC with temperatures in excess of 40 degrees Celsius, compelled Alexandra to take action and create the regreening project, which received funding from UBC’s Indigenous Strategic Initiatives Fund.
Launched in September 2022, Alexandra’s Regreening Vancouver’s DTES to Combat Heat Island Effects project looks through a Traditional Ecological Knowledge lens to create a community coalition that gives voice to people living in the DTES. The project’s collaborative approach is designed to address the potential stumbling blocks of complex social dynamics and power structures found within the DTES community.
Traditional Ecological Knowledge is living knowledge of the land and different ways of knowing passed down from one generation to the next, explains Alexandra. For example, the emotional and spiritual meaning and value of cedar trees to Indigenous Peoples is a longstanding part of Indigenous history and culture.
Together with project team members, Pablo Akira Beimler and Nadia Joe, Alexandra will engage with Indigenous nations, as well as Indigenous and non-Indigenous community groups. The project team will
gather recommendations on how to manage and steward green spaces in the urban environment in a way that reflects the needs and traditions of local residents. The research team will also work with City of Vancouver staff on scoping and municipal bylaw considerations.
As the world heats up, green spaces can play an important role in cooling down the surface air temperature in the shade by around six to 13 degrees Celsius. Trees are also carbon absorbing machines, with a mature tree capturing an average of over 21 Kg of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, from the atmosphere over the course of a year.
Indigenous partners from around the world will be engaged to better understand how connections to the land can promote the health and wellbeing of people and the planet.
“We know that small details, such as the presence of a strawberry plant in a community garden, can help address issues of food security, create inroads to connect to the land and incentivize gardeners,” notes Alexandra. “The sharing of insights like this by partners will inform the recommendations we put forward at the close of the project.”
Forestry and care for the community’s surrounding natural resources was a constant presence in Alexandra’s youth. As an undergraduate student, she has further developed her skills and awareness in traditional Indigenous ways of life, land management and stewardship.
“Something that’s often missing from climate and environmental sciences is the interconnection of people and the natural environment, which I am passionate about addressing in my work,” Alexandra says.
Regreening Vancouver’s DTES to Combat Heat Island Effects is seeking input from community partners. To inquire, contact climate.emergency@ubc.ca
This article was originally published in the Spring 2023 issue of Branchlines Magazine. View the full issue here.
The inaugural Advances in Forestry Symposium was conceived and coordinated by Dr. Márcio Pereira da Rocha from Federal University of Paraná (UFPR) Graduate Program in Forestry (PPGEF) together with a group of PPGEF students, Eraldo Antonio Bonfatti Júnior, David Alexandre Buratto, and Renan Zunta Raia. The initial aim of this event was to offer the opportunity for Forestry students from all over Brazil to have institutional exchange, and to facilitate the dissemination of knowledge related to the various lines of professional specialization in forestry. In addition to that, it would also provide PPGEF students an opportunity to work actively in the planning and hosting of an academic event, and to all graduate students in Brazil an opportunity to hone the skill of converting their research into an applied lesson and/or course to better communicate to all forestry stakeholders. Editions I, II, and III of ADFORS took place in the years 2017, 2018, and 2022, at the Center for Forestry and Wood Science (CIFLOMA) facilities of UFPR in Curitiba, Brazil.
Building on the success of the previous editions of ADFORS, and a developing relationship between UFPR PPGEF with The University of British Columbia (UBC) Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship (FoF), IV ADFORS is now a collaborative endeavour between these two universities in Brazil and Canada. The aim of IV ADFORS is to scale up and out the relationships and exchanges created in previous editions of ADFORS to a global level through the international advancements of online learning and communication. This IV ADFORS aims to bring people together, present techniques and facilitate discussions so that together, students, researchers, professors, community, industry and government can better understand forests and their role in sustaining people, livelihoods and the planet.
Organizing Committee
Adriane Avelhaneda Mallmann, PhD Student
Adriane is currently a PhD student in the Graduate Program in Forestry (PPGEF) at the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR). She works on projects related to quantification of biomass and carbon in forests using LiDAR. She holds an undergraduate degree in forestry engineering from the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM) and, a master’s degree in forest engineering, with a specialization in forest management, from UFPR.
Kauana is currently a PhD student in the Graduate Program in Forestry (PPGEF) at the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR). She works in the areas of forest biomass modeling, experimental statistics, and forest inventory. She holds an undergraduate degree in forestry engineering from the Federal University of Santa Maria (USFM); and, a master’s degree in the Graduate Program in Forest Sciences, with a specialization in sustainable management of forest resources, from the State University of Centro Oeste-UNICENTRO.
Fideline Mboringong, MIF Student
Fideline is a graduate student in the Master in International Forestry at the University of British Columbia (UBC), and has close to a decade of experience working in the areas of international development and cooperation, particularly in promoting sustainable environmental and socioeconomic development in the Congo Basin of Central Africa. Her research focus is on exploring scenarios of balancing economic development and biodiversity conservation in relation to landscape change. She is also interested in the intersection between biodiversity conservation, science-policy, and practice interfaces. Fideline holds a Master in International Cooperation (Environmental Management and Sustainable Development) from the International Relations Institute of Cameroon (IRIC) and Università Cà Foscari of Venice.
Juliana Freitas, MSc, MBA
Juliana recently completed a Master of Science in Forestry at The University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship where her work focused on Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification for smallholders in Brazil. She has over a decade of professional experience in environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting; and environmental, health and quality management systems, both in industrial plants and forestry operations. Juliana also holds a Master in Business Administration from the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV), and an undergraduate degree in environmental engineering from São Paulo University (USP).
Alexandre Behling, PhD
Alexandre is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Forestry Sciences at the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR). He is currently coordinator of the graduate program in Forestry at UFPR. He teaches subjects related to forest experimental designs and multivariate analysis. His research focuses on statistics, experimentation and programming languages in Forestry, with an emphasis on forest management.
Carlos G. A. Ormond, PhD
Carlos is the Director of Indigenous and Intercultural Initiatives for UBC Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship. With theoretical backgrounds and field experience in ecology, curriculum development, and community-based work, the focus of Carlos’ work over the last two decades has led him to collaborate on education, research and community development initiatives with Indigenous and intercultural communities, governments, industry and post-secondary institutions at the local, national and international level.
Title: Practicing Alongside-ship in Ecological Research: Working with Indigenous Communities Across Knowledge and Value Systems
Duration: approximately 1 hour
Abstract: As Indigenous knowledge is increasingly sought to inform ecological research, research practices run the risk of perpetuating colonialism through extractive practices and uneven power dynamics while Indigenous knowledges become vulnerable to misuse, misapplication, and theft. We will present on the research practices of the Indigenous Ecology Lab, a lab entirely in service to the ecological and food systems research needs of Indigenous communities. We will provide both Indigenous and settler researcher perspectives through our own research projects as case studies and introduce and demonstrate the concept of “alongside-ship” as a framework for ethically working across knowledge and value systems in Indigenous-led research.
Presenters: Vanessa Jones, Virginia Oeggerli, and Jennifer Grenz, The University of British Columbia, Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship (Canada)
Vanessa Jones, PhD Student
Vanessa Jones is currently a PhD student in the Indigenous Ecology Lab in the Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship, supervised by Dr. Jennifer Grenz. She has a BSc in Biology from Trinity Western University (Canada) and MSc in Plant Science from The University of British Columbia (Canada). Vanessa’s PhD project aims to characterize the soil microbial community of Indigenous forest gardens, which are resilient, previously human-shaped ecosystems that have been left untended since colonization, but remain as residual gardens. She is also a member of the research group, RISE (Reclaiming and Revitalizing Indigenous Forest Garden Stewardship to Improve the Sustainability and Resiliency of Forest Ecosystems), with Dr. Jennifer Grenz (UBC Forestry & Environmental Stewardship), among others, who are working with Indigenous communities across the Province British Columbia (Canada) that will provide key insights for proposing new sustainable strategies to optimize and build resiliency in food systems at the intersection of forest and agri-food sectors.
Virginia Oeggerli, MSc Student
Virginia is currently a master’s student in the UBC Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship, and completed an undergraduate Biology BSc with an Ecology emphasis at Trinity Western University (Canada). My master’s research project is partnering with St’at’imc Nation communities to incorporate Indigenized decision making with Western research. This is looking to create a holistic project that produces knowledge that is valued by the communities. I am working in Lillooet region of British Columbia on the McKay Creek wildfire that occurred in 2021. My project collaborators are Ts’kw’aylaxw, Xwísten, T’ít’q’et- P’egp’íg’lha, Lillooet Tribal Council, St’át’imc Government Services and Lillooet Regional Invasive Species Society.
Jennifer Grenz, PhD
Jennifer has a BSc in Agroecology and a PhD in Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems from the University of British Columbia. Her scholarly interests revolve around invasive species management, ecological restoration, and science communication, and she brings with her nearly two decades of experience providing consulting services and on-the-ground management of invasive species for all levels of government and working with Indigenous communities on creating food security plans and land healing initiatives. Jennifer is a proud Nlaka‘pamux woman of mixed ancestry whose family comes from the Lytton First Nation (though she grew up on the coast of BC).
Session 2
Title: Forest Management and Economy under Climate Change
Duration: 2 hours
Abstract: Part 1 – Expanding forestry markets under climate uncertainties: Evidence from the pulpwood industry in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. In the last decades the demand for pulpwood increased from zero to 11 million tons in Mato Grosso do Sul, leading to an expansion of over 700 thousand hectares of Eucalyptus plantation. In 2024, a new mill will start operating increasing the consumption of wood fiber by around 8.2 million tons (+49%). We used mathematical programming to investigate how different scenarios of productivity and land will affect the market. Our results showed that around 946,000 hectares (+124%) of additional timberland will be necessary for the upcoming decades. The first impact will be an increase in the production cost of around US$550 million (+16.4%) in 25 years. If the rate of land cover change keeps constant, the broad development of the local market would be constrained, discouraging future investments, and reducing potential positive externalities in the region. Part 2 – Considering landowners behavior and their decisions about harvesting in response to timber demand is essential to guarantee economic and ecological sustainability. In this project, we use an agent-based model to explore the interaction of forest landowners (agents) considering the trade-off between economic and ecological outcomes. We develop a simulation-based model based on common landowner decision criteria in the US South, in which agents harvest timberland in order to maximize their expected net present value (eNPV) while they consider carbon sequestration. Our model examines the trade-off between timber harvesting and deferral for carbon sequestration. Initial results show that landowners high return expectations tend to focus on timber management, instead of carbon. The outcome of this research will help public and private entities to strategically plan and understand the carbon markets and their interaction with more established sources of income for landowners such as timber.
Presenters: Roberto Kimura, The Ohio State University, Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics (USA); Fatmeh Rezaei, Mateus Sanquetta, and Bruno Kanieski da Silva, University of Georgia, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources (USA)
Roberto Kimura, PhD student
Roberto is a PhD student at The Ohio State University’s Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics (USA). He recently defended his master’s thesis on expanding forestry markets under climate uncertainties at Mississippi State University (USA); and graduated with a bachelor’s in Economics from the University of São Paulo (Brazil). Roberto’s work has focused on natural resources optimization, market analysis, and econometric modelling; and his current research topics are climate change economics, natural resources allocation, and environmental economics.
Fatemeh Rezaei, PhD
Fatemeh is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship and Natural Resources, University of Georgia (USA). Fatemeh’s main research interests are project planning and scheduling, project risk assessment, and supply chain sustainability. Her research leverages theoretical, simulation, and empirical methodologies to better understand underlying structural issues to bring forward insights that can potentially improve managerial decision-making.
Mateus Sanquetta, MSc student
Mateus is currently a MSc student in Forest Biometrics at the Federal University of Paraná (Brazil), and a MS student in Forest Finance at the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia (USA). He holds a BSc in Forestry from the Federal University of Paraná (Brazil). Mateus also holds the position of Graduate Research Assistant at Harley Jr. Center for Forest Business. He is also the founder of eco2 Consulting, an ESG and carbon-related consulting firm. Co-founder of Seyva, a consulting firm on Forest Business. His current research interests are forest finance, economics, and statistics.
Bruno Kanieski da Silva, PhD
Bruno is an Assistant Professor of Forest Finance at the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia (USA). He holds a PhD in Forest Economics from North Carolina State University, and is a UFPR alumnus, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Forestry in 2010. Bruno’s research group focuses on the economic trade-offs of environmental policies, wildfire economics, forest ecosystem services, and timber markets. He has published in top scientific journals, taught courses in forest economics, and actively contributes to projects related to wildfire risk reduction and timber industry market dynamics.
Session 3
Title:Araucaria angustifolia: Grafting for Seed Production Orchards Formation
Duration: approximately 2 hours
Abstract: Araucaria angustifolia is an important and endemic species of the Atlantic Forest of Brazil. Due to the unbridled exploitation of its wood, it is currently on the list of endangered species. The species has increasingly attracted more attention due to its high-quality nuts for human and animal food. Grafting is an important tool to accelerate the production of seeds (araucaria nuts) of the species and, therefore, can help in its conservation through use. In this session, we will show araucaria grafting, both in theoretical and practical terms, with the aim for the formation of orchards for early production of seeds (araucaria nuts). There will be a presentation of the grafting technique and production of grafted Araucaria plants, as well as practical demonstration of the technique through video that will present in detail all the stages of grafting.
Presenters: Vânia Beatriz Cipriani, Federal University of Paraná, Graduate Program in Forestry (Brazil); and Ivar Wendling, Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation – Embrapa Florestas, Graduate Program in Forestry at UFPR (Brazil).
Vânia Beatriz Cipriani, PhD Student
Vânia is PhD student in Forestry at Federal University of Paraná (Brazil), and at present conducts research in forestry, with emphasis on the vegetative propagation of Araucaria (Araucaria angustifolia) by cuttings, minicuttings and grafting. Her work over the years has been in forest seed technology, clonal forestry and seedling production, and as a professor of Clonal Forestry and Forest Genetic Improvement at the State University of Mato Grosso (Brazil) between 2019 and 2021. She completed an undergraduate degree in Forestry at the State University of Santa Maria (Brazil), and a Master in Science of Tropical Forests from the National Institute of Amazon Research (Brazil).
Ivar Wendling, PhD
Since October 2001 has been a researcher at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation-Embrapa Florestas and since August 2018 has also been a visiting professor at the Federal University of Paraná (Brazil), advising master’s and doctoral students. He completed a bachelor’s degree graduated in Forestry from Federal University of Santa Maria (Brazil), a MSc and PhD in Forest Sciences from Federal University of Viçosa (Brazil), and a Postdoctoral at the University of the Sunshine Coast (Australia). Ivar is an editorial board member of the Journals Scientia Forestalis; Cerne; Advances in Forestry Science; Food Science and Technology; GJAIRD; and Forests and a scientific reviewer for 41 indexed journals. He has more than 160 articles published in indexed journals and a significant number of technologies, products and processes developed. His background is extensive in forestry resources, with emphasis on yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) and Araucaria (A. angustifolia), working mainly on the following topics: clonal forestry, breeding and propagation.
Session 4
Title: Visualizing Natural Resources Management: An Interactive Consultation Using 3D Landscape Models
Duration: approximately 1 hour
Abstract: This interactive session explores cutting-edge advances in forestry using 3D landscape modeling, creating a comprehensive and immersive understanding of forest landscapes and natural resource management. Emphasizing forest management and communication perspective, the session allows participants to virtually navigate through forests at a ground level and at a landscape level. Participants have the opportunity to interact with these 3D models during the session. Throughout, the session underscores the potential of 3D landscape modeling as a powerful tool in forest management, conservation and communication with the public. It brings to life the abstract principles of forestry, enabling a nuanced understanding of how our forests can be managed for different values. This innovative approach provides an exciting glimpse into the future of forestry, demonstrating the role of advanced technology in effective resource management and conservation.
Presenters: Sabrina St-Onge and Dominik Roeser, The University of British Columbia, Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship (Canada)
Sabrina St-Onge, MSc student
Sabrina St-Onge is a master’s student in the Forest Action Lab at the University of British Columbia under the supervision of Dr. Dominik Roeser. She went to a technical school in Quebec to become a forest technician. She also holds a BSc in Forest Management from Laval University and recently got accredited as a forest engineer. Previously, Sabrina worked for three years, on and off during studies, as a forest technician for Natural Resources Canada in Quebec. There at the NRC she was involved in the forest productivity research lab and the entomological research lab. Sabrina has been working part-time for FPInnovations for the past 2 years under their Indigenous Forestry Program as a researcher. Sabrina’s research project intersects social sciences and forestry. The aim of her research is to understand the unique perspectives and experiences of First Nations representatives and forest practitioners within forestry consultation processes in British Columbia. Sabrina is working in collaboration with the spatial intelligence company LlamaZOO, based in Victoria (BC), to investigate the use of 3D visualization in forestry. When Sabrina is not in the forest, you can find her in the Jiu Jitsu gym, on a bike, reading or playing music.
Dominik Roeser, PhD
Since starting at UBC in 2018 Dominik has built a forest operations research program at UBC focusing on supply chain design, forest technology implementation, steep slope harvesting and biomass operations. Before coming to UBC he was working at FPInnovations where, as Senior Director, he managed a multidisciplinary team focused on improving the competitiveness of the forest sector and developing practical solutions to improve efficiency of forest operations and reduce the impact of wildfires in Western Canada. Dominik has more than 21 years of experience in forest research and innovation and have been working with industry to develop solutions that support the emerging bioeconomy both in Europe and in Canada.
Session 5
Title: Assessment of the Uncertainty from Different Sources in Forest Inventories
Duration: approximately 2 hours
Abstract: Quantifying and understanding uncertainty is crucial to improving the reliability of the estimates reported in the forest inventory. In this session, we will explain why uncertainty exists in forest inventory estimates. What are the sources of uncertainty and how are they propagated to the final forest inventory estimates. In addition, we will present methods for quantifying uncertainty in forest estimates.
Presenters: Franciele Alba da Silva, Federal University of Paraná, Graduate Program in Forestry (Brazil); and Rubén Manso, Government of the United Kingdom, Forestry Commission, Forestry Research (United Kingdom)
Franciele Alba da Silva, PhD
Franciele currently holds a postdoctoral position in Forestry at the University of Applied Forest Sciences Rottenburg (Germany). She obtained her PhD degree at Federal University of Paraná, in 2023, and a master degree as well at UFPR. The focus of Franciele’s research is on modelling for forestry quantification, forest inventory and uncertainty assessment.
Rubén Manso, PhD
Rubén’s background is forestry by training, and obtained his PhD degree from the Technical University of Madrid (Spain). From 2013 to 2016, he worked at INRA-Nancy (France) as a post-doc fellow. He joined Forest Research, the research agency of the British forest service, in November 2016, where he is currently a senior scientist in the Tree and Wood Properties team, leading several areas of work. Most of Rubén’s research has focused on empirical modelling for forestry applications, including wood properties, forest inventory and uncertainty assessment. He is deputy Editor-in-Chief of the journal Forestry: an international journal of forest research.
DWB is hiring! They are currently seeking applications for full time and seasonal forestry staff in their Prince George, Burns Lake, Williams Lake and Chetwynd offices. They’re hiring students, crew leads and field supervisors for positions that will have a start date in May 2024.
See attached document for more information and how to apply.
Chartwell Resource Group Ltd. is looking for an ENGINEERING SUMMER STUDENT to join our team for the 2024 field season. The position will be primarily based out of our North Vancouver office, although alternate locations will be considered for the right applicant. Applicants should expect a heavy field component in their duties and must be willing to travel within the province for up to 10 days at a time. Successful candidates will get hands-on experience using Total Stations, RTK-GPS and other survey methods. Your work will be under the supervision of our EGBC and/or FPBC accredited members. Work terms of 4 or 8 months will be considered.
See attached document for more information and how to apply.
Chartwell Resource Group Ltd. is looking for several FORESTRY SUMMER STUDENTS to join our team for the 2024 summer field season. These positions are available in our Squamish, Sechelt, North Vancouver or Chilliwack office locations. Applicants should expect a heavy field component in their duties and must be willing to travel within the province for up to 10 days at a time. Successful candidates will get hands-on experience in both Coastal and Interior Forest operations and would be under the supervision of one of our 29 FPBC or EGBC accredited members. Work terms of 4 or 8 months are available.
See attached document for more information and how to apply.
UBC Forestry & Environmental Stewardship wishes to congratulate Samuel Adeyanju and Noa Mayer on being recipients of the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Vanier CGS)!
Samuel Adeyanju
As a PhD Candidate at UBC Forestry & Environmental Stewardship, Samuel’s research interests are broadly focused on sustainability management of forests in Sub Saharan Africa. Samuel is receiving the Vanier Scholarship for his PhD work in Ghana, which seeks to understand the effectiveness of livelihood interventions in improving livelihoods within Community Resource Management Areas (CREMAs) by examining how interventions work, who they benefit or exclude, and obstacles to their effective implementation.
Noa Mayer
As a PhD student at UBC Forestry & Environmental Stewardship, Noa’s research focuses on the intraspecific variation in the thermal tolerance of Kokanee salmon and the use of aerobic scope as a tool for determining population-specific capacity to withstand climate-induced increases in freshwater temperatures.
Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship
The Vanier CGS program awards up to $50,000 per year for three years, for students working in social sciences and humanities, natural sciences, engineering, and health. This year, 166 doctoral students across Canada received Vanier Scholarships, 18 of them being UBC students.
Community Forestry Summer Student at Sunshine Coast Community Forest
During my co-op work term at Sunshine Coast Community Forest the situated in Sechelt BC, I have had the privilege of assisting the directors with various tasks and intricate projects within the Community Forest including forestry layout plan, timber crusing, traffic control, trail assessment project, culvert checking road project, wetland restoration, amphibian survey, salmon release festival education and so on.
The most rewarding thing for me is that I have learned and witnessed the bonds that local people have with their community forests. The residents of the community are closely related to their forest. They not only regard the community forest as their playground with recreation and relaxation, but also as their place to live.
This work experience not only broadened my understanding of community forest resource management, but also honed my communication and cooperation skills. I highly recommend others to pursue the co-op program as it provides an enormously experience and the opportunity to gain early access to the industry to have a chance to think about future employment directions.
With the climate crisis actively playing out in all corners of the world, future professionals equipped to address it and even offer solutions for improving planetary outcomes will be more in demand than ever before.
UBC’s Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship’s and international renowned author of Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the ForestDr. Suzanne Simard is finding new ways to empower citizen scientists with answers to tackling those climate challenges. Starting in January 2024, Dr. Simard and her teaching team will roll out a new UBC online course that showcases how forests can provide natural solutions to climate change and social well-being.
Forest Stewardship in a Changing Climate
Custom tailored for UBC students who do not necessarily have a background in scientific study or forestry, the course, FRST 304Forest Stewardship in a Changing Climate, will give students a foundation in everything from restoration practices such as protection of mother trees and soils to carbon and conservation financing and the emergence of value-added industries.
“This course will cover how we can build better relationships between Western and Indigenous science. It will address how we need to get ahead of climate change by recognizing Indigenous Nations need to be leading all stewardship efforts. Students will hear how we need to work together to restore, recover and protect our forests so that they can go back to absorbing more carbon from the atmosphere, thereby mitigating climate change by as much as one third,” says Simard.
“It’s really for anybody who ever felt overwhelmed by the many climate extremes we are seeing happen right outside our doorsteps and felt a need to investigate what we can do for future generations.”
UBC Non-Studies Degree Program
In order to be able to register for the course, students must first be registered with UBC. Members of the public who are not currently registered at the post-secondary institution can apply under UBC’s non-degree studies program in order to be granted course access eligibility.
“UBC’s Non-Degree Studies is a great way to take advantage of UBC’s credit-based courses without pursuing a degree or diploma. It is a fantastic option for those wanting to take courses out of interest or looking for a way to complete requirements for professional or academic advancement,” says UBC Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship student recruiter and advisor Ana Curcin.
The application deadline for enrolling in the Non-Degree program for Winter Session Term 2 (January semester) is October 15 (with the exception of Visiting students whose deadline was on July 15). After admission to UBC, students are able to register. Class will commence on January 8, 2024 and the final deadline to register is January 22, 2024.
