UBC Forestry warmly congratulates Dr. Janette Bulkan and Dr. Tara Martin who are recipients of this year’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council’s (SSHRC’s) Insight and Partnership Grants.
UBC Forestry’s International Bamboo Conference Attracts Hundreds from Around the World
The virtual, first-of-its-kind Engineered Bamboo for Sustainable Construction Conference UBC Forestry co-hosted earlier this spring with World Bamboo Organization and Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University attracted over 800 registrants representing 84 countries from around the world. Among the most represented countries at the event were India, the Philippines, U.S.A., Canada and China.
Conference organizing committee member, Commonwealth Forestry Association President and UBC Forestry Professor John Innes says he was not surprised to see the extent of the event’s overall impact.
“In planning this, we instinctively knew the topic would be of widespread interest. It was great to see the amount of engagement and learning that took place,” says Innes.
As one of the conference’s chairs and participants, Innes maintains that the conference’s range of speakers and topics, including the rapidly growing use of engineered bamboo in construction and the development of the circular economy, were important reasons why participants stayed highly engrossed in discussions all three days of the event.
“Throughout the course of the conference, we saw little drop-off and many questions asked. More than 200 questions in total were posted. In comparison to other virtual international conferences, that number seems quite high,” reports Innes.
Bamboo Applications and Manufacturing (BAM) Team
Building on lessons learned from the conference, Dr. Chunping Dai, Conference Co-chair, UBC Forestry Bamboo Applications and Manufacturing (BAM) lab leader and wood science associate professor, is fine-tuning his team’s research program.
“The discussions that took place at our conference will help guide the group’s ongoing research in meeting the high demands for sustainable material development.”
Dai’s lab’s current research areas include the utilization of bamboo and other natural fibres for sustainable construction and packaging, among others.
“We will continue to explore all of the benefits of bamboo, which includes fast growth and high carbon sink potential that could help reduce global greenhouse gas emissions,” says Dai.
Bamboo is being increasingly used in everyday products around the world. Within Canada and the U.S., the use of bamboo as a building product is growing, says Dai who cites examples such as North America’s recreation property industry.
“There’s a company in Ontario, for example, looking at replicating what some companies in Hawaii do already where they build beautiful vacation homes out of bamboo. Here in B.C. smaller enterprises are exploring the use of bamboo or engineered bamboo hybrid products that combine bamboo with wood for better overall performance.”
“The bottom line is the demand for bamboo and skilled professionals is going to grow and UBC Forestry is in a unique position to continue to deliver on research, innovation and education to meet that demand,” says Dai.
UBC Grad Students to Study Climate Change in Mission Municipal Forest
Graduate students from the Faculty of Forestry at UBC will soon study climate change and sustainability in the Mission Municipal Forest as part of a new partnership agreement between the City of Mission and the university.
Maja Krzic Awarded Canadian Society of Soil Science Fellow Award
UBC Forestry warmly congratulates Dr. Maja Krzic, who is a recipient of this year’s Canadian Society of Soil Science Fellow Award.
About Dr. Krzic’s Research
An associate professor in the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, Dr. Krzic has devoted her life research to understanding the impact of humans on soil properties and processes, and the importance of global sustainability.
As an innovative and award-winning educator, Dr. Krzic is known for utilizing outdoor community space to bring the study of soil science alive for her students. Additionally, Dr. Krzic co-chairs the Canadian Society of Soil Science Education Committee, which she established in 2014 in hopes of advancing digital learning technology.
Throughout her career, Dr. Krzic has been the recipient of numerous awards from a variety of organizations for her diverse educational contributions, including the prestigious Canadian distinction, 3M National Teaching Fellow of the Society of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE).
In 2018, Dr. Krzic was named the eighth recipient of the Award for Excellence in Open Education by the Campus, for her active role in establishing the Virtual Soil Science Learning Resources (VSSLR) group, which serves as an open-access educational platform and multimedia resource.
Last year, Dr. Krzic and her team were awarded the Canadian Network for Innovation in Education’s (CNIE) Award of Merit for Excellence and Innovation in the Integration of Technology in a Partnership or Collaboration for their strides in Canadian education.
About the Canadian Society of Soil Science Fellow Award
Dr. Krzic is one of two CSSS members named as fellows annually for their acclaimed accomplishments in soil science and service to the Society. Fellows are awarded for their personal and professional achievements within the field as well as their positive impact on the soil science research community.
UBC Forestry Announces the Launch of Two New Micro-Certificates
Personalized, adaptable and industry-aligned, UBC Forestry’s two new Micro-Certificates address the gap in online forestry education.
The Faculty of Forestry continues to build out its breadth of accessible, flexible and virtual learning opportunities with the launch of two new Micro-Certificates in Forest Carbon Management (FCM) and Climate Action and Community Engagement (CACE).
Delivered exclusively online, these new programs leverage UBC’s renowned remote education tools and technology to provide instruction to communities across the world, and bring UBC Forestry to working professionals and beyond.
With the pressing urgency of the climate crisis and a call for interdisciplinary action across all sectors, UBC Forestry’s new micro-certificate programs aim to address the need for practical and applicable expertise in sustainable, responsible forest management and community action.
“In the area of climate change and the workforce, there has been a real gap identified for applied tools and management practices on the ground, and professionals are really searching for this,” says Dr. Sheri Andrews-Key, Micro-Certificate Program Director, “That’s why we are developing these programs, to help build this capacity.”
Spanning 8-weeks, participants will join leading scholars and subject-matter experts in graduate-level courses rooted in real-world applications to gain additional skills and diversify employment opportunities and roles, or help meet entry requirements for relevant UBC undergraduate or professional programs.
Jorma Neuvonen, Assistant Dean, Professional Education and International Collaboration says, “These programs offer amazing opportunities to bridge the gap in Canada’s forestry education, and are really the first of its kind to offer quality, flexible education directly to learners at their convenience. And this accessibility is key to ensuring that graduates are prepared to work, adapt and grow in their careers in a rapidly changing world.”
FCM and CACE follow UBC Forestry’s previous success in online micro-certificates, with classes beginning in October 2022.
“I attended two UBC Forestry online courses and both of them built my knowledge, widened my international networks and enriched my critical thinking,” says a past student.
Applications for both programs are now open.
Cristiano Loss and UBC Team Receive $1M NSERC Alliance Missions Grant
UBC Forestry’s Assistant Professor in Timber Engineering, Cristiano Loss, along with UBC civil engineering professors Tony Yang and Zhengbo Zou and a team of researchers, was recently awarded a $1 million Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Alliance Missions grant.
Funded over two years, the project, High-Performance Timber Modular Tall Buildings Toward Resilient Construction, will help lead the development of advanced technologies aimed at creating high-performance structures and surrounding community infrastructure that can respond to external stimuli and develop a resilient built environment.
Smart Structures
Known as smart structures, these contemporary buildings can sense all kinds of different external forces including extreme weather-related events often associated with climate change. Dr. Loss and the team are working on a number of smart structure technologies that are aimed at addressing multiple challenges the commercial and residential construction sectors are experiencing all over the globe.
“The team works on everything from testing new active devices that can be built into structures to help reduce the impacts of catastrophic events such as earthquakes to robotic technology that can assist with skilled labour shortages and more streamlined building techniques,” explains Loss.
Among the many construction challenges this inter-disciplinary research team prioritizes is implementing more sustainable construction practices that incorporate more environmentally friendly building materials.
“My primary role in all of this work is to ensure we are developing smarter engineered wood-based structures, whether they are low-rise, mid-rise or high-rise, with wood,” says Loss. “When you consider all of wood’s environmental and design characteristics, it is the logical building material choice.”
Co-investigated by Dr. Loss, the research team includes Dr. Yang who is a co-lead and Dr. Zhengbo Zou who are both with UBC’s Department of Civil Engineering, as well as Dr. Dorian Tung who is with the timber building systems group at FPInnovations.
Before coming to UBC in 2019, Dr. Loss was based in Italy where he received an M.Sc. in Structural Engineering and a Ph.D. in Engineering of Civil and Mechanical Structural Systems. His primary research focus is on high-performance carbon-neutral hybrid structural systems and performance-based optimum design procedures for cost-effective building solutions. Dr. Loss also serves as the Chair of the UBC Wood Building Design and Construction cluster.
About NSERC
Loss and his fellow researchers received a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Alliance Missions Grant which is awarded to projects aimed at strengthening Canada’s economy through finding solutions for critical scientific and technological challenges.
Emily Cranston Awarded LeSueur Memorial Award
UBC Forestry wishes to congratulate Dr. Emily Cranston who is the 2022 recipient of the LeSueur Memorial Award from the Society of Chemical Industry (SCI). Awarded to exceptional individuals for their work in the development of technical excellence, LeSueur Memorial Award recipients are honoured for their innovation and ingenuity within the Canadian chemical industry.
Dr. Cranston’s Distinguished Career and Sustainable Nano Biocomposites Lab
Dr. Cranston is a world-leading nanoscientist and in addition to her position as an associate professor in the UBC Department of Wood Science and UBC Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Dr. Cranston serves as the President’s Excellence Chair in Forest Bio-products.
Cranston’s research group, the Sustainable Nano Biocomposites Lab focuses on the design of high-performance materials, specifically the use of the biocomponent nanocellulose derived from wood pulp in hopes to replace materials based on non-renewable resources. Moreover, Dr. Cranston has linked technical concepts and industrial applications of cellulose-based products in her innovative approach to complex technical challenges.
Dr. Cranston is the 2016 recipient of The American Chemical Society’s KINGFA Young Investigator Award, and was awarded the 2018 Kavli Foundation Emerging Leader in Chemistry Award by the American Chemical Society and Kavli Foundation for her significant contributions to the field of chemistry.
In 2020, as an associate professor at UBC, Cranston received funding from the Government of Canada through the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF). This national investment in state-of-the-art labs and equipment allowed her to purchase an atomic force microscope to aid in the development of bio-based materials.
Additionally, in recognition of her innovation in the fields of wood science, chemical and biological engineering, Dr. Cranston is a recipient of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) 2021 E.W.R Steacie Memorial Fellowship which is awarded to six researchers in the natural sciences and engineering fields across Canada annually.
Thus far, Dr. Cranston has authored over 120 publications and trained dozens of students and researchers.
About the LeSueur Memorial Award
Since 1955, the LeSueur Memorial Award has honoured Ernest A. LeSueur, a pioneer in Canadian Chemical Engineering. This award celebrates individuals for their contribution to the Canadian chemical industry in both research/university institutions and industrial settings.
For more information on the LeSueur Memorial award visit the SCI website.
Wildfires Webinar (Formerly Fires & Floods Webinar)
We regret to inform you that Prof. Younes Alila is no longer able to participate in the ‘Fires and Floods’ webinar. The webinar will proceed with Prof. Lori Daniels with a focus primarily on covering wildfires.
Wildfires Webinar
When: June 7, 2022, 12pm – 1pm
Where: Online
The world is heating up, issuing a rising number of severe storms, droughts and record-breaking temperatures that are wreaking havoc on communities and economies. The price tag to repair recent catastrophic flooding that washed out farms, homes and sections of the Coquihalla highway, along with other roadways in the Fraser Valley, will likely be in the billions of dollars. Do land management practices, such as clearcutting, play a role in devastating floods? What about the role of fire suppression and land management practices in massive wildfires? Our forest dynamics expert Prof. Lori Daniels will discuss some of the forestry practices that are shaping landscapes in BC and how the profession can help mitigate the impact of extreme weather-related events.
This program is made possible with support from:
Host/Moderator
Johanna Wagstaffe
Johanna Wagstaffe is the on-air meteorologist, seismologist and scientist for CBC VANCOUVER NEWS and CBC NEWS NETWORK. She has been covering national and international weather stories for the CBC News: Weather Centre since the summer of 2007.
Wagstaffe’s strong background in seismology and earth science has led her to cover major seismic events, space missions and the Copenhagen and Paris Climate Change conference. She has hosted two award-winning CBC Vancouver podcasts: Fault Lines, 2050: Degrees of Change and continues to work on various CBC original podcast projects.
She is a vital resource for CBC and provides expert insight into breaking weather stories and giving context to weather patterns and science stories in her “Science Smart” series. You can catch ‘Science Smart’ on CBC’s Our Vancouver and online.
She graduated with an honours degree in geophysics from The University of Western Ontario. She was first exposed to weather forecasting as a summer intern at the Environment Canada Severe Weather Centre, then obtained her post-graduate meteorology certificate from York University. She first joined CBC Vancouver News and CBC News Now as the on-camera meteorologist in the Fall of 2012.
Outside of work, Wagstaffe enjoys running, teaching children about weather and science and flying. She got her pilot’s license when she was 17 years old and still flies with her father in a 1943 Aeronca on the weekends.
Featured Speaker
Lori Daniels
Lori Daniels is a Professor of Forest Ecology with the UBC Faculty of Forestry. Lori directs the Tree-Ring Lab where her research team reconstructs historical fire regimes, plus the impacts of climate and humans on forest change. With her research team, Lori is researching wildfires and forest resilience to climate change in the interior of BC, Rocky Mountain National Parks and the foothills of Alberta.
Two pathogens linked to salmon health and survival in B.C.
Many wild salmon populations in B.C. have experienced substantial declines over the last three decades. New UBC research published today can help chart a course towards better protection of wild salmon.
2022 Alumni Builder Award Winner Shares His Secret to Success
Some lessons must be experienced to be understood. For Arthur Tsai, testing his limits helped him realize not only what he was capable of, but a path in life that led him to complete both a BSc (1995) in Wood Science and Industry and MSc (2012) in Forestry at UBC, as well as achieve ongoing success heading the market intelligence team at Paper Excellence.
In 2022, Arthur was recognized with one of only 12 UBC Vancouver 2022 Alumni Builder Awards for his ongoing involvement with the Faculty of Forestry as a tri-mentor, guest lecturer, co-op mentor/ relationship builder and Alumni Advisory Council member. The awards recognize alumni who have made a significant contribution to the university and enriched the lives of others.
On top of volunteering with the Faculty of Forestry, Arthur has sat on industry-related boards and the boards of local community and sports organizations. In fact, juggling multiple commitments is something he has perfected since pursuing his studies at UBC.
“Most of my friends wanted me to go into accounting with them, but that program did not interest me,” recalls Arthur. “I somehow stumbled into the Faculty of Forestry, and then Assoc. Dean Tony Kozak was nice enough to bring me into his office and explain the profession of forestry to me. I was so grateful to him for having taken the time. If it wasn’t for him, I would have been lost as an undergraduate student.”
Tony opened Arthur’s eyes to different aspects of the profession, including the vast number of forest products derived from the BC forestry industry. Arthur was hooked.
As an undergraduate student, Arthur took a lumber marketing course taught by Prof. Dave Cohen who shared stories from the marketing realm that incorporated details about different types of wood products, where they are shipped and the end-users who consumed them.
“In the 1990s, Japan was the main offshore market for British Columbia’s wood products outside of North America,” recalls Arthur. “Dave explained how business was done there and what products performed best in that market. That in and of itself was fascinating to me.” Enough so that Arthur worked with Dave to complete a master’s in lumber marketing focusing on demographic factors affecting the demand for wood products: “factors such as age cohorts, population growth, immigration/migration flow,” adds Arthur.
At that time, Arthur was working full-time for Canfor while undertaking a full course load to complete his master’s, all while raising his two young daughters with his wife.
“I was about to quit the master’s program at one point because it was too much to handle; I was so stretched mentally and physically.”
That’s when Dave gave Arthur sage advice that has been a guiding light for him.
“He said to me: ‘You have to set your priorities. First, you need to take care of yourself, then your family, then your career and then school’.”
Recognizing the care and support behind Dave’s words gave Arthur the extra boost he needed to persevere. It was also the reason why Arthur later decided to return to the Faculty of Forestry to mentor the next generation of forestry students.
“I wanted to give back to the Faculty and help others the way that I was helped. Now that I’m more settled in my career and life, I am grateful to have found time to devote to volunteering.”
Mentoring Forestry students, and helping them get co-op placements at Canfor in his prior role, also served to keep Arthur abreast of changes at UBC while helping students pursue their studies and careers.
“To me, success is about how well you care for your family and then, with time, your willingness to give back to your community,” reflects Arthur, whose eldest daughter enrolled in Forestry undergraduate studies at UBC.
“The more you meet other people, the more you learn, the more you connect with different folks and different ways of thinking and different cultures, the more it shapes you for the better. That belief system has really guided me over the years, and it’s something that I hope to humbly pass along to my girls and the students.”
Branchlines
Led by our very own Development and Alumni Engagement Office, and shaped by valuable feedback from our alumni community, the Spring 2022 issue of Branchlines showcases the dynamic and multifaceted fields of forestry.