Lab and Field Assistant with UBC Faculty of Forestry, Department of Forests and Conservation Sciences in Vancouver, BC
For my first work term, I’ve been working as a research assistant for a fuel mitigation research project in UBC’s Tree Ring Lab. The project I’m involved with has us traveling through the Kootenays and gathering data on post treatment sites so that the efficacy of various treatments can be modeled. I’ve learned how to measure tree heights, surface fuels, stumps, duff, and shrubs, pretty much everything that can burn! In the photo attached I’m triangulating plot center, the first thing we do when we arrive at a plot. This job has been an amazing opportunity to learn a lot of the basic skills that foresters use in research and timber cruising. It has been really interesting to see firsthand how we can actively manage community forests to build resiliency and move closer to a historic stand structure. My plant biology and silviculture courses have given me a fundamental understanding of our forests which has been crucial to success in my position, and it has been exciting to see what I’ve learned in the classroom in person. My journey with COOP has just begun but I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to gain technical skills, explore career paths, and take their learning outside of the classroom.
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