Dane Pedersen
Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD)
Seeing the forest through the trees: collaborative climate-informed forest governance in Quesnel, British Columbia
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Forests go far beyond British Columbia; they cover 1/3 of the Earth’s land surface. Forestry graduate students learn from a dynamic and diverse group of researchers who educate and communicate how forests and forest products contribute to the well-being of all living things. The health and sustainability of forests and the people who depend on them underlies everything we do.
The Faculty of Forestry is one of the top institutions globally in forest-related education and research. The unique breadth of expertise we possess allows us to integrate new knowledge across many disciplines. Offering both master’s and doctoral programs, our graduate students learn from a dynamic and diverse group of researchers from around the world.
Research Facilities
The Forest Sciences Centre is a showcase for construction using Canadian forest products, and was architecturally designed to mimic the landscape of British Columbia: towering trees, mountains, and blue-green waters. The 17,505-square-metre Forest Sciences complex has 11 classrooms, 2 lecture theatres, teaching laboratories, office space, computer labs, study areas, and a cafeteria, and houses the Faculty’s three departments.
Built alongside the Forest Sciences Centre is the 3,730-square-metre Centre for Advanced Wood Processing. It is Canada’s national centre of excellence for education and research related to wood products processing and advanced wood products manufacturing, and works to advance knowledge that fosters job creation, stabilizes forest-dependent communities, encourages increased value recovery, and ensures the sustainable management of Canada’s forests. This building includes two 25-seat classrooms, a machine lab, a simulator lab and a computer lab.
Within the Faculty of Forestry, there are also several research groups. Visit the website of each project to find out more.
Off-campus facilities include two Research Forests: the Malcolm Knapp Research Forest in Maple Ridge and the Alex Fraser Research Forest near Williams Lake. These are working forests located throughout the province where students and faculty can study in an outdoor setting. Fish and wildlife, silviculture, forest harvesting, forest ecology, forest management, and resources management figure prominently in these field studies.
Research Highlights
UBC Forestry is turning out a new generation of foresters, and faculty are committed to meeting future challenges in forestry through in-depth, cutting edge research. In fact, UBC Forestry receives the highest level of forestry research funding of any forestry faculty in Canada.
In the 2017/2018 fiscal year, members of the Faculty Forestry were awarded a total of over $12 million in research funding.
Our wide breadth of research includes topics such as tree rings, integrated remote sensing, bioenergy, forest conservation genetics, landscape visualizations, African forest conservation and development, alpine studies, climate change, and advanced wood processing.
Schools / Departments
Graduate Degree Programs
Research Supervisors in Faculty
or browse the list of faculty members in various academic units. You may click each unit to view faculty members appointed in that unit. View the full faculty member directory for more search and filter options.
| Name | Academic Unit(s) | Research Interests |
|---|---|---|
| Grayston, Susan | Department of Forest & Conservation Sciences | Climate change, microbiology, soil science |
| Grenz, Jennifer | Department of Forest Resources Management | Forestry sciences |
| Hagerman, Shannon Marie | Department of Forest Resources Management | biodiversity, climate change, communities and livelihoods, conservation, forest policy, social science |
| Hamelin, Richard | Department of Forest & Conservation Sciences | |
| Hinch, Scott | Department of Forest & Conservation Sciences | salmon migrations, salmon ecology, salmon fisheries, fish conservation, land use impacts (e.g. forestry) on fish and habitat, Salmon, conservation, ecology, fish ecology, fisheries management, stream, and riperian ecology |
| Innes, John | Department of Forest Resources Management | Other natural sciences; Forestry; Ecology |
| Jiang, Feng | Department of Wood Science | bio-based nanomaterials, carbohydrate chemistry, chemistry, sustainability, wood science |
| Joshi, Jaya | Department of Wood Science | Biofoundries; biomass; Carbon; Engineering; Enzyme Design; sustainability; Synthetic biology |
| Kim, Kwang Ho | Department of Wood Science | Other engineering and technologies; Forest Bioproduction and the BioeconomyTechnology and Innovation; Biomass conversion engineering |
| Kozak, Robert Antal | Department of Wood Science | Forest-dependent communities in transition, international development & poverty alleviation, value-added strategies, forest certification & corporate social responsibility, forest sector sustainability & competitiveness, marketing, management & consumer behaviour |
| Lam, Tzeng Yih | Department of Forest Resources Management | Quantitiative methods in forestry; Forestry management and environment; Statistical theory and modeling; Survey methodology and analysis; Bayesian Filtering; Forest Inventory; Growth and Yield; Sampling Theory; silviculture; Timber; Tree Measurement |
| Lam, Frank | Department of Wood Science | timber engineering; structural use of wood products, Engineered wood systems |
| Li, Minghao | Department of Wood Science | Earthquake engineering; Structural engineering; Building construction engineering; Concrete, cementitious materials and other architectural and construction materials |
| Loss, Cristiano | Department of Wood Science | Forestry sciences; Wood; Engineered Wood Solutions; Engineering Wood Design; Hybrid Wood-Based Systems; Industrialised Wood Systems; Seismic Design and Analysis of Timber Structures; Timber Engineering; Wood Building Systems; Wood as Structural Material |
| LU, JULIET | Department of Forest Resources Management, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs | Forest ecology; Economic geography; Environmental sociology; conflicts and governance issues around resource extraction and intensive land use; transnational land investments; promotion of monoculture plantations at the expense of more biodiverse systems; private sector sustainable governance initiatives |
| Mansfield, Shawn | Department of Wood Science, Department of Botany | plant metabolism, cellulose biosynthesis, lignin biosynthesis, wood formation, wood quality, cell wall biochemistry, tree biotechnology, transgenics, Tree biotechnology |
| Martin, Tara | Department of Forest & Conservation Sciences | biodiversity, climate change, climate models, conservation, ecological monitoring, ecology, land-use change, landscape ecology, landscape planning, modelling |
| Mchale, Melissa | Department of Forest Resources Management | Trans-disciplinary approaches to studying complex socio-ecological systems, social drivers of ecosystem processes, cities as sustainable ecosystems, carbon dynamics in urban systems, urbanization effects on nutrient cycling, ecosystem services and dis services, consumption culture, urban metabolism, urbanization in the developing world |
| Meitner, Michael | Department of Forest Resources Management | forest aesthetics and scenic beauty, outdoor recreation, environmental visualization, geographic information systems, visual perception, agent-based modeling, Public involment in planning, sustainability leadership |
| Montwe, David | Department of Forest Resources Management | Forestry sciences; climate change; Drought and climate change; Evaluating silvicultural treatments on timber quality and value; Forest management; Increasing forest resilience to climatic extremes using silvicultural interventions; Long-term resilience; Reducing impacts from forest disturbance agents under climate change; Regeneration; silviculture; Species selection |
| Moore, Alex | Department of Forest & Conservation Sciences, Department of Botany | Community ecology (except invasive species ecology); Plant-animal interactions; Global change biology; Ecological restoration (except bioremediation); Applied community and ecosystem ecology; impact of predator-prey interactions on the health and functioning of coastal wetland ecosystems; role of cultural values and knowledge in ecosystem restoration conservation; Global change impacts on coastal environments |
| Myers-Smith, Isla | Department of Forest & Conservation Sciences | Ecology (except applications); Arctic; biodiversity; climate change; Community Building; Ecosystems; Environmental communication; tundra ecosystems |
| Nelson, Harry William | Department of Forest Resources Management | analyzing natural and environmental resource policy with an emphasis on forestry and in developing new policy options that can help enhance the long run sustainability of Canadian forests and the communities and businesses that rely upon them |
| Nesbitt, Lorien | Department of Forest Resources Management | Land use and environmental planning; Environmental justice; urban forestry; Liveable and equitable urban environments; Socio-ecological interactions in cities; climate change; Ecosystem services; Cities |
| Nikolakis, William | Department of Forest Resources Management | Aboriginal Forestry, Forest Management, Land-use Change |
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Recent Publications
This is an incomplete sample of recent publications in chronological order by UBC faculty members with a primary appointment in the Faculty of Forestry.
Recent Thesis Submissions
Doctoral Citations
A doctoral citation summarizes the nature of the independent research, provides a high-level overview of the study, states the significance of the work and says who will benefit from the findings in clear, non-specialized language, so that members of a lay audience will understand it.
| Year | Citation | Program |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Dr. Feujofack investigated the structural behavior of hybrid steel-grout connectors for mass timber panels. High-fidelity models were developed to predict connector performance. The study showed that the presence of a grout layer can increase performance by up to tenfold. These connectors could enable the construction of taller timber buildings. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2025 | Dr. Zhang developed sustainable methods to fabricate and functionalize xylan nanoparticles from renewable biomass. His works offer sustainable solutions for utilizing hemicellulose by developing eco-friendly functional nanomaterials, benefiting industries seeking innovative biobased materials for advancing circular economy goals. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Pineda used a multi-scale approach to develop a computational model to simulate the consolidation of engineered bamboo composites during manufacturing. The model can be used to reduce the time and energy consumption of the manufacturing process of engineered bamboo composites and can be adapted to other engineered wood products. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Barragan's research on forest restoration planning identified key factors for achieving socio-ecological goals, assessed tree resilience to climate change, involved local communities in site prioritization, and facilitated knowledge sharing for lasting benefits to people and nature. Her work can inform global restoration practices and policies. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Guevara Rozo studied the biosynthesis of mannan in the cell walls of woody plants. By identifying and modifying genes linked to mannan production, she demonstrated that mannan can be altered without affecting plant growth. Her work provides valuable insights into how we can modify plant cell walls to enhance biofuel and biomaterials production. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Bassett studied how to achieve urban sustainability goals, from mitigating urban heat to managing stormwater to creating wildlife habitat, through management of urban forests. She concluded that day-to-day management decisions are disconnected from sustainability planning and the urban foresters should be empowered to better align decisions with the sustainability goals cities need. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Nuijten evaluated drone remote sensing technologies for assessing recovering forest ecosystems. His research demonstrated methods to analyze structure and plant type composition, identified other ecosystem attributes derivable from drone data, and highlighted ways to simplify analysis, improve accuracies, and lower data acquisition costs. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Carbeck's research examined how species adapt to environmental challenges across space and time. Using song sparrows as a model system, she found that genetic adaptation, range shifts, and migration enable populations to cope with rapid climate change. Her findings improve predictions that guide conservation strategies in a changing environment. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Quinton studied how urban greening and gentrification become connected in Canadian cities. Her research has shown that current approaches to greening contribute to upholding inequitable patterns in the distribution of urban vegetation. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Vasquez-Fernandez was invited by Amazonian Indigenous Peoples to conduct community-led projects to inform and transform disrespectful public policies affecting the Amazon. It led to a unique Interculturally Respectful Methodology, and a proposal for the practice of "intercultural respect" since this concept considers also as "persons" certain animals, plants, sacred places, and spirits | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |