Forestry Digest Email – April 22nd
Click below to view the Forestry Digest for the week of April 22nd, 2024 The post Forestry Digest Email – April 22nd appeared first on UBC Faculty of Forestry.
Learn MoreCanadian Immigration Updates
Applicants to Master’s and Doctoral degrees are not affected by the recently announced cap on study permits. Review more details
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
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Dr. Eddington's research focused on the development of a strategy for monitoring the biophysical attributes of British Columbia's forests and rangelands. The aim of the study was to supply the information needed to bring climate change adaptation considerations into decision-making in the Province. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2014 | Dr. Tooke examined energy demand in the building sector. He developed a novel technique for mapping the thermal energy requirements of individual buildings using airborne laser scanning data. These energy maps provide a valuable planning resource when designing strategies to reduce the environment impact of buildings. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2014 | Dr. Paudel studied the ecosystem in the boreal forest of the southwest Yukon. His research focussed on the impact of changing climate, fires and spruce bark beetle on tree regeneration, forest productivity and biodiversity in the region. His findings will support the work being done to manage this important ecosystem. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2014 | Dr. Araghi-Rahi studied the influences of climate on productivity and soil carbon storage in forests across British Columbia. Precipitation and drought indices were the most influential climatic factors. This implies that future shifts in precipitation patterns, rather than temperature, will most affect the carbon dynamics of forests in the region. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2014 | Dr. Hilsendager examined land use conflicts that occur between the forestry and tourism industries in destinations that market natural landscapes. This investigation was conducted through a comparison of Vancouver Island and Tasmania. Recommendations were developed to help guide natural resource managers in places where these types of conflicts exist. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2014 | Dr. Van Leeuwen studied the effects of canopy structure on forest productivity. His work demonstrates that computer simulation adds important complementary value to established field-based measuring techniques. His work is relevant for climate modelers and for the calibration and validation of Earth observation data products. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2014 | Dr. Xavier prepared "smart" bio-materials from cellulose, a wood derivative. The materials were developed by grafting a temperature responsive polymer from the cellulose derivative. This research has set the grounds for future studies regarding potential applications, which include tissue engineering, drug delivery, filtration membranes and sensors. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2014 | Dr. Shabani studied ways to reduce the cost of generating electricity from wood. She developed models to optimize output from wood-fuelled power plants, taking into account uncertainty in wood quality, quantity and price. The models help make forest bioenergy more economically viable and increase the possibility of replacing fossil fuel with bioenergy. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2014 | Dr. Green studied the impact of logging on floods in snowmelt watersheds. She showed that moderate levels of forest harvesting increase the frequency of floods which can affect the stability of streams. Her results challenge current perceptions of how forests affect floods and will help establish sustainable levels of harvesting in snowmelt areas. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2014 | Dr. Pribowo looked at the potential to recycle enzymes needed to breakdown wood biomass to sugars. These sugars can subsequently be converted to the many products that we currently derive from fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas. His work will dramatically help to reduce the cost of making the bio-refinery approach a commercial reality. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |