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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.
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.
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.
This is an incomplete sample of recent publications in chronological order by UBC faculty members with a primary appointment in the Faculty of Forestry.
| Year | Citation | Program |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Dr. Khatri-Chhetri modelled the impact of disturbances on forest carbon stocks in Nepal to identify how carbon stocks might change under population pressures, climate change, and increased forest management. She also explored the impacts of increasing the proportion of harvest directed to solid wood products as opposed to fuel wood. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2022 | Dr. Copes-Gerbitz (Raybould) explored the relationship between people, forests, and fire through time in British Columbia. Her research shows that fire has long been an important natural and cultural process but that transformative change is needed to ensure we can all equitably coexist with fire in the future. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2022 | Dr. Woo assessed changes in forest carbon caused by wildfires in the Pacific Northwest and interior British Columbia using propensity score matching methods. She established guidelines for implementing quasi-experimental methods for ecological data, especially for spatially located forest inventory data. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2022 | Dr. Tibebu developed the physical fractal diffusion model based on geometric fractal structure of wood. It reveals that the moisture transport phenomenon strongly depends on the fractal dimensions of wood. This research outcomes contributes to improving the wood drying process and boosting bioeconomy development. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2022 | Providing forestry students with outdoor learning opportunities in forested landscapes is increasingly challenging with urban expansion. Dr. Coupland examined if local urban forests could provide additional outdoor learning opportunities. This research aims to increase in situ forestry education and aid in curriculum development. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2022 | Dr. Lewis studied the reproduction of inequalities in Thailand's state forests through a poststructuralist examination of illegal logging. Dr. Lewis showed that the continued logging of natural forests in Thailand was a manifestation of structured inequalities and sovereign violence imposed on the forest landscape and Indigenous Peoples. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2022 | Dr. Gamlen-Greene studied the population dynamics of two amphibians of conservation concern - the Western Toad and the Northern Red-legged Frog, in Haida Gwaii and southwest BC. She found Haida Gwaii toads are genetically unique and less diverse and may be vulnerable to spreading introduced frogs. Her findings are informing conservation. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2022 | Dr. Su's work will help the world oil sector reduce its carbon footprint. He showed that lipids, such as used cooking oil, can be co-processed at refineries with fossil fuels, significantly reducing carbon emissions and helping BC, Canada and the world meet its climate mitigation targets. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2022 | Dr. Acquah assessed the effects of thinning on the dynamics of uneven-aged interior Douglas-fir stands in central British Columbia over a 21-year period. She found that the treatments enhanced the rate of stand development in a number of ways compared to unthinned controls. This study helps in planning future thinning treatments in this stand type. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2022 | Dr. Larocque characterized soil chemistry and soil biological communities in the salmon forests of British Columbia. These studies advance our understanding of the interconnection between marine and terrestrial environments. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |