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branch linesVolume 24#3 Fall 2013

Inside:

Planting the seeds o knowledge in soil ........................... 8 Trees as historians o pastinsect outbreaks ...........................10CSI Cedar ScienceInvestigations ................................12Adventure, education, mangoesand monkeys (cover story) ......... 16

Studying coastal birds inhard to reach places ....................18

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2 branch lines 24#3 2013

deans message

Over the past 3 years, Branch-Lines has tended to ocus on themany and diverse research proj-ects being undertaken by acultymembers, research assistants andgraduate students in the Facultyo Forestry. In this edition, we stillhave a couple o such articles, butwe also describe one o the experi-ences that we o er to our under-graduate students, seen throughtheir eyes. We also have a couple

o articles describing what somemight consider to be our mostimportant work: inspiring youngpeople to take up an interest in treesand orests.

In an article about orest soils,graduate student Jacynthe Massedescribes how she has been inspir-ing youth to take a closer look at

orest soils. Her enthusiasm orthe subject comes through in herdescription o why and how she is

teaching youth on campus to takea greater interest in soils. A bet-ter understanding o the soil willhope ully induce a greater respectamongst participants or soil, andI would not be surprised to learnthat some o the youth had beeninspired to work with soils in the

uture.

Ashley Dobko, a 4th year under-graduate, and Pro essor Lori Dan-iels rom the Department o For-est and Conservation Scienceshave adopted a slightly di erentapproach. CSI which they pointout really stands or Cedar ScienceInvestigations is involving Aborigi-nal youth rom the Musqueam andHaida Nations in a study o pastcultural modi ications made tocedar trees. Participants core treesand then examine the tree-rings todetermine the exact dates that thetrees were modi ed. In one case, 5separate modi cations are recordedin the tree-rings o a single tree.

Joanna Lee and Laura Third, 2undergraduates rom our Natural

Resources Conservation program,describe some o the experiencesthey had while participating in our

irst ever Conservation and For-estry Field School in India. This wasenabled by our growing associationwith orestry and conservation bod-ies in India, particularly the Wildli eInstitute o India and the IndianForest Service. As you can read, bothstudents were inspired by what theysaw, by the new perspectives that

they gained, and by the new envi-ronments that they experienced. The article by graduate student

Kyle Hilsendager, describing someo the con icts between tourismand orestry, reminded me o aroad sign I saw in the Otway Rangeso Victoria, Australia. Revenues

rom tourism continue to increase,

whereas those rom orestry havebeen alling, and the road sign,which suggests that the sharing o resources is possible, indicates thatboth sides may have to reach com-promise. However, as Kyle pointsout, that compromise will not bereached i the activities o one sidepreclude those o the other. Wehave tended to assume that thiscompromise can be reached orevery orest area, but in uture wemay have to come to grips with the

act that some orest uses are simplyincompatible.

John L InnesPro essor and Dean

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forestry news

Two UBC Forestry pro essors were honoured byKeyoh holders at a Den ilhuna hooz leh event in FortSt James, BC on July 1.

Pro essors John Nelson and Gary Bull were recognizedor partnering with the Maiyoo Keyoh Society to deliver

a course on sustainable orest management. In thecourse, students work with the First Nation communityto develop orest management plans.

The event included drumming per ormances, and aeast o some traditional oods.

Everything was per ect! From the hal dry beavermeat and beaver tail, to the bear and moose meat and

nose, rom the drumming to the dancing and singing.Said Jim Munroe in a post a ter the recognition eventin Fort Saint James.

The students learn what it means to deal with adi erent value system, a di erent history and di er-ent traditions, says Gary Bull. The Keyoh holders haveembraced our students and the experience has beentruly trans ormative or them. In return, the studentsapply the knowledge they have acquired in their under-graduate degree to a piece o orest land that is deeplytreasured by a First Nations community.

John Nelson and Gary Bull were honoured at a Denilhuna hooz leh, which means bringing people together.

It is the rst celebration o its kind that the Keyohs haveheld in 40 to 50 years. The honoured guests were gi tedwith drums and moccasins.

In the past, when a person wanted to show theirgratitude or what someone had done or him or his

amily, he would bring people together to share hisappreciation, says Ken Sam, spokesman or the Daiya-Mattess Keyoh. We appreciate what UBC has done orus and would like both John and Gary to be present atour amilys unction to be honoured or their importantroles in the overall development o our amily lands.

For the past 6 years, groups o students rom Johnand Garys Forestry 424 class have visited di erentKeyohs and developed plans or community orestryprojects. Travel to the communities by the students has

been made possible through the on-going support o aprivate BC-based oundation. The students gain a betterunderstanding o local community values and how toapply knowledge about Aboriginal rights and title. Thisprepares them or their uture careers as oresters andworking with Aboriginal communities.

Working with the Keyoh holders has changed theway I think about orests and orest management. Thestories, history, attachment and commitment to the landare special and they have a pro ound and lasting e ecton us, says John Nelson. We are very proud o how ourstudents handle themselves in this environment, show-

ing respect, listening, communicating and deliveringhigh quality work or the Keyoh holders. The Maiyoo Keyoh Society approached UBCs Faculty

o Forestry in 2007 looking or help to develop high-level plans to protect local orest habitat, wildli e andcultural resources. Keyoh means territory that a groupo people or extended amily has ownership and landrights to. Dakelh (Carrier) law recognizes the heads o extended amilies as Keyoh holders who are responsible

or watching their territories. Students have worked witha number o Keyohs in the Fort St James region over thepast 6 years.

Two pro essorsrecognized by FirstNations community

Jim Munroe, President Maiyoo Keyoh, Pro essor John Nelson, UBCFaculty o Forestry, Pro essor Gary Bull, UBC Faculty o Forestry

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What will we useour orests or?

With the world now aiming to achieve zero orest lossand degradation by 2020, while at the same time acingincreasing consumer demands and scarcity o resources,the market or novel or improved traditional orest prod-ucts is growing, yet the availability o orests is shrinking. The economic value o the goods and services that couldbe derived rom orests is being greatly underutilized.Given the worlds population growth and urbanization,economic downturns, environmental pressure and cli-mate change, orests and bioproducts derived rom themo er a long-term solution or local communities andsociety at large. The orests o the uture have to be moreproductive, resilient to disease and pests, and adaptableto climate change. Future demands will increasingly bemet rom plantation orests that maintain conservationand biodiversity standards and respect local communi-ties needs and livelihoods.

In 2011, The International Union o Forest ResearchOrganizations established an interdisciplinary Task Force,chaired by Dean John Innes, to examine these criticalissues. On August 27 29, 2013, the Task Force gath-ered more than 120 policy makers, researchers, industryleaders and NGOs at the IUFRO Resources or the Futurecon erence, hosted by the University o British Columbia,Canada. The con erence examined current research and

ndings on 4 major themes: the implications o global-ization or the worlds orests, the role o plantations inuture wood supply, new and advanced bioproducts

and building systems, and the role o orest ecosystemservices in uture orest management. The con erencewas supported by IUFRO, Natural Resources Canada,the Commonwealth Forestry Association, Council o Forest Industries, British Columbia Ministry o Forests,Lands and Natural Resource Operations, Forest Innova-tion Investment, Government o Alberta and GenomeBritish Columbia.

Forest ecosystems provide multiple bene ts (clean

water, carbon regulation, soil ertility, waste decompo-sition, timber, ood and bre) and are a critical part o the spiritual and cultural bases o a society. Today themajority o orest clearance occurs in tropical countries,whereas the area o temperate and boreal orests isincreasing. Forest quality changes, however, have notbeen accounted or. As shown by Sven Wunder (CIFOR,Brazil) andDavid Brand (New Forests, Australia), a num-ber o attempts to introduce payments or the ecosys-tem services provided by orests are beginning to showsigns o success. This is leading to growing recognitionthat orest degradation can be very important, whetherthrough inappropriate selective logging or a ailure to

look a ter the regeneration (or re-planting) that occursollowing harvesting. I they are to ul ll their expectedunctions, we need to ensure that these degraded orests

will become resilient and healthy.With competing demands or orests, orest lands and

products, indigenous communities and other communi-ties living in orests are increasingly recognized by gov-ernments as deciders on the ate o orests. AlexandreCorriveau-Bourque (Rights and Resources Initiative,Washington, DC) described how there is currently atrend or investors to rapidly accumulate rights to landas a hedge against projected scarcities, current scarcities,and to in uence resource markets. Failing to recognizelocal aspirations, land claims, and legal rights will leadto the destruction o local livelihoods, increased con ictand competition or remaining land, and accelerateddestruction o the worlds remaining orest carbon stocks.

Today, hal the worlds population alls within themiddle class, and experts anticipate urther growth in thisgroup. As a result, consumption is increasing, and will leadto long-term resource scarcity. The end-customers needsand standards or orests products (looking through theentire supply chain) have changed considerably over thepast ew years.Luis Silva (WWF, Portugal) explained howimportant it will be to have orestry and arming practices

that produce more with less land, water and pollution,while retaining resilience and adaptability. He showedhow WWF is working with plantation companies inBrazil to try to achieve this objective. However, CarolineMohammed (University o Tasmania, Australia) drewattention to the large numbers o increasingly mobilepests and diseases that could threaten such e orts.Despite these potential threats, plantations o er hugepotential, and we are getting increasing productivity

rom them, as demonstrated by Peter Volker (Forestry, Tasmania). Finn Tvede Jacobsen (A rican Plantations

or Sustainable Development, Ghana) showed how such

plantations could be integrated into the livelihoods o rural populations in disadvantaged areas. The sector represents a unique opportunity to meet

uture needs with a wide range o land-use options andbio-products, including energy, chemicals and materi-als. However, to meet the needs o a broader set o stakeholders, a shi t to a wider array o orest services(eg, recreation, carbon o sets, water management,community orest, etc) is needed. According to Rob deFegeley (Institute o Foresters, Australia), orest coverand related services could expand through mosaics o new plantations, natural orest restoration and respon-sible arming. Plantations developed through e ective

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stakeholder participation, while maintaining ecosystemintegrity and protecting high conservation values, willbe our powerhouse to increase production. Jane Lister(UBC, Canada) also stressed the importance o customeracceptance o orest products, emphasizing how cus-tomer pre erences can change relatively quickly.

The emerging green economy is creating a space ororest products to substitute ossil- uel based products,

but Don Roberts (Nawitka Saptial Advisors, Canada)argued that the movement to the bio-economy hasnot yet catalyzed the trans ormative changes requiredto reinvigorate parts o the orest products sector. Theneed or industry trans ormation was also stressed byDavid Cohen (UBC Forestry). Forest bio-products cannotskip the rules and challenges that any innovation has to

ace to be commercially success ul Jean Hamel (FPIn-novations, Canada) showed how such innovations mustbe economically viable and respond to customer andmarket needs. According to Gert-Jan Nabuurs (Alterra,Netherlands), Europe has already started down this road,

but some policies aimed at ensuring a greener economyare storing up potential problems or the uture (such aswood supply short alls).

Globally, could we ever run short o wood, the prod-uct that we are all so keen to see being used? There isthe potential or supplies to be constrained throughgovernment-imposed limitations on harvesting, becauseo the need to protect community livelihoods, becauseo the e ects o pests and disease, and because o arange o other actors. The market will allocate orestresources accordingly, and Russ Taylor (InternationalWood Markets Group, Canada) showed how higher pric-ing may put our products into a more sustainable rate

o return or the uture. However, i the price is too high,then orest products will be substituted or other prod-ucts. Coosje Hoogendoorn (INBAR, China) emphasizedthat bamboo and rattan are increasingly important andthat technological innovation has enabled bamboo tosubstitute or a number o traditional wood products. The use o wood will need to be supported by soundscience, and Shawn Mansfeld (UBC Forestry) showed

how some recent advances in orest biotechnology arehelping increase stand quality and productivity.We continue to advocate or the greater use o wood

in buildings, substituting unsustainable products such asconcrete and steel, with wood. Erol Karacabeyli (FPIn-novations, Canada) showed how building regulationsneed to be modi ed in order to do this, especially ortall wooden buildings, and architect Benton Johnson (Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LP, USA) went on todescribe just what might be possible.

The de ning characteristics o our world today arethe intensity o interconnections and the speed o

change. According to Mike May (FuturaGene, Brazil)green growth will be driven by a combination o novelpartnerships with inter- and non-governmental organi-zations, science and technology innovations and skillsdeployed by the private sector. There is clearly a placein our uture or orests and the goods and services theyproduce. However, the world is changing very quicklyand the academic community needs to adapt asterand recognize the big picture: orests really are a sourceo sustainable materials, and because o this, the orestsector is set to continue to grow or as long as we careabout our uture.

The IUFRO Resources or the Future con erence, hosted by the University o British Columbia, Canada

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In many places the orest indus-try has been the target o criticism

rom environmental groups, politi-cians and the media. This opposi-tion generally relates to a range o issues associated with the industrythat include the harvesting o oldgrowth or ecologically signi cant

orests, threats posed to wildli e,visual impacts and the sustain-ability o harvesting practices.

Even though much o the criticismoriginates locally, issues relating toorest management can also receive

negative attention nationally andinternationally. For example, Brit-ish Columbias Clayoquot Land UseDecision sparked large-scale pro-tests which led to the arrest o over800 demonstrators. This high pro lecon ict received global attentionresulting in condemnation roma range o critics that includedinternational and local media, inter-

national politicians and celebrities.Con icts in Tasmanian orests havealso received international attentionwith demonstrations being held atAustralian embassies in the UnitedStates, Canada, Japan and UK toprotest against the harvesting o old growth. This type o attentioncan lead to negative perceptions,which may ultimately impact uponthe orest industry.

Not only do these con icts havethe potential to a ect orestry, theycould also negatively impact othersectors that pro it rom orestedlandscapes, such as tourism. Thisis particularly true or regions thatpromote natural landscapes andoutdoor activities to attract busi-ness to local communities. Coun-tries that use these types o imagesto promote tourism include Canada,Australia and New Zealand. This canbe seen in marketing campaigns

such as Supernatural British Colum-bia, 100% Pure NZ and Pure Tas-mania. Because these destinationsuse natural landscapes to attractvisitors, it is likely that they are par-ticularly vulnerable to the negativeperceptions that are o ten associ-ated with orest industry impacts. There ore, decision makers shouldconsider potential implications o natural resource developments in

high value tourism regions due tothe increasing importance o thenature-based tourism industry inmany economies.

To help address this issue PhDcandidate Kyle Hilsendager (super-vised by Drs Howie Harshaw andRob Kozak) travelled to varioustourist sites in Vancouver Island and Tasmania, Australia to learn aboutvisitor perceptions o orest industryimpacts. These 2 destinations werechosen or analysis because o their

Tourist perceptionso orest practises:Vancouver Island and Tasmania

Pachena Bay, Vancouver Island

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many similarities, but also their di -erences. Forestry and tourism both

play important roles in shaping theeconomies o British Columbia and Tasmania. Both regions also marketa variety o natural eatures andoutdoor activities to attract visitors.However, many di erences exist inthe way that these 2 industries aremanaged. It is these di erences thatwere most important or providinginsight into management strategiesthat could be used to address simi-lar con icts in other regions.

To help understand the type o impact that orestry can have ontourism image in destinations thatmarket the natural environment, anumber o sel -administered ques-tionnaires were distributed to visitorsat tourist attractions in each o the 2regions. Sites were chosen accordingto the types o recreational activitiesavailable to visitors. My purposewas to learn about any di erencesthat may exist between di erenttourist user groups. User groupstargeted include multi-day back country hikers, national park visitorcentre guests and sport shermen.Interviews were also conducted withtourism and orestry pro essionals

rom both Tasmania and VancouverIsland to help reveal ways in whichthese 2 industries could be managedto minimize potential con icts.

Results rom both VancouverIsland and Tasmania suggest that

orestry impacts have the potentialto negatively impact visitor percep-tions in destinations that marketnatural landscapes. However, thisseems partly dependent upon thetype o orestry impact observed,

as di erences were noted betweenharvested areas, tree plantations,logging trucks and saw/pulp mills.A large proportion o respondentsindicated that exposure to harvestedareas, logging trucks and saw/pulpmills negatively impacted upontheir perceptions o each destina-tion. However, tree plantations wereshown to be acceptable to visitors inboth Tasmania and Vancouver Island.Results rom the various samplegroups were then compared to learn

whether or not any variations existin the way that di erent tourist usergroups are a ected by exposure to

orestry impacts. My ndings pro-vided limited evidence to supportthis. However, it is possible that alarger sample o sport shers in bothcase study regions might have pro-duced more signi cant di erencesbetween sample groups.

Interview results providedinsights into the ways that con-

ict is currently being managedbetween the tourism and orestindustries in both study regions.Ideas were raised about ways inwhich con icts could be urtherreduced. It seems clear that themanagement o visual impactsassociated with orestry is criticalin areas where tourism relies heav-ily on the maintenance o naturallandscapes. This requires closeconsultations between orest com-panies and tourism industry stake-holders. The establishment o leg-islated requirements that ensuree ective consultation between or-estry companies and tourism canhelp to achieve this. These require-ments should be accompanied by

ormal agreements between tour-

ism and orest industry organiza-tions to acilitate the consultationprocess urther. Important ele-ments o these agreements include

recognition that both industries areimportant or the development o aregions economy, identi cation o the most critical issues associatedwith the 2 industries, as well as acommitment and plan to ensureongoing e ective communicationand consultation.

It is not uncommon or nature-based tourism destinations to relyupon the same resources as the

orest industry. However, the un-damental di erences in desires or

orest use between these 2 indus-tries can lead to con ict situations.In jurisdictions that rely heavilyon both industries it is in the bestinterest o governments to ensurethat the actions o one industry donot threaten the existence o theother. There ore, it is desirable tomanage these 2 industries in a waythat minimizes the potential ornatural resource use con icts. Fornatural resource managers address-ing con icts between nature-basedtourism and orestry, considerationo the principles discussed in thisresearch could help provide solu-tions that maximize bene its orboth industries.

Kyle Hilsenadager can be reached

at [email protected] detailed results o his researchcan be ound at www.hd-research.ca/tourism.

Arve River at Tahune Airwalk (Forestry Tasmania tourism site)

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When you think about soil, whatcomes to mind? Maybe you imag-ine dirt, mud, ertilizer, a garden?But is there something more tothis brownish coloured substratebeneath our eet?

O course there is! Once youreyes are opened to the wondersthat lie beneath our eet, you see arich, complex and vital ecosystemat the con uence o the biosphere,the hydrosphere and the atmo-sphere. And thats what memberso the Belowground EcosystemGroup (BEG), rom UBCs Depart-

ment o Forest and ConservationSciences, wanted children living oncampus to discover. In collaborationwith the educational team at UBCsBotanical Garden, BEG studentsdeveloped a set o soil-discoveryactivities designed speci cally orchildren rom 5 to 12 years old. Andit was a success! Read on or anaccount o the subterranean li eactivity that was held at the UBCBotanical Garden on June 22, 2013

and supervised by BEG graduatestudent Jacynthe Masse.Why children on campus and

why soils? The idea or a soil-discovery activ-

ity or children living on campushad 3 main motivations. First and

oremost, we wanted to give some-thing back to the UBC community.UBC has numerous con erences,meetings and other opportunities

or graduate students to exchangeideas, and we wanted to contribute

Plantingthe seeds o knowledgein soil

Making your own portable soil is un! P h o t o : J a c y n t h e

M a s s e

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to this dynamic scienti ic culture.Secondly, we wanted to raise aware-ness o the importance o soils orhuman society. Historically, soil hasbeen thought o solely as a medium

or crops. However, recent environ-mental research has revealed thatthere is more to soil than just dirt.O course, a good soil is essential

or crop and orest productivity, butmore broadly we know now that themajority o orest carbon is capturedand trapped in the soils - makingthem an important tool or climatechange mitigation. Moreover, soil isa rich and complex ecosystem; ina single teaspoon o soil, there aremore microorganisms than thereare humans on this planet! Yet, thegreat majority o this biodiversityhasnt been studied. Soils and soilscience can play a central part inunderstanding and resolving manyglobal issues such as ood security

and climate change, provided thatpeople and uture scientists recog-nize soils relevance to these issues.Our 3rd motivation or developingthe subterranean li e activity is thatsoils are simply awesome and wewant everyone to know more aboutthem!

The activitiesIn collaboration with the edu-

cational team at the UBC BotanicalGarden, our BEG group developed

2 hands-on activities or childrenattending a Nature Club activity atthe Garden. The rst activity con-sisted o a station, in the orestedpart o the Garden, where childrencould see a soil pro le (more spe-ci cally, a podzol) and learn aboutthe ormation o the soil rom thelast glaciation to present day. A terthis introduction to the various andcolour ul soil horizons and howthey were created, we gave them atransparent plastic cup and invited

them to create their own portablesoil with all the resources they could

nd around them. The second station, still in the

orested area o the UBC BotanicalGarden, taught the children a genu-ine scienti c method still used by soil-biodiversity researchers today: thehand sorting method. Basically, thismethod consists o taking a knownvolume o soil and searching through

it, with your hands, looking or any soilanimals. Children (and the research-ers) really enjoyed this activity. Notonly is this exercise un, but it alsohighlights the endless biodiversityo li e in soil. This activity trans ormedthe childrens perceptions o soil andencouraged them to see it as a livingand dynamic environment.

The eedback We requested eedback as part

o this program and the responseswere very encouraging. Parents

loved the activities and ound themvery use ul or their children and thechildren appreciated learning aboutsoils and their inhabitants. They alsoloved their portable soil project andlooking or animals in the soil. Themost important eedback or activ-ity supervisor Jacynthe was seeingthe childrens aces light up as theylearned about the soils age, inhab-itants and importance. Perhaps her

best reward was when a youngparticipant told her soils are so cooland ...so t. So, soils passed rom dirtto cool!

At the end o the day, children,parents, volunteers and researcherswere all happy and soils have somenew allies.

Jacynthe Masse is a doctoral student in the Department o For-est and Conservation Sciences. Shecan be reached at [email protected].

Children and parents learning about ice ages, soil ormation processes andsoil pro les during the subterranean li e activity, June 22nd, 2013

Soils new riends!

P h o t o : J a c y n t h e

M a s s e

P h o t o : J a c y n t h e

M a s s e

...in a singleteaspoon o soil,

there are moremicroorganisms thanthere are humans onthis planet!

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Insect outbreaks are a majordisturbance in luencing orestdynamics in many ecosystems.Reconstruction o insect outbreak history is undamental to orestmanagement. While the action o

cambium eeders on trees leadsto the ormation o scars or treedeath, that o de oliators is observ-able via growth suppression in treerings. The occurrence o past insectattacks can thus be in erred romtree-ring signatures. However, thisresearch approach necessitatesaccurate dating o events, as wellas correct attribution o the causaldisturbance agent. For example, remay leave scars on trees that can beseen on cross-sectional disks where

insect scars are already present, thusmaking them difcult to distinguish.Furthermore, insect-induced reduc-tions in radial growth may not beclearly visible on samples, and theradial growth response to de olia-

tion o ten bears a lag o 1 or moreyears.As part o her post-doctoral

research in the UBC Tree-Ring Lab,Dr Estelle Arbellay is tackling theseissues directly by using a multi-proxyapproach to improve tree-ringreconstructions o insect outbreaks.She will study radial variations o tree-ring width, wood anatomy,wood density, and wood chemistry.While dendrochronologists (peoplewho study tree-rings) have long

relied on tree-ring width variationsto track the signals induced by cli-mate, geomorphic and ecologicalprocesses, the potential o otherproxies remains under-exploitedand multiple proxies are rarely used

in combination. The core o Estellesresearch lies in the use o multiplewood traits to provide answers todendroecological questions.

Two native insects and theirrespective host tree species romBritish Columbia are the ocuso this study: the mountain pinebeetle ( Dendroctonus ponderosae ),a cambium eeder on lodgepolepine (Pinus contorta ), and the west-ern spruce budworm ( Choristo-neura occidentalis ), a de oliator o

Trees historians

o past insectoutbreaks

Western spruce budworm

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Douglas- r (Pseudotsuga menziesii ).Estelle believes that insect outbreak disturbance in the orm o bark beetle or de oliation events mayresult in abrupt structural di er-ences between the wood ormedprior to and a ter the insect attack.Based on pioneering tree-ringresearch on insect outbreaks, thereare great prospects that the varia-tions o wood traits can prove use ul

or di erentiating mountain pinebeetle scars rom re scars and oridenti ying western spruce bud-worm de oliation events, possiblywith higher temporal resolution.

The study o mul tiple woodtraits (proxies) will help Estelle gainan understanding o the in uenceo insect outbreak disturbance onwood ormation and tree physi-ological processes, a prerequisite

or improving the detection anddating o events in tree-ring series.

Estelles work ocuses on thepractical use o wood traits in tree-ring research. During her doctoraland post-doctoral research at theUniversity o Berne, Switzerland,Estelle conducted microscopicanalyses on tree samples to deter-mine and quanti y changes in wood

anatomy induced by injury to thetree stem. She investigated ine-scale wood anatomical attributeso broad-leaved and coni eroustrees wounded by natural processessuch as debris ows, spring oods,snow avalanches, and wild res. Itappeared that the repercussions o

wounding on wood anatomy wereobvious in a very short time a terinjury, suggesting that altered woodtraits embedded within tree ringscan serve as proxy records o pastevents with at least annual resolu-tion. However, the interdisciplinarynature o her work, being at a cross-road between orest sciences andwood sciences, calls or innovationand collaboration.

Estelle will be conducting her

research in the Tree-Ring Lab atUBC, led by Dr Lori Daniels. Her proj-ect integrates with Loris ongoingresearch on disturbance regimesin the coni erous orests o BritishColumbia and capitalizes on >900increment cores and >350 partialor ull cross-sectional disks with

insect and re scars that have beencollected by Lori and her students.One o the speci c objectives o theproject is to determine i mountainpine beetle caused the scars onlodgepole pine trees in the 1930-40s in Kootenay National Park.More importantly, numerous col-

laborations are planned with otherexperts in the Faculty o Forestry,both in the Department o Forestand Conservation Sciences and theDepartment o Wood Science.

The anticipated ndings o thisproject are o great interest to theinternational research commu-nity. As a consequence o globalwarming, trees are likely to beincreasingly disturbed by insectoutbreaks. That act underscoresthe importance o research thatprovides background in orma-tion on the historical occurrenceo insect disturbances. It is veryimportant to develop and per ect

urther dendrochronological meth-ods or accurately dating historicdisturbance events, determiningtheir requency and spatial extent,and in orming ecosystem-based

orest management. Moreover,this project answers the tree-ringresearch communitys plea or un-damental research on tree responseto environmental actors as well as

or methodological improvemento existing approaches. It is also inline with many national and interna-tional research projects that use treerings to study orest dynamics and

investigate the e ects o naturaldisturbances on trees, orests andlandscapes.

Dr Estelle Arbellay is a post-doc-toral researcher in the Department o Forest and Conservation Sciences.She can be reached at [email protected].

The anticipatedfndings o

this project are o great interest to theinternational researchcommunity

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How do you know how old you are?*

How do you know old a tree is?

How long ago did this snag die?

Children answer these questions during hands-onworkshops called CSI: Cedar Science Investigations. These workshops are part o an outreach project led by4th year Natural Resources Conservation student Ashley

Dobko and Associate Pro essor Lori Daniels rom theDepartment o Forest and Conservation Sciences andUBC Tree Ring Lab. The workshops are designed to teachchildren and youth the principles o dendrochronology(tree-ring science) and demonstrate the links amongscience, history and culture.

In coastal British Columbia, large, old western redce-dar trees provide a wide range o ecological unctionsand are an integral part o coastal First Nations culture.Redcedar bark is commonly removed rom tree trunksand woven into baskets, hats and clothing. The surviv-ing tree orms a permanent scar that can be dated todetermine the year o past cultural modi cations.

During the workshops with Musqueam youth andat schools in Haida Gwaii, participants have learned to: use increment borers to core their avourite trees prepare their samples using power tools during a eld

trip to the Centre or Advanced Wood Processing atUBCs Faculty o Forestry

use microscopes to date tree rings using the dotmethod and apply their math skills to calculatetree age

understand how scars orm in trees and determine

when redcedars were culturally modi edWe have also traced the history o dead trees bycrossdating their tree-rings. For cores rom living trees,calendar years are assigned to rings in sequence rom thebark to the pith the ring closest to the bark is the yearthe tree was cored. For dead trees, rings are crossdatedby matching their ring-width patterns to samples romliving trees o the same species growing nearby. By pat-tern matching, we can discover the year when snagsand logs died.

Collectively, 20 youth rom the Musqueam Band and170 rom Haida Gwaii have dated 15,000 tree rings onculturally modi ed redcedars rom their communities.

CSI: Cedar Science

Investigations

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What did they discover? western recdedar trees are much

easier to core than western hem-lock trees the biggest redcedars and west-

ern hemlocks in Musqueam Park are more than 160 years old andeven the small trees can be morethan 50 years old

local redcedars were culturallymodi ed in the 1960s by strip-ping the bark

the eagle tree, a large redcedarwith a dead top that grew along

the blu s o the Fraser River, wasabout 200 years old when it blewdown in 2011

the top o the eagle tree died inthe late 1890s it had been anideal perch or eagles or morethan 100 years

culturally modi ed cedars sal-vaged rom a site cut nearNaden Harbour on Haida Gwaiiwere up to 450 years old andsingle trees had been modi edup to 5 times

many redcedars rom NadenHarbour were modi ed in the

1700 and 1800s and had histori-cal and archaeological valueWe thank the teachers and sta

at Queen Charlotte SecondarySchool, George Mercer DawsonSecondary School and Chie Mat-thews Elementary School, TerryPoint, Vivian Campbell and RyanneJames who lead the MusqueamYouth Programs, and our 190 newresearch assistants or collaborat-ing with us. CSI was unded by an

NSERC Aboriginal AmbassadorsAward to Ashley.For urther in ormation, contact

Dr Lori Daniels, Department o Forest and Conservation Sciences, at [email protected].

* Answers: Count thecandles on your birthday cake.Count the rings in the tree.Crossdate the rings to matchthe patterns and determinewhen it was last alive.

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In A Sand County Almanac , Aldo Leopold said a thingis right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stabilityand beauty o the biotic community. It is wrong when it

tends otherwise. This land ethic dominates the conserva-tion community and guides those tasked with managingthreatened ecosystems.

While Leopolds axiom is clearly stated, it can beincredibly challenging to quanti y ecosystem integrity,stability, and beauty, let alone use such data to under-stand the impacts o various human activities. Thesechallenges can vary widely depending on ecological andcultural contexts, and while these broad concepts arebest de ned on a case-by-case basis (as land use pres-sures intensi y), it is becoming increasingly important ordecision makers around the world to have a completepicture o ecosystem health at the regional scale.

Land conservation is notoriously reactionary andopportunistic, but practitioners ultimately seek todevelop proactive, strategic conservation strategies. Ide-

ally, preserved land units have high biodiversity and areunlikely to ace degradation in the uture, and perhapsare connected to other ecosystem ragments by corri-dors to acilitate genetic exchange. This type o planningis difcult to begin i no one knows what is actually onthe ground, but with advances in geographic in orma-tion systems and ecological modeling we now have thetools to create more in ormative maps o ecosystems atmeaning ul spatial scales.

Strategic conservation planning is most crucial orour rarest ecosystems, especially those that exist in closeproximity to human development, like British ColumbiasGarry oak meadows. These rainshadow ecosystems burst

Tending our naturalgardens: ConservingGarry oak meadows

Dock Islands, Gul Islands National Park Reserve

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with colour ul displays o native wild owers each springincluding common camas ( Camassia quamash ), white

awn lily (Erythronium oregonum) and small- oweredblue-eyed Mary ( Collinsia parvi ora). These natural gar-dens enchanted Europeans when they rst arrived onSoutheastern Vancouver Island, and historically weretended by Coastal First Nations who harvested camasbulbs and other native root vegetables, using controlledburning to prevent Douglas- r encroachment.

With the growth o Victoria and other southern Van-couver Island and Gul Island communities, only 5% o historical Garry oak meadows remain. This estimated200 hectares o remnant habitat is home to 55 specieslisted under Canadas Species At Risk Act and containsthe highest diversity o vascular plants in coastal BritishColumbia. The threats to this ecosystem are numerous,and include habitat ragmentation and degradationby human development, invasive species, grazing byoverabundant deer and Canada geese, and the loss o First Nations-mediated re regimes.

Angela Boag, an MSc candidate in Dr Peter Arceseslab (http://arcese. orestry.ubc.ca/research/) in theDepartment o Forest and Conservation Sciences, ismapping the richness and abundance o native andinvasive species in Garry oak meadows to gain a betterunderstanding o how they are impacted by humanactivities, and provide a regional picture o ecosystemintegrity or use in conservation planning.

Two previous PhD students in the Arcese Lab alsostudied these plant communities and their combineddata provides species richness and percent cover in or-mation or over 600, 1 m 2 quadrats at over 100 locations

across the region o interest. Angela used ArcGIS toextract geoclimatic and land use data or each o thequadrats, such as average annual temperature range,precipitation, slope, elevation, proximity to urban areasand agriculture, and road density around each site. Shethen used modeling strategies appropriate or spatiallycorrelated data to determine which variables moststrongly predict sites with high native species richnessand abundance compared to those that are highlyinvaded by nonnative species, thus having low ecologi-cal integrity in this context.

Angela developed both geoclimatic-only and human

land use-only mod-els to compare howw e l l t r a d i t i o n a lgeoclimatic enve-lope-based modelsdescribe ecosystemintegrity comparedwith anthropogenicthreats. She thencombined these intoa global model thatis potentially morepower ul or predicting native and non-native speciesdistributions.

A key part o modeling species or ecosystemdistributions is validation; this is rarely done on theground because o the time and expense associatedwith ield work, so statistical methods are o ten used.Angela hopes that this distribution map will be use ul

or conservation planners in the region, and there-ore on-the-ground validation was a vital part o the

project. She visited 66 sites rom March-June 2013to sample species richness and abundance in orderto determine how well they were predicted by themodels. While analysis is still taking place, it appearsthat prediction is possible, especially or sites at theupper and lower extremes o ecological integrity. Thehealthiest Garry oak meadows were ound in placesinaccessible to humans, including several sites onprivate property that could become candidates orprotection. As expected, the sites most invaded byexotic grasses and with the lowest diversity o native

plants were ound in city parks in the heart o urbanVictoria and Nanaimo.Moving orward, Angela is going to reconstruct her

predictive models using the other modeling strategiesavailable to compare their per ormance. She also hopesto quanti y the many sources o error that are inherentin such large and complex spatial modeling exercises inorder to reduce such errors rom the outset and improvemodel per ormance.

Angela Boag is analyzing her data this all and hopesto make her results available in Spring 2014. She can bereached at [email protected].

These naturalgardens

enchanted Europeanswhen they frst arrivedon SoutheasternVancouver Island,

and historically weretended by Coastal FirstNations...

Quadrat representing high ecological integrity, located on asmall islet in the Gul Islands (high native richness and cover)

Quadrat lled with invasive grasses in Moss Rock Park, down-town Victoria, representing low ecological integrity

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By Joanna Lee and Laura ThirdJoanna Lee and Laura Third are

students in the Faculty o Forestrysundergraduate program in NaturalResources Conservation. They spentpart o their summer attendinga newly launched eld school inIndia. The month-long intensive

orestry and conservation ieldcourse was organized by Dr SuzieLavallee (Department o Forest andConservation Sciences) as part o the program in Natural ResourcesConservation. The course wasestablished through a well- ormedpartnership between the Facultyo Forestry and colleagues in India,including the Wildli e Institute o

India. Every year, researchers romthe Indian Forest Service visit UBCand tour BCs orests. They helpedSuzie Lavallee set up an itineraryand connect with institutions acrossNorth and South India.

Joanna: Ive always hoped thatmy undergraduate degree wouldtake me ar away rom Canadiancom orts to explore a oreign andexquisite country, although I neverhad a set destination or time ramein mind. In November 2012 I heardDr Suzie Lavallees pitch to run aninternational orestry and con-servation eld school in India the

ollowing June, and within a dayor two I was running to her ofceto talk travel. A ter urging Laura to

join in on the adventure and 6short months spent giddy with

excitement and nerves, the

2 o us and 3 other UBC studentsgathered at Vancouver InternationalAirport to board a 20 hour ight toDelhi, India.Laura: Take 5 eager, travel-hungrystudents. Add a oreign country.Combine with a 6 credit course,

eld work, and an incredible arrayo wonder ul people and youllget the best time o your li e. Indiawas the rst country Joanna and Ihad travelled to outside o NorthAmerica and we were ready or theadventure. Theres something allur-ing about India that cannot simplybe summed up by its delicious andaromatic cuisine or the exotic cul-ture. It was the chaos o humanitysurviving alongside an immenselydiverse landscape that proved to beexceptionally mind boggling to my

own Canadian perspective. As I

Adventure, education,mangoes and monkeysConservation and ForestryField School in India

Forest diversity in semi-rural area o Kerala State

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strived to make sense o this paradox, each day presentedto us a new and exciting experience rom walking inthe tracks o tigers and elephants, to visiting the highlyregarded and beauti ul Forest Research Institute, to wildtuk-tuk rides to Buddhist temples and color ul mar-ketplaces. All o us agree, however, that with the helpo translation some o our most heart elt and valuablememories stemmed rom being able to communicatewith local village peoples a ected by orestry practices.Joanna: We spent the rst 2 weeks o our trip at theWildli e Institute o India in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, and

the last 2 in the southernmost state o Kerala. I dont think any o us were prepared or the diversity we would ndwithin this vast country where culture, language, ood,attire and climate can change so drastically as you crossthe landscape.

Compared to the blistering heat o Uttarakhand,southern India was balmy and lush, with rolling hills o thick rain orest and healthy plantations o tea, spices andrubber. At Periyar we learned rom the Munnar peopleabout eco-tourism, conservation and how their liveshave changed over the years o running the reserve. Thetime we spent interacting with tribal peoples, research-

ers, ofcials and students was not restricted to our eldo study, as conversation o ten dri ted rom conservationand orestry to amily, religion and goals in our respectivecountries. There is really something to be said or howmuch more you can learn rom immersing yoursel into ali estyle and culture, rather than studying it rom hal wayacross the world.Laura: We le t India with a new inspiration or com-munity orestry, and we all gained valuable knowledge:a completely new perspective on orest management,site monitoring, and conservation planning strategies. I youre an undergraduate in the UBC Faculty o Forestry,

we already know you like the outdoors. We will also thensa ely assume you hold some a ection or explorationand adventure. I youve been looking or the per ectway to travel hal way around the world and live to tellthe whole, wonder ully educational tale then travelingto India or this conservation eld school is an incred-ible option or students interested in conservation and

orestry.Cover photo Students climbing the buttresses o a

banyan tree in Periyar Tiger Reserve, Kerala, India.For urther in ormation about this course, visit http://

cons453. orestry.ubc.ca/ or contact Dr Suzie Lavallee at [email protected].

The class at the Taj Mahal, Agra, India Joanna Lee making an aarti ofering at Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India

Black Langor monkey in a banyan tree, Rajaji National Park,Uttarakhand, India

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The BC coast represents some o the most intact temperate coastalecosystems in North America. It is

also spatially expansive, over 25,000km in length, comprising more than10% o Canadas total coastline. Thissize, coupled with the remotenesso sections o the coast, makesmonitoring BCs coastal ecosystemschallenging, and studies examininganimal communities along the entirecoast are ew. BCs avian coastalcommunities are no exception, withlittle in ormation being available tomanagers regarding bird species

distributions at the ull coastal scale. To begin to assess coastal birds alongthe BC coast, a simple questionneeds to be answered, what speciesoccur where?

Greg Rickbeil has been askingthat question as part o his MSc withhis supervisor Dr Nicholas Coopsand colleagues. Greg applied spe-cies distribution models to estimatecoastal bird presence or absence,which are becoming common in sit-uations where in situdata regarding

species occurrence are not available.Distribution models are correlativein nature, using presence/absence

in ormation at known sites alongwith environmental data to buildpredictive models that estimate a

Studying coastalbirds in hard toreach places

Horned grebe

Terra and Aqua satellites are used to estimate terrestrial vegetation productivity

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species probability o occurrenceat un-sampled locations. However,

or this to occur, environmentalconditions need to be estimatedat all un-sampled locations. Remotesensing is an attractive option insituations such as these, owing toits ability to provide environmentalestimates across a landscape in ahighly repeatable manner. Remotesensing has the ability to providein ormation on a wide suite o environmental conditions, rang-ing rom terrestrial productivity, tooceanic sea sur ace temperature,to anthropogenic e ects such asproximity to humans.

Estimating a group o species asdiverse as coastal birds presents achallenge in terms o environmen-tal variable selection. With speciesranging rom open ocean piscivores( ish-eating) such as grebes andalcids, to terrestrial omnivores suchas corvids, or generalist carnivoressuch as eagles, the habitat require-ments o di erent coastal speciesare highly variable. As such, envi-ronmental correlates were selected

to represent broad environmentalconditions experienced by eachspecies at each sample location. The MODIS sensor on board NASAs Terra and Aqua satellites was usedto estimate terrestrial vegetationproductivity (shown in the gure onthe previous page) as well as oce-anic conditions such as sea sur acetemperature, chlorophyll-a concen-trations and water turbidity. Landsat5 and 7 data were used to assessdominate landcover, while distance

to human activities was calculatedusing the NOAA city lights dataset and the 2008 Canadian roadnetwork ile. Lastly, atmosphericconditions were estimated usingthe ClimateNWA tool developed byUBC Forestrys Dr Tongli Wang andco-authors. These data were com-bined with in ormation obtained

rom Bird Studies Canadas CoastalWaterbird Survey, which describescoastal bird presence/absence andabundance at over 300 locationsalong the BC coast rom 1999 topresent. This process resulted in 60estimated species distributions bywinter across an 8 year study period

(2002 to 2009; see the examplehorned grebe distribution mapsshown above).

The irst step in using thesemodel outputs is to assess theirreliability. Data splitting or modelbuilding and validation is com-monly used to assess model t, andhere, 57 out o 60 models exceedindustry standards in terms o t.Model variability was assessed toexplore how trans erable these

models are in terms o space,and model variability was shownto increase non-linearly as dis-tance rom surveys sites increased.Insectivores, a group made upo exclusively shorebird species,were shown to be most e ectivelymodeled when compared withpiscivores and carnivores, while allother eeding groups were oundto be modeled equally well. The

nal products o this exercise arenow being used in planning exer-

cises with Environment Canada toassess the coverage o our currentprotected areas, and then identi ynew locations or conservation thatmaximize protection or speciesthat may not be well representedin the current system. Addition-ally, due to the repeat sampling o remotely sensed data, the approachcan assess temporal change inoccupied habitat that may allowtrend assessments to occur in areasthat are too challenging to samplephysically. Lastly, due to the binarynature o the output data, commonconservation indices such as spe-cies richness and site uniquenesscan be calculated and used orconservation planning purposes.

This research was unded by theBC Innovations Council, NSERC, and Environment Canada. The study wasconducted by Greg Rickbeil (PhDstudent in the Department o For-est Resources Management), alongwith co-authors Dr Nicholas Coops(Forest Resources Management),Dr Mark Drever (Canadian Wildli eService), and Dr Trisalyn Nelson (Uni-versity o Victoria). The authors wish toacknowledge the hundreds o volun-teers working thousands o hours on

the Coastal Waterbird Survey, without which this study would not have been possible. For urther in ormation onthis study, contact Greg Rickbeil at [email protected] or Dr NicholasCoops at [email protected].

Great blue heron

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development& alumni news

Like many young people, Bob

Kennedy graduated with a Bach-elors degree and a need to hit theroad. Growing up in Syracuse, NewYork, he attended the New York State College o Forestry on thecampus o Syracuse University. Iknew I wanted to do graduate work,and the Paci c Northwest seemedinteresting, he says. Thousands o kilometres o pavement, 170 mileso gravel road and 3 at tires later,Bob arrived at UBC in 1953.

With both the journey and thedestination in mind, Bob and his wi eAveril have established a scholarshipto increase awareness o orestry andthe orest industry in the Canadiancontext. The Robert and Averil Ken-nedy Forestry Graduate Scholarshipis open to students with an under-graduate degree rom the StateUniversity o New York College o Environmental Sciences and Forestry(SUNY-ESF), the largest such collegein the United States.

The program at SUNY-ESF islarge and comprehensive, ando ers students a wide range o opportunities, he says. I want stu-dents to also experience the way wedo things here (at UBC) how weare di erent and also how we arethe same and experience a di -

erent environment without leavingNorth America.

Bobs career is amiliar to manyForestry alumni who learned wood

anatomy and properties, woodchemistry, timber mechanics ormicrotechnique rom him between1955 and 1961, or who knew him asDean o the Faculty rom 1983-1991.

When I came here as a gradu-ate student, there were just 6 o us:4 Masters and 2 PhDs, he says. Wehad all our desks in one large room.A ter graduating, Bob was invited toteach, then encouraged to pursue aPhD, which he did at Yale University.

My wi e and I le t or New Havenright a ter we were married, on ourwedding day! She thought it wouldbe an adventure, he says.

In 1962 Bob went to the Univer-sity o Toronto as an Assistant Pro es-sor o Wood Science, a position thatlasted 5 years and was pro essionally

ul lling. But the pull o the westcoast was irresistible, and in 1966he returned to Vancouver to work atthe Western Forest Products Labora-tory (predecessor o FP Innovations)

where he eventually became theDirector.

He returned to teaching in For-estry in 1979. I didnt eel rusty atall, he says. I was so impressed bythe advances in technology thatallowed students to learn so muchmore in a term. He was appointedDean in 1983, a position he helduntil his retirement in 1991.

Today Bob is an active gardener,tennis player and grand ather. He

is also, by his own admission, apro essional reunion-goer. SUNY-ESF is still close to his heart, as heis attending the 60th reunion o his graduating class in early Octo-ber. This time, however, he will behanding out brochures and put-ting up posters promoting gradu-ate studies at UBC Forestryandhis and Averils award. I want otherstudents to have the same enjoy-able experience Ive had, he says.

Theres so much to learn here! The Faculty is grate ul to Boband Averil or their support, andwelcome them into our donoralumni group.

I you have an idea or support-ing students, research or teachingin the Faculty, please contact EmmaTully at [email protected] or phone604.822.8716 or more in ormation.

Dean Emeritus createsaward or masters students

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A orestrypartnership

A amily tradition passed downthrough generations inspired anidea, and rom there a success ulpartnership was born.

Sean Macalister met Je Fergu-son in 2005. They quickly became

riends and both were enrolled inthe Bachelor o Science Forestryprogram at the University o BritishColumbia. They soon discoveredthat they worked well together andhad similar visions and aspirations.While taking a business course withDr Robert Kozak (Department o Wood Science); they partnered onan assignment that involved creatinga business plan. Their business ideaoutlined a need or a greener alterna-tive to traditional cut Christmas treesand suggested that a living Christ-mas tree is the eco-conscious solu-tion. The business plan assignmentwas well received and EVERGROWChristmas Trees Co. was establishedin November o 2009.

Every Christmas, the Macalisteramily would buy a live tree rom alocal garden centre, enjoy its beautythroughout the holidays and a terplant the tree in their backyard;many o these trees are still thriv-ing today. This childhood traditionwas a special memory o Seans thatlater became a vision or this utureendeavor. Knowing these treesdidnt die, they were able to live on,is a very special thing. Sean liked

the idea o amilies who display livetrees in their homes or Christmas,but wanted to produce a greeneroption by providing living trees.

The vision to create EVERGROWChristmas Trees Co was underway.Sean and Je had everything setup within 2 months and when theyopened their doors the success wasimmediate! They sold out o theirstock in the rst year and caughtmedia waves across Canada andinternationally. They were pleasantly

overwhelmed with the attentionthey received, responding to newscrews as ar away as Germany andFrance.

EVERGROW is based in Burnaby,BC, and serves Vancouver and thesurrounding area. Beyond the busyChristmas season, they work tomaintain and care or the trees ata nursery in the Fraser Valley grow-ing 150-200 trees per year. A terChristmas they plant the trees sothey can continue to live a healthyli e and to be used again the ollow-ing year. The knowledge Sean andJe gained through their education

at the Faculty o Forestry has beencritical to their success and manyo the seasonal sta employed areUBC Forestry students. EVERGROWhas cultivated an exceptionally loyalcustomer base as the company

ourishes into its 5th year in business.Some o their trees were eatured atthe 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, BCand in the movie Christmas Story 2.

As ar as o ering any advice toyoung alumni or current Forestrystudents interested in starting a

business; Sean notes the many prosand cons involved in running yourown company, how it takes a lot o hard work, time and dedication, and

can be a rewarding yet exhaustingexperience. It takes a certain indi-vidual to start a business; you haveto give it your all. He speaks aboutthe excitement o never knowingexactly how things are going toturn out, i your business will besuccess ul, what the uture holds.Sean also mentions that having abusiness partner or him was key. They already knew they worked welltogether rom their time at UBC, and

it gave them extra motivation andsupport while in transition. Utilizingeach others skillset, bouncing ideaso one another, teamwork was whatit was all about. Running your owncompany is so much un, an amazingchallenge and very rewarding.

Je has relocated to Revelstoke, BC so Sean is now running EVERGROW solely, however they are still in con-tact and Je works occasionally withEVERGROW.

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Williams Lake Alumni and Friends BBQ & Tour

On August 27th, alumni, riends,sta and students met at theGavin Lake camp in the Alex Fraser

Research Forest, just outside o Wil-liams Lake, or a tour and barbeque.A welcome by Dr John Richardson,

Head o the Department o Forestand Conservation Sciences at UBCForestry, was ollowed by presen-tations by students Vince Luu andSamantha Smolen on their experi-ences as interns at the orest, anda discussion panel moderated byForest Manager Ken Day, MF98.Panel members Janelle Hale, BSF11, rom West Fraser Mills, SteveKozuki, BSF94, rom BC TimberSales, Ty Johnston, Forestry con-sultant, and Francis Johnson, romAlkali Resource Management Ltd,spoke about work/li e balancewithin their areas o orestry.

Recent alumni eventsSince the past issue o Branchlines, the Alumni Ofce at the Faculty o Forestry hosted a range o events. We started o

welcoming the Class o 2013 graduates into the alumni old. Russ Clinton, BSF67 and ormer Senior VP o Corporate Develop-ment at West Fraser Timber, attended the ceremony as a representative o the Forestry alumni community to present alumni pins. The new alumni, their amilies and riends, aculty and sta then gathered at a lunch reception in the Forest SciencesCentre Atrium, where the Dean and Mr Clinton shared words o advice. Several alumni have shared Words o Wisdom onour Forestry Alumni Website. To add yours, please contact Janna Kellett at [email protected] or 604.827.3082.

UBC celebrated Alumni Weekend on May 25th. The Faculty o Forestry hosted several events, including Dr Hosny El-Lakanysthought provoking discussion on the worlds orests and PhD candidates Natalie Sopinka and Graham Rabys sessions entitled Salmon, eggs and ry, oh my!. I you were unable to join this years event, we hope to see you at next years.

Here are a ew more events that took place:

Planning a reunion or 2014? For classes celebrating milestone reunions (suchas the classes o 1954, 1964, 1974, 1984, 1994 and 2004) please contact JannaKellett, the Faculty o Forestry Alumni Relations Ofcer, at [email protected] 604.827.3082. Were here to assist you with resources, including pulling classlists, providing reunion pins, planning tips and suggestions.

Class o 1983 ReunionOn August 17th, the Class o

1983 hosted their reunion, com-plete with Coconut Party dcor.Over 30 classmates and guestsgathered on the UBC campus ora un day o activities, including anostalgic slide show lunch, din-ner, evening at Mahonys Irish Puband an a ter-party at Gage Towers.Special guests included EmeritusPro essors John Worrall and TonyKozak.

Alumni and FriendsGathering in Nelson

Students rom the Master o Sus-tainable Forest Management pro-gram were in Nelson in late Augustparticipating in a ield camp. OnAugust 30th, they presented theirre lections to alumni and guestsand answered questions on orestmanagement challenges in the Koo-tenay area. A ter the presentations,alumni, riends and students joinedAssociate Dean Cindy Prescott ora reception at the TouchstonesNelson, Museum o Art and History.

Class o 83

Dr John Richardson addressing the Williams Lake tour

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Alumni inaction

One o the common questions raised by alumni is What happened to my classmates a ter graduation? Our studentswonder What can I do with my degree? To answer botho these questions, this column eatures stories rom our alumni, highlighting the various career paths our graduateshave ollowed.

Ric Slaco, BSF 1979What year did you graduate and rom whichprogram?

I received my Bachelor o Science in Forestry (ForestManagement Major) in 1979.

Where did you grow up?Vancouver

When did you know you wanted to go into Forestryand what drove you in that direction?

At an early age I had a strong interest in nature andbuilding things. My older brother was a commercial

sherman, and while visiting him in Kyuquot, on the westcoast o Vancouver Island, I realized I wanted to do some-thing related to the natural bounty we have in BC. Fishing

or a living was not my calling, because o seasickness,but trees and lumber looked pretty interesting to me.

What brought you to UBCs Faculty o Forestry?While attending John Oliver High School, some UBC

Forestry students (I remember Bob Cavill, BSF72, was oneo them) gave a Career Day presentation. I was impressedwith what they had to say about the school and orestryand it seemed like the right path or me.

What was your frst job a ter graduation and/or yourfrst Forestry job?

I was hired by BC Forest Products Limited in theirResource Planning Group as a Special Projects Forester.My specialty at that time was orest soils. It was duringthat time I worked on a orest ecology project withDr Karel Klinka (PhD76 and UBC Forestry Pro essorEmeritus) and helped develop the rst tree speciesselection guide book. It was new thinking at that time,and it really expanded my perspective about orestecosystems.

What are you doing now and how did you end up there?I am the Vice President and Chie Forester at Inter or. I

have worked in the orest industry or 34 years, and haveheld various roles in resource planning, operations and nowat the corporate level. My tenure at Inter or started in 1992when they bought the coastal assets o Fletcher Challenge,where I was working, and asked me to move rom Camp-bell River to Vancouver. I like new challenges and Inter orhas been a great company to work or in that respect. Thecompany is ocused on building value and has changeddramatically over the years, becoming a leading globalsupplier o so twood lumber. Most recently I have also

taken on a temporary part-time role as Interim President o the BC Lumber Trade Council. It has been a great learningexperience and I expect there will be more changes ahead.

What is your ondest memory o your time at UBC? There was great camaraderie within our orestry class,

both in learning and having un. I spent most o mytime with the class o 78 until I took a year out to work and travel to Costa Rica. I have a lot o good memorieso people rom school and summer jobs. The mostunique summer job experience was working or Dr TimBallard (UBC Forestry/Land and Food Systems Emeritus

Pro essor) doing a soil and vegetation survey o KlahanieNational Park in the Yukon. The best summer job memorywas meeting my uture wi e while I was working on a

orest site productivity study on Vancouver Island.

I you werent working where you are now, whatpro ession would you most like to try?

I am ascinated by marketing, and it would probablybe something to do with wood or bio products, as theyhave such a compelling story or why they are good orpeople and the environment.

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branch lines is produced in-house by the Faculty o Forestry at the University o British Columbia.Editor: Susan B Watts, PhD, RPF, [email protected]

Designer: Jamie Myers, [email protected] 2013 Faculty o ForestryUniversity o British ColumbiaISSN 1181-9936

Questions concerning branch lines or requests or mailinglist updates, deletions or additions should be directed [email protected].

Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to:Faculty o ForestryUniversity o British ColumbiaForest Sciences Centre2005 2424 Main MallVancouver BC CANADA V6T 1Z4

BranchLines is currently mailed to over 4,000 orestry

alumni, interested groups and individuals. We also postan electronic version o each issue on our Faculty websitewww. orestry.ubc.ca/branchlines/ .

I you would pre er to stop receiving paper copies we cannoti y you by email when electronic versions are availableonline. To change your subscription rom paper to electronicnoti cation please send your request to [email protected].

www. orestry.ubc.ca

Electronic versus paper?

What is the toughest business or pro essional decisionyouve had to make?

Early in my career, during the 80s, while working or adi erent company, I believed that a development plan inan already heavily logged watershed was not pro essionally

sound. I had to explain to my employer why I would notapprove the site prescription. It really wasnt a tough deci-sion because it was the right thing to do, but I was uncertainwhat might happen next as I was not aware o anyone doingthat be ore. My most taxing challenge, however, was dealingwith the environmental issues during the war in the woods.I knew that decisions made during this period would havepro ound impact on peoples lives, and would result in worldleading sustainable orestry practices.

What are you most proud o looking back at your careerso ar?

I believe that I have strived to add value to everything Ido! My core values o personal integrity, treating people withrespect and a strong desire to get things done has given mea sense o accomplishment or the various challenges thathave come my way.

What does being a UBC Forestry alumnus mean to you?It represents a sense o community among people with

similar values.

Do you have any advice or students currently in For-estry or recent graduates just entering into the work

orce?I think that the orest sector in BC has an opportunity to

become the worlds supplier o choice or climate riendlyorest products and services. Forestry and orest products

can do so many good things or people, and in my view isa sector worth pursuing with a grand vision or greatness.

In September an Alumni Survey will be going out to all UBCForestry alumni with email addresses in our records. We wouldlike to hear rom you what would you like to see in the Alumni

E-Newsletter and on the website? What events would you like toparticipate in? Have you hosted a class reunion with the Faculty? I yes, wed like to hear how it went, i not, then wed like to know why.

This is your opportunity to help us ensure that the AlumniRelations Ofces services and resources are targeting you andother alumni to the best o its ability. We would especially like tohear rom alumni outside o the Lower Mainland about how wecan best support and engage with you.

I you do not receive the survey, we may not have a currentemail address or you. I so, or i you dont have an email addressbut would like to let us know your eedback, please contact JannaKellett at [email protected] or 604.827.3082.

Alumni Reception at Society o AmericanForesters 2013 National Convention

On October 24th, rom 6:30-8:30pm, UBC Forestry will behosting an Alumni Reception at the SAF National Conventionin North Charleston, South Carolina. For more in ormation, orto RSVP, please contact [email protected] or 604.827.3082.

Forestry Alumni Survey

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