Jake Kazakoff (Wood Products Processing)
Working as a Program Assistant for the Global Buyers Mission during the summer was a fast paced experience. BC Wood is a not-for-profit trade association that supports BC businesses that manufacture wood products. They have been a voice for the industry for over 25 years, bringing innovative ideas to the table and insight into how we can strengthen BC’s wood culture.
Esther Li (Urban Forestry)
I did my first work term with Strategic Natural Resource Consultants as an Assistant Timber Development Engineer in Campbell River, BC. The main focus of my job was to assist the Senior Forestry Engineer with their reconnaissance of forests and design the layout of the cutblock.
Amber Hansen (Forestry)
I spent my fourth co-op work term working as part of the Canfor Mackenzie field operations crew. Working in field operations has given me an up close and personal look at the work and preparation required before a block can be harvested. I have been doing everything from laying out boundaries, to traversing roads, to determining the site series of a given area.
Jane Ho (Urban Forestry)
I started my first co-op work term with Khowutzun Forest Services, working as a Forestry Field Assistant in Duncan. My supervisor wanted me to see and experience multiple facets of forestry, so I had numerous opportunities to attend silviculture workshops, safety meetings, and training sessions.
Bill Reid Looplex X Canoe Installation Ceremony
At a staggering 53 feet in length, the Looplex X is slightly larger than a full grown humpback whale. It is one of four replicas of the “Lootas”, or “wave-eater”, which was carved by Bill Reid for the 1986 Vancouver Expo.
The broad footprint of climate change from genes to biomes to people
Tara Martin, Adjunct Professor in the department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, has co-authored a recent paper in in Science titled “The broad footprint of climate change from genes to biomes to people”.
WHO report shows urban green spaces deliver multiple health benefits
Dr Matilda van den Bosch (joint appoint with Forest and Conservation Sciences and School of Population and Public Health) is a co-author of a new WHO report summarizing evidence on the health effects of green space in urban areas shows that green spaces offer numerous public health benefits, including psychological relaxation and stress reduction, enhanced physical activity and a potential reduction in exposure to – among other harmful urban factors – air pollution, noise and excessive heat.
Zhiyun Cheng (Forest Sciences)
For my first co-op work term I worked as a research assistant at Nanjing Forestry University. I worked on a research project named “Agroforestry and its impact on soil carbon storage”. I was supervised by Dr. Guibin Wang, professor of NFU college of International Education and guided by his graduate students. Most of the time, I was involved in labs and doing experiments. But what I learned most from this research experience was data analysis skills, which is a key step of doing scientific research.
Ben McKinnon (Wood Products Processing)
Over the course of my work term, I was designing floors, decks and truss systems for Pacific Building Systems prefabricated homes company of Vancouver Island. I spent most of my days at work using a computer program called Mitek Sapphire to convert architectural and engineering plans to 3D models of houses. I then used the 3D model that I created to test whether the structure would stand, or if certain beams or floor joists would fail under the weight of the building. My official title was Floor Technician as I was mostly responsible for designing and creating material lists of floors.
Hayley Gong (Forestry)
Prince Albert National Park consists of two ecoregions: Mid-Upland Boreal and Boreal Transition. It is home to a large variety of plant and tree species, which provides food to support larger organisms such as the bison. One of the keystone species at this park, the free-roaming plains bison, helps shape the land by stomping and wallowing on the ground, hence eliminating the suckering aspen from taking over the grassland areas. I learned about the ethnobotany of the plants found in this park where I was able to practice my plant identification skills. During my work term as an assistant park interpreter, I got to work with the most welcoming interpretation team.