Forest Service British Columbia - Research Branch

BEC Program Staff

 

Provincial www.for.gov.bc.ca/hre/	Coast Area www.for.gov.bc.ca/rco/	Southern Interior Area www.for.gov.bc.ca/rsi/	Northern Interior Area www.for.gov.bc.ca/rni/
Will MacKenzie Shirley Mah Adrian Walton contact info	Andy MacKinnon Sari Saunders Heather West contact info	Deb MacKillop Mike Ryan contact info	Bruce Rogers contact info

Staff Profiles

	TOP Heather Klassen Assistant Research Ecologist South Coast Region Nanaimo Assist regional ecologists with forest ecology research and biogeoclimatic ecosystem classification (BEC) and mapping. Interests include structural dynamics, climate change, and disturbance dynamics and integration of these topics with ecosystem classification and forest management.
	TOP Will MacKenzie Provincial BEC Ecologist Smithers Will has 20 years experience as an ecologist in BC and the northern territories. Initially hired by the Research Branch in 1995 to create a province-wide classification of wetland and riparian ecosystems. Will has moved on to constructing a provincial alpine classification, and a seral classification of the SBS. Will manages the provincial ecological dataset and is actively building software tools for collection of field data and managment and maintainance the provincial classification, . His main interests are in botany, plant and wildlife ecology, and informatics.
	TOP Deb MacKillop Research Ecologist, Kootenay/Boundary Region Nelson Deb is a new Research Ecologist based out of Nelson. She is working on BEC classification, interpretation, and training. Other research interests include natural disturbance based management, the structure and dynamics of old forests, the effects of climate change on vegetation communities and ecosystems, and the interactions between forest management, biodiversity, and ecological resilience.
	TOP Andy MacKinnon Research Ecologist, West Coast Region Victoria/Nanaimo Andy's areas of responsibility include research in forest ecology and ecosystem-based management (EBM). Responsible for biogeoclimatic ecosystem classification (BEC) and mapping. Provides consultation and training in EBM and BEC. Serves on provincial and national research committees. Current research interests include natural disturbance, old-growth forests, non-timber forest products, and native plants, fungi and lichens
	TOP Shirley Mah Interpretations Ecologist Forest Practices and Investment Branch Victoria Shirley's areas of responsibility include research in the development of ecologically-based management interpretations that include the long-term SIBEC project, and implementing their use at operational and strategic levels of forest management. Her current interests are ecosystem-site productivity relationships, tree species selection, relationship of ecosystems to people and management, and non-timber forest products.
	TOP Bruce Rogers Assistant Research Ecologist Northeast and Omineca Regions Prince George Bruce’s duties include identifying needs, conducting research, and preparing extension materials. He is involved with a range of projects that currently include the development of a new Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Classification field guide for boreal forests, long term tracking of stand and vegetation dynamics in post mountain pine beetle attacked stands, and natural disturbance and mixedwood stand structure. His areas of interest are plant and habitat ecology, stand and landscape attributes associated with natural disturbance dynamics and the relationship between ecosystem processes, secondary stand structure, and retention silvicultural systems.
	TOP Mike Ryan Research Ecologist Thompson/Okanagan Region Kamloops Research ecologist responsible for BEC classification, interpretation and training and Biogeoclimatic and ecosystem mapping. Research activities also include impacts of logging and site preparation on bryophytes, predictive ecosystem mapping and reliability assessments, terrestrial ecosystem mapping, photographic manuals for the identification of bryophyes, identification, distribution and autecology of bryophytes and vascular plants, and the identification and description of rare ecosystems.
	TOP Sari Saunders Research Ecologist South Coast Region Nanaimo Research and consultation biogeoclimatic classification, and forest and landscape ecology. Currently working with the regional Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Classification (BEC) database to evaluate sampling needs and strategize field activities to support applications. Interests include disturbance dynamics, ecology of edges and spatial patterns of landscapes, carbon dynamics, and monitoring within human modified and nonhuman disturbed landscapes.
	TOP Adrian Walton Landscape Ecologist Forest Analysis and Inventory Branch Victoria Adrian Walton, MNRES, received his university education at the University of Waterloo and the University of Northern British Columbia. He worked for nine years as a GIS specialist working on projects such as forest estate planning, forest visualization and wildlife habitat assessment. He is currently a Landscape Modelling Biologist with the Research Branch of the BC Forest Service. His current research projects include biogeoclimatic mapping (see: www.for.gov.bc.ca/hre/becweb/resources/maps/), Bayesian networks (in particular their application to predictive ecosystem mapping) and natural disturbance dynamics and their effects on management decisions.