About Us

The Centre provides a collaborative, interdisciplinary forum for natural resources research and management.

A crucial global challenge of this century is meeting human needs for natural resources without degrading ecosystems. The Bulkley Valley Research Centre is an independent not-for-profit society based in Smithers, Northwest British Columbia, Canada, that conducts high quality interdisciplinary research on our environment, including its human dimensions.
 
The Bulkley Valley is an ideal base for conducting research activities because of its proximity to an outstanding array of largely intact ecosystems and its exceptional community of researchers and specialists in natural resources.

To take advantage of this ideal setting, the Centre was established in 2002. Our members are individuals, researchers, resource professionals, and businesses primarily located in the Bulkley Valley that have an interest in natural resource research and management.

As of the end of 2010 the Centre has been involved in more than 115 research projects worth more than 4.8 million dollars, and has over 100 members who conduct or are interested in research in a wide range of natural resource disciplines.

The Centre has a volunteer board of directors consisting of 12 individuals and a small number of staff that oversee the operation of the Centre. We are located in an office on Main Street in downtown Smithers.

If you have research needs, are looking for experts in natural and cultural resource management, or need a conference organizer, please consider contacting the Centre.

 

The Purpose of the Centre

The Centre provides the necessary leadership in collaborative, interdisciplinary and credible research that addresses issues in resource sustainability. It serves as a forum for those concerned with natural and cultural resources research, management and sustainability, to identify common research priorities and to provide opportunities for synergistically combining expertise. These priorities provide the foundation for the Centre’s research program.

The Centre’s objectives are:


A Forum for Collaborative Research

The knowledge gaps involving natural and cultural resources and their management are complex. To address these effectively, research must be multi-disciplinary and interconnected. Only by pooling expertise and research facilities can the science of sustainability be efficiently addressed. We believe that a key to successful science is partnerships with extensive collaboration among researchers, and between scientists and those applying the research results (FORUM 2000). There is a growing need for collaborative research in all sectors of resource management. Working jointly to identify and address widely regarded research priorities will provide benefits to all involved. This is the reason for the Centre.

 

The Structure of the Centre

The Centre is a not-for-profit society, with charitable status approved. Final responsibility for the proper functioning of the Centre rests with its membership. A Board of Directors of no more than 12 members is nominated by a committee of the membership and is elected by the members. The Board of Directors provides the Centre’s strategic and policy direction, and is responsible for the design and management of the research program in accordance with policies and practices approved by the membership. The Board is structured so as to function in an efficient, transparent and accountable manner.

 

Addressing the Needs and Challenges

Through ingenuity, experience, research and culture, humans over time have devised ways of increasing the productivity of the resource base. Many parts of the world, however, cannot meet the resource demands and are suffering serious shortages and ecosystem degradation. To resolve land use conflicts and to maintain environmental quality, we must use our natural and cultural capital more efficiently, productively, and wisely. The challenge of the twenty-first century is to make the transition to a culture of sustainability.

To deal effectively with the resource supply problem by providing for human needs without undermining ecological integrity, we must mobilize talented people. Scientists and resource professionals must be enlisted to design and implement the means of sustainably producing the goods and services required for human well-being. British Columbia, which still has abundant natural resources and a relatively high quality environment, could lead the way to sustainability. There is a group of individuals resident in the Bulkley Valley who are highly qualified to undertake the studies and programs necessary to achieve this goal.

The Centre addresses this challenge by making use of the opportunity provided by the Bulkley Valley to conduct research relevant to today’s problems and today’s economy.