Hilary Thorpe
Adjunct Researcher
Hilary recently graduated from the University of Toronto with a PhD in forest ecology. She was hired by the BVRC to complete a project on crown shyness and is currently employed as a postdoctoral fellow in the Departments of Geography and Forest Sciences at the University of British Columbia.
Hilary’s research interests include disturbance ecology, stand dynamics, dendroecology, individual-based modeling, and ecosystem-based forest management. In her dissertation, she used dendroecological techniques and neighbourhood models to quantify stand dynamics after structural retention harvests in Ontario’s black spruce boreal forest. Her current research projects include: modelling tree crown structure across competitional gradients in the sub-boreal spruce forest (BVRC), quantifying changes in background tree mortality rates in Alberta’s boreal forests over the past 50 years (UBC), and neighbourhood analyses of tree growth in old-growth coastal forests in southwestern BC (UBC).
Hilary currently lives in Haida Gwaii with her partner, Tyler, and their dog, Blue.