Our Team
Meet our board of directors and support personnel
The Bulkley Valley Research Centre takes pride in a strong group dynamic and its ability to work creatively, proactively and professionally on a diversity of projects. Our team is comprised of core support staff undertaking management, administration, operations, finance and communications, and researchers who provide services to projects on an ongoing basis. The Centre is led by a dedicated volunteer board of directors who contribute a broad range of skills, knowledge, experience and perspectives to the leadership, oversight, and strategic direction of the Centre. We also regularly welcome visiting researchers and co-op students.
Adriana Almeida-Rodriguez
Board of Directors
Treasurer
Biography
Adriana is a biologist with a Ph.D. in Forest Biology and Management. She has studied the physiological responses, gene expression, and phenotypic plasticity of plants exposed to abiotic stresses and in plant-fungi associations. Adriana is currently working as a Senior Environmental Protection Officer with the Environmental Protection Division at the BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. Adriana volunteers as a director for the Board of the Bulkley Valley Research Centre.
Alana Clason
Research Associates
Research Associate
Biography
Alana Clason is a forest ecologist and Research Scientist with the Bulkley Valley Research Centre. Alana collaborates with universities, government, industry, and non-profit partners in a variety of applied research across western Canada studying the impacts, resilience and recovery of forests to disturbance. She completed her PhD at UNBC in 2017, understanding the drivers of the current range and forecasting the future northern range of whitebark pine under a changing climate. Her MSc at the University of Alberta focused on whitebark pine ecology and resilience. Alana blends empirical data collection and analysis with ecological modeling to understand and support the management of BC forests.
Her current projects focus on the response of forest carbon, fuels, and wildlife habitat to disturbances such as fire and forest management, as well as research and restoration of endangered whitebark pine ecosystems. She is a board member of the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation-Canada and the Smithers Ski and Snowboard Club.
Originally from Ottawa, she was fortunate to find a home in Smithers, on the land of the Wet’sewt’en Nation. There, she tries to keep up with her two active daughters, grow and gather food, play as much hockey as possible and explore the mountains, lakes and rivers close to home and far away.
Brad Martin
Board of Directors
Board Member
Biography
Brad started working in wildfire in 1984 while living in Dease Lake, where he spent 6 years on an initial attack crew before becoming a Resource Assistant in Protection and Engineering. Brad moved to Smithers in 1994 and continued to shift and grow into various roles related to wildfire management, operations, and prevention. Over the course of his career, Brad has worked in the Yukon, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Argentina and Australia in various wildfire roles. He currently serves as the Senior Wildfire Officer-Prevention at the Northwest Fire Centre in Smithers.
When he’s not working, Brad enjoys all types of bike riding (summer and winter), snowboarding (on/off-piste), snowshoeing, snowmobiling, hiking, fishing and doing all of these with his wife.
Caroline Bastable
Support Personnel
Executive Director
Biography
Caroline has dedicated the majority of her career to the non-profit sector, accumulating a deep understanding of its inherent challenges and opportunities. Caroline is committed to advancing knowledge and fostering positive change within communities. Her diverse background encompasses program management in a variety of fields including environmental sustainability, international development, and community literacy. She also volunteered for two years as a teacher in a rural school in Malawi. Caroline holds an MA Hons in Psychology and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education.
Originally from the UK, Caroline and her partner embarked on a new life adventure in Canada in 2006. They have proudly called Smithers home since 2010, drawn by the vibrant community and the wealth of opportunities for outdoor recreation in the valley’s incredible ‘backyard’. While she (allegedly) spends far too much of her spare time riding and training her horses, she can be enticed to venture out occasionally under her own steam on foot, in a kayak, or on skis.
Dave Loewen
Board of Directors
Board Member
Biography
David Loewn was raised on Haida Gwaii before moving to the Bulkley Valley and later Prince George. David is an Open Learning Faculty Member at Thompson Rivers University. David’s academic background is in Education and Business Administration. He has a Doctorate of Education, specializing in online and distance education. As Principal of a small consulting firm, David’s work spans northwest BC and the Yukon. David has been the Director of Policy, Planning and Strategy at the College of New Caledonia and the Regional Director, Indigenous Health with Northern Health. With over a decade of experience in silviculture and sustainable forestry management as well as extensive volunteer board experience, David is an excellent fit for the BVRC. David is active outside and tries to keep up with his three kids, alpine skiing in the winter and mountain biking in the summer.
Dawn Hanson
Support Personnel
Operations Manager
Biography
Dawn grew up in Telkwa and moved to Vancouver to pursue post-secondary education. After 14 years in the city, she decided to return to Smithers for a year with her husband, to see how it went. Many years later they have built a house, are raising a daughter, and are happily situated on the banks of the Bulkley River in Telkwa. Dawn has a Bachelor of General Studies from Simon Fraser University, with Minors in Biology and Humanities. She studied Social Enterprise for Sustainable Community Development through SFU’s Undergraduate Semester in Dialogue Program, which morphed ideas of environmentalism and debate into sustainability and dialogue. Her work in the Bulkley Valley has included community development with a focus on health, community engagement envisioning the Skeena watershed and its residents in the year 2050, strategic planning for social and environmentally focused community organizations, and a diversity of project and event coordination.
In the summer, Dawn loves gardening and rock hunting on the river. In the winter she can be found playing women’s hockey, trying to keep up to her dog and daughter on the cross country ski trails and supporting Valley Youth Fiddlers as a Board member and parent.
Dr. Flora Krivak-Tetley
Research Associates
Post Doctoral Research Associate
Biography
Dr. Flora Krivak-Tetley is a forest ecologist and Postdoctoral Researcher with the University of British Columbia and the Bulkley Valley Research Centre. Her research interests include forest demography, carbon dynamics, invasive species, insect population dynamics, conservation biology, and social- ecological systems. She completed her PhD at Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH, USA), leading an intercontinental comparative study on the impacts and population dynamics of the invasive woodwasp Sirex noctilio. During her MS work at UC Berkeley (Berkeley, CA, USA), she focused on identifying early impacts of climate change in old growth Sierra Nevada forests.
Flora’s current research is focused on modelling the impacts of partial harvesting on carbon storage, flux and other ecosystem services in forests of northern British Columbia. She works with academic, government and First Nations partners and is integrating the stand-level model SORTIE and the landscape-scale model LANDIS-II to understand the potential outcomes of a range of future harvesting approaches.
Emily Hashemi
Support Personnel
Website Coordinator
Biography
Emily is a website designer based in Smithers, BC. Born and bred in Ontario, she moved to the Bulkley Valley in 2014 and is in love! Having completed a bilingual International Relations degree at Glendon College and a front-end developer program at Juno College, she has had the opportunity to work in regions all over the world including North America, Asia, Northern Europe, United Kingdom, East Africa, and South America.
Her passions: yoga, my babies, traveling, love
Erin Hall
Board of Directors
Board Member
Biography
Erin Hall is a Stand Development Research Scientist in BC’s Office of the Chief Forester with an interest in ecosystem dynamics, mixedwoods and alternative silviculture systems. Erin is based in Smithers and has worked in northwest BC since 2000. She has experience as a Forest Consultant and Stewardship Forester. She also previously worked with Dave Coates and Allen Banner as Assistant Research Ecologist and Silviculturist on many projects including studies of ecosystem recovery and complex stand dynamics. Erin is a forest ecologist and Registered Professional Forester. She completed a MSc in Natural Resource Management at UNBC where she applied her interest in ecology, silviculture and stand modelling (SORTIE-ND) to explore the effects of disturbance (including alternative silviculture systems) on caribou and moose winter range dynamics.
Evelyn Hamilton
Board of Directors
Board Member
Biography
Evelyn Hamilton worked in the Research Branch of the BC Forest Service for much of her career. She started as a Field ecologist working on fire ecology and ecosystem classification. Before retiring in 2010, Evelyn managed the Ecology and Earth Sciences Section, a team of research scientists and technicians in fields including plant ecology, soils, hydrology, wildlife, range, silviculture, fisheries, non-timber forest products, climate and carbon. She was involved with many initiatives including ecosystem classification and process research, and old growth and biodiversity conservation. She also led the Ministry’s climate change adaptation program for several years.
Evelyn was an adjunct faculty member at Royal Roads University and recently established a small consulting firm. Her recent work has been on non-timber forest products, response of ecosystems to fire, and adaptation to climate change. Evelyn received her BSc in Biology from UBC and her MSc in Plant Ecology from the University of Alberta.
Gillian Chow-Fraser
Support Personnel
SIP Extension Specialist
Biography
Gillian is the SIP’s Extension Specialist, translating and mobilizing the vast knowledge on innovative silviculture in B.C. and guiding the creation of new knowledge to address research gaps. She has a Bachelors of Science with a specialization in Conservation Science from Trent University (Peterborough, ON) and a Masters of Science from the University of Victoria (Victoria, BC).
She has worked in research labs, provincial governments, and environmental non-profits on some of our biggest conservation challenges, like woodland caribou recovery, land use planning, and cumulative impacts in B.C., Alberta, and Ontario. She brings her research background and her experience in public advocacy and public education to the Extension Program.
Gillian grew up on the Great Lakes of Ontario, the daughter of two biologists, and has since fallen in love with Canada’s vast boreal forest, now residing in Edmonton.
Ingrid Farnell
Support Personnel
Research Technician
Biography
Ingrid is a budding ecologist, currently working as a research technician in post-wildfire forest ecosystem projects with the BVRC. Ingrid received her Master of Science degree from the University of Northern British Columbia in 2021. Her studies explored the dynamics of downed dead wood after harvest activities and the concomitant impact on the American Marten, as well as using remote sensing to predict dead wood and its effects upon habitat quality over the landscape. Her research site was located within the towering trees of the Date Creek Research Forest in the Kispiox Valley, where she fell in love with forest ecology. Ingrid found a home in Smithers in 2015 after tree planting brought her to the Bulkley Valley. Since her initial visit she has never left, enjoying the endless adventure of playing in the mountains.
Irene Ronalds
Board of Directors
Vice-Chair
Biography
Irene Ronalds is a Registered Professional Biologist who moved to Smithers in 1993 to work on the Protected Areas Strategy gap analysis and to enjoy the outdoors. As an independent consultant, her work has focused on Terrestrial Ecosystem Mapping, ecosystem restoration and monitoring, and resource management planning. She admires the passion and dedication of the capable people who founded the Centre in the early 2000’s, and would like to see their vision continue and grow.
Irene loves to hike, paddle, and ski with her husband and two almost grown-up sons.
Karisa Petho
Board of Directors
Board Member
Biography
Karisa has deep roots in northwest BC where she is the regional manager for Hatfield Consultants. She is a certified Project Management Professional as designated by the PMI and a registered EcoCanada Environmental Professional with specializations in Policy and Legislation as well as Natural Resource Management.
Karisa is an experienced project manager and regulatory specialist with over 19 years of experience in British Columbia, with a unique focus on the energy and climate sectors in the northwest of the province. Her experience includes environmental assessments, regulatory negotiations, climate adaptation studies, as well as the assessment of accidents and malfunctions for large marine infrastructure projects. She has also spent significant time working for, and alongside, Indigenous governments in the region to support environmental and economic development initiatives.
Her project involvement includes Vopak Pacific Canada, LNG Canada, Wolverine Fuels Terminal, the Northwest Transmission Line and several other large developments throughout the region which have achieved regulatory approvals and entered into construction phases.
Biography
Dr. Kira Hoffman is a professional fire ecologist (WFE) and former wildland firefighter. Hoffman’s research focuses on how humans have used fire for millennia to manage and enhance their natural surroundings. She uses multiple methods to understand how present-day forests have been shaped by stewardship techniques such as burning and how ongoing fire suppression has eroded the resiliency of landscapes. She is currently a jointly appointed Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of British Columbia and the Bulkley Valley Research Centre.
Laura Stanton
Support Personnel
SIP Program Manager
Biography
Laura is the SIP’s Program Manager. Laura received a Bachelor of Science in Biology with Ecology Specialization and Industrial Internship Practicum from the University of Alberta. Since her degree, Laura became an experienced forestry project manager through a variety of capacities and positions including in government, industry, consulting, and community forestry.
Laura is an accredited silviculture surveyor and has led projects in mountain pine beetle and wildfire impact surveys and prescriptions, forest inventory and residue and waste. In addition, Laura has a background in illustration and graphic design, allowing her to facilitate effective communication through creative means such as infographics, diagrams and promotional materials.
Sam Coggins
Board of Directors
Chair
Biography
Sam is a Registered Professional Forester with over 25 years’ experience in natural resource management. Originally from the UK, Sam has a technical diploma in forestry and woodland management, a bachelor’s degree in forest resources management, and a PhD in forestry from the University of British Columbia. His graduate work defined an approach to use multi-scale remotely sensed imagery to detect low-level mountain pine beetle infestations. After finishing graduate studies in 2011, Sam moved to Terrace and worked with First Nations, in environmental consulting, and was a sessional instructor at Northwest Community College (in the School of Exploration and Mining) and at the University of Northern British Columbia. Sam was the Director of Lands and Resources with Kitselas First Nation, he established a multi-disciplinary lands and resources department who managed Kitselas’ reserve lands and the Traditional Territory. In 2017, he moved to Victoria to work for the Forest Practices Board as the Director, Investigations.
Sam is now self-employed and lives in Smithers. In his spare time, Sam enjoys exploring the backroads of British Columbia on his adventure motorcycle, woodworking, staying active, and looking after his property in rural Smithers.
Shari Everett
Support Personnel
Finance Manager
Biography
As the Finance Coordinator of the BVRC, Shari is able to utilize her 30 years of experience as an accounting professional to manage the BVRC accounting and finances for all research and monitoring projects administered by the Centre. She also provides operational support through research project management and event planning.
Shari and her husband relocated to Smithers in 2015 to escape city life and build their dream house in the mountains. She enjoys walking the local trails, skiing, reading, Tai Chi, and playing the piano. One of her favourite pastimes is enjoying nature and the local wildlife while going on walks with her husband and dog.
Adriana Almeida-Rodriguez
Board of Directors
Treasurer
Biography
Adriana is a biologist with a Ph.D. in Forest Biology and Management. She has studied the physiological responses, gene expression, and phenotypic plasticity of plants exposed to abiotic stresses and in plant-fungi associations. Adriana is currently working as a Senior Environmental Protection Officer with the Environmental Protection Division at the BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. Adriana volunteers as a director for the Board of the Bulkley Valley Research Centre.
Brad Martin
Board of Directors
Board Member
Biography
Brad started working in wildfire in 1984 while living in Dease Lake, where he spent 6 years on an initial attack crew before becoming a Resource Assistant in Protection and Engineering. Brad moved to Smithers in 1994 and continued to shift and grow into various roles related to wildfire management, operations, and prevention. Over the course of his career, Brad has worked in the Yukon, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Argentina and Australia in various wildfire roles. He currently serves as the Senior Wildfire Officer-Prevention at the Northwest Fire Centre in Smithers.
When he’s not working, Brad enjoys all types of bike riding (summer and winter), snowboarding (on/off-piste), snowshoeing, snowmobiling, hiking, fishing and doing all of these with his wife.
Dave Loewen
Board of Directors
Board Member
Biography
David Loewn was raised on Haida Gwaii before moving to the Bulkley Valley and later Prince George. David is an Open Learning Faculty Member at Thompson Rivers University. David’s academic background is in Education and Business Administration. He has a Doctorate of Education, specializing in online and distance education. As Principal of a small consulting firm, David’s work spans northwest BC and the Yukon. David has been the Director of Policy, Planning and Strategy at the College of New Caledonia and the Regional Director, Indigenous Health with Northern Health. With over a decade of experience in silviculture and sustainable forestry management as well as extensive volunteer board experience, David is an excellent fit for the BVRC. David is active outside and tries to keep up with his three kids, alpine skiing in the winter and mountain biking in the summer.
Erin Hall
Board of Directors
Board Member
Biography
Erin Hall is a Stand Development Research Scientist in BC’s Office of the Chief Forester with an interest in ecosystem dynamics, mixedwoods and alternative silviculture systems. Erin is based in Smithers and has worked in northwest BC since 2000. She has experience as a Forest Consultant and Stewardship Forester. She also previously worked with Dave Coates and Allen Banner as Assistant Research Ecologist and Silviculturist on many projects including studies of ecosystem recovery and complex stand dynamics. Erin is a forest ecologist and Registered Professional Forester. She completed a MSc in Natural Resource Management at UNBC where she applied her interest in ecology, silviculture and stand modelling (SORTIE-ND) to explore the effects of disturbance (including alternative silviculture systems) on caribou and moose winter range dynamics.
Evelyn Hamilton
Board of Directors
Board Member
Biography
Evelyn Hamilton worked in the Research Branch of the BC Forest Service for much of her career. She started as a Field ecologist working on fire ecology and ecosystem classification. Before retiring in 2010, Evelyn managed the Ecology and Earth Sciences Section, a team of research scientists and technicians in fields including plant ecology, soils, hydrology, wildlife, range, silviculture, fisheries, non-timber forest products, climate and carbon. She was involved with many initiatives including ecosystem classification and process research, and old growth and biodiversity conservation. She also led the Ministry’s climate change adaptation program for several years.
Evelyn was an adjunct faculty member at Royal Roads University and recently established a small consulting firm. Her recent work has been on non-timber forest products, response of ecosystems to fire, and adaptation to climate change. Evelyn received her BSc in Biology from UBC and her MSc in Plant Ecology from the University of Alberta.
Irene Ronalds
Board of Directors
Vice-Chair
Biography
Irene Ronalds is a Registered Professional Biologist who moved to Smithers in 1993 to work on the Protected Areas Strategy gap analysis and to enjoy the outdoors. As an independent consultant, her work has focused on Terrestrial Ecosystem Mapping, ecosystem restoration and monitoring, and resource management planning. She admires the passion and dedication of the capable people who founded the Centre in the early 2000’s, and would like to see their vision continue and grow.
Irene loves to hike, paddle, and ski with her husband and two almost grown-up sons.
Karisa Petho
Board of Directors
Board Member
Biography
Karisa has deep roots in northwest BC where she is the regional manager for Hatfield Consultants. She is a certified Project Management Professional as designated by the PMI and a registered EcoCanada Environmental Professional with specializations in Policy and Legislation as well as Natural Resource Management.
Karisa is an experienced project manager and regulatory specialist with over 19 years of experience in British Columbia, with a unique focus on the energy and climate sectors in the northwest of the province. Her experience includes environmental assessments, regulatory negotiations, climate adaptation studies, as well as the assessment of accidents and malfunctions for large marine infrastructure projects. She has also spent significant time working for, and alongside, Indigenous governments in the region to support environmental and economic development initiatives.
Her project involvement includes Vopak Pacific Canada, LNG Canada, Wolverine Fuels Terminal, the Northwest Transmission Line and several other large developments throughout the region which have achieved regulatory approvals and entered into construction phases.
Sam Coggins
Board of Directors
Chair
Biography
Sam is a Registered Professional Forester with over 25 years’ experience in natural resource management. Originally from the UK, Sam has a technical diploma in forestry and woodland management, a bachelor’s degree in forest resources management, and a PhD in forestry from the University of British Columbia. His graduate work defined an approach to use multi-scale remotely sensed imagery to detect low-level mountain pine beetle infestations. After finishing graduate studies in 2011, Sam moved to Terrace and worked with First Nations, in environmental consulting, and was a sessional instructor at Northwest Community College (in the School of Exploration and Mining) and at the University of Northern British Columbia. Sam was the Director of Lands and Resources with Kitselas First Nation, he established a multi-disciplinary lands and resources department who managed Kitselas’ reserve lands and the Traditional Territory. In 2017, he moved to Victoria to work for the Forest Practices Board as the Director, Investigations.
Sam is now self-employed and lives in Smithers. In his spare time, Sam enjoys exploring the backroads of British Columbia on his adventure motorcycle, woodworking, staying active, and looking after his property in rural Smithers.
Alana Clason
Research Associates
Research Associate
Biography
Alana Clason is a forest ecologist and Research Scientist with the Bulkley Valley Research Centre. Alana collaborates with universities, government, industry, and non-profit partners in a variety of applied research across western Canada studying the impacts, resilience and recovery of forests to disturbance. She completed her PhD at UNBC in 2017, understanding the drivers of the current range and forecasting the future northern range of whitebark pine under a changing climate. Her MSc at the University of Alberta focused on whitebark pine ecology and resilience. Alana blends empirical data collection and analysis with ecological modeling to understand and support the management of BC forests.
Her current projects focus on the response of forest carbon, fuels, and wildlife habitat to disturbances such as fire and forest management, as well as research and restoration of endangered whitebark pine ecosystems. She is a board member of the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation-Canada and the Smithers Ski and Snowboard Club.
Originally from Ottawa, she was fortunate to find a home in Smithers, on the land of the Wet’sewt’en Nation. There, she tries to keep up with her two active daughters, grow and gather food, play as much hockey as possible and explore the mountains, lakes and rivers close to home and far away.
Dr. Flora Krivak-Tetley
Research Associates
Post Doctoral Research Associate
Biography
Dr. Flora Krivak-Tetley is a forest ecologist and Postdoctoral Researcher with the University of British Columbia and the Bulkley Valley Research Centre. Her research interests include forest demography, carbon dynamics, invasive species, insect population dynamics, conservation biology, and social- ecological systems. She completed her PhD at Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH, USA), leading an intercontinental comparative study on the impacts and population dynamics of the invasive woodwasp Sirex noctilio. During her MS work at UC Berkeley (Berkeley, CA, USA), she focused on identifying early impacts of climate change in old growth Sierra Nevada forests.
Flora’s current research is focused on modelling the impacts of partial harvesting on carbon storage, flux and other ecosystem services in forests of northern British Columbia. She works with academic, government and First Nations partners and is integrating the stand-level model SORTIE and the landscape-scale model LANDIS-II to understand the potential outcomes of a range of future harvesting approaches.
Biography
Dr. Kira Hoffman is a professional fire ecologist (WFE) and former wildland firefighter. Hoffman’s research focuses on how humans have used fire for millennia to manage and enhance their natural surroundings. She uses multiple methods to understand how present-day forests have been shaped by stewardship techniques such as burning and how ongoing fire suppression has eroded the resiliency of landscapes. She is currently a jointly appointed Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of British Columbia and the Bulkley Valley Research Centre.
Caroline Bastable
Support Personnel
Executive Director
Biography
Caroline has dedicated the majority of her career to the non-profit sector, accumulating a deep understanding of its inherent challenges and opportunities. Caroline is committed to advancing knowledge and fostering positive change within communities. Her diverse background encompasses program management in a variety of fields including environmental sustainability, international development, and community literacy. She also volunteered for two years as a teacher in a rural school in Malawi. Caroline holds an MA Hons in Psychology and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education.
Originally from the UK, Caroline and her partner embarked on a new life adventure in Canada in 2006. They have proudly called Smithers home since 2010, drawn by the vibrant community and the wealth of opportunities for outdoor recreation in the valley’s incredible ‘backyard’. While she (allegedly) spends far too much of her spare time riding and training her horses, she can be enticed to venture out occasionally under her own steam on foot, in a kayak, or on skis.
Dawn Hanson
Support Personnel
Operations Manager
Biography
Dawn grew up in Telkwa and moved to Vancouver to pursue post-secondary education. After 14 years in the city, she decided to return to Smithers for a year with her husband, to see how it went. Many years later they have built a house, are raising a daughter, and are happily situated on the banks of the Bulkley River in Telkwa. Dawn has a Bachelor of General Studies from Simon Fraser University, with Minors in Biology and Humanities. She studied Social Enterprise for Sustainable Community Development through SFU’s Undergraduate Semester in Dialogue Program, which morphed ideas of environmentalism and debate into sustainability and dialogue. Her work in the Bulkley Valley has included community development with a focus on health, community engagement envisioning the Skeena watershed and its residents in the year 2050, strategic planning for social and environmentally focused community organizations, and a diversity of project and event coordination.
In the summer, Dawn loves gardening and rock hunting on the river. In the winter she can be found playing women’s hockey, trying to keep up to her dog and daughter on the cross country ski trails and supporting Valley Youth Fiddlers as a Board member and parent.
Emily Hashemi
Support Personnel
Website Coordinator
Biography
Emily is a website designer based in Smithers, BC. Born and bred in Ontario, she moved to the Bulkley Valley in 2014 and is in love! Having completed a bilingual International Relations degree at Glendon College and a front-end developer program at Juno College, she has had the opportunity to work in regions all over the world including North America, Asia, Northern Europe, United Kingdom, East Africa, and South America.
Her passions: yoga, my babies, traveling, love
Gillian Chow-Fraser
Support Personnel
SIP Extension Specialist
Biography
Gillian is the SIP’s Extension Specialist, translating and mobilizing the vast knowledge on innovative silviculture in B.C. and guiding the creation of new knowledge to address research gaps. She has a Bachelors of Science with a specialization in Conservation Science from Trent University (Peterborough, ON) and a Masters of Science from the University of Victoria (Victoria, BC).
She has worked in research labs, provincial governments, and environmental non-profits on some of our biggest conservation challenges, like woodland caribou recovery, land use planning, and cumulative impacts in B.C., Alberta, and Ontario. She brings her research background and her experience in public advocacy and public education to the Extension Program.
Gillian grew up on the Great Lakes of Ontario, the daughter of two biologists, and has since fallen in love with Canada’s vast boreal forest, now residing in Edmonton.
Ingrid Farnell
Support Personnel
Research Technician
Biography
Ingrid is a budding ecologist, currently working as a research technician in post-wildfire forest ecosystem projects with the BVRC. Ingrid received her Master of Science degree from the University of Northern British Columbia in 2021. Her studies explored the dynamics of downed dead wood after harvest activities and the concomitant impact on the American Marten, as well as using remote sensing to predict dead wood and its effects upon habitat quality over the landscape. Her research site was located within the towering trees of the Date Creek Research Forest in the Kispiox Valley, where she fell in love with forest ecology. Ingrid found a home in Smithers in 2015 after tree planting brought her to the Bulkley Valley. Since her initial visit she has never left, enjoying the endless adventure of playing in the mountains.
Laura Stanton
Support Personnel
SIP Program Manager
Biography
Laura is the SIP’s Program Manager. Laura received a Bachelor of Science in Biology with Ecology Specialization and Industrial Internship Practicum from the University of Alberta. Since her degree, Laura became an experienced forestry project manager through a variety of capacities and positions including in government, industry, consulting, and community forestry.
Laura is an accredited silviculture surveyor and has led projects in mountain pine beetle and wildfire impact surveys and prescriptions, forest inventory and residue and waste. In addition, Laura has a background in illustration and graphic design, allowing her to facilitate effective communication through creative means such as infographics, diagrams and promotional materials.
Shari Everett
Support Personnel
Finance Manager
Biography
As the Finance Coordinator of the BVRC, Shari is able to utilize her 30 years of experience as an accounting professional to manage the BVRC accounting and finances for all research and monitoring projects administered by the Centre. She also provides operational support through research project management and event planning.
Shari and her husband relocated to Smithers in 2015 to escape city life and build their dream house in the mountains. She enjoys walking the local trails, skiing, reading, Tai Chi, and playing the piano. One of her favourite pastimes is enjoying nature and the local wildlife while going on walks with her husband and dog.